I almost always start these Saturdays with some admittedly arrogant words about how Ohio State's opponent is actually bad and the Buckeyes are going to annihilate them.
To be fair, I'm usually correct (mostly because Ohio State is usually multiple touchdowns more talented than the other team), but I have no pregame trash to talk today. Because the truth is, I think this Nebraska team is actually pretty good.
These Huskers are a far better team than most people think. I'd go as far as to say this is the best 3-6 football team of all time. All six of their losses have been by a touchdown or less and half of them have come against teams currently ranked in the top-10, with another one coming against No. 20 Minnesota.
They're currently rated as the No. 24 team in the SP+ rankings – higher than multiple teams ranked in the current College Football Playoff top-15 – and are led by a quarterback who is, according to some advanced stats, legitimately one of the best in the country.
Nebraska is 3-6, isn't going to a bowl game and Scott Frost might get fired in a few weeks. But I want everyone to know that despite all of that, this is a legitimately good football team...
... that Ohio State is about to beat by 42 points.
Word of the Day: Hecatomb.
GAMEDAY MENU. It's sure not the best slate, but any day of college football is a good day, in my humble opinion.
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV/Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Army vs. Air Force (in Arlington, TX) | 11:30am | CBS |
| Kansas State at Kansas | 12:00pm | FS1 |
| Louisiana Tech at UAB | 12:00pm | CBSSN |
| SMU at Memphis | 12:00pm | ESPNU |
| #5 Ohio State at Nebraska | 12:00pm | FOX |
| #25 Pitt at Duke | 12:00pm | ACCN |
| #9 Wake Forest at North Carolina | 12:00pm | ABC |
| Missouri at #1 Georgia | 12:00pm | ESPN |
| Liberty at #16 Ole Miss | 12:00pm | SECN |
| Illinois at #20 Minnesota | 12:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Georgia Tech at Miami (FL) | 12:30pm | RSN/ESPN3 |
| Appalachian State at Arkansas State | 2:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Temple at East Carolina | 3:00pm | ESPN+ |
| #13 Auburn at #14 Texas A&M | 3:00pm | CBS |
| North Texas at Southern Miss | 3:00pm | ESPN+ |
| ULM at Texas State | 3:00pm | ESPN+ |
| California at Arizona | 3:00pm | P12N |
| Idaho State at 15 BYU | 3:30pm | BYUtv/ESPN3 |
| Tulsa at #6 Cincinnati | 3:30pm | ESPN2 |
| #11 Oklahoma State at West Virginia | 3:30pm | ESPN |
| Middle Tennessee at WKU | 3:30pm | Stadium |
| Rice at Charlotte | 3:30pm | ESPN+ |
| South Alabama at Troy | 3:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Colorado State at Wyoming | 3:30pm | CBSSN |
| #12 Baylor at TCU | 3:30pm | FOX |
| Penn State at Maryland | 3:30pm | FS1 |
| Rhode Island at UMass | 3:30pm | FloFootball / NESN |
| Navy at #10 Notre Dame | 3:30pm | NBC |
| #3 Michigan State at Purdue | 3:30pm | ABC |
| #21 Wisconsin at Rutgers | 3:30pm | BTN |
| #19 NC State at Florida State | 4:00pm | ACCN |
| Utah State at New Mexico State | 4:00pm | FloFootball / CW El Paso |
| #17 Mississippi State at Arkansas | 4:00pm | SECN |
| Tulane at UCF | 4:00pm | ESPNU |
| Marshall at Florida Atlantic | 6:00pm | CBSSN/Facebook |
| Coastal Carolina at Georgia Southern | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Old Dominion at FIU | 7:00pm | ESPN3 |
| Boise State at #23 Fresno State | 7:00pm | CBSSN |
| Oregon State at Colorado | 7:00pm | P12N |
| #22 Iowa at Northwestern | 7:00pm | BTN |
| UNLV at New Mexico | 7:00pm | Stadium |
| Tennessee at #18 Kentucky | 7:00pm | ESPN2 |
| LSU at #2 Alabama | 7:00pm | ESPN |
| Houston at USF | 7:30pm | ESPNU |
| Texas at Iowa State | 7:30pm | FS1 |
| Clemson at Louisville | 7:30pm | ACCN |
| Indiana at #7 Michigan | 7:30pm | FOX |
| #4 Oregon at Washington | 7:30pm | ABC |
| Florida at South Carolina | 7:30pm | SECN |
| San Jose State at Nevada | 10:00pm | FS2 |
| UTSA at UTEP | 10:15pm | ESPN2 |
| USC at Arizona State | 10:30pm | ESPN |
| #24 San Diego State at Hawaii | 11:00pm | FS1 |
CHILDREN OF THE CORN. I'd like to remind you all of that one time that Fox once created a Nebraska football promo video so damn creepy that the university asked Fox to stop airing it.
"It's not really the direction we want the brand to go in," Nebraska responded in a statement.
Personally, I think that's a weak take. Ritualistic murder in the middle of a cornfield is exactly what your football team should aim to do every Saturday – metaphorically, of course.
Embrace it!
PICKS! These are the correct picks for the games. You're welcome.
- Ohio State -14.5 against Nebraska. As I said, I respect Nebraska a lot and think this is the best 3-6 team of all time. But that doesn't mean Ohio State isn't going to win comfortably.
- Army vs. Air Force under 37.5. Two service academies who love to run the ball means this is going to be an extremely low-scoring game. 37.5 is a low, low number, but historically, these games are usually lower scoring than that.
- Missouri +39.5 against Georgia. I feel like I'm going to regret this one, but this is just way too big of a spread for a team that isn't terribly explosive on offense to cover. I might be sweating this one in the fourth quarter, but I just don't think the Dawgs win this game by 40+.
- West Virginia +3.5 against Oklahoma State. I don't think Oklahoma State is especially good and I think West Virginia is significantly better than its record, and they've been especially good at home. I think West Virginia wins this game straight up, but I'll take the 3.5 points.
- Purdue +3 against Michigan State. Look, I don't *want* this to happen, but Purdue is going to win this game. I think Purdue is quite a bit underrated and I honestly think Michigan State's talent is more like that of a team that should be ranked in the mid-teens. Toss in the home-field advantage, and the Boilermakers are taking this one.
- Auburn vs Texas A&M under 49.5. Defense is both of these teams' strengths and in a top-15 battle, I think they'll both turtle up a bit and lean on those defenses. I'm also counting on a couple Bo Nix turnovers.
- NC State -3 against Florida State. I have no idea why this line is so tight. It feels like a trap, but I can't find any reason to back Florida State, so we're rolling with the Wolfpack.
SONG OF THE DAY. "HUMBLE." by Kendrick Lamar.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A diplomat found dead outside the Russian embassy in Berlin was "actually a spy"... A man's body was donated to science and he was dissected in front of a live audience... NFT buyers are mad that people are right-clicking and saving their pictures... A man was found naked inside the wall of a New York theatre... Former jail detainees say officers played the "Baby Shark" song as a ‘torture tactic’...
