Last week: 12-0 Season: 49-13
I'm not picking every tough game every week, but I did have a perfect Week 5, even if some of the matchups turned out differently than expected, such as Clemson at North Carolina, with the Tar Heels taking the No. 1 Tigers right to the brink. But Clemson survived and has now won 20 straight games. And while I thought my Duke-over-Tech-in-Blacksburg pick was edgy, it ended up being a laugher, with the Blue Devils dismantling the scuffling Hokies. This week, UVa faces Bye University, with a chance to rest up before heading to Miami next Friday. That's an advantage for the Cavaliers, because the Hurricanes have to face the Hokies, so Virginia has extra time to prepare for that game, which is a big one.
No. 14 Iowa at (4-0) at No. 19 Michigan (3-1), Noon, Fox
Both teams have easy wins over Rutgers, but the Hawkeyes were able to beat Middle Tennessee more easily than the Wolverines, who were defeated soundly by Wisconsin and almost upset by Army. Iowa won by one point over Iowa State. This seems like it'll be a grinding, low-scoring, close game. The pressure is on Michigan and Jim Harbaugh, who is in an increasingly hot seat. I think Iowa is the better team.
Iowa 20, Michigan 17
Boston College (3-2) at Louisville (2-2), 12:30 p.m. ACC Network Extra
First-year coach Scott Satterfield is doing a good job in his first season with the Cardinals, and they've arguably been better than the Eagles, who almost knocked off Wake last week. But BC has that garish loss to Kansas at home on its resume as well. I'll take Louisville in a close one on its home field.
Louisville 31, Boston College 28
No. 7 Auburn (5-0) at No. 10 Florida (5-0), 3:30 p.m. CBS
The Tigers have the better resume so far, with a solid neutral-site win over Oregon, a really nice road victory over Texas A&M, and a home blowout of Mississippi State. The Gators had to rally to beat Kentucky at home, and otherwise have a pair of FCS wins and a victory over what looks to be a
terrible Tennessee team. They also scraped by a shaky Miami team, which was starting a true freshman at QB. It will be tough at The Swamp, but I'm taking Auburn, which is a slight favorite.
Auburn 27, Florida 24
Virginia Tech (2-2) at Miami (2-2), 3:30 p.m. ESPN
These 2-2 teams aren't made equally, as noted in the line, where the Hurricanes are a 14-point favorite. Tech is coming off an ugly blowout home loss to Duke, and coach Justin Fuente decided to install Hendon Hooker as the new starting quarterback this week over Ryan Willis. Hooker is more of a runner than Willis, so it will be interesting to see how this affects the Hokies' offense. Miami's two close defeats are to Florida, which is undefeated, and North Carolina, which looks much improved. When coupled with the Hokies' showings against Old Dominion and Furman, it is tough to trust them to bounce back on the road. Miami has won four of five in the series, including the past two by an average score of 33-12. But Miami's offense hasn't done too do much against FBS competition, barely beating Central Michigan two weeks ago, 17-12.
Miami 27, Virginia Tech 17
North Carolina (2-3) at Georgia Tech (1-3), 4 p.m. ACC Network
After two wins over South Carolina and Miami by an average of 3.5 points, the Tar Heels have three losses by an average of 3.3 points to Wake Forest, which has bolted out to a somewhat surprising 5-0 record, Appalachian State, which is 4-0, and Clemson, and well, you know about Clemson. Meanwhile, have the Yellow Jackets even scored three points all year? The transition season has been very rough so far for new coach Geoff Collins, whose team is a 14-13 win over South Florida away from being winless. The Jackets lost to Temple last week, 24-2, and also lost to The Citadel.
North Carolina 24, Georgia Tech 10
No. 25 Michigan State (4-1) at No. 4 Ohio State (5-0), 7:30 p.m. ABC
The Spartans have a 10-7 loss to Arizona State and a 40-31 victory over Indiana on their resume. The Buckeyes, however, are absolutely obliterating opponents, including that same Indiana team 51-10. OSU went into hostile territory last week in Lincoln, Neb., to face a fired up team and crowd that had "College GameDay" in town for the first huge game of coach Scott Frost's career at his alma mater, and just took the Cornhuskers by storm with a 48-7 win. MSU did give some OSU some issues in this series from 2011-2016, but the Buckeyes have won the past two meetings by an average score of 37-4.5.
Ohio State 45, Michigan State 17
Pittsburgh (3-2) at Duke (3-1), 8 p.m. ACC Network
The Blue Devils have been very impressive since losing in their opener to Alabama, cruising to victories over North Carolina A&T, Middle Tennessee, and Virginia Tech. The Panthers have also played much better since their opening loss to Virginia, with wins over Ohio, UCF, and Delaware, and a close loss to undefeated Penn State, BUT the win over Delaware was by three points, and as I type this post, Cincinnati is on its way to upsetting UCF as well. It looks like the Knights aren't what they were from 2017-18, when they went 25-1, with just an eight-point loss to LSU in last year's Fiesta Bowl. Pitt has won four in a row in the series and eight of nine, but I like the Blue Devils.
Duke 34, Pittsburgh 31
I'm not picking every tough game every week, but I did have a perfect Week 5, even if some of the matchups turned out differently than expected, such as Clemson at North Carolina, with the Tar Heels taking the No. 1 Tigers right to the brink. But Clemson survived and has now won 20 straight games. And while I thought my Duke-over-Tech-in-Blacksburg pick was edgy, it ended up being a laugher, with the Blue Devils dismantling the scuffling Hokies. This week, UVa faces Bye University, with a chance to rest up before heading to Miami next Friday. That's an advantage for the Cavaliers, because the Hurricanes have to face the Hokies, so Virginia has extra time to prepare for that game, which is a big one.
No. 14 Iowa at (4-0) at No. 19 Michigan (3-1), Noon, Fox
Both teams have easy wins over Rutgers, but the Hawkeyes were able to beat Middle Tennessee more easily than the Wolverines, who were defeated soundly by Wisconsin and almost upset by Army. Iowa won by one point over Iowa State. This seems like it'll be a grinding, low-scoring, close game. The pressure is on Michigan and Jim Harbaugh, who is in an increasingly hot seat. I think Iowa is the better team.
Iowa 20, Michigan 17
Boston College (3-2) at Louisville (2-2), 12:30 p.m. ACC Network Extra
First-year coach Scott Satterfield is doing a good job in his first season with the Cardinals, and they've arguably been better than the Eagles, who almost knocked off Wake last week. But BC has that garish loss to Kansas at home on its resume as well. I'll take Louisville in a close one on its home field.
Louisville 31, Boston College 28
No. 7 Auburn (5-0) at No. 10 Florida (5-0), 3:30 p.m. CBS
The Tigers have the better resume so far, with a solid neutral-site win over Oregon, a really nice road victory over Texas A&M, and a home blowout of Mississippi State. The Gators had to rally to beat Kentucky at home, and otherwise have a pair of FCS wins and a victory over what looks to be a
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| Auburn and Florida meet in a top-10 matchup at The Swamp in the big-time 3:30 CBS timeslot. |
Auburn 27, Florida 24
Virginia Tech (2-2) at Miami (2-2), 3:30 p.m. ESPN
These 2-2 teams aren't made equally, as noted in the line, where the Hurricanes are a 14-point favorite. Tech is coming off an ugly blowout home loss to Duke, and coach Justin Fuente decided to install Hendon Hooker as the new starting quarterback this week over Ryan Willis. Hooker is more of a runner than Willis, so it will be interesting to see how this affects the Hokies' offense. Miami's two close defeats are to Florida, which is undefeated, and North Carolina, which looks much improved. When coupled with the Hokies' showings against Old Dominion and Furman, it is tough to trust them to bounce back on the road. Miami has won four of five in the series, including the past two by an average score of 33-12. But Miami's offense hasn't done too do much against FBS competition, barely beating Central Michigan two weeks ago, 17-12.
Miami 27, Virginia Tech 17
North Carolina (2-3) at Georgia Tech (1-3), 4 p.m. ACC Network
After two wins over South Carolina and Miami by an average of 3.5 points, the Tar Heels have three losses by an average of 3.3 points to Wake Forest, which has bolted out to a somewhat surprising 5-0 record, Appalachian State, which is 4-0, and Clemson, and well, you know about Clemson. Meanwhile, have the Yellow Jackets even scored three points all year? The transition season has been very rough so far for new coach Geoff Collins, whose team is a 14-13 win over South Florida away from being winless. The Jackets lost to Temple last week, 24-2, and also lost to The Citadel.
North Carolina 24, Georgia Tech 10
No. 25 Michigan State (4-1) at No. 4 Ohio State (5-0), 7:30 p.m. ABC
The Spartans have a 10-7 loss to Arizona State and a 40-31 victory over Indiana on their resume. The Buckeyes, however, are absolutely obliterating opponents, including that same Indiana team 51-10. OSU went into hostile territory last week in Lincoln, Neb., to face a fired up team and crowd that had "College GameDay" in town for the first huge game of coach Scott Frost's career at his alma mater, and just took the Cornhuskers by storm with a 48-7 win. MSU did give some OSU some issues in this series from 2011-2016, but the Buckeyes have won the past two meetings by an average score of 37-4.5.
Ohio State 45, Michigan State 17
Pittsburgh (3-2) at Duke (3-1), 8 p.m. ACC Network
The Blue Devils have been very impressive since losing in their opener to Alabama, cruising to victories over North Carolina A&T, Middle Tennessee, and Virginia Tech. The Panthers have also played much better since their opening loss to Virginia, with wins over Ohio, UCF, and Delaware, and a close loss to undefeated Penn State, BUT the win over Delaware was by three points, and as I type this post, Cincinnati is on its way to upsetting UCF as well. It looks like the Knights aren't what they were from 2017-18, when they went 25-1, with just an eight-point loss to LSU in last year's Fiesta Bowl. Pitt has won four in a row in the series and eight of nine, but I like the Blue Devils.
Duke 34, Pittsburgh 31
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