COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEKEND PREVIEW - WEEK 5

by WCT, Wasting Company Time

Its week 5 and the season is flying by. Lets just dispense with the pleasantries because by now, you know the drill: Matchup, gametime (EST), snarky analysis.

Penn State at Illinois (noon) - The Nittany Lions look to rebound from a pathetic performance last week in Ann Arbor. Don't laugh, but Illinois has quietly been playing some good football behind Coach/Fraternity House Enforcer Ron Zook and QB Juice (!!) Williams. That is why the "experts" have only made Penn State a 3 point favorite. I'm reluctantly taking Penn State.

Kansas State at Texas (3:30pm) - The Longhorns look for revenge against the team that upset them in Manhattan last year. Texas is a team that is just ripe to be beaten, but I don't think it happens this week.

(Note:as you can already tell, its a bit of a struggle to find interesting games this week. Sorry! I don't make up the schedule!)

Clemson at Georgia Tech (3:30pm) - If the Tigers win this one, then I promise to stop all of my "Clemson is overrated! Just you wait and see!" talk. I promise. But for now, I'm sticking with it. Take the 'Jackets. I don't who that team was in black and yellow last week that lost to UVA.

Michigan State at Wisconsin (3:30pm) - This should be a good one. The Spartans have gone unnoticed for most of the year (how are they still unranked in one poll?) and Wisconsin has let some pretty bad teams hang around in games they had no business hanging in. I'm not going to forgive them for going into the locker room tied at halftime with Citadel. I am going to take the Spartans and take the 7 points. By the way, if you are planning on going to this game, and it gets boring, The Big Lead has the scoop on what 'sconsin fans do at Camp-Randall during boring games.

California at Oregon (3:30pm) - Easily the game of the day. And if you know me, and thankfully most of you don't, you know how hard it is for me to call a Pac-10 game, "the game of the week." But that conference has really impressed me so far this year. Let me rephrase: The offenses in that conference have really impressed me so far this year. The defensive play has left something to be desired, but it makes for entertaining football. I have never been a believer in Jeff Tedford or Cal (even though I had DeSean Jackson at the top of my EC heisman ballot)so I'm going to give the 4.5 and take the Ducks. Plus, how can you not be a fan of the Ducks after this?

Alabama at Florida State (5:00pm) - The "experts" once again know something that I don't, because they have installed the Seminoles as a 2.5 point favorite. I have seen both of these teams play a couple times this year, and just about every offensive play for FSU looks like a Chinese Fire drill. Is that politically incorrect? And where did that phrase come from anyway? Are fire drills in China that crazy? These are the things I think about. Anyway, I'll take the Tide.
USC at Washington (8:00pm) - A worse UW team was one play away from beating USC last year, in LA. What does that mean for this years game? Absolutely nothing. I would say that USC owns Ty Willingham, but when you go like 60-6 over a six year span, don't you pretty much own just about everybody? Take the Trojans.

Auburn at Florida (8:00 pm) - Florida should roll in this one. Especially after that scare against Ole Miss. By the way, how good has Tim Tebow looked this year? That reminds me: Someone told me that UW QB Jake Locker is like a faster, younger, Tim Tebow, with a stronger arm. Doesn't that mean that the only thing they have in common is that they play the same position and are fast white guys? Couldn't you just as easily say that Locker is a bigger, Vince Young? Or a taller, law-abiding Michael Vick? Those comparisons never seem to cross racial lines.