What I’m wondering while waiting for this weekend’s (no, to be honest, next weekend’s) games…

Before we get to next week’s Battles of the 8-0 Unbeatens: LSU at Alabama and Penn State at Minnesota, we have to proceed through this weekend. The nation’s top three teams – LSU, Alabama, and Ohio State – are all off along with No. 5 Penn State and No. 10 Oklahoma.

This is a flat spot in the college football schedule in what should be a fairly uneventful weekend.

Or so we thought.

On Thursday, the final day of October, the following frights occurred:

-Unbeaten Appalachian State was upset by Georgia Southern.

-Unbeaten Baylor barely survived against West Virginia

-Unbelievable Rutgers released a statement, in part, because Athletic Director Pat Hobbs called a reporter “f—— scum,” when asked about allegations of abuse against the school’s softball student-athletes by the coaching staff.

Happy Halloween, y’all!!

First, on the field: Appalachian State’s dreams of a New Year’s 6 bowl bid are now kaput after the loss to Georgia Southern, while Baylor’s are very much alive.

Appalachian State, if it had run the table at 13-0 as Sun Belt champions, would have been a leading contender for the Group of Five’s New Year’s Six bowl, especially since it would have included non-conference wins at North Carolina and South Carolina.

However, the best Mountaineers can do now is 12-1, making them a long shot for a New Year’s Six bid. At 12-1, they would still need the American and Mountain West champions to each have at least two losses to have a chance.

Meanwhile in Waco, Texas, Baylor is now 8-0, which includes three wins as an underdog. The Bears could still be underdogs in two or three of their final four games: at TCU, Oklahoma, Texas and at Kansas. If Baylor reaches the Big 12 title game, the Bears could be headed to the Sugar Bowl as Big 12 champions (or runners-up, if Oklahoma makes the College Football Playoff), or another New Year’s Six bowl, if BU is ranked high enough.

Meanwhile in Wacko, USA, Rutgers proved it’s still the best at something: being the worst. The Scarlet Knights not only have the worst Power Five football program in the land, but also the worst athletic department leadership.

Rutgers Athletic Director Pat Hobbs did his best to try to bully and intimidate a New Jersey Advance media reporter, who was reporting about bullying and intimidating tactics by the school’s softball coaches.

Two days after Hobbs responded to those questions by calling the reporter “f—— scum,” Rutgers announced the husband of the head softball coach would no longer be with the program. Rutgers President Robert Barchi also announced an outside investigation would be conducted into the reported allegations.

Hobbs, who remarkably will remain in charge of hiring Rutgers’ next football coach, issued an apology, saying “it will never happen again.”

Funny, we’ve heard that same spin from Rutgers several times before (Mike Rice, Julie Hermann, Petra Martin).

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Speaking of dumpster fires, my weekly predictions are six-games below .500 on the season. Like Hobbs, I’m issuing an apology for last week’s 2-3 performance: “It will never happen again.”

On to this week’s picks. Odds from @BetOnline_ag:

Florida State -3 vs. Miami
Liberty -23 at UMass
Memphis -5 vs. SMU
Georgia -6 vs. Florida
Army +15.5 at Air Force

Lock of the Week: Guardian Series Laptop Security Cable Lock

The Tote Board
Last week: 2-3
Year to date: 18-24-1

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