Football expert Phil Steele is the owner and publisher of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, regarded as the college football bible. Get in-depth coverage of college and pro football 24/7/365 at PhilSteele.com and follow him on Twitter @philsteele042.
SOUTH CAROLINA (-13) over Mississippi State: This matchup is a prime example of why I devised my offensive and defensive rankings, which take into account the actual strength of opponents. The NCAA ranks Mississippi State No. 19 in strength of schedule (opponents have won 67.3 percent of their games) and ranks South Carolina 61st (55.4 percent). The Bulldogs have outgained foes by 97 yards per game while the Gamecocks have outgained their opponents by 125 yards per game. My rankings, however, have South Carolina with the No. 5 schedule (seven BCS teams and UCF) compared to Mississippi State’s No. 52 schedule (four BCS, one MAC, one Sun Belt and one FCS), making the Gamecocks’ yardage edge very impressive. South Carolina has won the last five in this series, and the last two at home by 17 and 24 points.
GEORGIA TECH (-10) over Pittsburgh: Pitt has three wins over FBS teams, all ranked in the bottom half of my rankings. The Panthers beat New Mexico (80th offense, 119th defense), Duke (42nd, 77th) and Virginia (79th, 47th) and now face a Yellow Jackets team which has an offensive rank of 33rd and a defensive rank of 29th. On the flip side, Georgia Tech has one loss at home, to a Virginia Tech squad that currently ranks No. 1 in my defensive rankings while Pitt ranks 41st. Georgia Tech’s wins the last two seasons have been by 29 points per game, and it gets another big win here on Homecoming.
LAST WEEK (NCAA): 0-2.
SEASON: 7-10-1.