College Football 2011, Preweek 4

There are still a lot of 2-0 and 3-0 teams out there. This week should see some reduction however as Week 4 has some stiff competition between ranked teams:

• #2 LSU vs #16 West Virginia,
• #3 Alabama vs #14 Arkansas,
• #7 Oklahoma State vs #8 Texas A&M,
• #11 Florida State vs #21 Clemson, and
• #25 Georgia Tech faces North Carolina—a team knocking on the door.

Everyone of those teams is undefeated--so far. Half of them won't be on Sunday.

Only #5 Stanford and #19 Texas have the weekend off.

Let's just hope the weather stays out of the picture this week. One game played after midnight (Oklahoma State vs Tulsa), and another stopped in the third quarter due to rain, lightning and tornado watches (Baylor vs Stephen F. Austin) put a damper on tailgating last weekend. And I don't care how badly the Texas-Oklahoma area needed the rain. Going for thunder, lightning and tornadoes was a step too far.

Here are this week’s match-ups for all the Top 25 college teams. The two rankings are the AP/Coaches' Polls.

1/1 Oklahoma (2-0) The Sooners will host the Missouri Tigers (2-1) Saturday night. The Tigers will be road kill ‘neath the Sooners’ wagon.

2/3 LSU (3-0) The Tigers go on the road to face #16 West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0) Saturday. The Tiger defense could prove too much for the Mountaineers. Look for a close game with LSU prevailing 27-24.

3/2 Alabama (3-0) The Crimson Tide hosts the #14 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-0) on Saturday. Roll Tide! By at least 14 points.

4/4 Boise State (2-0) The Broncos will have the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (1-2) on the Blue Carpet Saturday night. Will Tulsa be awake for this game after last Saturday/Sunday night’s 3 AM finish? Will Keller throw for another five TDs? Don’t know about the former but the latter is likely—after all he’s already done so five times. His “W” line will increase this week once more.

5/5 Stanford (3-0) The Cardinal will have this weekend off.

6/7 Wisconsin (3-0) The Badgers host the South Dakota Coyotes (2-1) Saturday afternoon. Badgers will romp by 24 or more.

7/6 Oklahoma State (3-0) The Cowboys travel to Texas A& M to play the #8 Aggies (2-0) Saturday night. Could be THE game to go into overtime—just what the Cowboys don’t need but they will win it nonetheless. OSU 31, A&M 24

8/8 Texas A&M (2-0) The Aggies host the #7 Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-0) Saturday night. Aggies get beat in a close one.

9/9 Nebraska (3-0) The Cornhuskers are on the road to play the Wyoming Cowboys (3-0) Saturday night. Nebraska comes away with a 10 point win.

10/13 Oregon (2-1) The Ducks play at the home of the Arizona Wildcats (1-2). The Ducks continue to paddle their opponents trouncing the Wildcats by more than 21.

11/14 Florida State (2-1) The Seminoles move up the coast to play the #21 Clemson Tigers (3-0) Saturday. With their starting QB beat up from last week’s game, the Seminoles will fall to high powered Clemson and it won’t even be close.

12/10 South Carolina (3-0) The Gamecocks will host the Vanderbilt Commodores (3-0) Saturday night. Someone has to lose and it will be the Commodores. Gamecocks by 17 as it's Lattimore right, Lattimore left and Lattimore up the middle.

13/11 Virginia Tech (3-0) The Hokies are on the road to face the Thundering Herd of Marshall (1-2) Saturday. Not a good year to be member of the Thundering Herd. Hokies score twice on special teams in a rout.

14/12 Arkansas (3-0) The Razorbacks play at #3 Alabama (3-0) Saturday. 'Bama big.

15/15 Florida (3-0) The Gators play the Kentucky Wildcats (2-1) on the road Saturday evening. Gators in Kentucky? Oh, yeah! By at least 17.

16/16 West Virginia (3-0) The Mountaineers will host the #2 LSU Tigers (3-0) Saturday. Tigers will be too much.

17/19 Baylor (2-0) The Bears host the Rice Owls (1-1) Saturday night. Bears eat the Owls for dinner.

18/17 South Florida (3-0) The Bulls host the UTEP Miners (2-1) in a Saturday night game. The Bulls will rout the Miners.

19/18 Texas (3-0) The Longhorns have the weekend free.

20/20 TCU (2-1) The Horned Frogs play host to the Portland State Vikings (2-0) Saturday afternoon. Portland State? Really? Frogs by a bunch.

21/22 Clemson (3-0) The Tigers host the #11 Florida State Seminoles (2-1) Saturday. Tigers carry the day in an upset over injured FSU.

22/21 Michigan (3-0) The Wolverines are at home to entertain the San Diego State Aztecs (3-0) Saturday at noon. The Wolverines will treat the Aztecs…poorly.

23/NR Southern California (3-0) The Trojans play the Sun Devils at Arizona State (2-1) Saturday night. Ain’t no sunshine for the Devils in this one. USC by 14.

24/NR Illinois (3-0) The Fighting Illini host the Western Michigan Broncos (2-1) Saturday afternoon. Illini tame the Broncos in a stomping.

25/24 Georgia Tech (3-0) The Yellow Jackets will host the North Carolina Tar Heels (3-0) at noon on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets' high powered offense should score often enough to keep their team undefeated.

NR/23 Michigan State (2-1) The Spartans will host the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-2) Saturday at noon. The Spartans pound the Chippewas.

NR/25 North Carolina The Tar Heels (3-0) will play on the road against the #25 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-0) at noon Saturday. Tar Heels won't stop the Jackets, especially in Georgia.