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Fearless Predictions: Oct. 4
Still recovering from an upset-filled weekend, during which eight teams in the Top 25 lost. I don't think we're likely to see anything like that this week but there is potential for a lot of interesting things to happen. Both Florida State and Nebraska have difficult road games and could lose. Will they? Well, you'll just have to keep reading to find out. 1. Florida State will hold on for an emotional victory against its Sunshine State rival. With or without quarterback Chris Weinke, the Seminoles are a better team than the Hurricanes. FSU coach Bobby Bowden may have his best defense ever, and that should be enough to stop Miami's explosive offense. 2. Mississippi State will edge Auburn, thus making the SEC race a lot more interesting. After this game, there will be no undefeated teams in the SEC. Auburn's Rudi Johnsonis the real deal, but so is Mississippi State's defense. The home-field edge will be the difference for the Bulldogs in this one. 3. Wisconsin will rebound with a win over Ohio State. The Buckeyes are the last of the Big Ten unbeatens but they won't survive this difficult road test in Madison. The Badgers are coming off a tough Michigan loss and are better on both sides of the ball. 4. This week's upset special: Iowa State will knock off powerful Nebraska. OK, I can hear the cries of, "Whaaaaatttt?!?" Now that you're done screaming, let me tell you why. The Cornhuskers have looked very vulnerable lately and gave up 492 yards to a bad Missouri team last week. Iowa State (4-0) is tough, underrated and has the ever-important home-field advantage. It's my biggest long shot of the season, but I have funny feeling about this one. 5. Clemson will bring N.C. back down to earth. It has been a wild ride for the Cardiac Pack, but it will end here. There will be no fourth-quarter comebacks in this one. Clemson is far better. Period. 6. Florida will rebound with a win over LSU. Florida isn't as bad as it looked when it lost to Mississippi State, and LSU isn't as good as it appeared to be when it beat Tennessee. The Gators will even things up at home. 7. Pitt will win the early-surprise-of-the-year award by beating Syracuse. The Panthers will be 5-0 after a victory over the Orangemen. Even I couldn't have predicted that. 8. Maryland's LaMont Jordan will have his second 100-yard game against Virginia. After a slow start, Jordan will get back on track and throw up the numbers he was supposed to. Whether or not Maryland wins the game is another story. 9. Texas quarterback Major Applewhite will lead the Longhorns to a win over Oklahoma. This is Major's time to take over a tough game against the unbeaten Sooners. Chris Simms may be the Texas quarterback of the future, but Applewhite is the quarterback of the present. 10. Georgia will knock off Tennessee and get back into the SEC race. Face it, there are no dominant teams in what once was the most dominant conference. Plus, Georgia can only underachieve for so long. Sports Illustrated writer-reporter B.J. Schecter will keep you up to date on
college football thrice weekly, with a Monday Hot List, Wednesday's Fearless
Predictions and a Friday chat.
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