2023 Week Five College Football Division I-A Game Predictions To Win
(Image in Media from Wix.com, Search for "Football")
By: Evan Troxel
It is Week Five (technically Week Six) of Division I-A NCAA college football already. Can you believe it? Time just flies. After this week's college football games we will be in the month of October. And before you know it, Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be here.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. All of you want to know how many predictions I got right (and/or "WRONG") last week and in previous weeks. So I am going to get everybody up to speed (caught up) on that right now (because I think I barely have just enough time to do that).
Last week (Week Four, technically Week Five) my predictions resulted in 43 wins and 24 losses. Ouch! Anything over .500 is good, but I was hoping to do a little better than that! I knew with the start of conference play really getting going starting in Week Four (Week Five technically), I knew I wasn't going to do as well as I did in Week Zero and in Week One.
The last two weeks my predictions have resulted in 97 wins and 40 losses!
So if I am doing this correctly, my predictions for the entire NCAA Division I-A college football season has resulted in 248 wins and just sixty-eight (68) losses!
That means I am 180 games above .500 for the entire season!
I think a handful of my predictions were made at least five weeks ago now, so I will try to specify which predictions I first made today (Thursday, September 28th).
I also am getting tired of making obviously stupid predictions but I might have to wait on that for next week (or the week after that).
My stupid predictions last week were picking Florida State, Penn State and Colorado State to all lose last week (yes, I should have picked Colorado State to win when they had Colorado on the ropes in Week 3). If I would have had more time last week, I probably would have changed the Florida State and the Penn State predictions for sure (and the Penn State prediction absolutely for sure, since I ultimately did have a little more time than I thought I was going to get for that prediction), since I made most of (if not all of) my stupid predictions at least four weeks ago last week and at least five weeks ago as of this week).
I could sit here and continue to make excuses, but even if I did have time to change my predictions at the last minute, my won-lost record probably would still be what it currently is (or close to) what it currently is anyway.
The last two weeks at least I predicted both Boise State and Old Dominion to lose! So I am probably not going to make that mistake again if they are playing somewhat easy opponents!
As with any game, I reserve the right to change my predictions before game time!
I know I don't have every game for Saturday predicted yet. I hope to do that on Thursday night or on Friday morning or Friday night or extremely early on Saturday morning (like after midnight)!
So here are my predictions for right now!:
Thursday, September 28th, 2023
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: Prediction to win: Western Kentucky, Prediction to lose: Middle Tennessee
Temple Owls at Tulsa Golden Hurricane: Prediction to win: Tulsa, Prediction to lose: Temple
Jacksonville State Gamecocks at Sam Houston Bearkats: Prediction to win: Sam Houston, Prediction to lose: Jacksonville State
(Change in prediction as of September 28th, 2023: Prediction to win: Jacksonville State, Prediction to lose: Sam Houston)
Friday, September 29th, 2023
Louisville Cardinals at NC State Wolfpack: Prediction to win: NC State, Prediction to lose: Louisville
(Change in prediction as of September 28th, 2023: Prediction to win: Louisville, Prediction to lose: NC State)
Utah Utes (I-A, Pac-12: 7-2, 10-4) at Oregon State Beavers (I-A, Pac-12: 6-3, 10-3, likely 4-0): Prediction to win: Utah, Prediction to lose: Oregon State
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at UTEP Miners: Prediction to win: UTEP, Prediction to lose: Louisiana Tech
Cincinnati Bearcats at BYU Cougars: Prediction to win: Cincinnati, Prediction to lose: BYU
Saturday, September 30th, 2023
(Underlined games are 12 p.m. Eastern Time start times, games in lime green color I predicted five weeks ago, I just didn't get them written down/published until Saturday)
(Games with one * next to them I think could be potential upsets and/or I will get the prediction wrong).
Georgia Bulldogs at Auburn Tigers: Prediction to win: Georgia, Prediction to lose: Auburn
*Michigan Wolverines at Nebraska Cornhuskers: Prediction to win: Michigan, Prediction to lose: Nebraska
*Alabama Crimson Tide at Mississippi State Bulldogs: Prediction to win Alabama, Prediction to lose: Mississippi State
(I have a feeling Mississippi State might win this game though.)
*LSU Tigers at Ole Miss Rebels: Prediction to win: LSU Tigers, Prediction to lose: Ole Miss
USC Trojans at Colorado Buffaloes: Prediction to win: USC, Prediction to lose: Colorado
*Penn State Nittany Lions at Northwestern Wildcats: Prediction to win: Penn State, Prediction to lose: Northwestern
*Clemson Tigers at Syracuse Orange: Prediction to win: Clemson, Prediction to lose: Syracuse
Washington Huskies at Arizona Wildcats: Prediction to win: Washington, Prediction to lose: Arizona
Kansas Jayhawks at Texas Longhorns: Prediction to win: Texas, Prediction to lose: Kansas
*South Carolina Gamecocks at Tennessee Volunteers: Prediction to win: Tennessee, Prediction* to lose: South Carolina
*Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Duke Blue Devils: Prediction to win: Notre Dame, Prediction to lose: Duke
Oregon Ducks at Stanford Cardinal: Prediction to win: Oregon, Prediction to lose: Stanford
*West Virginia Mountaineers at TCU Horned Frogs: Prediction to win: TCU, Prediction to lose: West Virginia
Iowa State at Oklahoma Sooners: Prediction to win: Oklahoma, Prediction to lose: Iowa State
*Texas A&M Aggies at Arkansas Razorbacks: Prediction to win: Texas A&M, Prediction to lose: Arkansas
UAB Blazers at Tulane Green Wave: Prediction to win: Tulane, Prediction to lose: UAB
*Michigan State Spartans at Iowa Hawkeyes: Prediction to win: Iowa, Prediction to lose: Michigan State
*Florida Gators at Kentucky Wildcats: Prediction to win: Florida, Prediction to lose: Kentucky
*Indiana Hoosiers at Maryland Terrapins: Prediction to win: Maryland, Prediction to lose: Indiana
*Illinois Fighting Illini at Purdue Boilermakers: Prediction to win: Purdue, Prediction to lose: Illinois
Wagner Seahawks at Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Prediction to win: Rutgers, Prediction to lose: Wagner
Missouri Tigers at Vanderbilt Commodores: Prediction to win: Missouri, Prediction to lose: Vanderbilt
*Arizona State Sun Devils at California Golden Bears: Prediction to win: Arizona State, Prediction to lose: California
*Virginia Cavaliers at Boston College Eagles: Prediction to win: Boston College, Prediction to lose; Virginia
Bowling Green Falcons at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: Prediction to win: Georgia Tech, Prediction to lose: Bowling Green
*Pittsburgh Panthers at Virginia Tech Hokies: Prediction to win: Pittsburgh, Prediction to lose: Virginia Tech
Houston Cougars at Texas Tech Red Raiders: Prediction to win: Texas Tech, Prediction to lose: Houston
Baylor Bears at UCF Knights: Prediction to win: Baylor
(*Change in Prediction as of September 30th*: Prediction to win: UCF Knights, Prediction to lose: Baylor)
Charlotte 49ers at SMU Mustangs: Prediction to win: SMU, Prediction to lose: Charlotte
East Carolina Pirates at Rice Owls: Prediction to win: East Carolina, Prediction to lose: Rice
(I thought about picking Rice to win, but decided against it.)
*Boise State Broncos at Memphis Tigers: Prediction to win: Memphis, Prediction to lose: Boise State
Abilene Christian Wildcats at North Texas Mean Green: Prediction to win: North Texas, Prediction to lose: Abilene Christian
Troy Trojans at Georgia State Panthers: Prediction to win: Georgia State, Prediction to lose: Troy
South Alabama Jaguars at James Madison Dukes: Prediction to win: South Alabama, Prediction to lose: James Madison
Old Dominion Monarchs at Marshall Thundering Herd: Prediction to win: Marshall, Prediction to lose: Old Dominion
Appalachian State Mountaineers at UL Monroe Warhawks: Prediction to win: Appalachian State, Prediction to lose: UL Monroe
Everything below this line below are predictions I actually made between Thursday, September 28th and Saturday, September 30th, 2023
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I wrote the following predictions on Saturday, September 30th, 2023 (if a game I predicted on Saturday is not listed below, I changed my prediction, so see above predictions):
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns at Minnesota Golden Gophers: Prediction to win: Minnesota, Prediction to lose: Louisiana
*Utah State Aggies at UConn Huskies: Prediction to win: Utah State, Prediction to lose: UConn
Buffalo Bulls at Akron Zips: Prediction to win: Akron, Prediction to lose: Buffalo
Eastern MIchigan Eagles at Central Michigan Chippewas: Prediction to win: Central Michigan, Prediction to lose: Eastern Michigan
Miami (OH) Redhawks at Kent State Golden Flashes: Prediction to win: Miami (OH), Prediction to lose: Kent State
*Arkansas State Red Wolves at UMass Minutemen: Prediction to win: Arkansas State, Prediction to lose: UMass
South Florida Bulls at Navy Midshipmen: Prediction to win: South Florida, Prediction to lose: Navy
Ball State Cardinals at Western Michigan Broncos: Prediction to win: Western Michigan, Prediction to lose: Ball State
Northern Illinois Huskies at Toledo Rockets: Prediction to win: Toledo, Prediction to lose: Northern Illinois
Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors at UNLV Rebels: Prediction to win: UNLV, Prediction to lose: Hawai'i
New Mexico Lobos at Wyoming Cowboys: Prediction to win: Wyoming, Prediction to lose: New Mexico
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Georgia Southern Eagles: Prediction to win: Georgia Southern, Prediction to lose: Coastal Carolina
*Texas State Bobcats at Southern Miss Golden Eagles: Prediction to win: Southern Miss, Prediction to lose: Texas State
(I really wanted to pick Texas State to win this game, but I just couldn't actually do it!)
Utah Tech Trailblazers at Colorado State Rams: Prediction to win: Colorado State, Prediction to lose: Utah Tech
*San Diego State Aztecs at Air Force Falcons: Prediction to win: Air Force, Prediction to lose: San Diego State
(I thought about picking San Diego State to win, but I decided against it.)
Nevada Wolf Pack at Fresno State Bulldogs: Prediction to win: Fresno State, Prediction to lose: Nevada
