With Hurricane Ivan on the horizon in the southeast, our prognosticators are avoiding picking games which may or may not end up in Oz by the end of the weekend. This week Crone and Uncle Joey will also check on the football team's neighbors - the Spartan field hockey team - as they defend their No.1 ranking and undefeated record.
Notre Dame vs. MSU
(Blarney) Crone - Every year, MSU seems to go up or down after the Notre Dame game. Last year, an MSU win led to an 8-5 season. Two years ago, an MSU loss led to a 4-8 season. In 2001, an MSU win resulted in a 7-5 season. Think there has been a trend? Another trend has been the road team winning; it's happened the last three seasons.
But - there's always a but - MSU has won six of the last seven overall and the other time these two teams played under the lights MSU won big. Complete toss up with MSU at home. But, home field advantage wins over my Irish ancestry.
MSU 17, Notre Dame 16
Uncle Joey - Notre Dame has impressed me one time this season; the Spartans have impressed me zero times. As far as I can tell, MSU is not very good at containing opposing running backs. Rutgers' Brian Leonard and Central's Jerry Seymour have both had their way with the Spartans in the first two weeks of the season.
This week, MSU has to deal with freshman Darius Walker, who had a breakout game against Michigan last week, rushing for 115 yards and two touchdowns. The Spartans got away with letting Seymour run wild last week but they won't be so lucky if Walker breaks the 100-yard mark. Irish quarterback Brady Quinn isn't much of a threat, but he would benefit greatly if Walker gets loose.
Crone makes a good point: The Spartans have won six out of the last seven contests in this rivalry. But the Irish defense is on top of the world after dominating Michigan. Redshirt freshman quarterback Stephen Reaves will have his hands full. Six out of eight ain't bad.
ND 24, MSU 10
No. 21 Maryland vs. No. 7 West Virginia
Crone - This one is always a good battle. The Mountaineers hope running back Kay-Jay Harris returns this week, after he sat out most of last week's win over Central Florida.
West Virginia is my sleeper team to sneak into the national title game. They should win the Big East, with Miami and Virginia Tech now in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and if too many of the teams ahead of them slip, West Virginia will be right there.
The Terrapins don't have a chance, especially playing on the road in Morgantown.
West Virginia 34, Maryland 14
Uncle Joey - Maryland has had West Virginia's number the past three seasons, beating the Mountaineers soundly each time. This season, West Virginia is counting on Harris to break its losing streak. As a backup, he rushed for 34 yards on four carries in 2003 against the Terps. He'll more than triple that rushing number on Saturday.
West Virginia 31, Maryland 28
No. 11 Florida vs. No. 13 Tennessee
Crone - Florida quarterback Chris Leak is kind of a Heisman Trophy candidate. Leak can remove the "kind of" by beating Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday. He needs some help and I think he'll get a big game from a small man - wide receiver O.J. Small.
Tennessee went with a two-quarterback system in Erik Ainge and Brent Shaeffer in its first game. It worked against UNLV, but Florida is a different story.
Go Gators, come on Gators, here we go.
Florida 34, Tennessee 27
Uncle Joey - I'm not a Ron Zook fan. I think he's one of the worst big-program coaches around (next to Texas' Mack Brown). In his two seasons at Florida, Zook's team has gone 8-5 both years. In that two-year span, the Gators have lost twice to Miami, Florida St. and Ole Miss. Not good.
Unlike his coach, Florida quarterback Leak is good. His athleticism will test the Vols but Tennessee (1-0) looked awfully convincing in its win against UNLV a couple weeks ago. Here's to a third straight 8-5 season for Zook and the Gators.
Tennessee 27, Florida 20
No. 1 MSU vs. No. 5 Wake Forest (field hockey, 1 p.m. Sunday)
Crone - With Hurricane Ivan ripping across the coast, the Demon Deacons (6-1) should thank their lucky stars they are coming to East Lansing this weekend. They'll be hating it after it's done.
MSU 3, Wake Forest 2
Uncle Joey - I have to go with the home team in this matchup. The Spartans (7-0) are playing like world beaters right now. They're scoring plenty of goals and junior goaltender Christina Kirkaldy is practically a brick wall in net. Not even the defending national champions can stop MSU right now.
MSU 3, Wake Forest 0
