The Game
No. 3 Michigan at No. 2 Ohio State, Noon ABC
At stake: A place in the Big Ten title game for the Wolverines and playoff implications for the Buckeyes. The situation is kind of screwy. If Michigan wins, then it is easy: it wins the Big Ten East where it will face Wisconsin next week. If Ohio State wins, it does not necessarily win the East. Penn State would have to lose to Michigan State, which appears unlikely given the rough year MSU has had and PSU's improvement. If the Nittany Lions win, they are the East champ if OSU beats Michigan, because they beat the Buckeyes earlier this year. Still, if OSU wins, it still has a strong case to remain in the playoff top four. I think the committee will indeed need to work through those types of issues because I think OSU wins this game today at home, and I think PSU will win and go to the Big Ten championship. Michigan QB Wilton Speight might not be able to play with an injured shoulder, and if he does, he won't be 100 percent. That will hurt the Wolverines' offense, and I like the Buckeyes to get it done.
Ohio State 24, Michigan 14
Iron Bowl
No. 13 Auburn at No. 1 Alabama, 3:30 p.m. CBS
At stake: Nothing as far as the SEC goes. The Crimson Tide is locked into the SEC championship game against Florida next week win or lose. Of course, Alabama wants to preserve its undefeated record and No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff, but even with a loss in the Iron Bowl, I would expect Alabama to remain in the top four, especially with one of the top four almost guaranteed to fall out since Ohio State and Michigan face each other. I don't see the Tigers being able to pull off the upset, however, as they have laid too many eggs on offense this season, and Alabama has one of, if not the best, defenses in the land.
Alabama 31, Auburn 10
No. 22 Utah at No. 9 Colorado, 7:30 p.m. Fox
At stake: If the Buffaloes win, they take the Pac-12 South and will have completed a worst-to-first turnaround in that division in coach Mike MacIntyre's fourth season. USC is the hot team in that division but has two conference losses while the Buffs have just one, to the Trojans. Colorado also lost to Michigan early on in a fairly competitive contest. If Utah pulls the upset, USC captures the division. The Utes were surprised themselves last week by Oregon, so at home, with lots of momentum, I like Colorado. The South champ will take on Washington next week in the title game after the Huskies blew out Washington State on Friday.
Colorado 31, Utah 27
Battle for the Palmetto State
South Carolina at No. 4 Clemson, 7:30 p.m. ESPN
At stake: Top four livelihood. Clemson is in a more precarious position than Alabama. The Tigers are locked into the ACC title game next week against Virginia Tech. A non-conference loss to the Gamecocks would not hurt them in that regard. But at No. 4 and with one loss already, a home setback against South Carolina -- which would be a second upset loss at home after Clemson lost to Pittsburgh -- would assuredly put a stake into the heart of Clemson's playoff aspirations. The Tigers must beat the Gamecocks and defeat the Hokies next week. There is no margin for error.
Clemson 27, South Carolina 14
Sunshine State Showdown
No. 15 Florida at No. 14 Florida State, 8 p.m. ABC
At stake: Just bragging rights and a three-game winning streak in the series for FSU. The Seminoles are 8-3 and headed to a pretty good bowl game, and the Gators are 8-2 and finish their regular season on their rivals' home field before having to face dreaded Alabama next week in the SEC championship game. I like the 'Noles at home in a fairly low-scoring battle.
Florida State 23, Florida 17
Battle for the Commonwealth Cup
Virginia at Virginia Tech, Noon ESPN2
At stake: Nothing really, except pride, bragging rights, and Tech's 12-game winning streak in the series. The Hokies have already won the ACC Coastal since N.C. State upset North Carolina on Friday, 28-21. The Tar Heels needed to beat the Wolfpack and hope the Cavs could upset the Hokies to go to the ACC championship. So, Tech will be getting focused on Clemson soon after this game, and might have already started preparing for the Tigers. Tech has less motivation for this game than last year. In that one, the Hokies needed to win to keep their bowl streak alive and to send Frank Beamer out a winner in the series. Much less is on the line for this game, and that could help Virginia. The problem is, the Wahoos have been playing worse than last year. There is no doubt that Bronco Mendenhall's first year in Charlottesville has been a disappointment. That doesn't mean he can't be successful in Charlottesville eventually, but I think most of the fan base expected more than two wins in 2016, even if we didn't think he'd get the Cavs to bowl eligibility, which I didn't really expect since my original guess was 4-5 victories for the 'Hoos. What's more confusing is the fact that the team was improving each game until about mid-October, and even got back-to-back wins
over Central Michigan and Duke, and then had a bye week. So you would've expected UVa to keep getting even better. Maybe the bye week disrupted some of the team's momentum. But that's no excuse to then go on a six-game losing streak which will turn to seven should Tech do what it is expected today. Justin Fuente's first season in Blacksburg has gone much more smoothly. Tech did a great job of apparently keeping defensive coordinator Bud Foster happy. He stayed at the school during the transition, which stabilized the defense and allowed Fuente to focus on the offense, which is his area of expertise. Tech has enjoyed fielding one of its best offenses in years, keyed by junior college transfer QB Jerod Evans.
Matt Johns will be under center again for the Wahoos. He started his first game of the season last week against Georgia Tech and his stat line looked like many of his while at UVa in the 31-17 loss: 27 of 44 for 220 yards, one touchdown, and three picks. Somewhat impressive, but ultimately just not good enough and too many mistakes. I would love nothing more than for a QB as well-liked and as much a team-first guy as Johns to break the streak. Johns said this week he day dreams before each game, so we know what he will think about before the game. Despite a decidedly up and down career, if Johns could pull this off, he would be a hero for Virginia football in an era bereft of highlights. But, I just can't see it. Virginia has been competitive against Tech in recent seasons, with four of the past eight and three of the past four games being decided by single digits. But this seems like a particularly bad matchup this year. Tech's offense is actually good, and while UVa's defense has been better since a rough start, it is hard to imagine it being good enough to hold Tech down enough for an upset. And Tech's defense should feast on UVa's woefully inconsistent offense. It seems to add up to me to a fairly easy win for Tech, even if Virginia plays well in the first half, which it probably will. Virginia has been solid for the first 30 minutes in several losses this year. It led 10-7 last week, was down just 17-14 to Miami, 14-7 to UNC, was up 10-7 on Louisville, and down just 35-28 against Pitt going into the breaks of those games. So a blowout in the first half might not be in the cards. But Virginia has wilted down the stretch in most games this season, and I don't have any reasons not to expect that to happen today.
Virginia Tech 38, Virginia 19
At stake: Nothing really, except pride, bragging rights, and Tech's 12-game winning streak in the series. The Hokies have already won the ACC Coastal since N.C. State upset North Carolina on Friday, 28-21. The Tar Heels needed to beat the Wolfpack and hope the Cavs could upset the Hokies to go to the ACC championship. So, Tech will be getting focused on Clemson soon after this game, and might have already started preparing for the Tigers. Tech has less motivation for this game than last year. In that one, the Hokies needed to win to keep their bowl streak alive and to send Frank Beamer out a winner in the series. Much less is on the line for this game, and that could help Virginia. The problem is, the Wahoos have been playing worse than last year. There is no doubt that Bronco Mendenhall's first year in Charlottesville has been a disappointment. That doesn't mean he can't be successful in Charlottesville eventually, but I think most of the fan base expected more than two wins in 2016, even if we didn't think he'd get the Cavs to bowl eligibility, which I didn't really expect since my original guess was 4-5 victories for the 'Hoos. What's more confusing is the fact that the team was improving each game until about mid-October, and even got back-to-back wins
Matt Johns will be under center again for the Wahoos. He started his first game of the season last week against Georgia Tech and his stat line looked like many of his while at UVa in the 31-17 loss: 27 of 44 for 220 yards, one touchdown, and three picks. Somewhat impressive, but ultimately just not good enough and too many mistakes. I would love nothing more than for a QB as well-liked and as much a team-first guy as Johns to break the streak. Johns said this week he day dreams before each game, so we know what he will think about before the game. Despite a decidedly up and down career, if Johns could pull this off, he would be a hero for Virginia football in an era bereft of highlights. But, I just can't see it. Virginia has been competitive against Tech in recent seasons, with four of the past eight and three of the past four games being decided by single digits. But this seems like a particularly bad matchup this year. Tech's offense is actually good, and while UVa's defense has been better since a rough start, it is hard to imagine it being good enough to hold Tech down enough for an upset. And Tech's defense should feast on UVa's woefully inconsistent offense. It seems to add up to me to a fairly easy win for Tech, even if Virginia plays well in the first half, which it probably will. Virginia has been solid for the first 30 minutes in several losses this year. It led 10-7 last week, was down just 17-14 to Miami, 14-7 to UNC, was up 10-7 on Louisville, and down just 35-28 against Pitt going into the breaks of those games. So a blowout in the first half might not be in the cards. But Virginia has wilted down the stretch in most games this season, and I don't have any reasons not to expect that to happen today.
Virginia Tech 38, Virginia 19
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