WEEK SIX - Top 25 Preview (Part I: 11-25)

#11 Auburn at #17 Vanderbilt
(Saturday, 5 pm, ESPN)
Vandy quarterback Chris Nickson facing the intimidating Auburn defense should be a fun matchup to watch. Nickson is one of the most dynamic players in the SEC and won’t back down from anybody. Auburn’s defense is flat out one of the best in the nation. There hasn’t been anybody the defensive line couldn’t pressure, and the cornerbacks should easily blanket Vandy’s receivers. On the other side of the ball though Auburn hasn’t been able to score on anybody this year with Tony Franklin’s new spread offense. Ben Tate is woefully misused and quarterback Chris Todd isn’t producing. Todd will struggle again because, surprisingly, the Commodores have one of the better secondaries in the conference. The wild card here will be whether Franklin gives Kodi Burns a shot at quarterback. I don’t have any idea why Burns has been riding the bench all season while Todd struggles. If Burns plays, Auburn wins. If he doesn’t, Vandy wins. I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to the Auburn coaching staff.
J.Pike’s Pick: Auburn 23, Vanderbilt 17

#14 Florida at Arkansas
(Saturday, 11:30 am, Raycom/ESPN360.com)
This one could get ugly. Not only will Florida be looking to redeem themselves after losing AT HOME to Ole Miss a week ago (who’s coaching at Ole Miss now? Hmm…), this also should be the perfect opportunity for Urban Meyer to run up the score as he’s known to do from time to time. Arkansas is arguably the worst team in the SEC because they decided to run off Houston Nutt in favor of Bobby Petrino. I hope you enjoy the cellar, Hog fans.
J.Pike’s Pick: Florida 48, Arkansas 10

#15 Texas Tech at Kansas State
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, ABC)
I definitely don’t have a rooting interest in this game. In fact, if there was a way both teams could lose I would be rooting for that. But unfortunately one of these ugly football teams has to come away with a win in this contest. Kansas State is coming off back to back games in which they gave up over 300 yards rushing to average football teams (Louisville and Louisiana-Lafayette). Mike Leach isn’t smart enough to take advantage of the Wildcats deficiencies against the run, but Michael Crabtree and company will take advantage of K-State’s poor tackling by piling up huge YAC numbers. This will probably be a shootout, but Texas Tech is more stable at this point in the season.
J.Pike’s Pick: Texas Tech 51, Kansas State 37

#16 Kansas at Iowa State
(Saturday, 11:30 am, VERSUS)
Iowa State is a sneaky team that will upset somebody in the Big XII this year, but I don’t think it will be Kansas. Mark Mangino’s squad is too fundamentally sound to give the game away, and that’s exactly what would have to happen. Todd Reesing and the offense might not look as sharp as they did in their non-conference schedule, but they’ll be good enough to keep the feisty Cyclones at arm’s length.
J.Pike’s Pick: Kansas 27, Iowa State13

Westsern Kentucky at #19 Virginia Tech
(Saturday, 12:30 pm)
Taking the redshirt off Tyrod Taylor is the best decision Frank Beamer has made all season. So good in fact that it almost makes up for his decision to put the redshirt on him in the first place. With Taylor at quarterback the Hokies are 4-0; without him they are 0-1. VA Poly’s season officially got back on track last Saturday night with their win in Lincoln and now they appear to be the favorite to win the ACC Coastal division. Before they head into conference play the Hokies get one final tune-up against the Hilltoppers. The only thing I know about WKY is they have the coolest mascot in America.
J.Pike’s Pick: Virginia Tech 33, Western Kentucky 3

#20 Maryland at Virginia
(Saturday, 6 pm, ESPN U)
Maryland hasn’t exactly been the most consistent team this season. They have gone from losing to Middle Tennessee and barely slipping by Delaware to beating Cal and Clemson so far this season. Luckily it probably won’t matter which Maryland team shows up for this game because Virginia has been flat out bad.
J.Pike’s Pick: Maryland 27, Virginia 13

Arizona State at #21 California
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, ABC)
I’m going to call for a rare road upset here. Arizona State’s defense is actually not too bad and Cal will be playing without their most dangerous weapon, RB Jahvid Best. On top of that, Jeff Tedford also opened up the quarterback job in practice again which means there is a chance Nate Longspare could see the field. Yikes! Meanwhile, Rudy Carpenter and Keegan Herring (back from injury) are rested coming off the bye week, so they’ll be ready to give Cal yet another early-in-the-day wake-up call.
J.Pike’s Pick: Arizona State 30, California 24

#23 Illinois at Michigan
(Saturday, 2:30 pm, ABC/ESPN 2)
Michigan is riding high after their big second half comeback to beat Wisconsin a week ago. They’re going to have to put together a full game if they want to beat Illinois though. The explosive duo of Juice Williams to Arrelious Benn can put points on the board at a rate Michigan is incapable of matching. The Michigan defense will have to play a great game just to keep the Wolverines in this one.
J.Pike’s Pick: Illinois 27, Michigan 21

#24 Connecticut at North Carolina
(Saturday, 6 pm, ESPN 2)
This is an interesting matchup in that both teams will be playing without their injured starting quarterbacks. North Carolina had the benefit of breaking in Cam Sexton last week against Miami and he passed with flying colors. UConn isn’t quite as certain what they’ll get from Zach Frazier. One thing you can expect is Donald Brown to get the ball about 30 times. UConn’s tailback is one of the more underrated players in the nation (averaging 149 yards per game), but he’ll face a tough test against Marvin Austin and that Tar Heel D-Line. UConn always plays smart and tough, so they’ll keep this one close to the end, but North Carolina and Butch Davis will notch the win at home.
J.Pike’s Pick: North Carolina 28, Connecticut 24

Rice at #25 Tulsa
(Saturday, 7 pm, CBS College Sports)
If you like shootouts you should find out if you have CBS College Sports channel. When Rice and Tulsa get together on Saturday night there is a very real possibility that they could actually blow up the scoreboard. Last week alone, Tulsa scored 62 points and Rice scored 77! The two teams combined are averaging 96 points per game, so this should be an entertaining game to watch. Hopefully it will go into overtime and both teams will score triple digits.
J.Pike’s Pick: Tulsa 61, Rice 54

Week Three Preview

Here are a few games that deserve your attention despite the fact they aren’t getting the hype of, say, Ohio State v USC this week. Each contest features non-BCS conference teams that will be in contention for bowl games and conference titles.

Central Michigan @ Ohio
Fresh off their near up set of Ohio State, the Bobcats of Ohio get to face MAC favorite Central Michigan. Central is coming off a big loss to #1 ranked Georgia, so they’ll be hungry to face someone on their own level again. Dan LeFevour will be too much for the Ohio defense.
J.Pike’s Pick: Central Michigan 34, Ohio 20

Air Force @ Houston
This might be the toughest game of the week to pick. Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun has done extremely well so far in Colorado Springs, and he looks to have a pretty good defense in tow this season. New Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin has been up and down in his first two games at the helm, and so far he can’t count on his defense to come up with stops. This game could go either way, but I’ll go with the disciplined Falcons of Air Force in a difficult non-conference road game.
J.Pike’s Pick: Air Force 28, Houston 24

Rice @ Vanderbilt
Both teams are 2-0 and coming off big wins. Vanderbilt came up with one of the program’s biggest wins in recent memory when they knocked off South Carolina on Thursday night. Rice simply scored three touchdowns in the final 7 minutes, including a game winning interception return for a touchdown with 11 seconds left, to overcome a 15 point 4th quarter deficit. This should be one of the more entertaining games of the week.
J.Pike’s Pick: Vanderbilt 31, Rice 27

Southern Miss @ Arkansas State
Who knew this would be a game to watch? Arkansas State jumped on my radar with a win over Texas A&M in week one, and Southern Miss was able to keep it relatively close against Auburn last week. I think Arkansas State’s bubble bursts here. Southern Miss has a talented team with a very potent offense. Corey Leonard and Arkansas State might pile 80+ points on 1-AA competition, but they won’t here. Welcome to the Mid-Leagues, Red Wolves.
J.Pike’s Pick: Southern Miss 34, Arkansas State 24

Bowling Green @ Boise State
Ian Johnson, the man responsible for scoring the game winning 2-point conversion against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl two seasons ago, is still in the backfield for the Broncos. That means he’ll get the ball early and often. Bowling Green visits the Smurf Turf after a puzzling first two weeks that saw them beat Pittsburgh and then get blown out by Minnesota. Boise shouldn’t have any problems, especially running the football.
J.Pike’s Pick: Boise State 37, Bowling Green 21

WEEK TWO - Top 25 Preview (Thursday night edition)

#20 South Carolina @ Vanderbilt
Thursday, 7:30pm, ESPN
Vanderbilt actually beat Steve Spurrier for the first time ever last year. Quarterback Chris Nickson will keep it close this year too … for about a half. South Carolina’s defense is too much for Vandy’s inexperienced offensive line.
J.Pike’s Pick: South Carolina, 24-10

SEC - QB Rankings

1. Matthew Stafford, Georgia

What? Really? Did you ever think maybe I just didn't want to rank Dr. Tebow, Ph.D. #1? Don't be surprised if this ranking looks a lot better four years from now though. Stafford has all the physical tools in the world and this looks to be his breakout year. Georgia is poised to make a run at the national title so he'll have plenty of opportunities to make big plays. Stafford has been taking small but noticeable steps in his development, so he should be ready to unleash his howitzer more frequently and consistently in big games.

2. Tim Tebow, Florida

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner put up gaudy numbers in his first full season starting. Scratch that - he put up RIDICULOUS numbers last year. 32 passing touchdowns and 23 rushing touchdowns sounds like a video game stat line, but Tebow pulled it off. He's a fantastic player who isn't afraid to take a hit and yet can still throw the ball around the yard. Call me crazy for this comparison, but he reminds me of Scott Frost, if Scott Frost could throw.

3. John Parker Wilson, Alabama

In an inconsistent season for the Crimson Tide in 2007, Wilson was one of the most inconsistent cogs in the machine. As with the rest of the team though, when Wilson was good, he was really good. If the senior can put it all together this season and cut down on his mistakes, he could lead Alabama into the thick of the SEC West race.

4. Jonathan Crompton, Tennessee

This is sort of a gut feeling ranking. Crompton has some game experience for the Vols and he's taking over the new fast paced spread offense being installed by new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson. From what little I've seen from Crompton, he seems to have the confidence and quick decision making ability to execute this offense well.

OTHERS TO WATCH:

Chris Nickson, Vandy

Nickson was very impressive in taking over for Jay Cutler in 2006, but ran into some nagging injuries in 2007 that held him out of the lineup most of the second half of the season. When he's healthy he's actually a dangerous weapon that makes opposing defenses take notice. His running ability can neutralize one of those speedy SEC pass rushes, which is a big factor in buying him time in the passing game. If Nickson can stay healthy, he'll be the starter and give Vandy a fighting chance to win at least one SEC contest in 2008.

Kodi Burns, Auburn

After being named MVP of the Peach Bowl while running the new spread offense at Auburn, Burns was treated to a QB competition with Chris Todd this spring. Burns managed to come out on top, but he'll probably be splitting time with Todd this season. His running ability will set him apart though and make the spread a little more dangerous, so don't be surprised if Burns is the man directing some of Auburn's more crucial drives in 2008.