College Football Week 7 in Review!
Hey, everyone.
Another great week of college football is in the books. There were a lot of great games on Saturday and a bunch of big upsets. College football never fails to deliver!
The BIG games
LSU 36 Georgia 16
Wow. You knew that the Tigers had a shot to win this one playing at home in Death Valley but it was the WAY that they did it that was so impressive. The defense was outstanding and they rushed for 275 (!) yards on the tough Bulldogs stop unit. We are very happy for Coach O.
Oregon 30 Washington 27 (OT)
This was an entertaining and back-and-forth affair. The Huskies did a pretty good job of holding Ducks star QB Justin Herbert from doing too much damage and this game could have gone either way. The PAC-12 is WIDE OPEN on both sides of the conference. If you enjoy the occasional mid-season futures wager there is ample opportunity to bag a nice priced conference winner.
Michigan 38 Wisconsin 13
Total domination as the Wolverines rushed for 320 yards at the Big House. The Wisconsin formula is still a good one BUT it only works if you have a very good to great defense. Sadly, that is not the case this season. The Michigan, Michigan St, Ohio St STEEL CAGE MATCH for all the Big Ten East marbles starts this week as Michigan takes on Michigan St in East Lansing.
Michigan St 21 Penn St 17
Just when you think the Spartans are done they pull another upset out of the hat under HC Mark Dantonio. They held the ball for 34 minutes and NFL COACHES TAKE NOTE. Michigan St actually tried to score a TD down by 3 points late in the game instead of going for the tie. We are going to miss watching Penn St QB Trace McSorley playing on Saturdays next season.
Notre Dame 19 Pittsburgh 14
Oh, those wacky Panthers. Once in a while they just pull these great games out of nowhere. The offense didn’t do much but they held the Irish ground attack to just 80 net yards. We did not anticipate this being a “big game” but Pitt was in it until the very end and almost SHOCKED the WORLD. We will find out if this was just a blip on the radar for Notre Dame or a HARBINGER of things to come. <grabs popcorn>
MEGALOCKS TOP 10 after WEEK 7
This is how we rate teams based on who would win a theoretical match-up on a neutral site. It is NOT meant to be a “playoff” ranking.
- ROLL TIDE – They are a sophisticated football ROBOT sent back from the year 2439 to destroy everything in their path. Just kidding. Not really.
- Ohio St – Have these guys even with Clemson on a neutral site. The D has holes.
- Clemson – Should be able to torch everything in their path down the stretch. Then again……
- LSU – Clear notch below the top-3. Were clearly the better team vs Georgia.
- Notre Dame – Bit of a stinker this week but they are a well-rounded squad.
Next in line (in alphabetical order)
Florida – HUGE game with the Bulldogs on October 27th.
Georgia – Loads of talent, but unproven so far this season.
Michigan – D is flat out nasty. Would make them a slight dog to LSU and Notre Dame at a neutral site.
Oklahoma – Top-notch QB. Will the change at DC help?
Texas – QB Sam Ehlinger has a bye week to get healthy after getting injured on Saturday.
How is our predicted FINAL FOUR looking right now?
ROLL TIDE, Georgia, Clemson, Wisconsin.
This is the time of year when the carnage usually begins! ROLL TIDE seems unstoppable but the game at LSU on November 3rd may not be a layup (?). Clemson has a clear path and very manageable schedule. Georgia is more than capable of running the table but will almost certainly need to do just that (would include a win over ROLL TIDE in SEC Championship) to get their way back to the playoff. The Wisconsin D was not up to the task this season.
Assessing the damage – Playoff FIRESIDE CHAT with MEGALOCKS
Pull up a chair, grab some marshmallows and settle in for another FIRESIDE CHAT.
Now things are getting interesting! This happens EVERY year and EVERY year people forget that there are upsets in college football. Undefeated teams are becoming a rare breed and it’s only week 8.
The good news? Now we don’t have to listen to people saying, “What if there are, like nine undefeated teams, like someone is gonna get ripped off. We need like, a 64-team playoff.” Bad news? Now we have to listen to, “What if there are like, nine one-loss teams, like someone is gonna get ripped off. We need like a 128-team playoff.”
How do things look right now?
Things can change in a heartbeat, but it still seems clear to us that ROLL TIDE and Clemson should be safe based on their remaining schedules. Ohio St is looking good but they are not automatic. Notre Dame? Their last five games are sneaky-tough. They only beat Pitt by five on Saturday. Who can sneak into this thing assuming that one of those teams slips up?
Here are odds for some SPICY LONGSHOTS from a major offshore book as we go to press.
Michigan +1600
Assuming they can slither past the Spartans this weekend they would have to take down Ohio St. They would be theoretical decent-size favorites in the Big Ten Championship should they make it that far.
Texas +2500
Maybe our favorite bomb. They would need to run the table but it’s not impossible. They already have wins over TCU and Oklahoma.
Oklahoma +3300, West Virginia +10000
Same situation as the Longhorns. Would probably lean with Oklahoma here at 33-1. Mountaineers have a tough slate of games to come later in the year.
LSU +3300
Would almost certainly have to win EVERY remaining game (ROLL TIDE, at Texas A&M, SEC Championship). Seems like a tall order.
Florida +5000
Need a win over Georgia on October 27th and a clean slate the rest of the way. Not likely.
Oregon +15000
Worth throwing some beer money on it. Nobody in the PAC-12 is invincible. No room for error though and non-conference slate was weak. Hard to argue with 150-1.
The most likely team to BUST things up? We think that Michigan, Texas or Oklahoma is enticing at those odds. Oregon if you can get that wager past your risk management department.
SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEEK!!
Enjoy week 8.