TUCKER’S PICK ‘EM 2015: College football picks and previews for Week 8

Georgia Southern (5-1, 3-0 Sun Belt) @ Appalachian State (5-1, 2-0 Sun Belt)
Thursday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m. ESPNU
A pair of second-year Sun Belt teams meet Thursday in Boone, North Carolina.

The Eagles and Mountaineers, huge rivals since their days in the FCS, have been major forces in the Sun Belt Conference since joining full-time a year ago.

App State has lost two league games (one of those in this rivalry last year), while GSU is undefeated:

Appalachian State 33, Georgia Southern 23

Actual Score: Appalachian State 31, Georgia Southern 13 (WIN)

Auburn (4-1, 1-2 SEC) @ Arkansas (2-4, 1-2 SEC)
Saturday, October 24 at 12 p.m. SEC NETWORK
Auburn finally found a way to win last week, beating Kentucky in a Thursday night road game.

The Tigers and Razorbacks have equal SEC records.

The loser of this one could end up last in the West:

Arkansas 31, Auburn 21

Actual Score: Arkansas 54, Auburn 46 – 4 OT  (WIN)

Tennessee (3-3, 1-2 SEC) @ No. 8 Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC)
Saturday, October 24 at 3:30 p.m. CBS
Once again, Alabama shut up its haters and easily handled a team many thought would win.

The Tide is rolling, folks.

That’s bad news for Tennessee:

Alabama 42, Tennessee 17

Actual Score: Alabama 19, Tennessee 14 (WIN)

Missouri (4-3, 1-3 SEC) @ Vanderbilt (2-4, 0-3 SEC)
Saturday, October 24 at 4 p.m. SEC NETWORK
The SEC’s worst two offenses (yes, even worse than Auburn) meet Saturday in Nashville.

What hurts the potential point total even more is the Tigers and Commodores have two of the conference’s best defenses:

Missouri 17, Vanderbilt 16

Actual Score: Vanderbilt 10, Missouri 3 (LOSS)

No. 9 Florida State (6-0, 4-0 ACC) @ Georgia Tech (2-5, 0-4 ACC)
Saturday, October 24 at 7 p.m. ESPN2
Georgia Tech was supposed to be battling for the top spot in the ACC’s Coastal division, but that’s far from the case.

The Yellow Jackets are in last place after dropping their first four conference games for the first time since 1994.

They have another tough test Saturday, but I like their chances in this spot:

Georgia Tech 31, Florida State 30

Actual Score: Georgia Tech 22, Florida State 16 (WIN)

No. 15 Texas A&M (5-1, 2-1 SEC) @ No. 24 Ole Miss (5-2, 2-1 SEC)
Saturday, October 24 at 7 p.m. ESPN
Well, so much for Georgia Tech and Ole Miss making it to the playoff.

Through the first two games (against weak competition), both were averaging more than 65 points a game.

But as we know, Georgia Tech is winless since then. Ole Miss did beat Alabama but got blown out at Florida and lost last week at Memphis.

Ole Miss 38, Texas A&M 35

Actual Score: Ole Miss 23, Texas A&M 3 (WIN)