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College Football Preview Guide: Week Seven

'College Gameday' stays in the South, The Carlton' dance returns, Katy Pery owns Mississippi, The Rock is back in the WWE and much more...

By Zooby Q.
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The hype leading up to last weekend was unreal.  The ranked opponents facing off against one another led to chatter of what could be a legendary day.

Fortunately for fans, the hype was real and what unfolded last Saturday will go down as one of the greatest Saturdays in College Football history.

First and foremost, let us say that the much-anticipated arrival of 'College Gameday' at The Grove lived up to expectations.

I mean, Katy Freakin' Perry practically stole the show.

The state of Mississippi will remember the Fourth of October as a day that will live on forever.

Where We Stand After Six Weeks

Florida State is still the #1 team in the nation and things will remain that way, for the time being, unless #2 Auburn keeps winning.  The Tigers play a far superior schedule in a loaded SEC Conference, while the Seminoles are left to play a mediocre remaining schedule.

As for the local landscape, the Michigan Wolverines are left in College Football purgatory.  The team cannot do anything to salvage it's season and, at this point, it seems like a far-fetched idea to even imagine them going 4-2 the rest of the way to even their record out at 6-6 and make a bowl game.  Heck, if Michigan wins 1-2 more games, I think fans would be surprised.

The beauty of College Football is that it comes and goes in a blur.  The fastest 4 months of the year are here today and gone tomorrow.  Fans love every second of it, even when it involves heartbreak and embarrassment.  For the Maize and Blue faithful, they can tune in every week and support The Team, The Team, The Team.

Michigan vs. Penn State - 7:00 P.M. EST. - ESPN2

'Under The Lights' returns to The Big House this weekend.

It may involve two teams that don't reside in the Top 25 polls, but nonetheless, they are two schools built on tradition with loyal fan bases.

Michigan will be looking to end it's four-game losing streak and come away with it's first win against a Power Five conference opponent this season.  Penn State will be looking to get things back on track after it suffered a blowout loss to Northwestern.

As if Michigan didn't already have enough bad news going around, they lost starting RB, Derrick Green, for the season.

Devin Gardner is the man at QB and will likely remain in that spot for the rest of the 2014 season.  The QB for 2015 is anyone's guess but all Michigan fans can do is look at the here and now.  The Wolverines just aren't playing good football, in any phase of the game.

The kicking game is woeful.  The special teams are mediocre.  The defense, which was hyped about as having the potential to be special, has gotten worse as the season has gone on.  The offense, well, it's painful to see.

Michigan needs to find a way to get a win.  It doesn't matter how ugly it might be, at the end of the day, a win is a win and for this team that is quite fragile at the moment, a win could mean everything to Team 135.

One thing that everyone should agree on is letting Dave Brandon know that those legacy jerseys are stupid.


COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK SEVEN PREVIEW

Saturday, October 11th, 2014

#1 Florida State @ Syracuse - 12:00 P.M. EST. - ESPN

The Seminoles have survived some early season scares to remain unbeaten and stay atop the rankings.  Jameis Winston needs to stay out of off-the-field trouble in order for this team to be in position to defend it's National Championship.

Syracuse isn't exactly the toughest competition out there, but the Seminoles can be their own worst opponent at times.  A game on the road for a #1 can lead to an upset special.

FSU faces off against undefeated Notre Dame next week and has to make sure it doesn't look ahead to next week's premiere game.

Texas vs. #11 Oklahoma - 12:00 P.M. EST. - ABC

Bob Stoops likely saw his Sooners' dreams of a College Football Playoff appearance die with it's loss in last Saturday.

Oklahoma was one of the most popular names to make the final four at the end of the season.  That was before they faced TCU.

Now, Oklahoma is left to pick up the pieces and try to hope for teams ahead of them in the rankings to stumble and fall.  The Sooners no longer have their fate in their own hands and all they can do is take things one week at a time and hope things shake out in their favor.

Texas is continuing it's rebuilding under new coach, Charlie Strong.  He's a man who brings leadership and discipline, and that's evident by all of the players who have been kicked off the Texas team thus far in 2014.

If the Longhorns can pull off this upset, it'll go a long way towards making the fanatical fans of Texas feel as though they are, finally, on the right road.

#13 Georgia @ #23 Missouri - 12:00 P.M. EST. - CBS

This is a game to not overlook.  While there are a lot of ranked opponents facing off against one another, this is a match-up that could lead to a lot of SEC and College Football Playoff implications.

Georgia came into the season as the favorite to win the SEC East and it still is, at 4-1 and only one loss in the Conference/Division.  RB Todd Gurley has a Heisman candidate and leads a top ten scoring offense.

Missouri is the leader in the SEC East currently, undefeated in Conference play and with an impressive road win at (then) #13 South Carolina.  The Tigers only blip on their resume is a loss, at home, to unranked Indiana.  Yes, a Big Ten team won a game, on the road, against an SEC opponent.  Let that sink in.

The winner of this game will be in the driver's seat to go to the SEC Championship game.

#2 Auburn @ #3 Mississippi State - 3:30 P.M. EST. - CBS

Auburn continues to win, with it's top 15 offense and top 10 defense.

The Tigers are in the early stages of a brutal stretch of their schedule.  After their blowout win over LSU last week, Auburn five of their next six games look like this:

  • @ Mississippi State
  • vs South Carolina
  • @ Ole Miss
  • vs Texas A&M
  • @ Georgia
  • @ Alabama

And you wonder why they say the SEC is men amongst boys.

Auburn now goes on the road to the site of 'College Gameday.'

Mississippi State is lead by Junior QB, Dak Prescott.  The Bulldogs just beat Texas A&M by almost 20 points and will now look to keep the good times rolling in Mississippi.

This game looks to be an offensive shootout with both teams having a shot at 30+ points.

#9 TCU @ #5 Baylor - 3:30 P.M. EST. - ABC/ESPN2

This would be the game of the week during most college football Saturdays.  This game featuring two top-10 teams has a lot on the line when it comes to the Big 12 Conference and the College Football Playoff.  The winner of this game has a legitimate shot at jumping into the Top 4 in the rankings.

Baylor, while they haven't played stiff competition, have continued to win and make it hard on people to keep them out of the College Football Playoff.  TCU is coming off of one of the biggest upsets of last weekend, knocking off Oklahoma and pushing themselves into Big 12 Title contention.

#12 Oregon @ #8 UCLA - 3:30 P.M. EST. - FOX

Both teams are coming off heart-breaking losses last weekend.

Oregon lost, at home, to Arizona and saw themselves fall from #2 to #12.

UCLA lost to an un-ranked Utah team that Michigan fans know a lot about.  The Bruins were picked by a lot of "experts," to win the College Football Playoff this season.  Now, the team will have to fight to get back into the conversation.

These teams will now have to focus on trying to win the PAC-12 Conference and hope, that when all is said and done, they find their way back into Playoff discussion.

#8 Michigan State @ Purdue - 3:30 P.M. EST. - ABC/ESPN2

Michigan State almost blew it last weekend.

The Spartans dominated Nebraska for the majority of the game, if you don't count the fourth quarter.

The Cornhuskers came thundering back and almost pulled off an improbably come back win, but the Spartans held on for the victory.

It was a lesson learned for MSU and one they'll have to keep in mind if they're going to finish games in a strong manner.  Mark Dantonio has his men in East Lansing in the driver's seat to win the Big Ten Conference.  The toughest remaining game is a home date with Ohio State in a few weeks, but before that, the Spartans will have to take care of business.

This should be an easy win for MSU but it has to not only win the rest of the games on it's schedule, it has to win in style.  The Spartans saw their strength of schedule take a major hit when Oregon lost last week and now that loss at Oregon doesn't look so strong.

If MSU wants any realistic shot at making the final four at the end of the season, they better win and win decisively.

The Green and White fans in the student section better learn to stick around as well.

#7 Alabama @ Arkansas - 6:00 P.M. EST. - ESPN

It's hard to imagine but Alabama is stumbling as of late.

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide are all about winning, but lately, they have closer to a .500 team.

After blowing a win on the road last weekend at Ole Miss, Alabama is in an unusual situation.  It no longer controls it's own destiny, but with a strong slate of games remaining on their schedule, they can easily climb back up in the rankings.

Alabama will have to play physical this weekend against an Arkansas team that almost beat Texas A&M a few weeks ago.  If 'Bama somehow loses this weekend, prepare for some riots down in Tuscaloosa.

LSU @ Florida - 7:30 P.M. EST. - SEC NETWORK

It seems like ages ago that this was must-see-tv.  Les Miles vs. Will Muschamp is about as entertaining as it gets to sideline theater.

The Tigers and Gators have both had poor seasons thus far in 2014 and their fan bases are not happy.

Even worse, just as Florida made a QB switch to True Freshman, Treon Harris, they may have now lost the young man for the forseeable future.

So the Gators must go back to the bust of a recruit in Jeff Driskel.

Let the Will Muschamp anger show on the sidelines begin.

#3 Ole Miss @ #14 Texas A&M - 9:00 P.M. EST. - ESPN

Ole Miss is riding high after beating Alabama last week.

To keep their magical season alive, they'll face a tough environment, on the road at Texas A&M.

The Aggies lost last weekend and will be looking to right the ship in this SEC clash.

As if this weekend was loaded enough with huge games, this is quite the way to finish the night off.

USC @ #10 Arizona - 10:30 P.M. EST. - ESPN2

Arizona pulled off the upset of the weekend last Saturday, and that's saying a lot when so many top 10 teams lost.

Rich Rodriquez has turned the Wildcats program around sooner than anticipated and has the results to show for it.  It's more evidence that the problem in Ann Arbor wasn't as much him, but more so Michigan Athletic Director, Dave Brandon.  Rich Rod can look back and know that while things didn't work out at Michigan, he is probably better off with where he is at now.

If Rich Rod can win this game, they'll be in a position to make a lot of SEC teams upset and continue to move up the rankings.

EXTRA POINTS:

The Rock Returns

The Carlton Dance

TAKEN

In This Stream

Game Seven: Michigan vs. Penn State (10/11/14)

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