We have written previously that this season is unusual because of the pandemic. This week you no-doubt paid more attention to the election returns than college football. If you did not know, both North Texas vs Louisiana Tech and Rice vs UTSA are postponed because of COVID-19 concerns. This in addition to the FIU vs UTEP matchup that was earlier cancelled. This is unsurprising considering that the nation has been in the middle of a resurgence of cases.
Typically, we like to write about the week ahead around Wednesday but because cancellations have come later and later in the week, we do not even know if the games will be played by then. This was the case this week. NT v Tech was postponed Thursday and UTSA vs Rice soon after.
Still, there are games scheduled this week. Let’s look at the matchups.
Marshall vs UMASS
2:30pm ET
ESPN+
Marshall -44
The Herd open as huge faves against an overmatched opponent. Marshall have been the most consistent and impressive team in this league (that isn’t saying much, admittedly) and should continue that here. I don’t know if I would take them at -44, but do you.
North Alabama at Southern Miss
3pm ET
ESPN3
USM -16.5
Southern Miss get a little reprieve this week. They get to take out some frustrations on North ‘Bama.
Charlotte at Middle Tennessee
3:30pm ET
ESPN+
Charlotte -4
Charlotte have been playing well this season and Middle have been inconsistent — from bad to not good.
WKU at FAU
6:00pm ET
Stadium
FAU -6.5
FAU struggled to get things started vs Charlotte, but showed out vs a mediocre (at best) UTSA team. WKU is non-good and so I think that line is enticing. It opened at -9.
Postponed/Cancelled:
- UTSA v Rice
- LaTech vs North Texas
- FIU at UTEP
What It Means
There are not many good matchups this week. The Tech vs NT game would have given us some idea of how good Tech is, after beating UAB last week. NT had been out for 20 days because of a bye, then the UTEP cancellation. They had just named Jason Bean as starter after his big performance vs Middle.
Marshall really just needs to get out of the UMASS game healthy and they should be fine. FAU looks decent, but I do not think they are capable of up-ending Marshall. It still looks like we will get a UAB-Marshall conference title matchup on Dec 18th.
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