Welcome back, oh great and wonderful readers of college sports information, to episode 717 which is all about Week 8’s Thursday games. First, let’s review yesterday’s game. We suggested that the New Mexico St (3-4/124)/Sam Houston (1-6/164) would be a close one and it was indeed. The Aggies won both halves with a 14-7 lead at the break and a 16-14 advantage after. The largest lead of the game was NMST up 30-17 with less than a minute to go in the third. SHOU scored a TD with 4 minutes to go but never got the ball back as the New Mexico St held on for a 30-24 road victory. The GCR got the win and cover correct which brings the week to 2-2 straight up and 3-1 against the spread. Better than last week and these Group of 6 games midweek have always been…difficult. We are not sure why, maybe the odd timing of the practice week, but our success rate on the Tues/Wed games have always been below average.
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Tonight we have three conference games from three different Group of 6 conferences. Our first game, starting at 7:00 (all times Eastern) is an important one featuring undefeated the James Madison Dukes (7-0/17) who are fighting to be the G6 representative in the final 12-team playoff traveling to the always dangerous Boone, NC to play the App St Mountaineers (4-2/85). In past seasons, these two teams, along with Coastal have been the Big 3 in the Sun Belt East. JMU is running away with the division (4-0 already) this season, but App St has beaten Core 4 teams in Boone. Earlier today, the Vegas line was JMU-10.5 and that has grown to -12.5 as of the time of this writing (5:21pm). The GCR calculates JMU by between 19.5 and 23.0 but there is no formula for the history at Boone. If you are a Dukes fan, be wary and watch carefully. This game will be on ESPNU for your viewing pleasure.
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Also at 7:00, but shifting to the final Conference USA game of the week, we have a game that has its own history just a few miles from the secret global headquarters of the GCR (aka G’s living room) when the Liberty Flames (5-1/30) travel to the Kennesaw St Owls (1-5/144). The Owls have a tendency to disrupt Liberty’s season, especially at home. We think Vegas is concerned about this because despite the extreme difference in records, they only have LIB-9.5. Again, the GCR doesn’t have a calculation for history, so we predict a blowout with the Flames burning the Owls by between 33.5 and 35.0 points. The infernal hooting after first downs may slow down Liberty some, but an upset this time would be huge for the Owls. Check this game out on CBS Sports.
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Our final game tonight, at 7:30 on ESPN2 features the East Carolina Pirates (3-3/108) heading west to the Memphis Tigers (5-2/48) in an American Conference showdown. While UTSA and North Texas are undefeated in the conference, both ECAR and MEM have just one loss. The conference is still up for grabs which puts an extra bit of drama in this game. Vegas has MEM-10.5 and the GCR agrees with the Tigers winning by between 20.0 and 21.5 points.
| Time (ET) | Games of October 22nd | Conference | Vegas | GCR | Cover | TV |
| 7:00 | James Madison (7-0/17) at App St (4-2/85) | SUN | JMU -12.5 | JMU | JMU | ESPNU |
| 7:00 | Liberty (5-1/30) at Kennesaw St (1-5/144) | USA | LIB -9.5 | LIB | LIB | CBS Sports |
| 7:30 | East Carolina (3-3/108) at Memphis (5-2/48) | AAC | MEM -10.5 | MEM | MEM | ESPN2 |
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A short slate, but full of intriguing games. And that’s it for today. Tune in tomorrow for the Week 8 Collegiate Friday Night Lights. Thank you for reading (it’s why we do this), commenting/suggesting (it’s how we get better), and sharing with others (it’s how we continue to grow). Until tomorrow, JoJo and G.
