
North Carolina -9.5 vs South Carolina – This will be a game of strength on strength and weakness on weakness. The North Carolina offense, 17th overall, will battle a solid Gamecock defense, 8th against the pass. Meanwhile the South Carolina offense, 116th overall, 110th in that will be led by the converted graduate assistant will face off with the Tar Heels' 101st ranked scoring defense.
In a bowl season chock full of opt outs, UNC QB Sam Howell bucked the trend and will be playing in the game. He was one of the best QBs in the game. In his three seasons, Howell completed 63.9% of his pass for 10,078 yards with 91 touchdowns vs 23 interceptions.
Howell showed he could run a little bit too, After only rushing for a total of 181 yards in his first two seasons he reeled off 825 yards on the ground, scoring 11 touchdowns, making him the second-leading rusher on the team.
In a bowl season chock full of opt outs, UNC QB Sam Howell bucked the trend and will be playing in the game. He was one of the best QBs in the game. In his three seasons, Howell completed 63.9% of his pass for 10,078 yards with 91 touchdowns vs 23 interceptions.
Howell showed he could run a little bit too, After only rushing for a total of 181 yards in his first two seasons he reeled off 825 yards on the ground, scoring 11 touchdowns, making him the second-leading rusher on the team.

The strength for the Gamecocks is an excellent pass defense, but they will also be without their top pass rusher. DE Kingley Enagbare who led the team with 4.5 sacks, is doing the opt out thing. He will be missed as UNC is terrible in pass protection allowing 45 sacks this year.
South Carolina has a huge problem against teams that can run. The Cock allowed over 200 rushing yards five times in the last nine games. They went 0-5.
Can UNC get the ground game going?. It cranked up 300 yards or more in three of the last four games and 220 or more in six of the last seven. Yeah, I think so.
Don’t underestimate the intensity of this game. UNC hates it when South Carolina refers to themselves as Carolina. With Howell deciding to play in this game, it will give North Carolina that spark needed The Heels will be fired up and roll.
I’ll lay the points for a quatloo.
South Carolina has a huge problem against teams that can run. The Cock allowed over 200 rushing yards five times in the last nine games. They went 0-5.
Can UNC get the ground game going?. It cranked up 300 yards or more in three of the last four games and 220 or more in six of the last seven. Yeah, I think so.
Don’t underestimate the intensity of this game. UNC hates it when South Carolina refers to themselves as Carolina. With Howell deciding to play in this game, it will give North Carolina that spark needed The Heels will be fired up and roll.
I’ll lay the points for a quatloo.

Tennessee -6.0 vs Purdue – Both the Boilermakers and the Vols exceeded expextations this year. Purdue finished the regular season above .500 for the first time since 2007 while picking up some memorable upsets along the way. couple of huge upsets over and No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes and some other team that I can’t seem to recall.
For Tennessee, it was the only power conference team with a rookie head coach to win at least seven games this season.
Josh Heupel's up-tempo offense, imported from Central Florida, quickly clicked, with the Volunteers ranking ninth nationally in scoring at 38.8 points per game while piling up 458.7 yards per contest.
QB Hendon Hooker makes the offense go. passing for 2,567 yards, 26 touchdowns with just three interceptions. He also ran for 561 yards and five TDs. He led all SEC quarterbacks in passer rating (182.2) and ranks third nationally in passing yards per attempt (9.8).
And while the Volunteers' passing game is dangerous, the ground game which ranked 19th nationally, churning out 212.0 rushing yards per game, may actually be the strength of the offense. As explosive as Vol's passing game can be, pass protection has been a major liability for an offensive line that surrendered an SEC-worst 42 sacks during the regular season.
For Tennessee, it was the only power conference team with a rookie head coach to win at least seven games this season.
Josh Heupel's up-tempo offense, imported from Central Florida, quickly clicked, with the Volunteers ranking ninth nationally in scoring at 38.8 points per game while piling up 458.7 yards per contest.
QB Hendon Hooker makes the offense go. passing for 2,567 yards, 26 touchdowns with just three interceptions. He also ran for 561 yards and five TDs. He led all SEC quarterbacks in passer rating (182.2) and ranks third nationally in passing yards per attempt (9.8).
And while the Volunteers' passing game is dangerous, the ground game which ranked 19th nationally, churning out 212.0 rushing yards per game, may actually be the strength of the offense. As explosive as Vol's passing game can be, pass protection has been a major liability for an offensive line that surrendered an SEC-worst 42 sacks during the regular season.

Purdue’s bread and butter is its passing attack. Aidan O'Connell led the way for a Purdue offense that averaged 423.4 yards and 27.5 PPG ranking 8th overall. O’Connell had 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions for the season. He was particularly dominant down the stretch with 407 YPG, 14 touchdowns and no interceptions over the Boilermakers' final four games. He should find some success against a Tennessee's defense that had its fair share of struggles, allowing 27.5 points and 404.6 yards per game.
The Boiler, however, attack will be set back as its top two WRs in David Bell and Milton Wright won’t be playing. Bell, a first-team All-American opted out to focus on the draft. Wright, who led Purdue in touchdown catches during the regular season, did not make the trip to Nashville for undisclosed reasons. The Boilermakers will likely be without starting left tackle Greg Long as well.
The Boiler defense was excellent against the pass allowing just 194.6 YPG game (21st). The Boilermakers also had just as many interceptions (13) to their credit as passing touchdowns allowed (13) during the regular season. But the will be missing two key pieces. DE George Karlaftis, a likely top 10 pick will prepare for the draft. where he's a projected top-10 pick. Purdue will also be missing one of their best CBs in Dedrick Mackey
The Vols high-octane style on offense will provide a different challenge than Purdue sees for much of the season in the Big Ten West, and the Boilermakers just won't have enough with their best player on each side of the ball both opting out. Add in a virtual home game in Nashville and I’ll lay the points and take the Vols for a quatloo.
The Boiler, however, attack will be set back as its top two WRs in David Bell and Milton Wright won’t be playing. Bell, a first-team All-American opted out to focus on the draft. Wright, who led Purdue in touchdown catches during the regular season, did not make the trip to Nashville for undisclosed reasons. The Boilermakers will likely be without starting left tackle Greg Long as well.
The Boiler defense was excellent against the pass allowing just 194.6 YPG game (21st). The Boilermakers also had just as many interceptions (13) to their credit as passing touchdowns allowed (13) during the regular season. But the will be missing two key pieces. DE George Karlaftis, a likely top 10 pick will prepare for the draft. where he's a projected top-10 pick. Purdue will also be missing one of their best CBs in Dedrick Mackey
The Vols high-octane style on offense will provide a different challenge than Purdue sees for much of the season in the Big Ten West, and the Boilermakers just won't have enough with their best player on each side of the ball both opting out. Add in a virtual home game in Nashville and I’ll lay the points and take the Vols for a quatloo.

Michigan State -3.0 vs Pitt – This game will come down to who will miss their star player more. Pitt QB Kenny Pickett opted out for the draft where he will be a day 1 pick. State’s star RB Kenneth Walher III also opted out. He’s likely a 3rd round pick.
Backup Pitt QB Nick Patti will be auditioning for the starting job next year as former USC QB Kedon Slovis will be a Panther is coming to Pitt for 2022. Patti will be taking plays from a new voice too as OC Mark Whipple is headed to Nebraska. You remember Mr Whipple, he stunk up the joint as the UMass HC.
Patti must be salivating at the chance to show his stuff against the worst pass defense in Div 1A football. He better be sharp, since State can get after the QB and there’s no run game to rely on.
Backup Pitt QB Nick Patti will be auditioning for the starting job next year as former USC QB Kedon Slovis will be a Panther is coming to Pitt for 2022. Patti will be taking plays from a new voice too as OC Mark Whipple is headed to Nebraska. You remember Mr Whipple, he stunk up the joint as the UMass HC.
Patti must be salivating at the chance to show his stuff against the worst pass defense in Div 1A football. He better be sharp, since State can get after the QB and there’s no run game to rely on.

State will miss K9 but the tandem of Jordon Simmons and Elijah Collins should keep the Pitt rush defense honest. It’s a damn good rush defense too finishing 6th overall.
This game will be decided by States passing attack against the Pitt pass defense. Pitt may be able to stop the run but they are only slightly better than State against the pass (105th).
And in a season with opt outs, State actually gets a player back. Speedy Nailor is back from injury. The combination of Nailor and Jayden Reed will be more than Pitt can handle. One thing State knows is the weakness in Narduzzi’s pass defense, wheel routes and out patterns then set up a deep shot when Pitt starts to press.
You know I’m taking State and laying the points. At least there’s good reasons this time. No quatloos though.
This game will be decided by States passing attack against the Pitt pass defense. Pitt may be able to stop the run but they are only slightly better than State against the pass (105th).
And in a season with opt outs, State actually gets a player back. Speedy Nailor is back from injury. The combination of Nailor and Jayden Reed will be more than Pitt can handle. One thing State knows is the weakness in Narduzzi’s pass defense, wheel routes and out patterns then set up a deep shot when Pitt starts to press.
You know I’m taking State and laying the points. At least there’s good reasons this time. No quatloos though.
Wisconsin -7.0 vs Arizona State – It’s the Johnny E Bowl. He still grumbling about the wildly incompetent refs the end of their game in 2013

It’s Wisconsin. You know what you are going to get. Pound the rock behind gigantic, King Kong sized linemen and play fantastic defense. It’s been that way since Barry to now Chryst. Rinse repeat.
This years version of Badger Ball ran the ball well again finishing with 215 YPG (16th). Fr RB sensation Braelon Allen finished the year 1,109 yards with 12 touchdowns. Allen's workload began to pick up midway through the campaign, as he eclipsed 100 yards in seven of the final eight games.
The defense was fantastic. It was the best in the nation against the run, fifth against the pass and 1st overall.
Arizona State was up and down this year. They started out 5-1 with QB Jayden Daniels getting some very dark horse Heisman buzz. But back to back losses to Utah and Washington State derailed those whispers and the season started to go off the rails. r, Arizona State rebounded, earning victories in three of their last four games, scoring better than 30 points in each of those victories, including an impressive win over USC, to finish 8-4.
The only way that ASU will win this game is to stop the run and get QB Graham Mertz to pass. He’s considered a game manager but if the game is put in his hands to win he’s awful . Not sure if ASU can do that. Their run defense is respectable (32nd) and finished 18th in overall defense. But the closest team to Wisconsin they faced was Utah who clobbered ASU 35-21. I’m expecting a similar score here.