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For the second week in a row, the top four teams in our Book poll all remained the same. Hugh Freese's Ole Miss Rebels now spend their 8th through 14th day enjoying the view from a top the 128 schools. In another week we will find out if they really belong there when they host Alabama in what may be the most anticipated game in their long football history.
The struggles of some others around them certainly did help as they rose from #10 in the Massey combined rankings up to #7...so maybe like last year's Florida State pick, we continue to be trend setters.
Speaking of the Noles, their win sans Jameis (what the hell was he doing on the sideline anyway? If you are suspended, please stay home) didn't do much to boost them, gaining just one notch to number 18.
BC's win over Maine keeps Steve Addazio's boys on a straight path toward the top 20. The Eagles are now number 46 in the country and number 5 in the ACC, after starting in the mid 70s nationally and dead at the bottom of the conference. The Book has also been on the right side of picking BC games two out of three times, getting the UMass and USC games right while being just off on the Pitt game.
This week, the opening line I got off which to base my picks said BC -5, so with the Book saying BC -4, it sits on the side of Colorado State.
So, what about the one team here that doesn't seem to belong, the Marshall Thundering Herd? Marshall blew out the same Akron team on the road that Penn State struggled with at home, to raise their record to 4-0 and their first trip ever into our Top 10. Are they really a Top 10 team? I don't think so...it does seem ludicrous to have them ahead of teams like FSU, Michigan St, Mississippi St, Notre Dame (ah, so maybe not them!), but you get it. I happen to think that they may only be the third or even the fourth best team in the group of five (+ BYU): figure BYU, East Carolina, Cincinnati and Marshall...although the way Cincinnati played at Miami OH, need to be rethinking that one as well.
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| RANK | TEAM | REC | MASSEY | |
| 1 | Ole Miss Rebels | 3-0 | 7 | |
| 2 | Auburn Tigers | 3-0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Baylor Bears | 3-0 | 9 | |
| 4 | Oklahoma Sooners | 4-0 | 1 | |
| 5 | Texas A&M Aggies | 4-0 | 4 | |
| 6 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 4-0 | 3 | |
| 7 | Georgia Bulldogs | 2-1 | 16 | |
| 8 | Oregon Ducks | 4-0 | 6 | |
| 9 | Marshall Thundering Herd | 4-0 | 36 | |
| 10 | Michigan State Spartans | 2-1 | 22 | |
| 11 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | 4-0 | 8 | |
| 12 | Missouri Tigers | 3-1 | 28 | |
| 13 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 2-1 | 35 | |
| 14 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 3-0 | 11 | |
| 15 | UCLA Bruins | 3-0 | 10 | |
| 16 | Wisconsin Badgers | 2-1 | 20 | |
| 17 | Stanford Cardinal | 2-1 | 31 | |
| 18 | Florida State Seminoles | 3-0 | 5 | |
| 19 | LSU Tigers | 3-1 | 13 | |
| 20 | USC Trojans | 2-1 | 23 | |
Others receiving votes: Utah, Duke, Louisville
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| RANK | TEAM | REC | NATIONAL RANK | |
| 1 | Florida St. Seminoles | 3-0 | 18 | |
| 2 | Duke Blue Devils | 4-0 | 22 | |
| 3 | Louisville Cardinals | 3-1 | 23 | |
| 4 | Clemson Tigers | 1-2 | 32 | |
| 5 | Boston College Eagles | 3-1 | 46 | |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Panthers | 3-1 | 48 | |
| 7 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 2-1 | 50 | |
| 8 | Virginia Tech Hokies | 2-2 | 51 | |
| 9 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 4-0 | 54 | |
| 10 | Virginia Cavaliers | 2-2 | 57 | |
| 11 | Miami-Florida Hurricanes | 2-2 | 60 | |
| 12 | N.C. State Wolfpack | 4-0 | 61 | |
| 13 | Syracuse Orange | 2-1 | 65 | |
| 14 | Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 2-2 | 89 | |
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| FAVORITE | SPREAD | UNDERDOG | ||
| #15 UCLA | E | at Arizona St | ||
| at #10 Michigan St | 27.5 | Wyoming | ||
| at #7 Georgia | 17 | Tennessee | ||
| at #16 Wisconsin | 32.5 | South Florida | ||
| #18 Florida St | 6 | at NC State | ||
| #5 Texas A&M | 9 | Arkansas | ||
| at #2 Auburn | 30 | Louisiana Tech | ||
| #17 Stanford | E | at Washington | ||
| at #13 Ohio St | 16.5 | Cincinnati | ||
| #12 Missouri | 0.5 | at South Carolina | ||
| at #1 Ole Miss | 22.5 | Memphis | ||
| at #19 LSU | 32 | New Mexico St | ||
| #3 Baylor | 17.5 | at Iowa St | ||
| #14 Notre Dame | 11 | Syracuse | ||
| at #20 USC | 9.5 | Oregon St | ||
| ACC | ||||
| at BC | 4 | Colorado St | ||
| at Virginia Tech | 17 | W Michigan | ||
| at Pittsburgh | 16 | Akron | ||
| at Virginia | 21 | Kent St | ||
| at Louisville | 20.5 | Wake Forest | ||
| at Clemson | 10 | North Carolina | ||
| Duke | 4 | at Miami | ||
| Other BC Opponents | ||||
| Bowling Green | 10 | at UMass | ||
Adding two picks this week for my sleeper game of the week...the two highest ranked teams flying under the radar and the weekly Toilet Bowl, featuring the two lowest ranked teams of the week. Last week, these two picks went 1-1 winning the Toilet Bowl (picked Southern Miss by exactly the 1 point spread in a 21-20 win) and lost the Sleeper game, taking Michigan, albeit only 1/2 point off vs Utah.
This week:
Sleeper Bowl: #40 Maryland at #44 Indiana (IU -1)
Toilet Bowl: #112 South Alabama at #121 Idaho (Idaho -2.5)
Last week started off horribly. Just going chronologically, at one point, we were 5-17 against the spread, but rallied with the night games, something that has not happened historically, to finish 21-24 .467 for the week with one the same, for a four week total of 76-80 .487 with four the same.
Enjoy the games this week and go Eagles!!