| OTS 89-26 |
Nico 85-30 |
Todd 79-36 |
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Alabama at Mississippi State 11:30am - Lincoln Financial |
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Tennessee vs Arkansas 11:30am - Lincoln Financial |
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Kentucky at Vanderbilt 1:00pm - PPV |
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Georgia vs Auburn 2:30pm - CBS |
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Florida at South Carolina 6:45pm - ESPN |
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LSU vs La. Tech 7:00pm - PPV |
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Texas vs Texas Tech 2:30pm - ABC (Regional) |
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Virginia Tech vs Florida State 2:30pm - ABC (Regional) |
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Kansas at Oklahoma State 7:00pm - ABC (Regional) |
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Southern Cal at Cal 7:00pm - ABC (Regional) |
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OTS Thinks:
Alabama over Mississippi State: See the extended preview on this game. The Dawgs aren't a bad team, but they are nothing special, and their two big wins have came when their opponent melted down with turnovers. Expect a close game, but I think the Tide wins as long as we come ready to play.
Arkansas over Tennessee: I expected the Vols to fold earlier in the year when they faced UGA, and while that didn't happen, the inevitable was delayed only slightly longer until they headed to Tuscaloosa. The Vols, simply put, aren't very good, and Arkansas will expose them. McFadden and Jones are both 100 per cent healthy, and that is extremely scary. Moreover, the Vols defense -- particularly on the interior line -- is a shell of what it used to be, and the Hogs should run wild yet again. I say Arkansas knocks off Tennessee up on ol' Rocky Top and the Vols SEC East hopes come to an end.
Kentucky at Vanderbilt: The Wildcats are nothing at all great, and arguably aren't as good as they were a year ago. Everyone thought it was something spectacular when they knocked off a poorly-playing LSU team, but the harsh truth is for UK that is the only win they've gotten since September. Vanderbilt is on the cusp on a bowl berth, and they are a fairly solid team, plus the game is in Nashville. But with Andre Woodson, it's hard to pick against UK, though they obviously aren't particularly good. It's a hard pick, but I'll go with Kentucky.
Georgia over Auburn: One of my personal favorite rivalries takes place in Athens, and oddly enough the road team has dominated this series as of late. Auburn is certainly looking for revenge after the embarrassing performance they turned in a year ago at Jordan-Hare. Georgia is the ultimate streaky team this year, but they obviously have a lot of talent and depth. And they know that wins over Auburn and Kentucky will get them to Atlanta, and I'm thinking they come out fired up and ready to play. I say Matt Stafford has a big game for the Dawgs, and they roll over Auburn at home.
Florida over South Carolina: No one should make any mistakes about this match-up, neither team is playing particularly well. Florida has lost three of its past five conference games, and South Carolina has lost their last three straight games. Tim Tebow, however, seems to be getting a bit healthier, and that should be a big impact for the Gators. Florida doesn't have a very good defense, but as we saw last week against Arkansas, the Gamecocks defense is even worse. Florida's struggles on defense will likely give up some points to an otherwise struggling South Carolina offense, but Florida will out-score them because of their opponents' even more porous defense. Florida wins in a high-scoring shootout.
LSU over Louisiana Tech: Unless Mike Dubose takes over LSU, or Terry Bradshaw comes back to La Tech, the Bayou Bengals will roll. They really haven't played very well since September, but they should steamroll their fellow Louisianans from Ruston.
Texas over Texas Tech: The Longhorns obviously aren't very good, and should have lost last week to Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders on the other hand, are their typical offensive juggernaut selves and have been putting up points by the ton. And I must say, I love Leach and his Air Raid scheme, but the harsh truth of the matter is that his players have nowhere near the athletic ability of the big dogs of the Big 12, and it has showed as they have struggled so greatly against Oklahoma and Texas. Though Texas isn't very good, I'll nevertheless pick the Longhorns simply because the Red Raiders have struggled so much against the talented teams in the past.
Florida State at Virginia Tech: Neither of these guys are particularly good, and the teams are highly similar. Both have bad offenses, complete with a quarterback controversy between a pocket passer and a mobile player -- Glennon / Taylor and Weatherford / Lee -- plus they also both have tailbacks who have played terrible this year despite high expectations coming in (Orr and Smith). Also, both teams are led by their defense. So how do you pick? I'll go with FSU in this one just because they didn't choke to Boston College, something certainly that the [C]Hokies cannot say. The 'Noles win in a close one.
Kansas at Oklahoma State: The Jayhawks are 9-0 and could spoil any titles hopes of the one-loss teams, but this could be a trap game. Kansas' defense has looked great at times, as has the offense, but neither have done it at the same time. Last week the defense looked pretty bad, giving up almost 40 points to a terrible Nebraska offense missing its starting quarterback. That's a major concern given Oklahoma State's potent offense. Moreover, the Pokes aren't that bad, as they reeled off some quality wins and considering how they should have beaten Texas last week. I imagine it is a pretty close game, but I'll have to go with the Jayhawks.
USC at Cal: Ah, the game that was supposed to have national championship implications. You know, before both teams started to suck. At this point, neither of these two teams is particularly good, and the loser stamps their ticket to the Holiday Bowl. How do you decide? I don't know, really. I'll go with USC because they have a lot more talent and depth, but Cal might win, admittedly. Perhaps this one could be billed as the "What Could Have Been" game?