College Football Week 5 Preview

Hard to believe its already week five of college football. There has already been a great deal of shakeups in the polls and some dramatic injuries to key players. A few teams will be looking ahead to next week when we will see some marquee match ups across the nation (Florida @ LSU, Michigan @ Iowa, Alabama @ Ole Miss). But this week should give us a few good games as well. Here is what I'll be watching:

Pittsburgh @ Louisville: the Big East continues to be less and less impressive. I think Pittsburgh has the potential to dominate that league but they aren't quite there yet. Still think they beat Louisville.

Michigan @ Michigan State: the Wolverines are hot right now. Tate Forcier (and the rest of the young Wolverines) haven't played an away game yet- so this will be a mental test, but Michigan should win this one.

Wisconsin @ Minnesota: the Gophers are much improved from the previous decade, but still lack the overall talent and depth to hang with the big boys of the Big-11 (if you can call Wisconsin a big boy). Badgers beat the Gophs.

Clemson @ Maryland: sad to say, but the Terps have to be one of the worst 10 teams in division 1-A football. Clemson wins big.

Alabama @ Kentucky: do I really need to say anything about this one? Bama big.

LSU @ Georgia: this game is very, very important to both teams. Neither can afford to lose a conference game this early. Is LSU looking ahead to Florida next week? Probably not- I think they are out to prove that they deserve that #4 ranking. Solid road win for the Bayou Bengals.

--- Scary that I've picked all road teams so far, that's never a good sign.......

Washington @ Notre Dame: the Huskies got too much credit for a bad Trojan habit. Jimmy Clausen, the ostrich, has a big game and leads the Irish to victory (and a win for the home team, whew!)

Florida State @ Boston College: snoozer. I don't know why ESPN College Gameday is going there. I couldn't really care less about this meaningless game- but hey why not go with the noles to complete the self destruction- BC wins.

South Carolina State @ South Carolina: for my dedicated readers/ hardcore Gamecock fans- I really hope you guys don't play down to ScarSt's level in this one. You're almost ranked now, hang in there and win big this week.

Georgia Tech @ Mississippi State: Tech should struggle in this one- Miss State has shown a lot of improvement under Dan Mullen (almost knocked off LSU last week). I think the Bulldogs figure out how to shut down Tech's option attack and come away with a solid victory.

Auburn @ Tennessee: Auburn will face its first road test and the best defense it has opposed this year. This battle will be won in the trenches, with both teams stacking the box. Auburn's secondary vs. Jonathan Crompton and Chris Todd vs. Eric Berry- I think we'll see 6 combined interceptions this week. Get ready for the turnover battle to begin! Auburn is young in a lot of positions and Todd didn't play well on the road last year. I have to give the edge to the Vols.

USC @ California: Cal has to be happy that they are playing back at home since they don't even bother showing up on the road. USC should be re-focused on being an elite team. The Stafon Johnson incident will probably give them something extra to play for this weekend (as if the Trojans need it). USC wins on the road.

Oklahoma @ Miami: the Sooner offense, sans Bradford, appears to be coming together. They aren't the OU offense of 2008, but they should be able to outscore the 'Canes.

While there are some quality games this week- I am glad I'm not coaching or playing this week, because I'm definitely looking forward to next week already. The top 5 will be shaken big time in the next two weeks, guaranteed.

Happy Watching.