Well, it’s a slow weekend for college football action with Alabama and Florida State taking this week off against Chattanooga and Idaho, respectively. As you know, I’m philosophically opposed to the concept of “strength of schedule,” and games like these make me wonder why so much emphasis is placed on that sham of a “stat.”
Still, there are reasons to keep watching all day on Saturday, so it’s not a total loss.
UPDATE: Adding in predictions, with a note: the new tweaks show promise and are doing an especially good job with margin of victory in early testing. They also do a decent job with scores, with only a couple of test games being significantly off. I’m adjusting the scores to be realistic, so don’t freak out when they don’t match the margin of victory pick.
Saturday
Noon
Michigan @ Iowa. The excellent (best?) college football movie, The Program, was filmed partially at both of these schools. In fact, the fictional team the film centers on loses by 4 points to each team, marking the last time these two were considered equals. The Wolverines got by on field goals and multiple overtimes last week, but Iowa is not Northwestern. Also, we really need a Program remake. (BTN)
PICK: Iowa by 8
SCORE: Iowa, 28-17
3:30pm
Indiana @ Ohio State. While I haven’t seen (or even heard of until a half-hour ago) the movie Touchback, Ohio State football figures prominently in what is probably a Hallmarky tale of a former high school football star who gets hurt in the Big Game. I’ll watch it though (and you probably will too), because Buckeyes, which also happens to be the only reason anyone’s watching this game. (ABC/ESPN2)
PICK: Ohio State by 20
SCORE: Ohio State, 49-24
Texas A&M @ LSU. This game seems like it should be important, featuring two ranked SEC teams as it does, but it is unlikely to have any noticeable impact, much like the terrible 2005 movie version of Dukes of Hazzard shot at LSU and starring the worst imaginable cast. (CBS)
PICK: LSU by 9
SCORE: LSU, 24-17
8:00pm
Baylor @ Oklahoma State. It’s not often that two non-traditional powers provide the most anticipated game of the week with national title implications. Clearly unprepared for such attention, Oklahoma State can only offer up All-American Murder, a straight-to-video thriller-by-numbers starring Anson “Potsie from Happy Days” Williams and Christopher Walken, grabbing some cash between King of New York and True Romance. (ABC)
PICK: Baylor by 7
SCORE: Baylor, 21-14
But I hope not.
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