College Football Week 7 Thread

Keep it to sports!

As always, this is the top 10 games of the week based on the ranking of teams from 1-134 at The Athletic, in order of when the game start.

1. #21 Utah at #30 Arizona State, Friday, 10:30, ESPN. With Cam Rising at QB, Utah is probably the best team in the Big 12. Without him, maybe they still are? But ASU is on the rise. Kenny Dillingham is a good coach. Every ASU game has been crazy close and maybe this Utah one will be too. Fun game to start the weekend. (Sat update: Nice win Sun Devils!)
2. #40 South Carolina at #3 Alabama, 12, ABC. The absurdity of Bama still being #3 after losing to fucking Vanderbilt is beyond comprehension. That said, while a Saban team would not have had that letdown against Vandy, no one wants to be the team they take that anger out on. I would not want to be a Gamecocks fan this week.
3. #43 Washington at #32 Iowa, 12, FOX. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..two bad offenses doing little.
4. #1 Texas vs. #22 Oklahoma (Dallas), 3:30, ABC. Texas seems to be making an easier transition to the SEC than Oklahoma, which likely isn’t very good. They haven’t beaten anyone and nearly lost to both Houston and Auburn. This is a huge rivalry game and anything can happen, but it’s hard to see Oklahoma winning. But I’d like to be wrong about that.
5. #6 Penn State at #33 USC, 3:30, CBS. The Trojans looked like shit last week losing to Minnesota while Penn State has looked pretty good all year. I don’t believe in USC at all and think Penn State hammers them on the road. But there is talent in LA. Maybe they can put it together for one game?
6. #38 Arizona at #8 BYU, 4, FOX. First, I don’t think BYU is the 8th best team in the country. But Arizona just looks meh. So I don’t think the Wildcats take this and thus BYU remains overrated.
7. #2 Ohio State at #5 Oregon, 7:30, NBC. First, I do not agree with any ranking that has an Alabama team that lost to Vanderbilt ahead of Oregon. That’s bullshit. But that’s besides the point. Can Oregon beat Ohio State? Yes. Will Oregon beat Ohio State? Well, this is a lot better team than the Mario Cristobal coached team that won in Columbus five years ago. But this is a very good Buckeyes team. Can Oregon stop the run? Can Dillon Gabriel not throw red zone interceptions? Can Ohio State handle the best DL they will see all year? To say the least, this is a big game for me! Can’t say I am confident, can say I am excited to see this game.
8. #16 Ole Miss at #20 LSU. 7:30, ABC. Probably both of these teams are overrated in the AP poll. The loser of this is in real playoff trouble. That alone makes it worth watching. But either Lane Kiffin or Brian Kelly have to lose. That really makes it worth watching.
9. #31 Vanderbilt at #41 Kentucky, 7:45, SEC. While I doubt this will be a real barnburner, I am kinda interested to see if Vanderbilt, which is very much not the 31st best team in the country, just completely falls apart in Lexington or whether they have their minds together enough after a week of media hype to play against a quality if not great opponent. Notably, Kentucky is favored by 13.5 and I think that’s about right, despite the idiotic Athletic reactions to the Vandy-Bama game.
10. #12 Kansas St. at #41 Colorado, 10:15, ESPN. This is an interesting game. KSU looks alright. I still think Utah or maybe BYU takes the Big 12, but KSU has a shot. But the real question is whether Colorado is at all legit. The Buffs really need this game for anyone to care about Deion anymore, other than the weekly bullshit about himself or attacking the media or whatnot. This is exactly the kind of game Colorado has to win. KSU is favored by 4.5 on the road. Seems about right to me. Could be fun as a late night game.