Last week I was 4-2 again. Bringing my total to 25-14 on the year. I’ve been pretty good with the SEC this year, but a bit off with the PAC12. Have some more top 25 match-ups this week and our first non-SEC top 5 match-up of the year. Still looking for that perfect 6-0 week. So in search of perfection here goes Week 8’s predictions.
Kansas State @ Oklahoma
Kansas St 4.21
Oklahoma 4.60
Both have performed better in relation to their expectations on the year and this should be a good game. Kansas State generally shows up in these big games and at least keeps them close. However Norman is a tough place to win. Oklahoma has more experience and is way more talented. However Kansas State’s strength is stopping the run, which is Oklahoma’s strength as well (running the ball). It should be a relatively defensive (for the Big12) ball game. Both defenses have played well, however Oklahoma’s offense has been good, where as Kansas State’s not so much.
Prediction: Oklahoma uses the home-field advantage and gets by Kansas State 35-24
Texas A&M @ Alabama
TAMU 4.37
Alabama 4.69
Both teams have shown some real liabilities this year on both sides of the ball and have been inconsistent. This game is quickly becoming a yearly SEC favorite as they have went to battle the last 2 years and TAMU’s offense is the bane of Nick Saban’s existence and what he hates the most. I don’t think this game will be any different in terms of the drama and intensity as it was the last 2 years. TAMU’s offense which came out very hot to start the season has been grounded the last few weeks as Kenny Hill and the receivers have been out of sync and inconsistent. TAMU’s defense has also been getting shredded the last few weeks. Alabama last 2 weeks ago to Ole Miss and looked pedestrian against Arkansas (winning by a point). Think Texas AM will have success on offense and get it back going again, but Alabama will run through and around TAMU’s defense.
Predictions: Alabama makes just enough stops to get the win in Tuscaloosa 44-34
Oklahoma State @ Texas Christian
Ok State 4.11
TCU 4.44
Both of these teams have performed much better than expected. Oklahoma State is very young, but they are talented and TCU is finally getting the kind of depth and athletes needed to perform at a high level in a P5 Conference. Both teams are without their best QB and will struggle with consistency on offense. Both defenses thrive on big plays and speed. TCU has slightly more talent and more experience and are more talented on the lines. Expect this to be a big play slug fest as both teams will make big plays on offense and big plays on defense.
Prediction: TCU wins a close game at home topping Oklahoma State 28-24
Washington @ Oregon
Washington 4.35
Oregon 4.28
Washington is one of the most underrated teams so far this season. I put them right about where Auburn was last year as they learn a new system and find ways to win as they learn that system. Now I’m not going to say they will explode like Auburn did last year and start trampling people, but they should get it together and LOOK more impressive over the last half of the season, even if it doesn’t show on their record. Both teams are very talented and have a good amount of experience. The real battle here is how will Washington’s offense show up. They have looked pretty pedestrian so far, but it does have talent and Oregon’s defense has not looked great. If Washington can get their offense going, this good be a classic game. Oregon’s offense is getting back to full health and looked very good last year. However Chris Peterson has a knack for pulling out big wins and Washington’s defense has been good in stopping the run. However Mariotta should have a lot of open passing windows.
Prediction: Oregon wins in Eugene 38-31
Notre Dame @ Florida State
ND 4.57
FSU 4.75
Both of these teams are ranked in the top 5 in both polls. Both teams are very talented, however FSU has considerably more speed than ND, as well as experience (particularly on offense). Notre Dame is still without 3 starters and will be without them for the remainder of the year. Notre Dame has been solid but not great in every aspect of the game except pass defense. Which is not a good thing when you are going against a Heisman Trophy winning QB and a few potential first round targets at WR. Florida State should be able to score plenty of points. The real question here is which FSU defense will show up. Will it be the first half defense against Ok State and the defense that held Clemson to 17 points? Or will it be the defense that missed 33 tackles against NC State and gave up many big plays to Syracuse? Golson has been known to turn the ball over and FSU’s defense showed signs last week of being the opportunistic defense from 2013.
Prediction: Florida State’s defense has a good showing and gets some turnovers as Jameis Winston leads FSU 41-23
Stanford @ Arizona State
Stanford 4.44
Arizona State 3.84
Stanford’s defense has been outstanding this year, stopping the run as well as they stop the pass. However they have not been able to get their offense going. About the only bright spot for Arizona State this year has been their passing game. Arizona State should be able to get a few drives together with their offense, but Stanford will control this game and keep the home crowd out of it. But will their offense be able to score enough to win?
Prediction: Stanford wins 28-21 on the back of their defense
Speak Your Mind