Football Future-see 2014: Week Three

Record
Week 1	8-2
Week 2	5-0
Week 3	2-3
Total	15-5	0.750

Week Two gave me my first perfect week since late September of 2013. This week Georgia returns to the schedule with a visit to Columbia, South Carolina that has huge implications for the SEC East, the SEC, and the College Football Playoff. Boise State travels across the country. Louisville takes on an ACC foe. USC travels across the country. And then Tennessee goes west of the Mississippi to take on Oklahoma.

The Games:

Boise State at Connecticut (Saturday, 12:00pm, ESPN2)

This one might be interesting. UConn is one of those teams that can easily trip someone up, especially if that someone is coming from the other side of the country for a noon eastern time kickoff. This is the equivalent of a 10am start for the Broncos. Boise State lost their first cross-country non-conference game. This is one they should win, but keep an eye on it.

Final Score: Boise State 31, UConn 21
CORRECT: Boise State won 38-21

21 Louisville at Virginia (Saturday, 12:30pm, ESPN3)

Louisville knocked off Miami in week one. Virginia very nearly knocked off UCLA. I would love to call an upset here, but I just can’t. Louisville has Bobby Petrino back in their corner, and the man knows how to win (save for that disastrous run where he walked out on the Atlanta Falcons). Louisville wins, but closer than the experts think.

Final Score: Louisville 28, Virginia 23

INCORRECT: Virginia won 23-21

6 Georgia at 24 South Carolina (Saturday, 3:30pm, CBS)

Georgia and Clemson was a close game, for three quarters. Then the Dawgs’ deep stable of running backs took control and a 24-21 Georgia lead turned into a 45-21 Georgia win. The bigger story was Georgia’s defense stepping up and holding the Tigers to 15 yards and 1 first down in the entire second half. South Carolina, meanwhile, has looked anything but impressive. A blowout loss to the Aggies in week one and a closer-than-it-should’ve-been win over East Carolina haven’t inspired much confidence in the Gamecocks. Of course, it’s a rivalry game, so the stats mean nothing. Spurrier is somehow able to coach his team up against Georgia. I like the Dawgs to win, but South Carolina might make it close.

Final Score:  Georgia 34, South Carolina 24
INCORRECT: South Carolina won 38-35

9 USC at Boston College (Saturday, 8:00pm, ESPN)

Boston College is 1-1 on the year, with a win over UMass and a loss to Pitt. USC is 2-0 with wins over Fresno State and Stanford. This marks USC’s third straight appearance on the football picks, an oddity for a PAC-12 team. Boston College hasn’t been in the picks in a long time (maybe ever, I honestly can’t remember). Still, USC is a lot closer to Pitt than UMass, and not just geographically. Trojans win going away in this one.

Final Score: USC 35, Boston College 14
INCORRECT: Boston College won 37-31

Tennessee at 4 Oklahoma (Saturday, 8:00pm, ABC)

Is there a chance that Tennessee rolls out of Norman with a win? Sure. There’s also a chance that the squirrels unite into a vicious army and overthrow the government of Zimbabwe. In other words, I don’t see it happening. I think Tennessee can hang close with Oklahoma for a while, but the Sooners will pull away. Sadly, SpongeBob BowlFlop, aka Big Game Bob, will probably use this win as a propaganda point to claim the Big XII is better than the SEC. Sooners win.

Final Score: Oklahoma 30, Tennessee 14

CORRECT: Oklahoma won 34-10