We have one of the Power 5 conferences in college football opening this weekend, with the Big Ten starting this weekend. The last holdout among the major conferences is the Pac-12, which will begin play the first weekend in November. The marquee matchup in the Big Ten features Michigan visiting Minnesota, as the Golden Gophers look to make a statement that their 11-win season in 2019 was not a fluke. We’ll give those two conferences a couple of weeks to sort things out, and today we’ll take a look at the ACC, the SEC, the Big 12 and the AAC, which is the likeliest of the Group of Five conferences to have a top-tier bowl team.
As you plan your futures sports betting in college football, check out our thoughts on the conference standings.
NCAA News: Updated Predictions for Conference Winners
ACC: Clemson…and everyone else
Clemson (5-0, 4-0 ACC) is ranked #1 in the nation and made their latest statement in a 73-7 shellacking of Georgia Tech last week. That was the widest margin of victory in an ACC conference game in the history of the conference. Trevor Lawrence threw for 404 yards and five touchdowns, and Hunter Helms and Will Spiers got some mop-up time running the offense. Next up for the Tigers is Syracuse, coming to town as 44.5 point underdogs. Clemson already routed then-#7 Miami two weeks ago; having Notre Dame playing in the ACC this year, due to the scheduling problems they had faced as an independent in the COVID-19 pandemic brings in another interesting team, but the Fighting Irish struggled to beat Louisville by five points…a week after Georgia Tech (who lost to Clemson by 66) gave the Cardinals a whipping on the road two weeks ago.
Big 12: Oklahoma State is trending… for now
Oklahoma State will go three weeks between games, as their bye week came last weekend, and a COVID-19 outbreak at Baylor has forced the postponement of their game for this weekend. Quarterback Spencer Sanders, who had missed the last two games for the Cowboys due to an ankle injury, gets more time to recuperate.
Iowa State took care of business against Texas Tech last week, rolling to a 31-15 win and piling up more than 500 yards of total offense. Seven of the 15 Texas Tech points came when the Red Raiders blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown. The Cyclone defense is impressive this year; can they ride it to the Big 12 Championship?
SEC: Alabama…again
LSU lost both of their coordinators after winning a national championship, and their defense has fallen off the table with losses to Mississippi State and Missouri. So much for taking Alabama’s slot atop the SEC West. Georgia had a chance to make a statement against Alabama this last weekend but ended up turning a four-point halftime lead into a double-digit loss. There’s no reason to think Alabama won’t roll to another SEC title, even though their defense is still a little more permissive than it has been in years past.
AAC: Cincinnati (3-0, 1-0 AAC) is ranked #8 in the nation, but…
The Bearcats haven’t played since October 3, when they had a harder time than expected in beating USF. Cincinnati’s defense stood tall, forcing six turnovers, including five interceptions (an AAC record). Their other two wins came against FCS school Austin Peay and then-#22 Army, as they were able to slow down the Black Knights’ triple-option. They will visit #16 SMU on Saturday night.
SMU (5-0, 2-0 AAC) has struggled on defense at several different points this season. They gave up 24 points in their opener at Texas State, and they gave up 61 combined points in wins over Memphis and Tulane. Their defense has stood tall when they had to, getting a fourth-quarter strip sack against Memphis and then an interception in overtime against Tulane. However, with the Bearcats coming to town, we’ll see just how likely the Mustangs are to contend in the conference.
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