By The The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com’s College Football Expert
There’s a storm brewing in the South and it’s not just Hurricane Rafael. Alabama is at LSU and Georgia is at Ole Miss in games that will and could end the college playoff hopes for the losers.
Meanwhile, all is calm on the Midwestern front where Ohio State gets a bye week – in so much as Purdue is a bye week opponent – and Notre Dame faces a bunch of stationary pylons known as Florida State. And Indiana and Vanderbilt, of all teams, each hopes to still be wearing those glass slippers come Sunday.
Now onto the games. All times Pacific because The Prognosticator lives on the West Coast.
Friday, Nov. 8
Iowa at UCLA (5 p.m., FOX)
Have the Baby Bears come back alive or have they simply been better than two bad Big 10 teams? It’s a little bit of both and this week they face the Flightless Birds who this year have been like my golf game: a little over here, a little over there with no idea where it’s going next. Well, there’s a golf course next to the Rose Bowl and the should be able to chip it in for the win. Winner: Iowa
Saturday, Nov. 9
Florida at Texas (9 a.m., ABC)
There was once a three-legged gator in a pond on the Florida campus and by comparison to this year’s team, it’s a fully healthy animal. A killer schedule combined with a squad down to its third string quarterback does not bode well for the Chompers’ chances, nor for the continued employment of an already embattled coach. Winner: Texas
Purdue at Ohio State (9 a.m., FOX)
The went nuts in Columbus last week after winning at Penn State and now the Hetucks get to sit back and have a stress-free game against a team so inept it hasn’t won since the opening week against Indiana State. Winner: Ohio State
Georgia at Ole Miss (12:30 p.m., ABC)
The Lamester lamented about LSU getting more night games than his Mississippi men but he’s barking up the wrong tree with the Kirby Canines coming to Oxford. This promises to be a battle of the defenses and while Carson Beck-ons opponents into loose coverage on occasion he also falters under pressure. Even with the Hottie Toddies in full party mode, this will be the Dawgs day. Winner: Georgia
Michigan at Indiana (12:30 p.m., CBS)
The party has long been over for Big Blue but it’s just starting in Bloomington. The dominos of college football coaching changes is bound to catch Cignetti in a big-money net but for now it’s a celebration the Hoosiers have not expeienced since Steve Alford was running point for the basketball team. Winner: Indiana
South Carolina at Vanderbilt (1:15 p.m., SEC Network)
Vanderbilt is a rare visitor to The Prognosticator’s corner, but this week’s appearance is a well deserved one. The Anchors are not down this year but up and the ship is sailing along with Dynamic Diego at the helm. They face the Roosters that can be either game or lame but in the end their defensive line wil hold the line just long enough to hold off the hosts. Winner: South Carolina
Maryland at Oregon (4 p.m, Big 10 Network)
The Waddlers are soaring but also have paranoia creeping into the minds of fans. Injuries are bringing up ghosts of the pasts of Dennis Dixon’s torn ACL in 2007, Marcus Mariota’s shoulder in 2015 and Bo Nix’s shoulder in 2023. And now, it’s receiver Tez Johnson and joining other starters on the sideline. Still, knocking the shell off these soft-shelled Turtles will not be too tough of a task. Winner: Oregon
Alabama at LSU (4:30 p.m., ABC)
With their season on life support, the Pachyderms stomp into a place known as Death Valley for a Saturday night game. And if Rafael makes it to the Red Baton, the field could be as unforgiving as a Louisiana bayou. Either way, the conditions are not exactly prime for the Tide. They do face a team that is hardly a ferocious beast and if the Crimson-clad coaches paid any attention at all to the Texas A&M tape, they will put the ball in the hands of thier running backs and mobile quarterback and head back to Tuscaloosa with playoff hopes still dancing in thier heads. There are, however, concern about this coaching staff’s ability to put together a common-sense game plan.Winner: Alabama
Florida State at Notre Dame (4:30 p.m., NBC)
This is not 1993, and no “Game of the Century” title will be put on this one. In fact ESPN’s College Game Day, which made its debut for that epic game won by the Domers as time expired on an incomplete pass in the end zone, will not be in South Bend. Unless the Spears have been laying dormant all year with the idea of coming to life for one glorious moment, this one will lack the drama of past games between these two historic schools. Winner: Notre Dame
Washington at Penn State (5 p.m., Peacock)
Sure, now we get the night game, the Nittanys say. Why not last week, when Ohio State was in town and we could have had a White Out under the lights with everybody watching? Now it’s a letdown game on a network no sports fan subscribes to against a team good enough to beat us while also being beatable. That’s the feeling in State College now and The Prognosticator has a feeling the hangover from last week will last into this Saturday. Winner: Washington
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