Last week marked simply the sixth time within the historical past of the AP faculty soccer ballot that one weekend featured seven video games matching ranked groups.
Number seven is that this weekend, and the video games embrace 5 of the highest six groups within the Top 25. One extra twist: The high three groups are all on the street, and that is by no means occurred this late within the season.
No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia and No. Three Notre Dame additionally maintain the highest three spots within the College Football Playoff rankings, although not in that order.
Which is most certainly to lose?
Alabama (CFP No. 2) is at No. 18 Mississippi State, a rivalry the Crimson Tide has dominated traditionally and just about owned since Nick Saban turned coach. Alabama has gained 9 straight towards the Bulldogs and is favored by a few touchdowns.
Georgia (CFP No. 1) is at No. 10 Auburn, having gained 5 of six towards the Tigers — although that one Auburn victory was memorable, to say the least .
Notre Dame (CFP No. Three) visits unbeaten and No. 7 Miami for a sport that brings again recollections of Lou Holtz, Jimmy Johnson and the primary President Bush administration.
The picks:
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
No. 9 Washington (minus 6 ½) at Stanford
Not one of many ranked v. ranked however nonetheless large within the Pac-12 with the Huskies’ playoff hopes and Bryce Love’s Heisman possibilities within the combine … WASHINGTON 28-24.
SATURDAY
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. Three Notre Dame (minus Three) at No. 7 Miami
Hurricanes can knock the Irish out of the playoff race or the Irish can deal the entire ACC a blow … MIAMI 28-24.
No. 2 Georgia (minus 2 ½) at No. 10 Auburn
Can the Bulldogs’ tailback combo of Sony Michel and Nick Chubb, with 1,577 yards and 18 touchdowns between them, get within the Heisman race? Freshman D’Andre Swift is actual good, too … GEORGIA 21-16.
No. eight TCU (plus 7) at No. 5 Oklahoma
Best protection within the Big 12 (TCU) vs. greatest offense (Oklahoma) … TCU 38-31, UPSET SPECIAL.
No. 13 Michigan State (plus 14 ½) at No. 11 Ohio State
Buckeyes haven’t misplaced back-to-back video games underneath Urban Meyer and his groups have solely misplaced consecutive video games 4 occasions in 16 seasons; Then once more, Meyer’s groups had by no means given up 50 factors till final week … OHIO STATE 28-23.
No. 1 Alabama (minus 15) at No. 18 Mississippi State
Bulldogs QB Nick Fitzgerald leads the third-best dashing offense within the SEC towards a Tide D that is been depleted by accidents … ALABAMA 31-14.
No. 12 Oklahoma State (minus 6 ½) at No. 24 Iowa State
Cowboys have gained 5 straight within the collection, however final two have been by a mixed 11 factors … OKLAHOMA STATE 30-21.
No. 25 Iowa (plus 12) at No. 6 Wisconsin
Heartland Trophy on the road and the Badgers can clinch the Big Ten West … WISCONSIN 28-20.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS
Florida State (plus 16) at No. Four Clemson
For the primary time since 2010, the ACC Atlantic rivalry just isn’t a matchup of ranked groups … CLEMSON 35-17.
STAYING UNBEATEN
UConn (plus 37) at No. 14 UCF
No crew in FBS has confronted extra pbading makes an attempt than the Huskies; not coincidentally, UConn is horrible defending the move … UCF 56-17.
CONFERENCE CALLS
No. 15 Southern California (minus 13 ½) at Colorado
Trojans RB Ronald Jones, meet the Buffaloes’ run protection, ranked 113th within the nation in yards per carry at 5.15 allowed … USC 41-21, BEST BET.
Rutgers (plus 30) at No. 16 Penn State
RB Saquon Barkley has not run for 100 yards in a sport since September … PENN STATE 49-14.
No. 17 Virginia Tech (minus Three) at Georgia Tech
Three of the Yellow Jackets’ 4 losses have been by a complete of six factors … VIRGINIA TECH 28-21.
No. 19 Washington State (minus 1) at Utah
Cougars can head to the Apple Cup towards Washington accountable for their Pac-12 North title hopes with a win … WASHINGTON STATE 27-21.
No. 21 Michigan (minus 15 ½) at Maryland
Wolverines have run for 705 yards of their final two video games towards Rutgers and Minnesota … MICHIGAN 34-14.
No. 23 West Virginia (plus 2 ½) at Kansas State
Mountaineers QB Will Grier is second within the nation with 30 TD pbades; the Wildcats have 10 landing pbades … WEST VIRGINIA 28-21.
TWITTER REQUESTS
Oregon State (plus 23) at Arizona —@BrandonSprague
Beavers have gained 4 of final 5 conferences … ARIZONA 48-14.
Florida (plus 7 ½) at South Carolina — @rmginn
Anything left within the Gators’ tank? … SOUTH CAROLINA 28-17.
SMU (plus Four ½) at Navy — @dennisdube
Midshipmen have misplaced three straight and haven’t misplaced 4 in a row since 2011 … SMU 31-28.
Boise State (minus 5 ½) at Colorado State —@JeffMinert1
Broncos have gained 5 straight and haven’t allowed greater than 14 factors in any of the video games … BOISE STATE 21-14.
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Record final week: 17-6 straight up; 9-13-1 towards the unfold.
Record this season: 168-55 straight up; 99-109-6 towards the unfold.
Upset specials: Four-6 (straight up).
Best bets: 6-Three (towards the unfold).
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP
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More faculty soccer protection: https://collegefootball.ap.org and www.Twitter.com/AP_Top25
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