NCAA College Football Week 9 Early Games

All times Eastern

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Results:
NCAA Week 8 Picks: Coin: 4-10; Rick: 7-7
Cumulative: Coin: 57-67; Rick 72-52

Thursday, October 25

7:00 pm Baylor at #13 West Virginia (-14, 66) - The 4-3 Bears have some ballers, and though they're not in contention in the Big 12, they do play hard. They couldn't keep up with Oklahoma, losing, 66-33, but the defense played well against Texas last week in a 23-17 road loss.

Not unexpectedly, the Mountaineers suffered their first loss of the season at Iowa State on October 13. Now 5-1, they have to avoid looking past the Bears as the remainder of their schedule is tough: @ Texas, TCU, @ Oklahoma State, Oklahoma. They need to win three of those to have any hope of taking the conference title. Balanced, they should play well enough to win, but Baylor has nothing to lose.

Coin Flip: Baylor

PREDICTION: Mountaineers 31 Bears 24

7:30 pm Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech (-3, 58 1/2) - Long-standing rivalry in the ACC with a pair of talented teams that are well-matched.

4-2 Virginia Tech's losses are both out-of conference (Old Dominion, Notre Dame) so they are still unbeaten in ACC play. The Yellow Jackets are 3-4 overall, 1-3 in conference, The Hokies have allowed just 36 points in conference games, so they should limit Georgia Tech and score enough to win going away.

Coin Flip: Georgia Tech

PREDICTION: Hokies 28 Yellow Jackets 14

Friday, October 26

7:00 pm Miami (-3 1/2, 50 1/2) at Boston College - Identical records (5-2, 2-1 conference) makes for a compelling ACC contest. Both teams can light up the scoreboard, as BC clicks for 39.6 ppg (15th), and the Hurricanes turn in 37.4.

Miami gets the nod on defense, and they've played a tougher schedule, a good reason they are favored on the road. Tough call in a tight game in which weather may play a factor.

Coin Flip: Miami

PREDICTION: Hurricanes 24 Eagles 14

10:30 pm #23 Utah (-10 1/2, 54 1/2) at UCLA - This should be a retry easy win for the Utes, though the on-campus murder of a track star may have emotions running high. The Utah coaches will need to address that and the idea that UCLA is a 2-5 pushover.

The Bruins may be turning positive with two straight wins over Cal and Arizona, but Utah's losses were to Washington and Washington State, both ranked teams. They should handle this road trip handily.

Coin Flip: Utah

PREDICTION: Utes 38 Bruins 21

Saturday, October 27

12:00 pm #2 Clemson (-16 1/2, 51) at Florida State - The Seminoles were left for dead after being smothered by Syracuse, 30-7, but they've regrouped to win three of four and the one loss in there was a 28-27 defeat at the hands of Miami.

That said, Clemson may be in the ACC, but they're in a different league, winning their seven straight by an average of 29 points per game. It doesn't matter to them that they're on the road. If the Tigers play their game this will be over by half time.

Coin Flip: Clemson

PREDICTION: Tigers 45 Seminoles 13

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