Ole Miss @ Wake Forest
If Ole Miss wins this game, then there will be no more ACC teams ranked in the top 25. How sweet would that be? Let me tell you a story. I was in a local sports bar last weekend watching some football and I started chatting it up with the guy next to me. We brought up the Alabama/Clemson game (before it had happened) and I asked him what he thought about the game. At this point in the season, it was a bold statement to assume that Alabama would even be able to keep it close, but this guy leaned back in his chair and said “I dunno, man.” And he winced as if there was a huge internal struggle within him. “You can’t bet against the SEC, they are just way too good this year.” This is coming from some random Wisconsin Badger fan. He’s making me feel less like an elitist and more like a realist. Anyways, the point of this whole story is that Ole Miss and Wake Forest will both make statements, neither will be much different from the statements made in the Bama/Clemson game. Ole Miss wins a big one for the SEC 28-17.

West Virginia @ East Carolina
So East Carolina beat Virginia Tech in the opening week, all that did was make their chance of winning this game NONE. ECU is a Conference USA team, VT is an ACC team; OF COURSE ECU is going to win. This year, the C-USA is a better conference than the ACC. C-USA has an out-of-conference record of 5-2 (won 71%) in the opening week and the ACC went 7-4 (won 64%). Okay, okay, point made. Due to The Pirates’ win over the Hokies in week one, West Virginia now has the ECU on their radar and you can bet they won’t overlook them. West Virginia jumps on the bandwagon and makes both the ACC and C-USA both look pathetic in a 49-3 win.

Miami @ Florida
This SHOULD be an interesting game, merely because of the history between these two teams, but it won’t be. Florida is hoping to break the winning streak Miami has on them this year (who really cares about winning streaks anyways?) and Miami will wish they weren’t Florida much more talented AND driven as the Gators run away with a 34-7 win.

Alabama vs. Tulane
Will Bama’s big win last weekend go to their head? Do we have an upset alert on our hands? Will Tulane come out swinging in the first quarter and catch Bama offguard? Will it even matter by the end of the game? Am I too bored to write a real prediction? Will Bama win 52-0? How about 28-12? Why am I asking so many questions? The answers are: A little, not really, yes, no, considerably, no, yes, and to make you read this paragraph twice.

Auburn vs. Southern Miss
Fear not, Auburn fans. Auburn will be just fine in this game. You know for a fact that despite coming off a 34-0 win, Auburn has been working their butts off to improve on what might as well have been a moral loss last week. Franklin probably had the receivers doing catching drills non-stop all week, along with decision making drills for our QBs. You should see noticeable improvement on BOTH offense and defense (yes, it is possible for our defense to get even beastlier). Auburn has to be taking this game seriously, seeing all the criticism coming from every angle. But the main reason we will win this game is because Tubs isn’t afraid to win ugly. The guy couldn’t give two craps about stats, he just wants to win the game. We could run for 500 yards and pass for -28 and Tubs would be fine with it as long as we win. Auburn will do what it takes (if it comes down to it) to win. ESPN doesn’t know anything. Southern Miss will have their moments, but those will all end by the opening kickoff. Our offense looks decent and our defense shines in our second shutout: 33-0. War Eagle!

E-mail Ryan at ryan@theauburner.com
Our sponsor Ticket City has Auburn tickets check them out before buying elsewhere.