It’s another big weekend of college football action. Here are the storylines that are the most intriguing:
Tennessee (+6) at Mississippi – The large majority of the bets have been on the Vols, but the line is on an elevator up – from 3.5 where it opened to six now. That isn’t what you would expect, and that means that some smart money is hitting Mississippi fairly hard. It will be interesting to see if Mississippi can back up the faith.
Georgia Tech (-13) at Duke – The Yellow Jackets are rapidly rising up the rankings after some consistently strong and often impressive play. If they want to continue climbing higher then this is the kind of game that they need to win by major daylight.
Michigan (+8.5) at Wisconsin – Actually, I don’t find this one intriguing. I find it painful. I’m not even sure that I can bear to watch this mess as my team self-destructs n front of my eyes.
Idaho (+31.5) at Boise State – speaking of teams that need an overwhelming win if they have any hope of continuing to climb up the rankings. It’s unlikely, but a 50 point win wouldn’t hurt.
Florida (-17.5) at South Carolina – If Florida doesn’t look good – really good – in winning this one then I have a suspicion that their days atop the polls could be limited – especially if Texas and/or Alabama looks really good. South Carolina should be ready for this one -Spurrier still has issues with his former employer.
Iowa (+16.5) at Ohio State – This is the closest thing to a playoff the Big Ten can offer. The winner of this one is almost certainly going to the BCS. The loser may as well, but not to the Rose Bowl.
Stanford (+10.5) at USC – One win over a conference power was huge for Stanford. A second would be program-defining. USC won’t win the Pac-10, but they really, really need a win here. This is a battle between very impressive freshmen QBs.
Alabama (-12.5) at Mississippi State – The Tide are unbeaten, but they have yo-yoed up and down the top of the rankings because of the quality of their play. Number one is still totally within their reach, and a huge win here would be a very good start.
Arizona (+3) at Cal – If Arizona wins out then they are the conference champs. The line movement here is very interesting. Arizona opened as favorites and have drawn the majority of the bets, but the line has swung all the way around so that Arizona has the key number of three on their side. That means that the smart money has been in love with Cal. Interesting.
Utah (+20) at TCU – TCU has two things in mind here – maintaining and hopefully improving their BCS standing, and avenging the loss to Utah last year that derailed another promising season.
Notre Dame (+6.5) at Pitt – Charlie Weis doesn’t deserve to survive the season he has had already. I see no way that he would survive another loss. Here’s hoping he gets it here.
