Ohio State Football: 4th and Short, top player, Maryland game and more
Q: UCF…buy or sell? If UCF loses to Cincinnati, and possibly to USF, who would you give the Group of 5 bid to?
A: Sell. I believe UCF will lose this weekend to Cincinnati. I like what Luke Fickell is doing in the Queen City and he is a defensive minded head coach. The Bearcats will be able to slow down the Knights and force a turnover or two from Quarterback McKenzie Milton to pull the upset.
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ESPN’s College Gameday will be on site and I expect a similar reaction in Orlando as we saw in Pullman a few weeks ago. However, the difference between the two will be, despite the crowd and players being amped up, the home team will lose.
The defense of Cincinnati will be the difference on Saturday night. Even if the game turns into a shootout, I would still take the Bearcats to get the one stop necessary. I do not have much confidence in UCF’s defense largely in part to giving up 670 yards of offense to Temple. The Knights give up an average of 423.6 yards per game according to ESPN. A defense of that caliber, on paper, is not usually fit to win a big game.
If the AAC plays out how I believe it will, the Group of 5 bid should go to Luke Fickell and the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Q: What realistic chance does Northwestern have to win the [Big Ten] Championship?
A: Northwestern will almost certainly be a double-digit underdog in the Big Ten Championship Game, however, do not completely write them off. They do have a shot to win the Big Ten, but it is slim and they will need to play perfect football and force multiple turnovers.
Ohio State or Michigan would also be coming off of a monumental emotional and physical win so Northwestern could catch them riding the high from the previous week.
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This would be my short and condensed blueprint for the Wildcats to win their first ever Big Ten Championship in their first appearance – both under the new format.