Welcome to The Funvee Tailgate! Week 5 did not disappoint. Clemson/Louisville was one of the best games of the year! Michigan/Wisconsin was a classic Big Ten struggle and while Washington may have smoked Stanford, it creates a fun title run to watch in the Pac-12 North for the Huskies. Tennessee remained undefeated but was questionable, again. FSU lost again but UNC is re-emerging in the ACC after their early season loss to Georgia. Let’s fire up the tailgate…

Thursday Night Recap:

No Top 25 Matchups were played last night but we did see Temple/Memphis out of the American. The Owls seemed to be in control taking a 13-7 lead into the half. The Tigers responded by exploding for a 71 touchdown run to start a 17 point third quarter and winning the game 34-27. Memphis lost to Ole Miss last but the Tigers are off and running in AAC play. Temple falls to 3-3 as the Owls haven’t re-captured the magic of last year.

Big Games This Week:

Friday Night:

#3 Clemson and #19 Boise State both hit the road tonight as 17+ favorites against conference foes Boston College and New Mexico, respectively. Both teams should move on to 6-0 although I think Clemson has a tougher time covering the spread. Elsewhere we have the UMass/Old Dominion game playing tonight instead of tomorrow due to Hurricane Matthew. The Hurricane has postponed the LSU/Florida and Tulane/UCF games and I’m sure we’ll hear about more games having their kickoff pushed up as well. Stay safe everyone in Florida!

Even More Saturday Chaos:

#2 Ohio State, #4 Michigan, and #6 Houston are massive favorites heading into tomorrow; all should stay undefeated as they continue through their respective conference schedules. Plenty of big games in the fray this weekend including another Top 10 showdown in the SEC:

• Texas vs. #20 Oklahoma at noon on FS1 from the Cotton Bowl–The Red River Rivalry comes at us this season as both teams come in after disappointing starts to the season. Texas was “back” and Oklahoma was supposed to win it all. Oklahoma is an 11.5-point favorite, I don’t think they cover but the Sooners win outright.
• #9 Tennessee at #8 Texas A&M at 3:30pm on CBS–Tennessee once again is in a “show-me” game as they defeated Georgia on a hail mary last week. It gets harder playing the Aggies this week and hosting Alabama next week. A&M has been solid all season and takes on Alabama after Tennessee does. Trevor Knight and the A&M receiving core will be stellar over the Vols’ secondary, A&M wins and covers the 7-point spread.
• #25 Virginia Tech at #17 UNC at 3:30pm on ESPN–Virginia Tech enters the Top 25 for the first time this season as they hit the road for the first time while UNC is riding high after their big win at Florida State last week. UNC gives 1.5 practically because they’re the home team, so it’s pretty much a tossup straight up (according to the odds) Both schools feature great secondaries so it could become down to who can dominate the ground-and-pound. UNC’s run defense has been shaky at times but I like RB Elijah Hood. UNC wins.
• #21 Colorado at USC at 4:00pm on Pac-12 Network–Vegas must love USC at home, the Trojans are a 3.5 favorite against a solid Colorado Buffaloes team. Colorado has a Top 25 defense and is 14th in the nation in scoring. USC ranks in the bottom half on both sides of the ball. These teams were supposed be having opposite seasons but that’s why preseason rankings can be misleading, Colorado wins.
• #1 Alabama at #16 Arkansas at 7:00pm on ESPN–If Arkansas hadn’t been ranked, I would have thrown this game in the blurb above with OSU, Michigan, and Houston. Bama is a 14-point road favorite and say what you will about the Razorbacks against ranked foes, this is Nick Saban we’re talking about. Alabama wins and covers.
• #5 Washington at Oregon at 7:30pm on FOX–Similar to USC, Oregon should have had a better season but an upset at Nebraska three weeks ago seemed to derail their season. Washington is rolling after CRUSHING Stanford last week. The Huskies are 9.5 point favorites in this one, they cover for an outright Washington win.
• #23 Florida State at #10 Miami at 8:00pm on ABC–The U is back! Sitting in the Atlantic Division, Miami has to simply make it through this game and next week’s showdown with UNC to rep the division in the ACC title, presumably. FSU wants to avenge their poor start to ACC play against their arch-rival. QB Deondre Francois will have to do it against a solid Miami defense that is a field goal favorite. UM Coach Mark Richt gets it done, Hurricanes win.
• Arizona at #24 Utah at 10:00pm on FS1–Utah has been solid on both sides of the ball for passing but the run defense and rush attack have been suspect. Arizona RB Brandon Dawkins could have a day but I like the tandem of Utes QB Troy Williams and WR Tim Patrick. Utes win but don’t cover the 10-point spread.
• Washington State at #15 Stanford at 10:30pm on ESPN–Christian McCaffrey had a bad week against Washington. He and David Shaw are out for vengeance, Stanford wins and covers the 7.5 point spread.

Lehigh has won three-straight games against Ivy League opponents to close out non-conference play 3-2! They now turn to the Patriot League and a tough opponent in Colgate. Don’t let the Raiders 1-3 record fool you, Colgate is a good football team. The Raiders played well in losses against FBS Syracuse, Richmond, and Cornell and their lone win comes from a common opponent: Yale. The Raiders beat Yale 55-13 while Lehigh and Yale had a higher scoring affair with the Mountain Hawks winning 63-35. Sophomore QB Brad Myers started in place of senior Nick Shafnisky and Myers tossed for six TDs and over 500 yards. Colgate’s defense has been solid and whomever starts under center will need to be sharp for Lehigh.

Disagree with my picks? Did I miss a matchup you wanted me to talk about? Let me know in the comments!

(cover photo via)