Friday Mornings Around 9:15 I jump on our sister station Fox Sports Radio to pick this weeks biggest games with local sports legend Teddy Heffner We have to pick against the spread. Those are the point spreads Teddy found earlier in the week so the current spread is irrelevant for our contest. Now if you'd like to pick your 7 and see if you do better than me, you could win a Mathias Sandwich Tailgate Special. You just text your picks to 803-315 3292 to be entered. You don't need to explain your picks like I do below.
This weeks games
Stanford +21.5 at Clemson 7PM ESPN
Stanford travels 2,573 miles to face the Tigers which is a little easier than the 2842 they travelled last week to face Syracuse. In that game they traveled home with smiles after upsetting the Orangemen 26-24. This game should have a much different result for a number of reasons including the nearly 9000 miles they have travelled in a week. Another reason is the same one I said last week. The Tigers believe they should be a playoff team and with no serious competition on their remaining schedule, the only way to get voters to forget the humiliation they suffered in week 1 is to get lots of style points. So the win isn’t the question, the 21.5 point spread is. Tigers held NC State to 21 points till they put their backups in and then surrendered 3 quick TS to make the final a more respectable 59-35. Nothing about Standford indicates their a much better team than State so I expect a similar performance. Tigers big!
Kentucky + 17.5 at Ole Miss Noon ABC
Wildcats almost beat Georgia, but they didn’t. Now they have to go on the road and beat the #1 ranked offense in CFB (641 YPG) or be 0-3 in SEC play. Ole Miss Defense is also really good being ranked #12 in the country. Gamecock fans will want to watch this to root against “Judas Wells” as Nick Emmanwori has named him and see a preview of next week’s opponent. The good news for Kentucky is they are the best D Ole Miss has faced this year at #6. Perhaps they can flip the field or even get some scores as the Kentucky offense is abysmal. #115. I’ll take the Kentucky D to slow the Rebels and hold them to a 17 point or smaller victory.
Arkansas +4 vs TX A&M 3:30 on ESPN
The Southwest Classic, in what is set to be the final edition of the rivalry at a neutral site of AT&T stadium in Arlington. It’s 350 miles from the Razorbacks campus and 180 miles from the Aggies campus. Both teams at 3-1 but the Aggies have won 11 of the last 12 meetings. Big question as of this writing is who will be the QB for the Aggies. Starter Conner Weigman has been out since a week 1 injury but they say he is a gametime decision this week. Marcel Reed made his second-consecutive start, leading the Aggies to a win and becoming the first player since Johnny Manziel to throw for more than 170 yards and rush for more than 80 yards in two consecutive games. Yes Arkansas beat Auburn last week by 2 TD’s but that was in part because they got 4 interceptions and a fumble. I don’t imagine A&M will be as reckless no matter who the QB is so I’m picking the Aggies to cover
Oklahoma -12 at Auburn 3:30 on ABC
Speaking of Auburn they host the Sooners for Oklahoma’s 2nd ever SEC conference game. Last week went so poorly against TN that Coach Venebles benched their QB in the 1st half. Auburn has had their own QB struggles using 2 different QB’s to toss 8 interceptions in 6 quarters. Auburn also fumbles a lot and is now the worst team in America for turnovers with 14 after 4 games. Yikes! This week they face a Sooners D that leads the nation in takeaways! Double yikes! I believe Oklahoma wins, but I’ll take the Tigers and the points.
Georgia -2 at Alabama 7:30 on ABC
Alabama’s streak of 90 consecutive home games as the favorite ends this week. The last time they were the home underdog was 2007 to LSU. Ironically that was Nick Saban’s first season. This is Kalen DeBoer’s first season but he obviously inherits a program in far better shape then the one left to Saban by Coach Shula. I’m going to say something that sounds crazy now. Kalen DeBoer is a better coach than Kirby Smart. Kalen has been a head coach 1 year longer than Kirby and 4 fewer losses. Kalen has a record of 104-12 compared to Kirby’s 94-16. Half of Kalen’s losses came in 2 years trying to build Fresno State back up when he took that over. Amongst active coaches he has the highest win percentage in FBS. Coach DeBoer has the highest win percentage in the history of FBS Coaches. #2 is Knute Rockney! He has taken over one of the most talent laden programs in history. They are at home and I believe will figure out a way to beat Georgia. Sidenote Saban did lose to #3 LSU that night and went on a 4 game losing streak punctuated by a home loss to Louisiana-Monroe followed up the next week by losing the Iron Bowl finishing the regular season 6-6 and then beat Colorado in the Independence Bowl.
Louisville +6 at Notre Dame 3:30 on Peacock
The CFB world is still talking about the Irish going down at home to Northern IL. They won their next 2 but no one seemed impressed. Beating #15 would help restore some confidence. Everything is set up for them to do just that. The simulation ran this game 20,000 times and Louisville only won 32% of those games. Louisville is a solid team. #12 in points scored per game and #13 in points allowed per game. Louisville also just beat a very similar offense last week in GA Tech. I say all that to say Notre Dame should win but I’m taking Louisville and the points..
UNC +6 at Duke 4PM ESPN 2
UNC Coach Brown offered his resignation last week after what he described as one of the most humiliating losses of his life. A 70-50 loss to James Madison. The D for UNC was horrific! They gave up 611 yards! Amazingly UNC actually out produced JMU with 618 yards themselves. But they couldn’t overcome 5 turnovers! Former Miami Coach has Duke up and running with a perfect 4-0 start. This will be both teams first ACC game of the year. This game may be a bit personal as well seeing as Mack Brown fired Manny at Texas when he was the DC in 2013. They did face each other as Head Coaches when Miami was ranked 10th and UNC #17. That game ended in one of the biggest routs of Miami in their history with the final being 62-26. This game will be huge for Mack Brown and the Tarheels moving forward. I’m taking them.
Tiebreaker: Total points added up for Clemson, GA & Ole Miss. 95 points.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 02: Isaiah Bond #17 of the Alabama Crimson Tide makes a catch against Tykee Smith #23 of the Georgia Bulldogs during the fourth quarter in the SEC Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 02, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)