Daily Blog • August 28, 2013

 

Welcome back to my Top 25 Forecasts. In the past several years, I have given you my complete forecasts for every game involving Top 25 teams. This year I am going to give you my forecasts that include just the Top 5 teams as you need to become a Inside the Pressbox subscriber to get all of my forecasts for not only the games involving the Top 25 teams but also any FBS vs FBS game.

 

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#1 ALABAMA VS VIRGINIA TECH
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
ALABAMA 170
233
28
+14
VIRGINIA TECH
91
172
13
-5
Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA. Rematch of the ‘09 opener also in Atlanta when #5 Bama knocked off #7 VT 34-24. Bama has won 11 straight ssn openers incl vs BCS foes #8 Michigan (41-14, LY) and #9 Clemson (34-10, ‘08). Bama is nearly a 3 td favorite here and will have the crowd edge. They may hold a little back with a huge game vs Texas A&M next (2 wks) as that was their only loss LY. Two of the best D’s in the country will be on the field and while Bama clearly has the advantage on offense look for the VT DL to give the Bama OL some fits early keeping this game close until the 2H.
PHIL’S FORECAST: ALABAMA 30 VIRGINIA TECH 13
#2 OHIO STATE VS BUFFALO
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
BUFFALO 130
151
13
-6
OHIO STATE
289
260
40
+3
•••••
THESE TWO HAVE NOT MET BEFORE
First Meeting. OSU has won 34 str home openers by 23 ppg w/the L/loss vs PSU (‘78). Buffalo did stand toe to toe with Georgia in the opener LY in the 1H before losing 45-23. This Buffalo team is bowl caliber with 16 ret st’rs and will try to run on an Ohio St DL that lost all 4 st’rs. Keep in mind, LY’s opener was Meyer’s 1st game at “The Shoe” and they were coming off a losing season. They now are playing with the pressure of being the #2 team in the country but should still win easily here.
PHIL’S FORECAST: OHIO STATE 41 BUFFALO 10
#3 OREGON VS NICHOLLS STATE
CHECK BACK FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
NICHOLLS STATE  
OREGON STATE
FIRST MEETING
PHIL’S FORECAST: WILL BE UP FRIDAY AFTERNOON
#5 GEORGIA AT #8 CLEMSON
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
GEORGIA 197
301
34
+11
••
CLEMSON
166
351
35
+2
WCUClemson’s last shutout loss came when these two last met in‘03 and UGA has now won 5 in a row. This one figures to be a shootout with UGA and Clem both having Top 15 offenses and there are 4 Heisman contenders playing in UGA’s QB Murray/RB Gurley and Clem QB Boyd/WR Watkins. The Tigers do have the more veteran defense with 6 ret st’rs vs 3 for UGA. The situation also favors the home team as Georgia has an even larger game on deck vs South Carolina while Clemson has an FCS team and a bye the next 2 weeks. The SEC has owned the ACC in reg ssn matchups and look for the same here.
PHIL’S FORECAST:  GEORGIA 38 CLEMSON 37
#6 SOUTH CAROLINA VS NORTH CAROLINA
#7 TEXAS A&M VS RICE
FIRST RECENT MEETING
#9 LOUISVILLE VS OHIO
FIRST RECENT MEETING
#10 FLORIDA VS TOLEDO
FIRST RECENT MEETING

#11 FLORIDA STATE AT PITT
FIRST RECENT MEETING

#12 LSU VS #20 TCU
FIRST RECENT MEETING
#13 OKLAHOMA STATE VS MISSISSIPPI STATE
PHIL’S FORECAST: CLEMSON 45 NC STATE 31
#14 NOTRE DAME VS TEMPLE
FIRST RECENT MEETING
#15 TEXAS VS NEW MEXICO STATE
#16 OKLAHOMA VS ULM
FIRST RECENT MEETING
#17 MICHIGAN VS CENTRAL MICHIGAN
#18 NEBRASKA VS WYOMING
#169 BOISE STATE AT WASHINGTON
#21 UCLA VS NEVADA
FIRST RECENT MEETING
#22 NORTHWESTERN AT CAL
FIRST RECENT MEETING
#23 WISCONSIN VS UMASS
FIRST RECENT MEETING
#24 USC AT HAWAII