posted November 2, 2009 at 18:01 EST in NCAA F Articles
NCAA Week 10 Preview - Alabama vs. LSU is the Game of the Week
Week 10 in the 2009 College Football Season is upon us with so many questions still needing answers.
One question that doesn’t need to be decided is whether or not the Oregon Ducks are the best team in the Pac 10. After throttling the USC Trojans as 3 point underdogs in the NCAA sportsbook, Oregon won the game 47 to 20, the Ducks will need to keep their beaks on straight and prevent a trap game loss to Stanford this Saturday.
Stanford is no slouch of a program having upset the USC Trojans in L.A. two years ago as more than 40 point underdogs. The Cardinal will be ready to shock the world again but as only 5 point underdogs this Saturday. Why such a small spread in this game? Because Stanford has played fairly well in 2009 beating Washington, UCLA and Arizona State on their way to a 5 and 3 straight-up record.
They can beat Oregon this week. Odds makers and college football betting fans know this which is why Oregon hasn’t been made a double-digit favorite. Expect a tough game for the Ducks who won’t be able to help but feel a bit emotionally drained after thumping the Trojans.
Penn State vs. Ohio State Still Big
The Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes play this Saturday in Happy Valley in a game that is meaningless when it comes to the BCS National Championship but has a ton of meaning when it comes to simply playing in a BCS game.
Penn State is still in the running for a Rose Bowl berth. Should Iowa, the lone team to beat them, go undefeated, then the Nittany Lions would be able to strut their paws in the Rose Bowl if they were to win out.
Ohio State, meanwhile, is fighting the USC Trojans, one of the teams they lost to this season, to become the at-large BCS team with two losses. It seems like every year the BCS picks a team with two losses to play in the Fiesta Bowl, Orange or Sugar. This year should be no different.
Should the Buckeyes upset the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley, they would make a strong case to be that potential Fiesta Bowl team. It won’t be easy. The Buckeyes are 3 ½ point underdogs to take down Penn State and Penn State has been nuts offensively since their loss to Iowa.
The Nittany Lions have scored over 30 points in five of their last six games and beat Ohio State 13 to 6 last season. Also, Ohio State might be looking past Penn State as a date with the undefeated Iowa Hawkeyes occurs 7 days from this coming Saturday.
Tigers vs. Tide Has Huge BCS Implications
The LSU Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa this Saturday to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in what is going to be one of the most important games of the season.
Alabama and LSU are in the same division in the SEC. That means that whomever wins their matchup most likely will play Florida in the SEC Championship game. The winner of the SEC Championship game, even with a loss, will almost assuredly get one of the spots in the BCS National Championship if things pan out the way that most college football experts expect it to pan out.
The football odds on the game are LSU +9. That’s fair considering that the Crimson Tide is undefeated and has one of the best defenses in college football.
The Tigers’ D isn’t that bad either, ranked 15th in the nation, and LSU has something over ‘Bama. They’ve played Florid and they’ve played them well losing by only 10 points, 13 to 3.
The best team ‘Bama has faced is arguably Tennessee now that Ole Miss and South Carolina both went down in flames this past Saturday. The Tide didn’t get to roll into the locker room with a victory over the Volunteers until they blocked a last second field goal.
The 12 to 10 win over Tennessee was nice but they’re going to need to play much better than that to keep LSU from beating them.
LSU rates as a serious upset contender straight-up in this game and are a virtual lock to beat the 9 point spread.
