College football week 12 thread

Not any "games of the century" this week, but still a few intriguing matchups ...

(All times Eastern)

Wednesday

Ball State (+6) at Northern Illinois, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Thursday

Georgia Tech (+10) at Clemson, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Friday

Washington (+2.5) at UCLA, 9 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday

Cincinnati (-2) at Rutgers, noon, ESPNews

Maryland (+15) at Virginia Tech, 12:30 p.m., ACC Network

Syracuse (+39) at Florida State, 3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2

Georgia (+4) at Auburn, 3:30 p.m., CBS

Oklahoma State (-3) at Texas, 3:30 p.m., Fox

Michigan State (-6.5) at Nebraska, 3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2

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

Utah at Oregon, 4 p.m., Fox Sports 1 --- no line yet, presumably due to Marcus Mariota’s knee

Texas Tech (+26.5) at Baylor, 7 p.m., Fox

Florida (+13.5) at South Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN2

Houston (+16) at Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPNU

Alabama (-24.5) at Mississippi State, 7:45 p.m., ESPN

Stanford (-3) at USC, 8 p.m., ABC

Oregon State (+13.5) at Arizona State, 9:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network

 

I'm not saying it will happen, but I wouldn't be shocked if USC rose up and beat Stanford. They're playing much better under Orgeron as of late.

 

I see the line on Georgia-Auburn has already widened from 3/3.5, but if home-field is still worth three points, is Vegas really saying that Auburn on a neutral field is one point better than Georgia? Really?

 

From Clay Travis' weekly "Starting 11" column:

http://outkickthecoverage.com/starting-11-its-bama-and-florida-state-for-the-bcs-title.php

 

I'd really be wary if I were Baylor, Stanford and Bama - let down games can be brutal.

 

Baylor has Texas Tech. Alabama has Mississippi State. Their real tests come later.

But I agree with Matador that USC could possibly shock Stanford. Stanford once shocked USC (2007) when the Trojans were a 41-point favorite.

 

As good as Tech's offense is, it's not good enough to overcome the number of points its defense is going to surrender.

 

I think it's a combination of three things:
1) Historical bias against Auburn (despite the fact they've won tons of big games over the years)
2) Still-lingering questions about a team that went winless in the SEC last year... are they really this good, or when will they slip up?
3) The topsy-turvy nature of the SEC this year. A&M almost beats Bama and then falls to Ole Miss. Georgia beats LSU, but loses to Vandy. South Carolina beats Vandy but falls to the Vols. It's hard to say what's what.

I still wonder if Auburn will slip up. Is their defense good enough to withstand a healthy Todd Gurley? Aaron Murray has had their number the last two years. Just tons of questions. They'll certainly be interesting to watch down the stretch. And, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm an Auburn homer... so take my thoughts with that in mind.

 

Hate to be a stickler, but Texas A&M didn't "almost beat Bama."

The Aggies never led after the first quarter and trailed by three touchdowns heading into the fourth. They never had the ball with a chance to even tie the game --- let alone take the lead --- after the second quarter.

Also, Ole Miss didn't beat Texas A&M. Only Alabama and Auburn have. Ole Miss did beat LSU.

 

I googled "Duke Football Schedule" immediately after VT's win against Miami on Saturday night. Not my finest moment. Alas, I'll be rooting for Miami this weekend.

Also, Miami is still ranked somehow, which is absurd.

 

If Texas A&M and Texas Tech played this year, the over/under would be 150.

 

Yeah, I think Auburn is a little better. Not much. Three weeks ago I would have taken Auburn by 10. But Georgia is a little healthier now and its backups have gotten valuable game experience.

What's the SEC East tiebreak if Missouri, Georgia and South Carolina all finish with two conference losses and each goes 1-1 against the other two?