Pretty sorry opening night of college football. One decent game — Kentucky’s 14-3 survival of Western Kentucky, a game that had no business being any good — and a bunch of duds. Friday night should be better, with TCU at Baylor. Saturday is not a thriller, either, with Oregon-LSU and Boise State-Georgia standing out, but most other games el stinkos.
Anyway, here are my college football picks from the Thursday paper:
Tulsa at OU: Sooners 42-20. Actually a rather entertaining opener, judging on the curve. I’m probably too low on the score for both teams.
Louisiana-Lafayette at OSU: Cowboys 49-14. Sudden thought. Shouldn’t ULL be better than it is? Shouldn’t ULL be one of the better programs in the Sun Belt Conference?
Miami-Ohio at Missouri : Tigers 33-17. Gary Pinkel came from the Mid-American Conference (Toledo) and seems to have a soft spot in his heart for the MAC. This is the sixth straight year of a Mizzou-MAC matchup, and this is the first repeat customer. Miami in 2011 and 2010, Bowling Green in 2009, Buffalo in 2008, Western Michigan in 2007 and Ohio in 2006. Missouri also played Ball State in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and played Bowling Green in 2001 and 2002. So in Pinkel’s 11 Missouri seasons, the Tigers have played 11 games against the MAC.
TCU at Baylor: Frogs 24-23. You know, there are some good coaches down in Texas. Gary Patterson at TCU is top of the line. Art Briles at Baylor is exceptional, too. If OU or OSU went looking for a head coach anytime soon, and decided not to promote from within, sign me up for either one of these guys.
Rice at Texas: Longhorns 38-10. This is Southwest Conference Reunion tour. TCU-Baylor on Friday night, UT-Rice on Saturday night, A&M-SMU on Sunday night. Now if Texas Tech had played Houston on Thursday night, it would have been a heck of a story, not to mention the best game of the night.
SMU at Texas A&M: Aggies 41-21. A battle of ex-NFL head coaches. A&M’s Mike Sherman was 57-39 in six years with the Packers (2000-05). SMU’s June Jones was 22-36 in four years with the Falcons (1994-96) and Chargers (1998).
Oregon vs. LSU at Arlington, Texas: Tigers 23-14. Even without his quarterback, Les Miles is dangerous.
Utah State at Auburn: Tigers 54-7. Better enjoy this one, Auburn. You might join Texas as national finalists that don’t make a bowl game the next season.
South Carolina vs. East Carolina at Charlotte, N.C.: Gamecocks 27-12. Steve Spurrier isn’t even starting his veteran quarterback, Stephen Garcia, who has made 28 straight starts. Connor Shaw gets the nod over the troubled Garcia.
Boise State vs. Georgia at Atlanta: Bulldogs 20-19. If Boise State wins this one, the Broncos could cruise to the Big Bowl in New Orleans. But this is a virtual home game for Georgia.
Louisiana-Monroe at Florida State: Seminoles 58-13. Hey, when’s OU going to play one of these Louisiana schools? Lafayette, Monroe, Tech. The only Louisiana opponent in Sooner has been LSU (in two Sugar Bowls) and Centenary (in 1934).
Marshall at West Virginia: Mountaineers 44-16. Bill Stewart lost his hold on the West Virginia job last September, when the Mountaineers were awful against Marshall despite winning 24-21.
Miami at Maryland: Terrapins 27-21. Shouldn’t Maryland be better in football? Not just recently, in the Ralph Friedgen era. But throughout history. Except for the 1950s, Maryland hasn’t been much of a factor.
Western Michigan at Michigan: Wolverines 31-0. Brady Hoke is the new Michigan savior. I’m still trying to figure out why Les Miles isn’t coaching the Wolverines.
Indiana vs. Ball State at Indianapolis: Hoosiers 28-13. Kevin Wilson’s debut comes in the home city of the radio fools with which he sparred.
South Florida at Notre Dame: Fighting Irish 21-20. Skip Holtz takes USF into the stadium that once roared for his father.
BYU at Ole Miss: Cougars 28-26. Brigham Young has an interesting September schedule, but it falls off the table after that.
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