College Football Week 2

As exciting as the first weekend of college football was, the second is equally as terrible. Of the 22 ranked teams in action, there is not a single game between two of them. I was literally struggling to find my three points for this post, no joke! While there may be a lack of marquee games, there is no lack of games in general. We have a fully stocked slate of games to pick, and ten of them will be from our "experts" just before the action gets started. So let's dive in!

1) The Battle at Bristol

Although I have love for neither team, you'd have to not register a pulse to say that you aren't excited for this game. Football in the middle of a racetrack? I think the idea is great, This is definitely a game you will want to turn on should you find yourself bored in the middle of a Saturday evening. The most people to witness a college football game saw Michigan take on Notre Dame in 2013. The attendance that night was 115,109. Bristol is expected to smash that record on Saturday night. Officials are expecting over 150,000 people in attendance! Now about the game; Tennessee will have to play better if they hope to win. After last week's near scare with Appalachian State, the Vols dropped from Top 10 to barely Top 20. Virginia Tech is no Appy State. If Tennessee has the same troubles that plagued them on opening night, they will not enjoy their trip to the World's Fastest Half-Mile. I'm thinking upset.

Virginia Tech 24, Tennessee 17

2) TCU Welcomes Arkansas

TCU handled FCS foe South Dakota State last week, but not as easily as they had hoped. The Horned Frogs won 59-41 but allowed 461 yards in the victory. Not many teams last week can say they gave up that many yards and still won by three scores. Arkansas edged out Louisiana Tech in it's opener 21-20 in a game where they had a fourth quarter drive to take the lead. Despite TCU giving up so much on defense, Arkansas will have a hard time putting up those numbers on anyone. Cue "the SEC is overrated" talk.

TCU 48, Arkansas 10

3) I Warned You about the Schedule

Since there aren't many other games I will watch, you're stuck with me being a homer for our last topic. Kentucky travels to Florida for the SEC opener for both schools coming off a very Kentucky-like" collapse. After leading 35-10 with under a minute to go before the half, the Cats took the rest of the game off last week and lost to Southern Mississippi 44-35. Unacceptable! Coming off the upset, they face a tough hill to climb when they face the Florida Gators in the Swamp; a team they haven't beat in their last 29 tries. Florida hosted UMass last week and by no means showed off any offense in the 24-7 win. One could say that their defense showed up, but come on, it's UMass. This game will be focused on the run offense. Whichever team rushes for the most on the ground should win. Take it for what it is worth.

Kentucky 28, Florida 24

Other Games

Oklahoma State over Central Michigan

North Carolina State over East Carolina

Pitt over Penn State

Michigan over UCF

Cincinnati over Purdue

Houston over Lamar

Rutgers over Howard

Minnesota over Indiana State

Army over Rice

Boston College over UMass

Georgia over Nicholls State

Texas A&M over Prairie View A&M

Wyoming over Nebraska

Florida State over Charleston Southern

Clemson over Troy

Temple over Stony Brook

Georgia State over Air Force

Southern Cal over Utah State

West Virginia over Youngstown State

Ohio over Kansas

Georgia Tech over Mercer

Bowling Green over North Dakota

Navy over Connecticut

Northwestern over Illinois State

Ohio State over Tulsa

Miami (OH) over Eastern Illinois

Duke over Wake Forest

Appalachian State over Old Dominion

Wisconsin over Akron

Nevada over Notre Dame

Alabama over Western Kentucky

Baylor over SMU

Mississippi over Wofford

Indiana over Ball State

Colorado State over Idaho State

Marshall over Morgan State

Elon over Charlotte

Kent State over North Carolina A&T

Miami over Florida Atlantic

Georgia Southern over South Alabama

Louisiana-Lafayette over McNeese State

Oklahoma over Louisiana-Monroe

Vanderbilt over MTSU

Western Michigan over North Carolina Central

Toledo over Maine

South Florida over Northern Illinois

North Texas over Bethune Cookman

Louisiana Tech over South Carolina State

Southern Mississippi over Savannah State

Texas over UTEP

South Carolina over Mississippi State

Auburn over Arkansas State

Iowa over Iowa State

Utah over BYU

Missouri over Eastern Michigan

LSU over Jacksonville State

North Carolina over Illinois

Tulane over Southern

UCLA over UNLV

New Mexico over New Mexico State

Fresno State over Sacramento State

Texas Tech over Arizona State

Boise State over Washington State

San Diego State over Cal

Oregon over Virginia 

Arizona over Grambling State

Hawaii over Tennessee-Martin

Check back at noon for Smith Bros Pick Panel

-Dug

@chansm1th

Smith Bros Pick Panel

We have surveyed our "experts" and asked them for their picks on the following ten games. Put your picks in the comments should you think you're smarter than us!

Oklahoma vs Houston

Oklahoma: Dug, Alty, Corbeech, Jarred, and Estep
Houston: Pop and Trey


Missouri vs West Virginia

Missouri: Corbeech
West Virginia: Dug, Alty, Jarred, Pop,Trey,  and Estep


/Hawaii vs Michigan

All Take Michigan


Rutgers vs Washington

All Take Washington


UCLA vs Texas A&M

UCLA: Alty
Texas A&M: Dug, Pop, Jarred, Estep,Trey, and Corbeech


LSU vs Wisconsin

All Take LSU


Georgia vs North Carolina

Georgia: Pop and Trey
North Carolina: Dug, Corbeech, Estep, Jarred, and Alty


USC vs Alabama

USC: Jarred
Alabama: Dug, Alty, Corbeech, Jarred, Trey, and Estep


Clemson vs Auburn

All Take Clemson


BYU vs Arizona

BYU: Alty and Pop
Arizona: Dug, Jarred, Estep, Trey, and Corbeech

College Football Thursday

Finally!!

A new season of college football will kick off tonight. Predictions and talk will now turn into reality as is is time to make the statements on the field. It all begins tonight as we have 16 games on the schedule. Here are three things to watch for, along with predictions for each of tonight's games.

1.) Tennessee Starts the Season with High Expectations

This is by far the most hyped team that Rocky Top has fielded in the last 15 years. Butch Jones might have finally turned the train wreck he inherited into a title contender. Most polls have the Volunteers in their Top 10, and consider them to be the odds on favorite to win the SEC East. Now all they have to do is produce. Too many times has this team been talked up only to under perform. You want me to take you seriously? Show me. Don't overlook Appalachian State though. The Mountaineers like to run and put up a lot of points. If Tennessee does take them seriously, they should win convincingly. If not, State will keep this one close and put a scare into the Tennessee fans. 

Tennessee 38, Appalachian State 24

2.) Vanderbilt/South Carolina will Control the SEC East after Tonight

Scary, isn't it? One of these two teams will be leading the nation's strongest conference, and control their own destiny. Last season, the two combined for a 3-13 record in the SEC. Expectations this year seem to point toward a similar scenario. Take nothing away from either though. THEY WILL BE LEADING THE SEC AFTER TONIGHT! Let the victor have their moment of glory seeing as it will only last for a week as multiple teams open up conference play in Week 2.

Vanderbilt 17, South Carolina 9

3.) Western Kentucky Begins it's Quest for the Top 25

You read that right. The Hilltoppers are a legitimate threat as a mid-major program. Tonight will be the first of their many runovers as I firmly believe they will be ranked this season. WKU is going to win the Conference-USA, and they could very easily only have one loss on the year going into the conference championship game. A year ago, the Hilltoppers averaged 44.3 ppg and 526.4 ypg, both stats good enough to have them in the Top 10 nationally. Their opponent tonight, Rice, ranked near the bottom of the nation in all major defensive categories. Kickoff is at 8 PM, but this one will be over by 8:30.

Western Kentucky 63, Rice 17

Other Games Tonight:

Central Michigan over Presbyterian

Louisville over Charlotte

Wake Forest over Tulane

Cincinnati over UT-Martin

UConn over Maine

North Carolina State over William & Mary

Florida International over Indiana

Utah over Southern Utah

Utah State over Weber State

Minnesota over Oregon State

New Mexico over South Dakota

Idaho over Montana State

UNLV over Jackson State

Check back later for quick reactions to the games. Tomorrow morning, we'll look at where I was wrong. 

-Dug

@chansm1th