Week 9 Prevew: LSU Hosts Auburn In The Battle of Top Ten Tigers

October 21, 2019 by Dave Congrove

Every team now has at least 6 games under its belt and the competition gets more fierce as we enter the next-to-last week of games before the initial College Football Playoff committee releases its first set of rankings for the 2019 season on November 5.

No game looms larger this week than the Southeastern Conference's western division showdown in Baton Rouge when Auburn (6-1) visits LSU (7-0) as a 10.33-point underdog. That computer spread is only slightly under the preseason forecast that gave LSU an 11.50-point cushion. The Bayou Bengals are ranked 2nd in the Super 16 Poll, AP Poll and CCR Top 130 computer rankings, while ranking 3rd in the Coaches' Poll. Auburn is 9th or 10th in each of those rankings.

The computer's top-ranked team, Ohio State, hosts Wisconsin as a 16.42-point computer choice. This was shaping up to be another top ten heavyweight bought until the Badgers took a stunning 24-23 loss at Illinois on Saturday as a 31-point Vegas favorite. Now the question becomes what to expect from Paul Chryst's troops. Wisconsin better bring the defense that had surrendered just 29 points in its first 6 games while posting 4 shutouts. But more importantly, the Badgers will need to get the most out of every offensive possession. Even in this past weekend's loss, Wisconsin outgained the Illini by 105 yards and owned the time of possession by a 40-20 margin. Jonathan Taylor even had his unusual 100-yard game (132 to be exact on 28 carries). But Taylor had a fourth quarter fumble and Jack Coan had a 4th quarter pick that fueled the Illini comeback victory.

Another marquee game that has lost some luster is Notre Dame's trek to Michigan. The computer still has the Wolverines as the favored team by 4.51 points, but that's been halved from the preseason projection of 9.22 points. Michigan was the computer's pick to win the national title, but Jim Harbaugh's troops were manhandled 35-14 at Wisconsin, and fell short this past weekend at Penn State, 28-21. A 10-3 home victory over Iowa is the most impressive performance on Michigan's resume. The Irish also haven't had that true signature victory, though the 30-27 win over USC three weeks ago looks better now after the Trojans blasted Arizona 41-14 on Saturday.

Other games to watch this week include Penn State at Michigan State, and Washington State at Oregon.

The 55-game slate kicks off on Thursday with undefeated SMU visiting Houston as a narrow 2.48-point computer favorite. Early lines from the sportsbooks, however, have the Mustangs by 13-1/2.

20 teams are idle, including Florida and Georgia as they prepare to meet in Jacksonville next week.

The lone Friday night game sends USC to Colorado as an 11.52-point pick and a 12.5-point Vegas favorite.

Undefeated

Wisconsin and Boise State fell from the ranks of the unbeatens last week.

These are the 10 teams that remain perfect and the predicted outcome for each of their games this week:

American:
SMU - Visits Houston as a 2.48-point favorite

ACC:
Clemson - Hosts Boston College as a 28.37-point favorite

Big 12:
Baylor - Idle
Oklahoma - Hosts Kansas State as a 15.09-point favorite

Big 10:
Minnesota - Hosts Maryland as a 15.24-point favorite
Ohio State - Hosts Wisconsin as a surprisingly large 17.56-point favorite
Penn State - Visits Michigan State as a 3.06-point favorite

SEC:
Alabama - Hosts Arkansas as a 39.26-point favorite
LSU - Hosts Auburn as a surprisingly large 10.33-point favorite

Sun Belt:
Appalachian State - Visits South Alabama as a 23.42-point favorite

Winless

Akron, New Mexico State and Rice are still searching for their first victory.

The Zips are a 21.37-point underdog to get zapped at Northern Illinois, while the Aggies are a 20.78-point underdog at Georgia Southern.

The much-improved Owls have sustained four losses by 8 points or less, including one in overtime, so you would think they are the best bet to break into the win column at some point this season. However, it's not suppose to happen this week as Rice is an 11.72 point underdog at home to Southern Miss.

FBS vs. FCS

114 games this year pit FBS teams against FCS schools. That's two more than a season ago when FBS teams won 105 of 112 games.

There are no FBS-FCS games this week.

FBS teams are 100-3 (.971) for the season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS schools are 1,424-127 (.918).

FCS victories over FBS teams in 2019:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)

FCS victories over FBS teams in 2018
August 29: UC Davis 44, San Jose State 31
September 1: Villanova 19, Temple 17
September 1: Northern Arizona 30, UTEP 10
September 1: Nicholls State 26, Kansas 23 (OT)
September 2: North Carolina A&T 28, East Carolina 23
September 8: Maine 31, Western Kentucky 28
September 22: Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19

Streaks

CLEMSON - Won 22 straight over-all (FBS longest). Won 24 straight regular season games (FBS longest) games. Won 18 straight conference games (FBS longest). Won 19 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: 45-10 win at Louisville on October 19.
Next: Hosts Boston College on October 26.

ALABAMA - Won 29 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: 35-13 win at Tennessee on October 19.
Next: Hosts Arkansas on October 26.

OKLAHOMA - Won 22 straight true road games (FBS longest).
Last:: 52-14 home win over West Virginia on October 19.
Next: Visits Kansas State on October 26.

RUTGERS - Lost 17 straight conference games (FBS longest).
Last: 42-7 home loss to Minnesota on October 19.
Next: Hosts Liberty on October 26.

AKRON - Lost 12 straight overall (FBS longest).
Last: 21-0 home loss to Buffalo October 19.
Next: Visits Northern Illinois on October 26.

CONNECTICUT - Lost 21 straight vs. FBS teams (FBS longest).
Last: 24-17 home loss to Houston on October 19.
Next: Visits UMass on October 26.

RICE - Lost 15 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: 31-27 loss at UTSA on October 19.
Next: Hosts Southern Miss on October 19.