WEEK 11 CFB MEGA-PREVIEW!
Top headlines:
·The CFB Playoff ranking (part 2) was released on Tuesday night- Mostly what we expected, everyone just slides up a spot after MSU lost to Purdue. So now its Georgia, Bama, Oregon, and Ohio State. Cincy is on the outside looking in and this weekend won’t do them any favors in the eye of the committee…they play a 2-win USF team. (-23.5)
·Early Signing Day is 5 weeks away- What’s crazy is that we still don’t know who the head coaches will be for 2 of the top programs in the country. LSU and USC. Luke Fickell will be the hottest commodity for what he’s been able to do @ Cincinnati but it’s probably a bad move for him to make those kind of waves during a magical run…just ask Scott Frost.
·UCONN has found their man- This from ESPN.com: UConn has hired former UCLA and NFL coach Jim Mora to be its next football coach, athletic director David Benedict announced Thursday. Mora and UConn have agreed to a five-year contract in which he will make $1.5 million in the first season and could earn another $200,000 in annual performance incentives. He will begin his head-coaching duties Nov. 28 after serving as an assistant coach for the rest of the 2021 season, which will allow him to recruit. (Just to give you an idea of where UCONN football is right now…they are 40 point dawgs to Clemson)
Upset alert: (Last week, gave you Purdue over MSU)
UNC @ Pitt (21)- Pitt comes into this one favored by 6.5 points but this is no gimmie…UNC just knocked off what was a top 10 Wake Forest team. It seems like whatever was ailing the UNC offense, has corrected itself. Sam Howell still isn’t lighting things up as a passer but he ran for over 100 yards last week in their win, and scored 3 touchdowns in the process. The Tar-Heels as a team ran for 330, anytime you can do that, you have a chance to win, so I’m putting overrated Pitt on a much deserved upset alert.
OU (8) @ Baylor (13) - I feel like the committee would love to see this one end up in a Baylor win, they’ve been dogging the undefeated Sooners these first two weeks. As talented as they are and as good as they look with Caleb Williams has been for this team, the committee still has them @ 8th. Now they go on the road to Waco, TX to take on another tough Big 12 opponent…5.5 point favorites, I like OU to win, but this team plays with fire often, at some point its going to burn them. Baylor hasn’t been great, but they do have 2 wins over top 20 teams this season, and they come in ranked 7th in the nation in rushing.
Purdue (19) @ OSU (4)- This one is easy. I don’t care if the spread is Buckeyes -21…Purdue looks like an absolute home-wrecker this season. They’ve already single handedly ruined Iowa and Michigan State’s seasons…and last week was a clinic. Aiden O’Connell 40/54 for 536 yards and 3 TD’s. David Bell their standout wide receiver – 11 catches, 217, 1 TD. Ohio State is going to have their hands full. I am all over Purdue, love this team.
In-State Focus:
UCF has a big game on Saturday against 7-2 SMU, their season is pretty much spoiled as far as top 25 aspirations are concerned but it would be a big win for UCF nonetheless, especially given the fact that their head coach Gus Malzahn is going to have to likely call plays from the booth because of his broken leg. O/U is 60 in this one so it could be a fireworks show.
Also- Florida plays Samford. Mullen needs some Samford in his life.
But let’s focus for a moment on FSU vs Miami!
Miami comes in 5-4 having won their last 3 games straight. Impressive wins too…NC State, Pitt, and GT.
FSU is a much more modest 3-6. But they have turned things around. FSU is no longer a walk in the park to play, last week excluded (major flu issues). Prior to last week, they had won 3 out of 4 and went toe-to-toe with Clemson.
So, this does have the making to be a pretty good game.
FSU had a 7 game win streak rolling vs Miami for a good while, but since 2017 its been all Canes. Miami has won each of the last 4 in this rivalry and they’ve won the last 2 by an average margin of 29.5.
Tyler Van Dyke has been a God-send for the Canes, filling in after D’Eriq King shut it down. And Jordan Travis has been operating the Noles offense pretty well ever since yanking the job back from KZ.
Prediction: Canes 28 FSU 20
Photo: Getty Images