Last week I raised an eyebrow at Houston traveling east to face Navy and bam! the Middies went ahead and upset the Cougars. Excuse while I head to Vegas to and bet the mortgage on a few others games this week. You have to ride the hot hand. Wait, did I actually call for a Houston upset? Man, stop hating on me.

Enemy Watch

FRIDAY

Duke (+35.5) at #7 Louisville

This game is the answer to the question of just how far behind the curve Notre Dame is this season.

SATURDAY

Lafayette (OFF) at Army

NC State (+17.5) at #3 Clemson

USC (-8) at Arizona

North Carolina (+8.5) at #16 Miami

Northwestern (+5) at Michigan State

#17 Virginia Tech (-19.5) at Syracuse

NC State at Clemson for a noon start is really intriguing. That line feels a little too large especially with Clemson looking ahead to Florida State next weekend.

USC has sort of righted the ship lately coming off a nice win over Colorado. Who was ready to hear that sentence in the pre-season? The Trojans have won 3 straight in their series with Arizona although they’ve all been pretty close.

Miami is coming off a real tough loss to Florida State and of course they’re coming to South Bend in a couple weeks. North Carolina scored 3 points against Virginia Tech which, using the Fedora conversion chart, is like -27 points for the Tar Heels. This is a big game for ACC bragging rights, especially Miami if they are to keep themselves in the national discussion.

Everyone is jumping ship on Michigan State, now the #60 F/+ team in the nation following 3 straight losses. If you’re not a believer in Dantonio turning this around you could throw some dough on Northwestern, currently 10 points above the Spartans in F/+.

Haven’t Tech and Syracuse already played? I swear this game has already happened.

Raised Eyebrow Game

Kansas State (+10.5) at #19 Oklahoma

There’s been a lot of talk around the country about this game so no big surprise from me on this one. K-State has won 2 out of their last 4 against the Sooners, although each of those 2 victories came in Manhattan.

Double Raised Eyebrow Game

Wake Forest (+21) at #14 Florida State

This game was in doubt real late last year. If we see something like Deondre Francois get banged up and miss a few series this tough Wake Forest defense could make this really interesting as the Seminoles look ahead to Clemson week.

National Spotlight

#20 West Virginia (-1) at Texas Tech

#1 Alabama (-12.5) at #9 Tennessee

#21 Utah (-9.5) at Oregon State

#12 Ole Miss (-7.5) at #22 Arkansas

Tulsa (+21.5) at #13 Houston

Arizona State (+13.5) at Colorado

#2 Ohio State (-10.5) at #8 Wisconsin

UCLA (+5) at Washington State

I know absolutely nothing about West Virginia this year other than they’ve navigated the first half of the season without suffering a loss. Technically, this is a big game if the Mountaineers can stay in the hunt for the Big 12 title.

We’ve been talking about Tennessee’s brutal schedule and now the Tide enter a really challenging part of their season with this rivalry plus A&M and LSU coming right up. Alabama has won 9 in a row against the Vols, by the way. Tennessee broke their losing streak against Florida can they possibly end both in one season?

Tulsa at Houston intrigues me because the Golden Hurricane are known to put up some points. However, Tulsa also gives up points in massive waves too and Tom Herman should have the Cougars chomping at the bit.

I can’t remember the last time I picked Wisconsin to win a big game. I’m certainly not about to do it versus Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes.