College Football 2017 Week 4 thread

Here are the most interesting games and lines for Week 4. As always, all point spreads from Vegas Insider and all times Eastern:

Thursday

Temple (+20.5) at South Florida, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Friday

Virginia (+13) at Boise State, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Utah (-4) at Arizona, 10:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1

Saturday

N.C. State (+11) at Florida State, noon, ABC or ESPN2

Texas Tech (+6) at Houston, noon, ABC or ESPN2

Arkansas (+3) vs. Texas A&M (at Arlington), noon, ESPN

USC (-16) at California, 3:30 p.m., ABC

Alabama (-18.5) at Vanderbilt, 3:30 p.m., CBS

TCU (+12.5) at Oklahoma State, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Duke (-3) at North Carolina, 3:30 p.m., ESPNU

Toledo (+13) at Miami, 3:30 p.m., FSN Regional

Michigan (-9.5) at Purdue, 4 p.m., Fox

Mississippi State (+6.5) at Georgia, 7 p.m., ESPN

San Diego State (-4.5) at Air Force, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network

Penn State (-13) at Iowa, 7:30 p.m., ABC

Florida (-2.5) at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network

Notre Dame (-3.5) at Michigan State, 8 p.m., Fox

Washington (-10) at Colorado, 10 p.m., Fox Sports 1

UCLA (+7) at Stanford, 10:30 p.m., ESPN

 

The Battle of the SEC Bulldogs got a lot more interesting after the thumping the Bizarro Bulldogs put on LSU this past weekend.

 

Florida-Kentucky may be 6-3.
TCU-Okie Lite may be 66-63.

 

I am pretty sure it will end in humdrum, sort-of-rout fashion ... but USC at Cal is surprisingly intriguing. It's hard to even explain the immediate culture change in Berkeley under Justin Wilcox. They've beaten North Carolina and Ole Miss and done it with defense both times. To anyone who watched Sonny Dykes' completely indifferent defensive efforts over the last four years, it's a little bit amazing.

I honestly thought Berkeley had become an impossible job with the new academic restrictions and the budget crisis.

 

Oklahoma (-27) at Baylor.
Bet it all on the wagons.
Baylor is that bad.
Take Okie Lite (-12.5) vs TCU.

 

More goodies on an underdog weekend.
Take Tech (+6) @ Houston
Take Vanderbilt (+18.5) vs Alabama
Take Colorado (+10) vs UW

 

Vandy probably won't even score against Alabama.

 

Baylor has to cover one of these weekends.

Vandy had so much taken out of them from the K-State game. They'll have nothing left for Alabama. Tide will win 28-3. Vandy has played this home game for years -- no offense and eventually the defense breaks in the third.

 

Don't kid yourself. Over time, it will be. The academic restrictions haven't had time to kick in yet. If I were Wilcox, I'd try to go 7-6 and 8-5 and get out.

 

I like State to cover 6-1/2 and maybe win outright. They just lined up and whipped LSU in the trenches and it was no fluke. Although, to be fair, LSU was way overrated.

 

Yeah, the fact that it is in Athens and MSU is coming off an emotional win work in Georgia's favor. But the true Bulldogs haven't erased their history of folding in big games, even at home. I'd definitely take the points.

 

I'm guessing Georgia won't be wearing black jerseys for this one.