Good morning Pregame! Rough weekend for me, going 5-7. Too many games. Anyway, it was another interesting weekend of football. At the end of it all, one coach lost his job, and another's seat got very, very hot! When was the last time Michigan got smoked by 16 points at home? This on top of a 31 point loss at Notre Dame. Some other observations coming out of this weekend:
1. Tennessee was very impressive to me, even in defeat. That team could have repeatedly quit on Saturday, but they kept coming back and coming back. Loved their QB (#14) who came back into the game late after being leaving the game earlier with an injury. This week, they get a chance to take out years of frustration versus Florida and I wouldn't be surprised if they get it done. Speaking of coaches on the hotseat, I wouldn't be surprised if Will Muschamp doesn't last the season at Florida. Their offense doesn't look good, and quite frankly, their defense is overrated.
2. Texas won 23-0 over a Kansas team that would have struggled mightily to beat a high school team. Actually, the KU defense played well. Texas had 3 TD drives in the game and they amassed, get this...59 yards combined on those 3 drives! KU had numerous turnovers and the offense overall lacked any punch. UT gets a huge contrast this weekend. You think Baylor will lack any punch? Baylor is tired of being treated like a little brother by UT - the one that is patted on the head, given a cookie and expected to go away. I look for Baylor to lay a first rate whippin' on UT in Austin on Saturday. But bet the 15 point margin? On a road favorite? Not going to do that. I'll just watch as a fan. :-) Now, if you can get that line under 14, you'll have my attention!
3. The state of Mississippi will definitely have something to prove this weekend, and I think they will fail on both counts. Texas A&M goes to Starkville to play the Bulldogs and I look for MSU to be a popular choice after they beat the hell out of LSU in Baton Rouge. However, Kevin Sumlin has pretty much had his way with the Bulldogs (even when he was at Houston), and I believe that MSU center (I believe his name is Dillon Day) is serving a one game suspension for excessive unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. That could be huge. Plus, I really like the way the Aggies rallied to beat Arkansas on Saturday. They won't be facing that O-line this Saturday. Meanwhile, once again, Alabama will prove that Ole Miss is a pretender. They seem to do this every year.
4. Nebraska could be for real this year. I really was expecting a letdown spot last Saturday as they would look past Illinois and look ahead to this week's game against Michigan State. Instead, they took care of business against Illinois in very impressive fashion. This week's game will be NU's chance to prove that the "N" on their helmet really does stand for something more than "knowledge". :-) I expect a tough, gritty game in East Lansing Saturday night.
5. Arizona State showed themselves to be pretenders this year. UCLA scored on 4 different plays of 80+ yards last Thursday night. I'm still not sold on UCLA, but they certainly presented a strong case last week.
6. Notre Dame is for real this year. I am late acknowledging this. But they are.
7. Not sure what to make of the SEC East this year. Missouri loses at home to Indiana (who turned around and got smoked at home by Maryland), then goes to South Carolina and wins? The Tigers could possibly be the most inconsistent team in the SEC this year, which could make them either very easy to bet or the most maddeningly difficult team to bet.
8. I think we are going to find out a thing or two about Oklahoma this weekend. The game at TCU has trap written all over it, as the Sooners follow up the TCU game with Texas on Oct 11. But the Sooners can't afford to look ahead, and champions don't look ahead.
9. Check out the website for my strongest college play this weekend! And if you're interested, you can catch me on The Sports Shelf (www.wbad.net/sportstalk) at 7:45pm ET as I'll be talking primarily NFL lines this weekend, with some college plays thrown in.
Free Play
Texas A&M -1 at Mississippi State Starkville, MS 11:00am local time kickoff
First of all, what in God's name are we kicking off a game this early for? Crowd might have a hard time getting into it that early. Second, this is a tough call for me to make. My oldest son is a freshman at Mississippi State, and my hatred of A&M carries over from my own days at Baylor. But I must go where I think the money is at, and for this game, it's on the A&M side. As mentioned above, Kevin Sumlin has enjoyed extraordinary success against Mississippi State. And with the wake-up call the Aggies got last Saturday, I expect them to come out sharp. And Mississippi State will be without their center on Saturday for a one game suspension. This looks to be Dan Mullen's best team at MSU, but this looks to be a bad spot for them, even at home. I will also follow this up with another prediction: the Bulldogs follow this up by beating Auburn at home a week from Saturday. But for this Saturday, the Aggies will again be the bane of my existence, but I might as well make some money off it. Texas A&M 31, Mississippi State 21
Best of luck to all this coming weekend!