Week 14 College Football Predictions: Rivalry Week

Week 14 College Football Predictions: Rivalry Week

I played you in high school. I hate you.

Week 13: 7-2, Season Record 58-29

I write this to you all from my family's home in Bastrop, Texas. We have a full house this year, cousins, aunts, uncles, BABIES! There's a lot of people here and it's great. I'm so glad to spend this time with my family, and I hope everyone gets a chance this week to spend time with someone they love. Rivalry week has brought plenty of Thanksgiving presents for us all here. The states of Georgia, Florida, Arizona, Oregon, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama all have games this week with national impact. And much like our college football counterparts, my brother, cousins, and I will be taking out a whole year of pent-up aggression through a rivalry tradition of our own. N64 Goldeneye.

Georgia 37 - Georgia Tech 31

Sigh, we arrive yet again at a Georgia prediction that I have no real faith in. I believe I have literally been wrong on every single game for them this season. This game won't affect their standings in the SEC East, they still need an Arkansas win over Missouri (more on that later) to take the East title. But this game is arguably just as important for them. There's no danger here of either team looking ahead to next week, they hate each other plenty to keep them focused. The real deciding factor for me here is the location for UGA. They haven't lost at home in Athens this year, and I think the Spirit of Gurley will carry them through here for the win. 

Arksansas 40 - Missouri 27

Georgia fans rejoice! I've taken some flak for this, but I've consistently said Arkansas was an underrated team and they're going to cause some serious problems for Missouri and whoever they're matched up with in a bowl game. Bret Bieleima (maybe spelled right?) has the team he wants and they're firing on all cylinders in the second half of the year outside of a very strange blowout loss to UGA. Missouri comes into the game healthy and motivated, but they also have been surprisingly vulnerable at home with losses to UGA (ugly blowout), and Indiana (ugly everything, nobody should lose to Indiana). Call in the pigs, Bret. 

LSU 38 - A&M 24

It's unfortunate that A&M was designated LSU as a rivalry game. I believe they have to play them every year on Thanksgiving and it could be a season ruiner for both teams at some point in the future. This year, I just don't have enough faith in A&M's defense to predict anything other than defeat for them. Maybe next season they'll have Muschamp to fix things, but for now they just have to tough out the rest of the year. 

Mississippi State 30 - Ole Miss 17

Ole Miss has unfortunately carried on their tradition of fading hard in the second half of the season. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, recovered nicely from their tough loss to Alabama by demoralizing Vanderbilt 51 to 0. For Ole Miss, the LSU loss was tough, the Auburn loss was sad, and the Arkansas loss pretty much ruined their season. They're well out of national contention at this point, and they're probably not salvaging their season with a win here. Their best bet is to just hunker down, weather this storm, and then try to go out and win a bowl game. Also, this game is called the Egg Bowl. That alone should make you want to watch it. 

Alabama 35 - Auburn 24

Auburn has been pretty shaky all year and is coming off a pretty bad loss to Georgia, Alabama seems to have hit their stride, the game is at home for the Tide. This does not set up well for Malzahan and the Tigers. As much as I love yelling "War Damn Eagle" at people, I think I enjoy snidely whispering "Roll Tide" in their ear as I walk by. Auburn's luck seems to have finally run out between the Georgia loss and the travesty at A&M. But this game should at least be entertaining for 3 quarters or so. 

Florida 27 - FSU 24

IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, DAMMIT! Florida is sadly going to end up being the best team FSU plays in the regular season, which is more a condemnation of the ACC than it is praise of Florida. But the Gators have plenty of motivation and enough talent in the secondary and at running back to steal this one. This is one game where I don't think FSU will be able to blow off the first 3 quarters and win in the last 5 minutes. 

Speed Round:

Arizona 42 - ASU 28: Idk, my bff jill?

Oregon 37 - Oregon State 20: No way they lose, right?

Wisconsin 30 - Minnesota 28: I think this matters for the Big Ten, allegedly. 

Ohio State 40 - Michigan 13: Where does Michigan go from here? Bankruptcy.

Texas Football

If you would have told me 3 weeks ago that we had a chance against TCU I wouldn't have believed you. But we have improved so much at virtually every position that this actually sets up as a very close matchup. I had a great conversation about teams and offensive systems that Texas struggles against the other day. Running quarterbacks have definitely caused us problems against BYU, Kansas State, and Iowa State. I think the key differences here are the bye week of preparation and fact that TCU has struggled away from home. They barely beat Kansas, barely beat WVU, and lost to Baylor. SMU is not a real football team, that game doesn't count. TCU's defense has been oddly inconsistent, giving up big passing numbers to Kansas and Baylor, but much higher rushing totals to WVU. Either way, we should be able to find some success against this defense with our power run game and play action passing. At this point in the season, Tyrone Swiggity Swoopes is as prepared mentally and physically as he's going to be. I wouldn't be surprised if we get his best game this week. So that's it, everyone go enjoy your food and football. Eat a cookie for me. 

Texas 34 - TCU 30