By DaVince “Dino” Wright
College Football This Week
College football this season has been eventful. Teams like Clemson, Colorado, Florida, Miami, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and UCLA are teams that have so much football tradition that have failed up to this point to become bowl eligible this season. With so much money, parity and the transfer portal these components have changed the landscape of college football forever. Teams like UNT, SMU, BYU, Indiana, Utah and James Madison are threatening the blue bloods of college football for national prominence and I love it! There are several big games taking place with week with UNT taking on Temple, SMU facing California, Cincinnati playing TCU, Texas A&M at Texas, Ohio State and Michigan this weekend while Georgia and Georgia Tech have their state rivalry this weekend to name a few. I will give my previews along with my final score predictions for many of these games.
Game Info
Temple Owls (5-6, 3-4 American) vs North Texas (10-1, 6-1 American)
Friday – November 28 – 2:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
DATCU Stadium – Denton, TX
UNT should be ranked nationally right now. The American conference has some good teams in it, but the CFP isn’t recognizing how good this team is. UNT quarterback Drew Mestemaker has been under the radar. He has Heisman type numbers, but no one is talking about him. He has 3469 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. The Mean Green will play in a bowl game this season (probably somewhere in Texas), but not in the college football playoff (hope I’m wrong here). UNT will need to go out and destroy Temple to prove their point. This will be an emotional game for the Mean Green since it has been announced that head coach Eric Morris will be the next Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach after this season and this will be his last home game fwith the Mean Green. ESPN has the Mean Green with a 90.9% chance of winning at home. I’m taking UNT by 15+
Final Score
Mean Green – 35
Owls – 10
Game Info
#21 SMU Mustangs (8-3, 6-1 ACC) vs California Bears (6-5, 3-4 ACC)
Saturday – November 29 – 7:00 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
California Memorial Stadium – Berkley, CA
The Mustangs are in a great place in the ACC. The team is ranked again and looking to finish the season on a high note. SMU should establish the run first to open up the passing game. Junior quarterback Kevin Jennings has a chance to right the wrong from last season. He has a chance to play in the ACC championship game and get into the college football playoff but must first beat Cal on the road. This will be a huge game for SMU finishing out the season. ESPN has the Mustangs with a 85.5% chance of winning on the road. I’m taking SMU by 14!
Final Score
#21 Mustangs – 31
Bears – 17
Game Info
Cincinnati Bearcats (7-4, 5-3 Big 12) vs TCU Horned Frogs (7-4, 4-4 Big 12)
Saturday – November 29 – 2:30 p.m.
TV: FOX
Amon G. Carter Stadium – Ft. Worth, TX
TCU has had a pretty good season so far but are definitely not on the college football playoff radar. They are however bowl eligible with 7 games. The team has a chance of getting into a nice bowl game this season with another win this weekend. Keep an eye on quarterback Josh Hoover. He will be the x-factor for TCU. Right now he has 3166 passing yards with 25 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Hoover has to be the key against the Bearcats secondary. ESPN has the Horned Frogs with a 61.8% chance of winning at home. I’m taking TCU by 4!
Final Score
Horned Frogs – 27
Bearcats – 23
Game Info
#3 Texas A&M Aggies (11-0, 7-0 SEC) vs #17 Texas Longhorns (8-3, 5-2 SEC)
Friday – November 28 – 6:30 p.m.
TV: ABC
DKR – Texas Memorial Stadium – Austin, TX
The SEC is one of the top conferences in the country. No doubt about that. Texas A&M is ranked number 3 in the nation while Texas is ranked 17th. Both teams are in the SEC and the conference has 9 teams nationally ranked in the top 25. This game will be huge for both teams. This rivalry goes all the way back to the old Southwest Conference. Texas leads the all-time series between the two schools with 77 wins, 37 loses and 5 ties. I’m not sure if anyone cares other than fans of the two school… but this game will catapult the winning school into the SEC championship game. ESPN has the Longhorns with a 51.5% chance of winning at home. This is a toss-up game and Texas quarterback Arch Manning makes me nervous in big games. See his performances against Ohio State and Georgia. As a result I’m taking Texas A&M by 9!
Final Score
#3 Aggies – 30
#17 Longhorns – 21
Game Info
#1 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) vs #18 Michigan Wolverines (9-2, 7-1 Big Ten)
Saturday – November 29 – 11:00 a.m.
TV: FOX
Michigan Stadium – Ann Arbor, MI
This will a dogfight between these two teams. “No one cares how your season went: just beat Michigan or Ohio State!” These schools have been rivals since 1897. Michigan has owned Ohio State with an all-time record of 62-51-6. It’s been a while since Ohio State beat Michigan, and a win Saturday will be the icing on the cake for a great season. ESPN has the Buckeyes with a 78.2% chance of winning on the road. I’m taking Ohio State by 6! It will come down to the 4th quarter for this game.
Final Score
#1 Buckeyes – 30
#18 Wolverines – 24
Game Info
#4 Georgia Bulldogs (10-1, 7-1 SEC) vs #23 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-2, 6-2 ACC)
Friday – November 28 – 2:30PM
TV: ABC
Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, GA
This game is a huge rivalry game between these two teams. The Bulldogs have owned the Yellow Jackets 72-39-5 and is one of the oldest series in college football. This game will come down to Tech quarterback Haynes King and Georgia’s signal caller Gunner Stockton. Their numbers are almost identical in every category. The quarterback that plays mistake free ball will win. The x-factor will be the play of the defenses. Creating turnovers and scoring off of them in the red zone will be key on that side of the ball. ESPN has the Bulldogs with a 87.0% chance of winning this one. I’m taking Georgia Tech by 3!
Final Score
#23 Yellow Jackets – 29
#4 Bulldogs – 26
