So it has been a few weeks but welcome back to the Funvee Tailgate BLOG! The latter half of September turned out to be rather packed between Matty D’s bachelor party, a friend’s wedding, and the Thundercup last weekend, the college football blogging had to take a backseat to the podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and my day job. Nevertheless, the blog is BACK and we’re into the second month of the season. If Clemson’s one-point win over UNC proved anything, things are getting interesting across the nation and October should hopefully provide chaos. LET’S FIIIIIIRE IT UP!

Friday Night AAC:

Zak picked this showdown on this week’s podcast but #18 UCF travels up to Cincy tonight in a vital American Athletic Conference showdown. UCF has lost their right to claim shenanigans at being an undefeated team left out of the playoff again but now they need to fight for conference survival. Cincy looks to keep pace with a fairly solid defense but an offense that should be outmatched. Zak will be making all his previously lost UCF money back tonight.

Saturday Slate:

Three ranked matchups. Conference play picking up. October could not come at a better time. Outside of the aforementioned ranked games, you’ll be able to find plenty of college football games to keep yourself busy this Saturday. #3 Georgia, #5 LSU, #6 Oklahoma, #8 Wisconsin, #9 Notre Dame, #12 Penn State, and #16 Boise State are all MASSIVE favorites and should win. Let’s take a look at the rest of tomorrow’s games:

• #14 Iowa (+3.5) at #19 Michigan @ noon on Fox–Kicking things off with a bang is the undefeated Hawkeyes traveling to Ann Arbor. Michigan needs to win this game to keep any hope at even a Big Ten Championship trip on the horizon while Iowa could make some serious noise with a win. Shea Patterson will need to be the difference maker in this game as running will be showcased heavily. I’m going with my heart to say Michigan wins and covers.
• #21 Oklahoma State (-10) at Texas Tech @ noon on FS1–Big XII football between two high flying teams is the perfect contrast against the a knockdown Big Ten game. OK State wants to keep pace in the conference with their balanced offense while Tech will show nothing but pass. I like the Cowboys defense a lot and they’ll put up another showing. OK State wins and covers.
• #10 Texas (-10) at West Virginia @ 3:30 on ABC–“A disrespectful line for Texas” is what Matt called this whereas Zak took the moneyline. WVU’s offense is a shadow of what we saw a year ago and sadly for Zak, that doesn’t bode well against Texas. The Longhorns will dismantle WVU both offensively and defensively. I’d love for an upset if only to Freezing Cold Take Matt for the second week in a row but Texas wins and covers.
• #7 Auburn (-2) at #10 Florida @ 3:30 on CBS–I don’t like what Florida is bringing to the table in this game. Their offense relies on the passing game without setting up the run and Auburn will be able to key into it all day. The Tigers are the reverse having one of the best rush attacks in the country and the Gators will have a tough time catching up. Auburn wins and covers.
• #25 Michigan State (+20) at #4 Ohio State @ 7:30 on ABC–A huge line but Michigan State is going to have a lot of trouble under the lights at the Horseshoe. OSU outclasses Sparty on every level and the Buckeyes may cover the over/under 49 line themselves, that is how little I trust the MSU offense. I hate taking huge lines like this but OSU wins and covers.
• Tulsa (+13) at #24 SMU @ 7:30 on ESPNU–13 points seems too low here. Tulsa’s offense is abysmal and SMU is solid at home. Mustangs win and cover (easily)
• California (+18) at #13 Oregon @ 8:00 on Fox–Cal finally suffered a loss at the hands of Arizona State last weekend. Sadly, Cal won’t return to the win column tomorrow. Justin Herbert should pick apart the Golden Bear D but Cal’s offense should make things interesting. Ducks win but don’t cover.
• #15 Washington (-15) at Stanford @ 10:30 on ESPN–All things considered. UW should wipe the floor with Stanford. The Huskies are better on all levels. Something tells me the Cardinal will make this a knockdown, drag’em out, low-scoring game. Jacob Eason will find a way to win for UW, but it’s going to be close. Huskies win but don’t cover.

We mentioned it on the podcast, but Lehigh finally got its first win last week against Merrimack! The Mountain Hawks kick off Patroit League play this weekend against Colgate up in Hamilton, NY. The ‘Gate was the preseason Patroit League favorite to the Mountain Hawks defense will be put to the test. If Lehigh’s offense can get it going (averaging less than 10 points a game), PL play could be very exciting to watch!

Disagree with my picks? What games will YOU be watching? Let me know in the comments…

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