NCAA Week 8 Football Matchups

Texas/Nebraska 12 p.m. ABC

Nebraska is reemerging as a team to be reckoned with in the Big 12 and in all of college football with a high powered passing attack. The Huskers have been so successful throwing the football that it’s forced teams to focus on pass coverage which in turn has the Huskers averaging over 200 yards per game on the ground. Texas is only giving up 47.7 yards per game on the ground and its speedy, high energy defense will make sure Nebraska’s ground attack doesn’t get going. Texas has shown that it can be susceptible to the pass and that it often comes out of the gates slow. We saw this last week against Baylor. Husker magic will be in the air in Lincoln, but Nebraska isn’t quite back to Texas’ level. My small lean goes on Texas laying the seven points in this one.

Wisconsin/Purdue 12 p.m. ESPN

Purdue returns home after three straight weeks on the road, which resulted in two losses, to take on the red hot Wisconsin Badgers who are now the favorite to take third in the Big 10 with Iowa’s loss to Indiana last week. Despite having a talented offense led by quarterback Curtis Painter, who is averaging nearly 330 yards per game through the air, the Boilermakers have a pathetic defense. They give up over 400 yards of total offense on average each week. Wisconsin will torch the Boilers with its running game which gains nearly 200 yards per game. I like the Badgers in this one.

UCLA/Notre Dame 2:30 p.m. NBC

UCLA is able to control football games with a solid running attack and a good defense which has given up just 11 touchdowns all season. I think Notre Dame is still overrated as the tenth ranked team in the country. Its defense gives up 135 yards per game on the ground and the Bruins are averaging 144. This would be a big win for the UCLA program and would give them a great deal of confidence finishing out its Pac 10 season. Notre Dame will win this one at home, but I like UCLA to keep it within the number.

Alabama/Tennessee 3:30 p.m. CBS

This matchup is Jimmy Boyd’s Saturday NCAAF featured SEC Game of the Year. The Tide enter Saturday’s matchup at 5-2 coming off back-to-back wins after back-to-back losses. Tennessee looked very strong last week against Georgia, but the Bulldogs aren’t as good as many experts speculated. They’ll take a few more lumps before the season is over. Alabama’s defensive strength is defending the pass. The Tide have some of the fastest defensive backs in the country and they are limiting opponents to just 159.1 yards per game through the air. Throwing the football is what Tennessee does best. Quarterback Erik Ainge is exceeding all expectations averaging nearly 300 yards per game. This one will come down to who wins the battle through the air. Will it be Alabama’s defense or Tennessee passing offense? Jimmy Boyd has the winning side nailed in his biggest play in the SEC this 2006 season.

Washington/California 3:30 ABC

California enters this week’s matchup against the Washington Huskies as a 23-point favorite and rightfully so as it has won by more than that margin in four of seven games this season. Two of those games that it did not exceed the 23-point margin of victory were to ranked teams. Washington has been a big surprise this season. The Huskies weren’t expected to do much, but they have come up with wins over UCLA and Arizona and nearly handed USC a loss in SoCal two weeks ago. The Huskies have shown that they can play well on the road and even though I think that Cal is the best team in the Pac 10, not USC, my small lean is to take the Huskies catching the points.

Boston College/Florida State 3:30 p.m. ABC

Boston College is going to have a hard time repeating last week’s performance against Virginia Tech down in Tallahassee. Florida State will be happy to return home after two straight weeks on the road. Right out of the gates, I like the Seminoles to rain on Boston College’s parade Saturday. Boston College is a great home football team as we saw last week and earlier in the year against Clemson. The Eagles have a great fan base to keep them fired up at home. They aren’t the same team on the road. We have seen evidence of this in a loss to N.C. State and a close win against Central Michigan. Central Michigan shouldn’t be able to share the same field with the Eagles, but when B.C. is on the road just about any team can compete with them. My lean is on the Seminoles.

San Jose State/Nevada 7 p.m. ABC

This may not be your first choice for the night game on ABC but if you’re a serious sports investor it’s a good chance to see some lower profile teams play. Jimmy Boyd loves these games as the books are a lot better at setting lines in major conferences. You’re going to want to take advantage of Jimmy Boyd’s expert opinion on Saturday night’s matchup to cash in an easy winner. Nevada has some good wins over Northwestern and Colorado State, but the Wolf Pack are 0-2 in conference play. San Jose State got off to a 1-0 start in the WAC with a solid win over Utah State last week. More people know about the Wolf Pack and it will probably lead to more bets going on that side, but is it the right play? Take advantage of an easy Saturday night winner with Jimmy Boyd.

Fresno State/LSU 9 p.m. ESPN 2

Fresno State travels across the country to take on the Bayou Bengals on ESPN 2 this Saturday night. We’re expecting a blowout but we watch anyway because we have our money tied up in this game. It’s not a high percentage play by any means, but my small lean is with LSU. The Tigers are coming off a 49-0 rout of a Kentucky team who I think would beat Fresno State this season. I expected a strong defense from LSU and it has been as good as advertised allowing just six touchdowns all season, but LSU’s offense has impressed me to the tune of nearly 420 yards per game. The Bulldogs were pounded 37-68 by Hawaii last week in Fresno and LSU will beat them even worse in this one.

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