Welcome back to the Funvee Tailgate BLOG, The THUNDERBLOG’s Weekly College Football Series. If you noticed the emphasis on BLOG, that is because this season we have the podcast tying in as well! Matty D was back this week and we ran through a lot of different theories for how the College Football Playoff can unfold. You definitely need to check it out and here’s the iTunes link to go subscribe. There are so many directions this season can take that no matter where you stand, you will sound like a crazy person. Everyone knows I love to put on the tin foil hat for crazy college football theories. This week should clear some things up but still a lot of football to be played after that. LET’S FIIIIRE IT UP!

Last Week’s Record:

5-8 ATS, 39-50 in 2017. Not good. Although not as bad as last week. So I’ve got that going for me.

Thursday Night CFB:

#20 Stanford squeaked Oregon State last night in a 15-14 thriller. The Cardinal was without star RB Bryce Love but the team managed to pull this one out. Stanford may be out of the CFP hunt but at 5-1 in Pac-12 play, they’re certainly in the hunt for North title.

Friday Night Follies:

Tulane visits #24 Memphis tonight at 8:00 on CBSSN. A couple thoughts: 1) Tulane nearly pulled off the upset of unbeaten South Florida last for one of my only correct picks at +11.5. I’m bragging but Tulane does indeed have the defensive power to keep it close. 2) Memphis, relatively speaking, is criminally underrated. The Tigers only moved up one spot after beating Houston on the road last week. We’ve said a lot about the weird spot the American always seems to be, multiple ranked schools but nowhere close to making the CFP, but they should absolutely be ranked closer than their undefeated conference companions in UCF and USF.

Saturday Slate:

As we mentioned on the podcast, a lot of games this weekend that will make or break a few seasons–playoff elimination games, show-me games, whatever you want to call it, really. Others must watch out for the dreaded trap game to avoid the same fate. #5 Wisconsin, #8 Miami, #10 Oklahoma, and #18 UCF are all massive favorites and should win. Let’s take a look at the rest of the slate:

• #11 Oklahoma State (-7) at #22 West Virginia at noon on ABC–West Virginia has looked better and better every week. OK State could have a bounce-back after barely getting by Texas but I like the Mountaineers. WVU wins outright.
• #2 Penn State (+6.5) at #6 Ohio State at 3:30 on FOX–A lot of things to unpack: I’m honestly shocked that PSU is an underdog here. Ohio State is out looking for revenge. I think the PSU defense is a bit better than what Oklahoma showed OSU but JT Barrett should be better as well. As much as I’d love to see OSU clobber PSU (only time I’d ever root for the Buckeyes), Penn State showed a lot last week. PSU wins outright.
• The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party: #3 Georgia (-14) vs. Florida at 3:30 on CBS in Jacksonville–Georgia should continue to roll here as the wheels are falling off for the Gators. Georgia wins and covers.
• #4 TCU (-6.5) at #25 Iowa State at 3:30 on ABC–TCU should be getting more points. Plain and simple. ISU has done a lot this season but as Matt said on the pod, “they usually get one big upset and they’ve used it.” TCU wins and covers.
• #14 NC State (+7.5) at #9 Notre Dame at 3:30 on NBC–A big show-me game for the Wolfpack, another stop in the gauntlet for ND. The Irish hammered the Trojans and should win here as well. Maybe not as big but they’ll still get it done. ND wins and covers.
• UCLA (+18) at #12 Washington at 3:30 on ESPN2–A lot of points for Jake Browning and crew to make up in this one. Being at home makes the difference. Wash wins and covers.
• #16 Michigan State (-2.5) at Northwestern at 3:30 on ESPN–Look out for Sparty. At 4-0, they’re still tied for the East lead. NU has been quietly a solid team but not the record to show it. This game will help: Wildcats win and cover.
• Houston (+11) at #17 South Florida at 3:45 on ESPNU–USF got close to their first loss last Saturday at Tulane while Houston nearly took down Memphis the night before at home. USF returns home while Houston hits the road here and that’s all the difference you need. USF wins and covers.
• Georgia Tech (+14) at Clemson at 8:00 on ABC–Another line I don’t agree with. Clemson is off their bye week and coming off of a loss. Dabo Sweeney and Kelly Bryant are making sure the Tigers win and that they win BIG. Clemson wins and covers.
• #15 Washington State (-2.5) at Arizona at 9:30 on Pac 12 Network–This applies for the next game as well: good teams go down to the state of Arizona and have a hard time surviving. The key here will be if Arizona’s defense can contain Luke Falk well enough for RB Khalil Tate to take over. That’s a tall order. WSU wins and covers.
• #21 USC (-3.5) at Arizona State at 10:45 on ESPN–Still mantra here. USC could use this as a bounce-back game but I’m not so sure. ASU wins outright.

Lehigh (2-5, 2-0 Patriot) returns to action today to face Fordham. A normally good program, Fordham is having a down year at 2-6 (1-2 Patriot) but did just win their first PL game against Georgetown, who Lehigh beat two weeks ago. Fordham has also fallen to Colgate which was the team Lehigh won their first game against three weeks ago. Lehigh is a half-game up on the Raiders (2-1 in PL play) and can continue to turn around their season as conference play rolls along.

(cover photo via)