Week 3: Missouri’s in a ranked match-up!

After two games against basketball schools, No.6 Missouri finally has a team against a Power-4 team, and it’s Boston College, who have found themselves ranked (No.24).

It’s the only ranked match-up in SEC play, although there is a helmet game when Alabama rolls into Camp Randall to play Wisconsin on what with a vociferous atmosphere.

Having said all of that, South Carolina could go 2-0 in SEC play when No.17 LSU comes into town after thumping Kentucky on the road last week.

Meanwhile, Georgia hosts Kentucky, Florida hosts Texas A&M, Ole Miss travels to Wake Forest, Oklahoma plays Tulane, and Arkansas hosts UAB, and Vanderbilt tries to go 3-0 at mighty Georgia State. Auburn plays New Mexico, it’s Mississippi State – Toledo, Tennessee-Kent State, and Texas will score near to 100 against a bad UTSA team.

So here we go, in order of games it will actually be interesting to watch

1.  No.24 Boston College at No.6 Missouri (-16): This will be the first time we see Luther Burden and Theo Wease do their thing against Boston College’s defense, with Brady Cook some fun stuff around the pocket. Boston College had a huge result when they thumped Florida State, which made people think: “Are the Eagles actually for real after all?” Thomas Castellanos will be expected to continue not to throw it all out there, relying on Kyle Robichaux for some ground work. But it’s going to be hard against Missouri’s defense, who haven’t missed a beat since DC Blake Baker waltzed off to LSU. PREDICTION: Missouri with the big win. Missouri 42, Boston 14.
2.  No.17 LSU (-7) at South Carolina: Was Kentucky’s offensive line so bad that South Carolina sacked Brock Vandergriff 5 times, or were the Gamecocks simply good in their 31-6 win. The offense wasn’t great, but LaNorris Sellers is early in his time in Columbia, so let’s give him a bit of a break, shall we? (They had 252 yards and 2 TDs). The third was a Pick-6. LSU coming to town should be more interesting. The atmosphere at Williams-Brice will be off-the-hook, particularly with College Gameday there for the first time in 10 years. LSU’s gonna feel a lot of pressure. LSU’s lack of discipline and the usual bad tackling cost the Tigers a win against USC. Brian Kelly’s buyout might not indicate that he’s not on the hot seat, but a loss against South Carolina puts the Tigers behind the 8-ball when it comes to Play-Off qualification. They will need Garrett Nussmeier and Kyren Lacy to put on a show. One X-factor? The weather’s meant to be horrific, as the weather behind Hurricane Francine travels through. PREDICTION: South Carolina with the ‘upset’. South Carolina 35, LSU 30.
3.  Texas A&M (-3.5) at Florida: The spread would have been a lot worse at DJ Lagway – who put up over 400 yards last week against Samford – suddenly gave the Gators fans a bit of the needed ‘Oomph’. Coupled together with a Texas A&M team who are still struggling with their quarterback Connor Weigman, who has been poor this year. Anyway, this one should be a lot funner that a bunch of us expect. PREDICTION: Chomp! Chomp! Florida 45, Texas A&M 35. 
4.  No.4 Alabama (-16) at Wisconsin: To put this betting-wise, someone thinks Alabama’s going to win by three scores at Wisconsin. The first line was 8.5, and now it’s 16, after Wisconsin’s sluggish start to the year, and apparently the Crimson Tide hasn’t missed a beat after the retirement of Nick Saban. But if the bettors had watched all of the South Florida game, it would have been apparent that Alabama fans weren’t all that happy until the fourth quarter. The mercurial Tyler Van Dyke’s now the starting QB for the Badgers, and they’ll try and reduce by giving the ball to Cade Yacamelli and hoping he will punch it in. On the other side of the ball, Alabama’s had their problems with ball security, with Milroe and Jam Miller causing his team problems. PREDICTION: Alabama will struggle, come through later. Alabama 28, Wisconsin 14. 
5.  Tulane (-13.5) at No.15 Oklahoma: OU was dreadful against Houston. Forget about point spreads, they just were. It took a late interception and a late safety to ward off the Cougars. Tulane should have beaten Kansas State on the road last week, so let’s forget about Oklahoma overlooking them. OU is going to face a team who frankly should be a Power 5 team (you could argue that they are better than a bunch of ACC schools), and hasn’t seemed to miss a beat despite their head coach and starting QB leaving. Watch out for Tulane QB Darian Mensah, a former 3-start QB who threw for nearly 350 yards and will be going to somewhere else next year. As for the Sooners, Jackson Arnold’s going to have to pick up his game – he’s been so dreadful that people are already talking about benching him. There are also worries about OU’s running game. This is going to be a tight one. PREDICTION: A monster upset in Norman. Tulane 33, Oklahoma 31.
6. No.5 Ole Miss (-23.5) at Wake Forest: Ole Miss is good, Wake Forest was bad enough to blow a 10-point lead to mighty Virginia. This ain’t gonna be close, folks.  PREDICTION: This is meant to be interesting because it’s Ole Miss’ first FBS match-up but it won’t be. Ole Miss 61, Wake Forest 10.
7.  No.1 Georgia (-24) at Kentucky: If Kentucky’s offensive line as horrible as it was against South Carolina, then their former Georgia back-up is going spend most of his life trying to not get killed. It might not even be a slow-burn from Georgia, because Kentucky’s so bad, they might be up 21 by the first quarter. PREDICTION: Bulldogs bark, Wildcats shrink. Georgia 58, Kentucky 10
8.  Vanderbilt (-10.5) at Georgia State: Vanderbilt has the chance to go 3-0 since 2017….and we’re all here for it! Can’t wait to see some more Diego Pavia highlights, who’s doing it all for the Commodores. Georgia State, however, are feisty. Pitt transfer Christian Veilleux is a pretty good quarterback for GSU, with Ted Hunt leading the way. PREDICTION: VANDERBILT GOES 3-0!! Vanderbilt 28, Georgia State 28.
9.  UAB at Arkansas (-24.5): Arkansas should be 2-0, but they’ve got themselves to blame. UAB is simply not good, and this will be done by the first half. PREDICTION: Arkansas 55, UAB 10.
10.  New Mexico at Auburn (-28.5): Auburn was meant to be Cal comfortably last year, and they really, really didn’t. Payton Thorne simply is not the answer – and there are worries about WR Cam Coleman and starting RT Izavion Miller. PREDICTION: Auburn 45, New Mexico 17
11. Kent State at Tennessee (-49): Game’s that won’t be close? This one. PREDICTION: Tennessee 61, Kent State 10.
12.  UTSA at Texas (-35): Games that won’t be close? This one. PREDICTION: Texas 56, UTSA 7