By DaVince “Dino” Wright
College Football this Week
The AP Top 25 changed with Texas and Alabama losing while Texas A&M and USC had close calls last weekend. Miami, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Ohio State won with dominance this past weekend. Here’s where the rubber meets the road: the season is basically coming to an end with two regular games remaining. Remember that teams with 6 wins are bowl eligible and will be looking to play in bowl games this season. The College Football Playoff will be wide open. Here are our featured weekend games and schedule along with my previews and final score predictions.
Game Info
UNT Mean Green (9-1, 5-1 American) vs Rice Owls (5-5, 2-4 American)
Saturday – November 22 – 6:30 p.m.
TV: ESPNU
Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
UNT is a talented team. They are in 3rd place in their conference and should be a ranked team by now. Of course, it’s the American Conference and they’re not a national factor like other teams are right now. Keep an eye on the Mean Green though… they can sneak into the college playoffs if they win their last 2 games and go 11-1 on the season. Rice would like to play spoiler at home this week. This game will come down to how well the quarterbacks play Saturday night in Houston. ESPN has the Mean Green with a 89.8% chance of winning on the road. I’m taking UNT by 10+ The UNT offense is just too talented to be stopped by Rice.
Final Score
Mean Green – 35
Owls – 20
TCU Horned Frogs (6-4, 3-4 Big 12) vs #23 Houston Cougars (8-2, 5-2 Big 12)
Saturday – November 22 – 3:00 p.m.
TV: FOX
TDECU Stadium – Houston, TX
This will be my trap game of the week. Houston is a really good football team that’s currently sitting in 4th place in the Big 12 conference while TCU is in 10th place. Don’t let the records fool you. TCU is a good team that can pull off a win at any time. Both teams are bowl eligible and getting a win would be huge for both schools. ESPN has the Frogs with a 53.2% chance of winning on the road. I’m taking TCU by 5 in Houston. The key for TCU will be creating turnovers and scoring in the red zone.
Final Score
TCU – 27
#23 Cougars – 21
Louisville Cardinals (7-3, 4-3 ACC) vs SMU Mustangs (7-3, 5-1 ACC)
Saturday – November 22 – 11:00 a.m.
TV: ESPN2
Gerald R. Ford Stadium – Dallas, TX
Both teams are sitting in the thick of things in the ACC right now. SMU is currently in 4th place while the Cardinals are in 8th in the conference. This game will be huge for both teams because one game separates them in the standings. SMU is 4-1 in the last 5 games while Louisville is 3-2 in that span. The x-factor for a Mustang win at home will be their secondary. Creating turnovers and scoring off of them will allow the Mustangs to get a win at home. ESPN has the Mustangs with 67.7% chance of winning at home and I’m following suit.
Final Score
Mustangs – 31
Cardinals – 27
#15 USC Trojans (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten) vs #7 Oregon Ducks (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten)
Saturday – November 22 – 2:30 p.m.
TV: CBS
Autzan Stadium – Eugene, OR
The Big Ten is all jumbled up right now. The conference is so tight at the top that there’s only a half game that separates these two teams. Ohio State and Indiana are 1 and 2 respectively. Both teams mirror each other in stats. Quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers have identical numbers. The x-factor will be how well the defenses play Saturday afternoon. The team that creates and scores off of turnovers will win this game. ESPN has the Ducks with a 72.0% chance of winning at home. I’m taking the Trojans in an upset this week. The Trojan defense is the more physical unit in this game.
Final Score
#15 Trojans – 34
#7 Ducks – 31
