ACC
The Contenders: Pittsburgh at Boston College
South Carolina State at Clemson
Georgia Tech at Tulane
Murray State at Louisville
Florida A&M at Miami (FL)
Richmond at Virginia
Duke at Troy
The Citadel at Florida State
San Diego State at North Carolina
Virginia Tech at Ohio State
As early in the season as we are, there are still a ton of contenders in the unpredictable ACC. Despite a rough opening performance against Oklahoma State, Florida State is still the heavy favorite to win the conference. Jameis Winston will get a chance to get back on track this week against The Citadel, who won't be able to handle what the Seminoles have to offer. The other two contenders in the Atlantic are Louisville and Clemson, who are both ranked teams, that would be favorites to win the Coastal, but are underdogs behind FSU. Both teams are facing FCS schools, that will provide an easy win to help improve their team chemistry. As for the Coastal division, I have all seven teams as contenders. Nobody knows who will come out of the Coastal as champ, and if its anything like last year, the top team will change weekly. Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia, North Carolina and Duke will all get easy wins against lesser opponents. Virginia Tech has a tough task, going on the road to Columbus to face Ohio State, who is still one of the nations top teams. I think that the Hokies defense will keep the game close, but Ohio State will pull it out in the end. Pittsburgh should be able to get another win in their conference opening game tonight against Boston College. I have to put Pitt on upset alert, as Boston College is a conference opponent who won convincingly in its first game, but Pitt should win in the end.
Week 2 Predictions: Pittsburgh-38, Boston College-21
Clemson-45, South Carolina State-14
Georgia Tech-34, Tulane-24
Louisville-48, Murray State-6
Miami-31, Florida A&M-10
Virginia-28, Richmond-0
Duke-35, Troy-10
Florida State-70, The Citadel-7
North Carolina-45, San Diego State-24
Ohio State-24, Virginia Tech-21
Big 12
The Contenders: Oklahoma at Tulsa
Kansas State at Iowa State
Missouri State at Oklahoma State
Northwestern State at Baylor
BYU at Texas
Texas Tech at UTEP
The Big 12 contenders all have extremely winnable games in week two except for Texas. The conference's top ranked team goes on the road to Tulsa, where Trevor Knight looks to improve on his solid season opening game. As long as the Sooners can continue their balanced attack, they should be fine. Kansas State looked great to start the season, and their opponent, Iowa State is coming off of a loss to FCS foe North Dakota State, and hasn't beaten Kansas State in over nine years. Oklahoma State and Baylor both face FCS schools. Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty suffered two cracks in his back in week one, but should be ready to go on Saturday, although they shouldn't need him for more than one half. Texas Tech struggled against Central Arkansas in its opener, and will need to improve quickly in time to be ready for its Big 12 play. A road game against UTEP will be a good test for them this week. I think that Kliff Kingsbury will have his Raiders ready to go on Saturday night. The only team with an actual test this week is Texas. The Longhorns will take on a BYU team that was able to run for over 500 yards against Texas a year ago. The defense in Austin has improved greatly, and this year they will have their home crowd behind them, but the one thing Texas won't have is their top signal caller under center. David Ash suffered a head injury against North Texas last week, meaning backup Tyrone Swoopes will get the start. Nobody really knows how good Swoopes will be, but with the Longhorns solid running game, and a team thirsty for revenge, Swoopes shouldn't have to play great to get the win.
Week 2 Predictions: Oklahoma-42, Tulsa-13
Kansas State-38, Iowa State-17
Oklahoma State-52, Missouri State-13
Baylor-63, Northwestern State-7
Texas-34, BYU-31
Texas Tech-34, UTEP-28
Big 10
The Contenders: McNeese State at Nebraska
Akron at Penn State
Western Illinois at Wisconsin
Middle Tennessee at Minnesota
Ball State at Iowa
Michigan State at Oregon
Michigan at Notre Dame
Virginia Tech at Ohio State
There are three games that people will be looking at in the East this week. In the West, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa all face easy opponents, as well as Penn State in the East. The three key games are Ohio State against Virginia Tech, Oregon against Michigan State, and Michigan against Notre Dame. College gameday will be in Eugene awaiting the biggest non-conference game of the season as one of the nations top defenses will take on one of the best offenses. All the hype is weather or not Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota will be able to handle the physicality of Michigan State's defense. Michigan State will need production from its offense, and I think that Jeremy Langford is up for the task. Ohio State's new quarterback J.T. Barrett will get his first real test against an extremely underrated Virginia Tech defense. I think he will have all sorts of trouble, and Ohio State will prove that they aren't real playoff contenders any more, but they should be able to grind out the win. Michigan and Notre Dame will play the final chapter of one of college footballs most historic rivalries this week in South Bend. Notre Dame has quarterback Everett Golson back, and their offense looked great in week one. Michigan's offense was also solid in their opener. At the end of the day, it all comes down to which team commits fewer turnovers, and think the Golson will do a better job under pressure at his home stadium and bring home the win for the Irish.
Week 2 Predictions: Nebraska-48, McNeese State-20
Penn State-38, Akron-24
Wisconsin-52, Western Illinois-0
Minnesota-42, Middle Tennessee-17
Iowa-28, Ball State-10
Michigan State-31, Oregon-24
Notre Dame-38, Michigan-34
Ohio State-24, Virginia Tech-21
Pac-12
The Contenders: Eastern Washington at Washington
USC at Stanford
Michigan State at Oregon
Arizona State at New Mexico
Memphis at UCLA
The two biggest games of the week both feature Pac-12 schools. The other contenders in the conference should get wins. Arizona State's offense looked great in its opener, and will continue to do the same against New Mexico. UCLA will need a better game from its offense than it had a week ago, but against a much lesser defense, that shouldn't be a problem. Washington looked terrible in its game against Hawaii, and won'y look great this week either, but will get a win. Oregon is being considered by many as a national championship contender, but with their recent struggles against physical defenses, I won't believe it until I see it. The first conference game in the Pac-12 is between USC and Stanford. This game is key for both teams, as they are both contenders to win and are looking for early season momentum. They both had dominant wins in week one, and they should play a tightly contested game this week. In the end, I think that Stanford's running game is still too strong, and they will pull out a close win.
Week 2 Predictions: Washington-38, Eastern Washington-28
Stanford-28, USC-24
Michigan State-31, Oregon-24
Arizona State-52, New Mexico-24
UCLA-35, Memphis-3
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