Putting
the Mid In Midwest Shift
- Iowa State-Cincinnati: The only thing standing between the Cyclones and a perfect 6-0 start is Scott Satterfield’s Bearcats, who have come off from the season opening loss to Nebraska well, winning three in a row including a hard-fought game against a very game Kansas. Brendan Sorsby may be carrying Cincy, he’s a gamer and could alone make this a duel.
- Clemson-North Carolina: Two months ago, this would have been locked in place on the list, but for different reasons. This has turned into a gotta have it game for both sides, the Tigers to avoid the humiliation of losing to a bad North Carolina and the Tar Heels to rebound from an embarrassing punking at the hands of UCF and to land a legitimate big boy win for Belichek.
- Wake Forest-Virginia Tech: I won’t lie, it’s a tough sell as both teams are not good but we could get a finish here.
- Wisconsin-Michigan: Michigan is probably going to win, but I want to see how it happens to both get a read on the Wolverines as well as judge if it’s getting late early for Luke Fickell.
One Battle After Another Shift
- Vanderbilt-Alabama: I want to believe. Do it, Diego.
- Texas-Florida: Last year, Sun Belt Billy was able to come back from the brink of getting the boot by upsetting a favored SEC team at home. Could lightning strike twice? This is also lowkey a moment where Arch can show that he truly has It and earn some trust back after the Ohio State meltdown.
- Boise State-Notre Dame: From this point on, every game is an elimination game for the Fighting Irish. This isn’t quite last year’s Broncos team with Jeanty, but the margin of error Notre Dame does not exist anymore.
- Washington-Maryland: We talked about it getting late early for Wisconsin above, and a lot of that is due to them losing 27-10 to the Terps last week, in Maryland’s first real game of the season. I think this week we’ll get a much clearer look at the kind of team Maryland has when the Huskies come to town.
A Few Good Florida Men Shift
- Miami (FL)-Florida State: The Noles suffered a (not totally shocking) upset at the hands of the Virginia last week, which takes some of the air out of this game but it’s still a big helmet game and should have enough spite and hatred to make this into a fun environment for a college football game.
- Mississippi State-Texas A&M: Okay Mississippi State, you have my attention. We’ve seen how hard to put down you can be at home, now show us what you can do on the road in the SEC.
- Kansas-UCF: I think this game is going to be pretty fun. Neither team are world-beaters but it’s a matchup of some pretty loose offenses. Could be a shootout.
- Colorado-TCU: You know the rules.
Robert Kekaula Memorial Shift
- Duke-Cal: LSU is on a bye this week, let’s get some tape on future LSU QB1 JKS.
- Nevada-Fresno State: It’s football.
