Greetings oh wonderful college football fans. I hope you are keeping up with tonight’s Tuesday MAC Nation football. Right now Buffalo (39) is at Bowling Green (140) and trouncing them 21-3 early in the second half. Kent State (43) is being an inhospitable host to Akron (139) 14-7 after one. Ohio (100) at Miami OH were cancelled for tonight along with later in the week games: UAB (47) at UTEP (92), Mississippi (67) at Texas A&M (8), Georgia Tech (66) at Miami FL (4), Charlotte (89) at Marshall (18), ULM (116) at LA Tech (56), and Arizona St (118) at Colorado (15). Last week a total of 17 games (2 of them between FCS schools) were cancelled.
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Before we get into the games to watch this week and who will win all of the qualified (FBS vs FBS or FCS vs FCS with both teams playing at least 3 games) games, let’s see how the GCR did last week. Here’s the table:
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High expectations last week (adjusted for lost games) over better than 70% and the GCR was 24-5. Illinois (120) beat Rutgers (103), Tulsa (29) beat SMU (33), FCS teams C Arkansas (113) beat E Kentucky (105), West Virginia (50) beat TCU (55), and Tulane (71) beat Army (57). As you can see above, there are 38 games (pending further cancellations/postponements) this week and expectations are high again. Overall for the year a respectable 109-34 mark is not bad at all.
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Enough of that, let’s figure out how to maximize our football time. The slate is pretty empty in the pre-Saturday games with only 1 top 25 team (#14 Oregon) playing in the first 12 games. I could go with a close game between Louisville (70) and Syracuse (68), but the game to watch is tomorrow night at 8:30 (all times Eastern) with C Michigan (40) hosting W Michigan (41). The winner of this game takes a huge lead in the MAC West title chase. They haven’t played 3 games yet, so the GCR won’t officially predict, but Vegas has this game as a pick ’em. Should be a lot of fun.
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The early Saturday games offer a little more like Ga Southern (46) at Army (57) or App St (38) trying not only to take over the Sun Belt East lead at Coastal Carolina (9) but trash the Chanticleers Cinderella-like perfect season. Both of these will be fun to watch but the noon game has to be Indiana (7) invading Ohio St (13) for the Big 10 East lead. Vegas isn’t showing the Hoosiers any love at all making them HUGE road dogs at -20. The GCR (caveat that all predictions are for entertainment purposes only) sees it as being a bit closer. Indiana’s Defensive Efficiency Rating is in the top 30 against Ohio St’s top 10 Offensive Efficiency Rating. The other side of the ball is secondary to both so far this year (Indiana’s OER 67th, Ohio St’s DER 64th). This game is about strength on strength and as such is not just the game to watch, but the game of the week. The GCR agrees that Ohio St will win, but at a more modest 55.1% of the time – pretty much a toss up.
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The afternoon games feature some exciting opportunities for entertainment. Virginia Tech (27) travels to Pittsburgh (42), Cincinnati (12) fights to stay unbeaten at UCF (54), but the game to watch is from the Big 12. Iowa St (26) who has the best conference record hosts Kansas St (45) who got off to a rocky start and is in spoiler mode. Oklahoma St (6) is on the road at Oklahoma (30) later in the day and a Cyclone win puts a lot of pressure on that game for the Cowboys. If Oklahoma St loses, the Big 12 will be all but out of the playoffs. But in the earlier game, Vegas thinks Iowa St will pull it off -11. The GCR also picks the Cyclones at 62.7%.
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The night games have that high-pressure all Oklahoma game, Boise St (53) at Hawaii (95), or Michigan (106) at Rutgers (103), but the one to watch is a GCR upset pick. Liberty (21) has played an overall easier schedule than most (SOS is 120th), but they are 2-0 against the ACC with wins over Syracuse (68) and Virginia Tech (27). If they win Saturday they should still be undefeated on 12/5 to face Coastal Carolina (also currently undefeated) for what could be a New Year’s Six spot. But they have to do it to the ACC again, this time at NC St (25). Vegas, like with the game at the Hokies, picks the big boy school – Wolfpack -3.5, but the GCR is disagreeing with that pick and is giving the ACC hat-trick to the Flames 56.2%. Granted anything in the 50% decile is basically a toss up, but I think we can all agree this should be a great one to watch.
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Here is a list of all qualified games for this week. Enjoy, be safe, remember what these athletes, staff, referees, and coaches are going through to provide us some much needed entertainment. I hope your team does well. Please provide comments if you’d like and if you like what you’ve read, please share with others. Thanks, G
