Worrisome Weekend

What a worrisome (but exciting) weekend. UF gets LSU at home, and UCF travels to Miami to play the 'Canes. Despite the fact that the professional gamblers favor UF by 4, we're extremely worried that LSU will win. Frankly, they just look like the better team. Then again...their defense has not been what it should be. An anemic Auburn offense hung 21 on LSU in a game LSU edged them out with 5 points. Lowely Mississippi State put up 24 against LSU in a ten point loss. LSU's two other wins? DIV II App State and North Texas, one of the only two winless schools in Div I football.

Meanwhile, UCF seems to have no hope whatsoever. We've seen Miami play live this season, and despite their poor record, they look much better than a UCF team that had to edge out SMU. However, if UM is going to be vulnerable, this is the time. The team and fan are no doubt tropically depressed over two tough home losses. UM fans are notoriously fickle, and are not coming to this game. The team is young, the coaching staff is bad in terms of game day coaching. Also, UM has a ton of injuries, including several starters. UM's loss against FSU has shown that they're vulnerable to a mobile QB-- and I think Greco has better wheels than Ponder. Also, UM's passing game against UCF's secondary is a favorable match-up. Their receiving corps drops a helluva lot of passes. Joe Burnett any body? Sha'reff's also great.

If only UCF were a little bit better, this would be a great opportunity to beat UM and start boasting of being better than (at least) someone in the state. But, we can't control the football, can't complete a pass, can't do much of anything. We beat a DIV II school, and SMU, one of the worst teams in the country.

We'll see. . . but this one is going to go UM's way.

Incredibly Premature Predictions: UM Edition

The inimitable Sunday Morning Quarterback presents its assessment of Miami. You know, those guys whose team is wind...or water...or both, really. SMQ predicts a thorough beating at the hands of the Gators, a split of the VT and FSU games, and a winning conference record...or maybe just going 4-8.

On a more optimistic note, College Football News predicts a realistic record of 8-4. CFN says the Canes will be helped by a fortuitous schedule. Stuff orange and green people like? How about not having to play Clemson and BC, and getting VT and FSU at home.

And yes, we do believe UM will shiv in the gut thoroughly beat the Knights in Miami. Thank you, 24k, you and your bags and bags of NFL dollars.

Incredibly Premature Predictions: UCF Edition

From College Football News:

UCF
Realistic best case record with this schedule: 9-3
Barring total disaster worst case record: 4-8
Realistic record: 7-5

The defending Conference USA champions have to go to Tulsa and get a relatively tough game at UTEP to deal with from the West, but they also get the two other East contenders, Southern Miss and East Carolina, at home. Things get interesting late with back-to-back road trips to Marshall and Memphis before closing out with a sure-thing against UAB. The season opener against South Carolina State is forgivable considering the other three non-conference dates are South Florida, at Boston College and at Miami.

CFN also predicts both the UM and BC games as "likely losses" for UCF.

Incredibly Premature Predictions: UF Edition

Scarily-accurate wonder-site College Football News has posted predictions of relevance to any Gator:

Florida goes 11-1...

And plays Ohio State for the National Championship. Though if OSU is involved, that's really the Chompionship, isn't it? Our hopes for a NIT Final between OSU and UF were dashed tonight, so we'll just hold on to this prediction:

Georgia might be the hot team going into the year, but Florida will be every bit as good if the secondary has overcome its growing pains. The D might not be better than Georgia's, but the offense will be unstoppable with Tim Tebow likely to be an even better passer, Percy Harvin on the verge of a monster season, and a real live running game ready to operate behind a line strong enough to push some people around. Even if the Dawgs lose at LSU and/or at Auburn, the Cocktail-Don't-Call-It-A-Cocktail Party might be for the SEC East, the SEC, and the national title. The Gators have to go to Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State, but those should be manageable for a championship caliber team. It'll be the home date with LSU that could be the big problem, along with the Georgia showdown.

Liberty Bowl Predictions

Compiled Liberty Bowl predictions from across the interweb:

1. UCF is the Vegas favorite. I tend to believe the professional degenerates.

2. ESPN has pegged this game as a potential upset alert...Mississippi State over the Knights.

3. College Football News predicts Miss. State over UCF, 24-17.

4. Scout.com and Whatifsports.com: UCF over Miss. State, 24-10. "UCF's Kevin Smith goes off for 243 rushing yards, ending the season with 2,691 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns." This is based on simulating the game 1,001 times! Science! Indisputable Science!

5. Sports Illustrated: UCF 31. Mississippi State 21.