Staff Picks: Big Week 11 matchups in store with South Carolina on bye week

It’s been a rough year for South Carolina, as it has lost four straight games and will be off this weekend before a road trip to Texas A&M next week.

While the Gamecocks aren’t playing this weekend, there are still a handful of Week 11 games going on around the country. Plus, the GamecockCentral and 107.5 The Game staff have predicted a random game of their choosing just to have some fun.

Here’s how the staff picked this weekend’s games.

George Bagwell: Looking ahead to South Carolina’s next home game, the Chanticleers have improved by a decent amount since the beginning of the season. Following a 2-3 start, including a 47-7 loss to Old Dominion, Coastal has righted the ship. The team from Conway has won three in a row, and a home game against Georgia State should make that four. Coastal Carolina 34, Georgia State 17.

Elijah Campbell: The best offense in the state of South Carolina plays this weekend and it’s not the Gamecocks, it’s not Clemson but it just may be the mighty Blue Hose in Clinton. They play 1-8 Davidson and Steph Curry aint walkin though that door. And he plays basketball so even if he did, he wouldn’t be much help. Presbyterian 55, Davidson 20.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina football!

Chris Clark: Ohio State over Purdue. Cheap? Absolutely. I won’t apologize.

Terry Ford: I am rooting for Virginia, who coming into the season most students on campus didn’t know they even had a football program, to make the CFP. It would be SO college football in 2025! The Cavs have been flirting with disaster all season, winning their last 5 games by 4.8 points. Wake was on a three game heater before getting skull-kicked in Tallassee last week. Virginia likes to keep games close so they’ll find a way to escape. Virginia 27, Wake Forest 26.

Griffin Goodwyn: This weekend, there’s exactly one college football game across the NCAA’s three divisions featuring one team from the Palmetto State and another from my home state of Virginia: Wofford (3-6, 2-3 SoCon) at VMI (1-8, 0-5 SoCon). The Terriers head into the contest as 11.5-point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook VA, but the Keydets have history on their side as winners of the all-time series’ two most recent meetings in Lexington. A few factors, though, tilt the matchup in Wofford’s favor: its superior defense (18.9 points allowed per game to VMI’s 35.4), as well as the fact that it’s 3-0 as betting favorites and 4-0 against the spread on the road this season, per Action Network. Accomplishing the latter feat may be a tall task for the Terriers given both teams’ recent form, but they should head back to Spartanburg with their fourth win of the campaign. Wofford 28, VMI 18.

Tyler Head: Duke 34, UConn 24.

Mingo Martin: Game of the week! Stoppable force meets movable object with 2-7 OSU and 0-8 SHSU live on CW After Dark. What isn’t there to love about this? I fully expect the Pac-(1)2 Champion Beavers to move their win streak to three in this game. It’s almost impossible for them not to, the Beaver Moon was this week after all. Oregon State 56, Sam Houston State 12.

Kevin Miller: Full disclaimer: I picked this game because ESPN’s listed ticket prices considers this the cheapest game involving a ranked team to get into this weekend. Anyone near South Florida can get into Hard Rock Stadium for just $8. That’s the exact same price as the in-stadium hot dog without adding chili. Oh, yeah: Syracuse has lost five games in a row, including a blowout to the Bill Belichick/Jordon Hudson-led North Carolina Tar Heels last weekend. Yuck. Miami wins big in front of an apathetic crowd that doesn’t seem to care much that their favorite team still has a chance to make the College Football Playoff. Miami 31, Syracuse 14.

Wes Mitchell: Mississippi State has been upset-minded all year. They keep this one close for a half but UGA pulls away in the second. Georgia 34, Mississippi State 24.

Jay Philips: Oregon travels to Iowa this weekend, and this game has “trap” written all over it. Iowa is 6-2, but has no wins over ranked teams. Oregon is in the Top 10, but they lost their biggest game – at home – to number 2 Indiana, and unfortunately the win at Penn State now seems less impressive. It almost feels “must win” for the Ducks, because the CFP committee already dinged them for their scheduling. While an upset won’t surprise me, I’ll take Oregon to win but Iowa to cover. Oregon 27, Iowa 23.

Join GamecockCentral now for $1 your first week and enjoy a complimentary year of The Athletic – included with your membership.

Kendall Smith: History is on Penn State’s side as far as a 25-2 all-time record against Indiana. But this weekend it’s the Hoosiers’ time to shine. Indiana goes to Penn State and takes this one. Indiana 34, Penn State 13. 

Mike Uva: The No.24 ranked team in D2, the Assumption Greyhounds, are looking to close out conference play undefeated against… Bentley. Yes, a Bentley isn’t only a car but up in Massachusetts it’s also a small college — home of the Falcons. It’s the Hounds (7-1) best start since some guy named Bob Chesney coached them. I wonder whatever happened to that guy… Assumption 27, Bentley 17.

Jack Veltri: A rare weekend where I’m going to a college football game as a fan! It’s homecoming for Western Carolina (aka the fighting Caroline Skeen’s) as the Catamounts take on Mercer. Western has won six straight with Taron Dickens under center. Mercer is really good this year, but something about those Catamounts, man. Hikes will be walked, Bold Rocks will be consumed, and the Catamounts will get a huge win. Western Carolina 42, Mercer 38.

Chris Wellbaum: Bowling Green 24, Eastern Michigan 16 – Pudge the Cat!

	Tulane at Memphis	BYU at Texas Tech	Oregon at Iowa	Texas A&M at Missouri	Stanford at North Carolina	Florida State at Clemson	Navy at Notre Dame	LSU at Alabama	San Diego State at Hawaii
George Bagwell (70-38)	Memphis	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	San Diego State
Elijah Campbell (73-33)	Memphis	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	Stanford	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	Hawaii
Chris Clark (67-41)	Memphis	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	San Diego State
Terry Ford (59-49)	Memphis	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Clemson	Notre Dame	Alabama	San Diego State
Griffin Goodwyn (74-34)	Memphis	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	San Diego State
Tyler Head (61-47)	Memphis	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Clemson	Notre Dame	Alabama	Hawaii
Mingo Martin (67-41)	Tulane	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	Stanford	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	Hawaii
Kevin Miller (68-40)	Tulane	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Clemson	Notre Dame	Alabama	San Diego State
Wes Mitchell (70-38)	Memphis	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Clemson	Notre Dame	Alabama	San Diego State
Jay Philips (67-41)	Memphis	BYU	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	San Diego State
Kendall Smith (72-36)	Memphis	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	Stanford	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	San Diego State
Mike Uva (69-39)	Tulane	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	San Diego State
Jack Veltri (65-43)	Memphis	BYU	Oregon	Texas A&M	North Carolina	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	Hawaii
Chris Wellbaum (66-42)	Tulane	Texas Tech	Oregon	Texas A&M	Stanford	Florida State	Notre Dame	Alabama	Hawaii

Visit GamecockCentral’s exclusive Gamecocks-only, no-trolls message board!