The Dukes have a big clash against GAST this Saturday but there will also be some big ones in terms of bowl eligibility, climbing the AP (even though ESPN will be using CFP going forward), and watching our rivals suffer.
Great graphic from Lawrence Smith to follow along for bowl eligibility sakes.
Without further ado, the big games of the week.
Thursday
Troy (6-2) vs South Alabama (4-4) - 7:30PM on ESPN2
Saturday
Noon
#25 Kansas State (6-2) vs #7 Texas (7-1) - FOX
Texas A&M (5-3) vs #11 Ole Miss (7-1) - ESPN
#12 Notre Dame (7-2) vs Clemson (4-4) - ABC
Root for Florida, Nebraska, and Jacksonville St. to knock off their 6 loss opponents
TOILET BOWL- Kennesaw State (2-5) vs Sam Houston (0-8) - 1PM on ESPN+
Arizona State (2-6) vs #18 Utah (6-2) - PAC12N, 11pt spread, ASU a tough out and hopefully they can knock Utah out. Confident ASU loses a 7th
Army (2-6) vs #17 Air Force (8-0) - 2:30PM on CBSSN
ULL (5-3) vs Ark St (4-4) - 3PM on ESPN+
Afternoon - 3:30PM
#14 Missouri (7-1) vs #1 Georgia (8-0) - CBS
#9 Penn State (7-1) vs Maryland (5-3) - FOX
Bedlam - #10 Oklahoma (7-1) vs Oklahoma State (6-2) - ABC
Virginia Tech (4-4) vs. #15 Louisville (7-1) - ACCN
Coastal Carolina (5-3) vs Old Dominion (4-4) - ESPN+
GA Southern (6-2) vs Texas State (5-3) - 5PM on ESPN+
Marshall (4-4) vs App State (4-4) - 6PM on NFLN
#22 Kansas (6-2) vs Iowa State (5-3) - 7PM on ESPN
Night - 7:30PM
#5 Washington (8-0) vs #24 USC (6-2) - ABC
#13 LSU (6-2) vs #8 Alabama (7-1) - CBS
#16 Oregon State (6-2) vs Colorado (4-4) - 10PM on ESPN
#20 UCLA (6-2) vs Arizona (5-3) - 10:30PM on FS1
Thanks for the summary. All focused on our game, but as mentioned on another thread, I believe we clinch the SBC East division if we win and the following happens:
ODU beats Coastal Carolina
Marshall beats App State
Texas State beats Georgia Southern
We would have no losses and ODU and GA Southern would be next with 2 losses, and we should own tiebreakers over them since we beat both of them.
All 3 of those game are pretty much even spreads, and JMU is only favored by 5.5. So a lot of even SBC games on Saturday.
Funny though as we may not want some of those results for bowl purposes. If ODU loses, they may not get to 6 wins. Same with Marshall.
I'd rather clinch later, and have as many bowl eligible teams as possible from the SBC
BTW - While I do like that chart, as I mention on my analysis, Hawaii is not yet eliminated. The threshold is 6 wins - which they can still reach by winning every remaining game. They would finish 6-7 - which would place them into a bowl game above us, but after all other 6-win teams. But I don't see Hawaii winning 4 in a row, so we shouldn't have to worry.
Tonight has two MAC games:
Toledo is crushing Buffalo. This is good for us as Toledo is already bowl eligible and this result would give Buffalo a painful 6th loss - which means they will need to win-out. (And two of their remaining games are against teams who are already bowl eligible.)
CMU is leading NIU. Both teams are 4-4, so the loser will need to go 2-1 or 3-0 in their final three games. Unfortunately for us, NIU has a very weak remaining schedule...so 2-1 or 3-0 is very reasonable.
NIU now down by 6 with the ball and 1:20 left in the fourth
CMU intercepts the ball....game over
Bowling Green improves to 5-4 after beating Ball St 24-21. Ball St came up just short on a 52 yard FG as time expired.
Ball State now is 2-7 so another 7 loss team to the list!!
Brian
Yep, while Ball State lost, it was kind of good news/bad news the last couple nights as two 4-4 teams won. Central Michigan was the surprise of those two and now needs just one win in their last three. They were not forecasted to get to 6. They will be underdogs in all 3.
We will need some 4-4 teams to go 1-3 or worse in their last 4 games. So we probably need a couple of these teams that are 4-4 to go 1-3 or worse:
ODU, VA Tech, Marshall, App State, Wake Forest.
Wake plays Duke tonight. Marshall plays App State on Saturday. We may want Marshall to win as App State would have 5 losses with JMU, GA Southern, and GA State still on their schedule.
ODU has Coastal, at Liberty and the two Georgia schools as well.
Some other 4-4 teams of interest:
Colorado, Auburn, Miss State, Western Kentucky, Northwestern, and about 10 others
we may end up in the mix for CGD on 11/18.
It's shaping up to be a light week that weekend.
First, MUST beat Ga State of course.
Games on 11/18 that could be picked:
Georgia @ Tennessee
Washington @ Oregon State
Florida @ Missouri
UCLA @ USC
Kansas State @ Kansas
that's our competition. there's really no one else that would be in the mix.
Games this week that would help our cause that weekend:
Georgia to beat Missouri
Washington to beat USC
Colorado to beat Oregon State
Iowa State to beat Kansas
all the teams above we need to win will likely be favored
if we get those results, and we take care of business, then the following week it's going to come down to 2 games and we could be the frontrunner for CGD on 11/18
we need to beat UConn.
and then, we need Missouri to beat Tennessee at home.
this scenario is not unlikely at all. Probably the two biggest hurdles are:
us taking care of our own business at Ga State, and
Mizzou winning at home over Tennessee.
but if these games go our way, I think a 10-0 JMU with all that story entails will be the frontrunner to host.
It would also help if App State wins their next two. A 6-4 App State with wins over Marshall and Georgia State would be more compelling than a 5-5 or 4-6 opponent.
(11-02-2023 10:43 AM)JMaddy Wrote: [ -> ]It would also help if App State wins their next two. A 6-4 App State with wins over Marshall and Georgia State would be more compelling than a 5-5 or 4-6 opponent.
That's better for CGD, but I'd much rather have a dejected App State come in with nothing to play for and give us a better chance at 12-0 than have us on TV on a Saturday morning.
(11-02-2023 10:43 AM)JMaddy Wrote: [ -> ]It would also help if App State wins their next two. A 6-4 App State with wins over Marshall and Georgia State would be more compelling than a 5-5 or 4-6 opponent.
I don’t think that matters.
We were a missed Utah field goal away from hosting during the ODU game last weekend and they were 4-3, which is nothing special.
It’s a tv show. A good crowd and story telling is what they are after.
We will have both on the 18th. Just need a few games to go our way.
(11-02-2023 11:34 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote: [ -> ] (11-02-2023 10:43 AM)JMaddy Wrote: [ -> ]It would also help if App State wins their next two. A 6-4 App State with wins over Marshall and Georgia State would be more compelling than a 5-5 or 4-6 opponent.
I don’t think that matters.
We were a missed Utah field goal away from hosting during the ODU game last weekend and they were 4-3, which is nothing special.
It’s a tv show. A good crowd and story telling is what they are after.
We will have both on the 18th. Just need a few games to go our way.
Agree - App's brand plus an undefeated JMU is enough, if the rest of the cards fall our way.
All the prior story lines would still apply, plus they could also talk about App St and JMU's common history with FCS, and all the prior matchups that have been close games.
Should be a good game tonight between USA and Troy. USA is desperate at 4-4 after looking like a juggernaut blowing out Oklahoma State 33-7
Would help if Texas Tech, Duke and Troy all win tonight
Did Troy have the same folks as McDonald's for their P A system? You can't understand a darn thing the referee is saying.
South Al not looking too bad so far. They’re probably gonna have to win this gane 13-7 though.
(11-02-2023 07:08 PM)jmu007 Wrote: [ -> ]South Al not looking too bad so far. They’re probably gonna have to win this gane 13-7 though.
Quarterback draw is eating Troy alive! Their D is caught flatfooted, not knowing what's coming or which way to go. Such a fantastic weapon. We don't use it nearly enough and we have a quarterback who can do it well. I can't remember the last JMU QB draw I saw. It may have been Centeio.
South Alabam may be the worst tackling team I have ever seen.