Dantabase College Football Week 6 Top 25 & Week 7 Weekday Games Preview & Picks Recap
The College Football Experience with Pick Dundee (@TheColbyD) and Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac) on the Sports Gambling Podcast Network continues its Week 7 weekday games preview and picks, with the Dantabase Top 25 and the Land Down Under along for the ride.
Is UCLA really the best resume in the country with Nico out for the season? Does Kentucky belong ahead of Ohio State? Is Oklahoma actually good after beating Texas? Is Deion fired if Utah wins 37 to 7 in Boulder? And who wins App State at Coastal Carolina? We talk it all and more on this episode of The College Football Experience.
JMU Moves Up And The Land Down Under
James Madison heading to the American Conference kicked off the real football talk, and the budget numbers explain the move. Colby Dant cited an athletic budget of just about $79 million for JMU. The Sun Belt average sits around $46 million, while the American averages about $61 million. So JMU lands 17 to 18 million above its new league’s average. He also thinks they end up in the ACC one day. Memphis and South Florida could still leave for bigger leagues, and Ryan McIntyre still can’t believe the Big 12 passed on Memphis. Both agree the American is now the top Group of Five league, with Boise State the lone outlier.
Then came the Land Down Under, the weekly slide deck of hypotheticals. With Nico out for the season, Ryan McIntyre still says UCLA makes the playoff before USC. His reason is Bob Chesney, a coach good enough to get there next year if not this one. On the fired-or-retired slide, he leaned Bill O’Brien first and floated Matt Campbell too. Three straight losses won’t cut it at Penn State, even with USC among them. Josh Heupel and Brent Brennan look safest, since Tennessee and Arizona are both 5-1. Also, his playoff order went Houston, Wake Forest, Kentucky and New Mexico, the one team that needs help. And he expects Jedd Fisch gone at Washington after that beating at Iowa.
The Dantabase Top 25 Puts UCLA On Top
The Dantabase Top 25 ranks resumes, not vibes, and road wins carry the most weight. Ryan McIntyre called the top spot before the reveal. UCLA sits at No. 1 with three road wins, and the Bruins haven’t played an FCS team. Georgia is No. 2, then Indiana at 3, Notre Dame at 4 and Miami at 5. Miami slid because the Stanford and Central Michigan wins keep looking worse. Texas Tech checks in at 6, since Oregon State and Houston made that schedule tougher than expected. Then BYU at 7 sits ahead of unbeaten Utah at 8, because BYU has played one more road game.
The middle of the board is where the arguments live. Alabama at 9 is the highest-ranked one-loss team, and Wake Forest is 10 with triple the road wins of Texas. Mississippi State is 11 and Kentucky lands at 12, ahead of Ohio State at 14. Mac and Troy both agreed that call shouldn’t even be a debate. The Wildcats won at South Carolina and at Texas A&M and beat LSU at home. Meanwhile Ohio State’s only real win is at Iowa, with Ball State, Kent State, Illinois and Maryland filling out the rest. So undefeated JMU slots in at 13 between them. Texas falls to 18 after the Oklahoma loss, behind Missouri at 17.
The longest fight of the night was Oklahoma against Washington, and Troy took the Sooners hard. His case was the defense, the confidence off the Texas win and a Washington team that looked like it quit. Colby Dant wasn’t buying the offense at all. Oklahoma scored 10 points at Michigan, 14 against New Mexico, 13 against Georgia and six on offense against Texas. In that Texas game a blocked punt and a pick six did the work. He calls it a bottom-20 offense in America. So the compromise came down to location. Oklahoma probably wins on a neutral field, but in Seattle he’s taking Washington.
Week 7 Weekday Games Picks For Tuesday And Wednesday
Tuesday opens with Delaware laying 1.5 at Middle Tennessee, and both hosts lock the Blue Hens. Delaware already owns the Liberty loss, so a second one likely sinks any Conference USA title hopes. Ryan McIntyre keeps it simple with 10 days to prep and both teams off losses. He’ll take Ryan Carty over Derek Mason. The catch is the quarterback, listed questionable with a leg injury, and the guys got burned on that same tag before. But the line hasn’t budged off 1.5, which tells them plenty. That uncertainty is also why Delaware sits near the bottom of both power rankings.
Then comes a real battle in Jacksonville, Alabama. Jacksonville State lays 2.5 against FIU, which won last year’s meeting 27-21. Colby Dant plays the revenge angle and lays the number. Ryan McIntyre goes the other way on FIU plus 2.5 and calls it an outright win. His read is that FIU is simply the better football team. He also thinks Jacksonville State was fortunate to win last week. FIU hasn’t won a road game yet. But it was right there at FAU and at USF, and that’s enough for him to fire on the Panthers.
Wednesday brings a Conference USA doubleheader, and both games land on the same side for the guys. Kennesaw State lays 3.5 at Missouri State, and they’re taking the Bears with the hook. Both teams are 1-4, but Kennesaw is coming off a heartbreaking rivalry loss. Ryan McIntyre also wants the Missouri State bounce back after it got embarrassed at Western Kentucky. Then Sam Houston hosts Western Kentucky, and that’s a double lock on the Bearkats. Western Kentucky beat them by 17 in Bowling Green last season, so revenge is on the table. It’s also Mac’s favorite of the four C-USA games.
Thursday And Friday Locks Under The Lights
Thursday is where the confidence climbs. ECU lays 4.5 at UAB, and both hosts lock the Pirates. Ryan McIntyre thinks UAB has been figured out over the last couple of weeks. He still isn’t a fan of the Mortensen hire either. Next is Old Dominion catching 3.5 at home against Georgia Southern. Colby Dant likes the Monarchs on the money line, because Georgia Southern emptied the tank against JMU. Also, App State and Marshall are on deck, which makes this a look-ahead spot. Mac called it maybe his favorite play of the night, while Troy battles them on the Eagles.
The smash play of the week might be Colorado State plus 14.5 at Texas State. Jim Mora demoted his defensive coordinator, who then quit, and now Mora gets two weeks of prep. So both hosts are all over the points and can’t figure out why the number is this high. The money line sits around +450, and Colby Dant plays that too. Ryan McIntyre sprinkles the money line and likes the first half at about 4-to-1. Because Mora is off three straight losses and a bye, he expects those players ready to run through a wall.
Friday stacks three more. Memphis lays 6.5 at Tulane in a series dating to 1954, and it’s a double lock on the Tigers. Tulane is coming off the triple-option week against Army, which sets up poorly against a physical Memphis defense. Colby Dant thinks he’s undefeated betting Memphis this year. Then App State lays 1.5 at Coastal Carolina, and he calls Coastal a phony team. He power rates it the best play of the week. Finally there’s Washington plus 3.5 at Purdue, and both hosts take the Huskies in a foxhole spot while Troy locks Purdue.
Power Ranking The Weekday Card
Both hosts closed by ranking the 10 games that have numbers. Colby Dant puts App State first and Sam Houston second. Because of the quarterback questions, he keeps Delaware down at nine, with Missouri State 10th. Colorado State and Old Dominion follow his top two, then ECU and Washington. Ryan McIntyre flips the top, with Colorado State first because he sees a real shot at the upset. He also has Sam Houston second and ODU third, while Delaware falls to 10th. And Troy says Memphis should be No. 1, which is fine, since everybody is locking up the Tigers anyway.
Watch: Pick Dundee's Coffee Of Choice
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
01:10 Rich Rod, Liquid Zoo & Huffing Paint
10:11 Rays, Brewers & Dodger Stadium
15:26 James Madison to the American Conference
21:48 Land Down Under: UCLA, Fired or Retired, Wake Forest
32:00 Is Deion Fired? 30 Points
37:04 Shitter Pics and Why I Left LA
42:57 Will a Blowout Loss Mean the Coach Is Fired
45:47 Best Team of the Bunch: Colorado, Syracuse, Rutgers
47:59 Tennessee, Oregon, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma
56:53 Group of Five Style: Navy, San Diego State, Temple
58:26 USC, Michigan, SMU, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State
1:01:21 Kentucky, UCLA, Wake Forest, Oklahoma State, Nebraska & Northwestern
1:08:54 Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Kansas State, Oregon State & Louisville
1:10:58 Group of 5 Game & Best FCS Matchup
1:13:47 Who Would Win If They Played Tomorrow
1:15:21 Dumbest Game of the Week
1:20:27 Top 25: Liberty, USC & Oklahoma State
1:22:29 Tennessee, Baylor, Houston & Boise State
1:28:14 Texas, Missouri, Arizona & Iowa
1:30:43 Oklahoma and Washington
1:42:48 Ohio State, JMU and Kentucky
1:50:10 Mississippi State, Wake Forest and Miami
1:57:36 Indiana, Georgia and UCLA
2:04:44 Delaware vs. Middle Tennessee Picks
2:06:44 FIU vs. Jacksonville State Picks
2:11:33 Kennesaw State vs. Missouri State Picks
2:14:00 Western Kentucky vs. Sam Houston Picks
2:15:11 ECU vs. UAB Picks
2:18:55 Georgia Southern vs. Old Dominion Picks
2:21:04 Colorado State vs. Texas State Picks
2:22:39 Southern Nazarene, Trine & Columbia at Penn
2:23:50 Memphis vs. Tulane Picks
2:27:11 Appalachian State vs. Coastal Carolina Picks
2:28:59 Washington vs. Purdue Picks
2:31:41 Weekday Games Power Rankings
2:34:17 Sign-Off & Socials
