Week 8 College Football Upsets to Watch Out For
Posted by deaconcat08 on October 21, 2009
I was 4 of 7 again in my upset picks last week, not including my incredible longshot prediction that Texas Tech would win in Lincoln. So far the double digit longshot I have chosen each week has covered every time and actually won straight up 4 times. This week I’m not crazy about a lot of the dogs, but here are six for you to consider along with my lights out double-digit longshot pick. These are ordered from smallest underdog to largest, and the value in each parentheses represents the number of points by which each team is currently an underdog according to the World Sports Exchange.
Florida State (+2.5) vs. North Carolina- There is too much pressure on Bobby for his team to go and lay another egg. The offense actually looked decent against Georgia Tech, and I think Bowden will start winning some games down the stretch to ensure that he’s back in 2010.
Eastern Michigan (+2.5) vs. Ball State- Based on season results, the Cardinals are clearly the better football team, as EMU has been clobbered in pretty much every game. But when the opposing coach comes in with a 35 game winless streak spanning over 2 decades, like Ball State’s Stan Parrish, you definitely have to give the Eagles a shot at winning this one.
Wake Forest (+3.0) vs. Navy- I try not to be a homer on this blog, but I do think the Demon Deacons should win in Annapolis. It’s absolute must win game for Wake, and they’ve had more exposure to Navy’s triple option than any other team in the country, as they’ve played them annually for 4 seasons and matched up against them in last year’s Eagle Bank Bowl. This Deacons squad is weaker defensively than in years past, but they are well overdue to win a big game on the road.
Temple (+3.0) vs. Toledo- The Owls are on fire right now, winning 4 straight and drawing ever closer to their first bowl bid in 30 years. The Rockets have been hit or miss depending on the week, as they got manhandled by Western Michigan at home 2 weeks ago but then beat NIU last week. The Rockets may have the advantage playing at home, but never count out a team playing inspired football with the purpose of accomplishing something historic.
Colorado (+4.5) vs. Kansas State- This is kind of a strange matchup, as both teams have looked abysmal all year until they registered huge wins last Saturday. However, the Buffs do have the more impressive victory of the two, as they knocked off a top 25 squad in Kansas, and with their QB issues now straighted out, I think you’ll see a different Colorado team from here on out.
Maryland (+6.0) vs. Duke- Duke should probably win here, but there just something about Duke as a favorite in an ACC game that concerns me. They’ve only been in this situation twice in the past five years (record: 1-1), so you can’t be quite sure how they’ll act when not playing the role of the spoiler.
Longshot of the Week: Washington (+10.0) vs. Oregon- See analysis for this game in my weekly picks entry below.
