The 2024 college football season has seen plenty of surprises, with 31 upsets occurring since Week Zero. In the latest episode of Greg McElroy’s podcast “Always College Football,” he identified four teams as potential “Giant Killers” for the upcoming Saturday games. He highlighted the No. 17 Iowa State Cyclones, No. 25 Army Black Knights, No. 23 Clemson Tigers, and No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions as teams to watch for possible upsets.
According to ESPN BET, the Kansas Jayhawks are a three-point underdog against Iowa State, a situation that McElroy found puzzling. The Cyclones recently suffered a close 23-22 defeat to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and McElroy cautioned fans against betting on Iowa State following such a tough loss.
“Kansas over Iowa State,” McElroy stated. “Iowa State was somewhat exposed last week. I don’t understand why Kansas is only a three-and-a-half-point underdog. It doesn’t add up, which makes me think Vegas knows something. Iowa State didn’t perform well last week, and people might assume they’re angry and will dominate Kansas. However, I believe Kansas has a solid chance to compete.”
While Army stands as the only undefeated team in the AAC at 8-0, McElroy wasn’t impressed. He chose the North Texas Mean Green to hand Army its first loss, even though they are a four-point underdog according to ESPN BET.
“Now let’s talk about North Texas,” McElroy said. “They’re up against the 25th-ranked Army Black Knights, and I’m not convinced about Army. Their best victory so far has been against a team with a .500 record. I believe North Texas has some strong players.”
In the ACC, McElroy chose the Virginia Tech Hokies to upset Clemson, but he noted that the outcome depends on the Hokies being fully healthy. Clemson is favored by six points according to ESPN BET.
“Virginia Tech is up against Clemson,” McElroy remarked. “I’ve mentioned before that this assumes Virginia Tech is fully healthy. If they are, they should win.”
Finally, he discussed the matchup between the Washington Huskies and Penn State. ESPN BET has Penn State favored by 14 points, and McElroy selected the Nittany Lions to win, although he expressed some uncertainty about his choice.
“Lastly, I’m going with Washington over Penn State,” McElroy remarked. “I’ve mentioned that I believe Penn State will win, but I’m not confident about it, especially if they’re still reeling from last week’s disappointment.”
The Iowa State-Kansas, Clemson-Virginia Tech, and Army-North Texas games are all set for the 3:30 p.m. ET slot. Washington versus Penn State will be the last of the four matchups, kicking off at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock.
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