Desinged to provide clarity to some of the picks that may not be obvious.

Part B.

UCLA over Utah? Yes, yes UCLA losing would be nice, but they wouldn’t fall behind us anyway. Plus, I can’t stomach a Utah “recovery” game.

Part C.

Houston over UCF? UCF has zero chance of being ranked by the time we play them. Not only does UCF have to play us, but also East Carolina as well. ECU is not on Houston’s schedule and if they get past UCF they could possibly run the table (Memphis and Cincinnati will be tough for them). Since a 10-2 (at best) Houston team is better than a 9-3 (at best) UCF team for end of the year schedule evaluation, root for the Cougars.

Nevada over BSU? Nevada with their “quality” win over WSU has a slim chance of being ranked by the time we play them. BSU has zero chance of being ranked. BYU vs. a 1 loss Nevada team could make for a compelling matchup in a couple of weeks.

Part D.

#11 Ole Miss over #3 Alabama? Both teams are undefeated. Ole Miss has common opponent with BSU. Would rather be close to both teams at this point than gain ground on one but move substantially behind the other.

#25 TCU over #4 Oklahoma? Would you rather have a 1 loss Oklahoma or a 1 loss TCU in the first week of October? Go Frogs.

#12 MSU over #6 Texas A&M. Similar principle as Miss-Ala. Stay close to both.

#15 LSU over #5 Auburn? LSU already has a loss. Auburn doesn’t. More losing to come for both teams.

#10 Michigan St. over #19 Nebraska? MSU already has 1 loss while Nebraska is undefeated. Each team has only one credible opponent the rest of the year. I don’t want Nebraska to jump us and stay ahead of us even if they lose to Wisconsin. Plus, Taysom over Abdullah for the Heisman.

#14 Stanford over #9 ND? Stanford could automatically get in a NY6 bowl by winning the Pac-12 North and then winning the Pac-12. They could do that whether or not they beat ND. ND just has to have a really good record for an “at-large” berth. I don’t want ND possibly taking one of our “at-large” berths if necessary.

Part E.

Fresno St. over SDSU? FSU has yet to play any of our 3 common opponents (Nevada, UNLV, and Boise St.) SDSU has already defeated UNLV.

Old Dominion over Marshall? MTSU already beat ODU

Western Kentucky over UAB? MTSU already beat WKU

Florida Atlantic over FIU? Because MTSU plays Florida Atlantic at home and is more likely to beat them.

Colorado over Oregon St.? Cal already beat Colorado.

North Carolina over Virginia Tech? Virginia has UNC at home and plays on the road at VT. They are more likely to win at home than on the road.

North Carolina St. over Clemson? Clemson is getting way more votes in the polls. Unlikely NCSU gets as many if they win.

Miami over Georgia Tech? GT is undefeated and getting votes in the polls. Time to knock them down a notch.

Illinois over Purdue? Just to hurt ND’s SOS a little bit more.

Rutgers over Michigan? Same reason as Illinois over Purdue. So easy, even a Ute can do it.

Kent St over Northern Illinois? Virginia beat Kent St. NIU beat UNLV.

Bowling Green over Buffalo? Hurts Baylor’s SOS

Akron over Eastern Michigan? Hurts Michigan St.’s SOS

App St. over South Alabama? Hurts 2 SEC teams SOS

Georgia Southern over New Mexico St.? Hurts LSU’s SOS.