Which favorites across college football could fall victim to upsets this weekend?
With the nation’s Top two teams strengthening potential trouble spots during their open week, most eyes will be on the other unbeaten inside the Top 10 with a chance to suffer their first blemish.
But we’re about avoiding the, as ESPN’s Chris Fallica would say, an underdog with fleas and picking games with the highest probability of going the other way. One team inside the Top 15 may go down as a double-digit favorite on Saturday in a potential look-ahead letdown spot prior to their biggest game of the season next weekend.
Can you guess who that is?
A few contests that garner the attention that didn’t make the column this week are Auburn-Florida and Michigan State-Ohio State. The Gators are a 3-point home underdog while the Spartans travel to Columbus getting three touchdowns. Picking Florida over the Tigers doesn’t scream upset to me, but Michigan State shocking the Buckeyes — arguably the nation’s most impressive team thus far — would be needle-moving.
Here are five games worth taking a closer look at with favorites clearly on Upset Alert in Week 6. For this exercise to constitute an ‘upset’, the opening line must be at least 7 points:
- VIRGINIA TECH AT MIAMI
Latest line: Miami by 14
Why it’s upset-worthy: Typical spot here for the general public to pound Miami and the cover since Virginia Tech is trending downward fast. Can Justin Fuente and the Hokies recover from a 35-point home loss to Duke? One area Virginia Tech will try and take advantage as a two-touchdown underdog is at the line of scrimmage where the Hurricanes’ offensive line has struggled this fall. After giving up 10 sacks vs. Florida in the opening, many of those same issues surfaced against vs. Central Michigan prior to Miami’s open week. Forced to play freshmen at left tackle and the right guard is partly to blame, but the Hurricanes don’t have much of a choice. Read More
