OK… we're back! Time got away from me two weeks ago and last week's slate of games was so wretched that it was impossible to find six games worth writing about. But this week has a much more promising set of games, so the Six Pack has made its triumphant return!
LAST TIME: 3-3
OVERALL: 7-5
#12 SOUTH CAROLINA at UCF (12:00 PM EST, ABC)
South Carolina heading down to the Magic City for an early kickoff against a sneaky-good UCF team that already claimed one power conference scalp this year (Penn State)? Do we need to put South Carolina on upset alert? Definitely… maybe. I would expect a pretty frenzied atmosphere in Orlando for this game — it's not often that a fringe top-10 team heads to UCF to play a game, after all. But emotion can only carry you so far; at some point players have to make plays and coaches have to make smart decisions. Can UCF pull that off? They do have an underrated QB in Blake Bortles (816 yards, 71.4% completion, 7/1 TD/INT). I think UCF comes out strong and plays South Carolina tough for a while, but South Carolina's talent advantage becomes too much to handle in the second half.
THE PICK: South Carolina 31, UCF 20
#6 LSU at #9 GEORGIA (3:30 PM EST, CBS)
Another week, another top-10 opponent for Georgia. September has been full of brutal games for the Dawgs, with one creampuff (North Texas) surrounded by a trio of top-ten foes (Clemson, South Carolina, LSU). The good news is that the schedule clears up considerably after this game; the only ranked opponent left on the docket is Florida in early November. Georgia has split with their two top-ten opponents so far, losing a shootout at Clemson and winning a shootout at home against the Gamecocks. This one looks like another shootout-in-the-making; Georgia has a high-powered offense, led by Aaron Murray (1040 yards, 72% completion, 7/2 TD/INT) and Todd Gurley (377 yards and 4 TD). But for once the strength of an LSU team might be the offense, too; Georgia transfer Zach Mettenberger has been lighting it up through the air this season (1026 yards, 65% completion, 10/1 TD/INT) and Jeremy Hill (360 yards and 6 TD) leads a stable of pounding running backs. I expect both offenses to play well in this game and I expect Mark Richt and Les Miles to both dig deep into their bag of tricks to find an advantage in this game. This game should come down to which team is able to make plays in the fourth quarter… and I'll give the advantage to Georgia since they're at home. Either way, though, this looks like the game of the day and a potential thriller.
THE PICK: Georgia 35, LSU 31
#14 OKLAHOMA at #22 NOTRE DAME (3:30 PM EST, NBC)
I don't know what exactly Trevor Knight did in practice to earn the starting QB job for Oklahoma — or, more precisely, what Blake Bell didn't do in practice to earn that job — but it must have been pretty impressive at the time. Right now, though, Blake Bell looks he's going to be tough to unseat at QB for the Sooners; going 27/37 for 413 yards and 4 TD (and 0 INT) is pretty damn impressive, even against a defense as shaky as Tulsa's. The Notre Dame defense is considerably less shaky than Tulsa's defense… but it also isn't the gold-domed wall that stoned offense after offense a year ago (Shutting down an offensively-challenged Michigan State team doesn't count.) Oklahoma's defense is also pretty salty and I think they're going to give Notre Dame's offense some real problems. Tommy Rees only has two interceptions through four games so far, but I think he throws a few more against Oklahoma. Oklahoma avenges last year's loss in Norman behind a strong passing day from the Belldozer.
THE PICK: Oklahoma 28, Notre Dame 17
When last we saw Ole Miss… they had just finished smashing Texas in Austin, running up, down, around, over, and which way they wanted against the Longhorns. Unfortunately, this Alabama defense isn't the Keystone Kops defense that Texas trotted out in that game. They're not a vintage Bama defense (and certainly not as good as last year's lockdown squad), but they're still far more sound than the units Ole Miss has sliced and diced on their way to a 3-0 start this year. Hugh Freeze has done a remarkable job of turning that program around and injecting it with talent. But they're the plucky Rebels to Nick Saban's Alabama Death Star… and this time the Rebels aren't pulling off the explosive upset.
THE PICK: Alabama 31, Ole Miss 14
ARIZONA at #16 WASHINGTON (7:00 PM EST, FOX)
Call this the battle of the Pac-12's most attractive sleepers. Arizona's overshadowed in the South division by UCLA (especially after the Bruins demolished Nebraska in Lincoln a few weeks ago) and USC (for the train wreck potential if nothing else), while Washington is overshadowed in the North division by the Pac-12's two standard-bearers in recent years, Oregon and Stanford. Both teams still have key intra-divisional games to play, but this inter-divisional clash might give an early glimpse of which of these teams is good enough to make the more celebrated teams in their divisions at least sweat a little. Both teams have put up some gaudy wins this year, but Washington has their better resume by far: those wins over Boise State and Illinois (on a neutral field) are much better than anything on Arizona's schedule (Northern Arizona, UNLV, UTSA). They're also at home. Keith Price & Co. win a wild shootout here to get the hype really flowing for their huge games the next two weeks: at Stanford and home against Oregon.
THE PICK: Washington 38, Arizona 33
#23 WISCONSIN at #4 OHIO STATE (8:00 PM EST, ABC)
Wisconsin is the defending Big Ten champion and they have been to three-straight Rose Bowls so you could make the argument that the road to being the best team in the Big Ten means going through them. Of course, that rings a little hollow when Ohio State is riding a 12-game winning streak and Wisconsin only went to the Rose Bowl last year because NCAA penalties kept Ohio State at home during bowl season. But still, appearances are appearances and a big win for Ohio State here could firmly re-establish them as the team to beat in the Big Ten (just like the old days). Wisconsin has a powerhouse running game (like always), but Ohio State is getting Braxton Miller back (apparently) and they have better talent across the board. And the game is in the Horseshoe. The Buckeyes are gonna keep rolling.
THE PICK: Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 20
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