Welcome back for another week of college football action it's hard to believe we're already to the 6th week of the season but it's been fun so far and hopefully the fun will continue. Last week was a rough week for me as far as picking was concerned, I went 15-7 on winners and 12-10 against the spread to move my season totals to, 85-21 and 40-39-3 respectively. Every AP top 25 team except #4 Wisconsin is in play this week which should make the slate enjoyable if not overtly exciting. So without further ado lets get to the picks.... (all times are central time zone)
Thursday, October 6th, 2011:
California at #9 Oregon, 8:00 pm ESPN, Cal played the Ducks tough last year playing them to within two points, however, I don't expect this years contest to be that close or that low scoring. Cal has been hit or miss and Oregon looks to be running on all cylinders. Winner: Oregon 41-17 ATS: Oregon -24 (Push)
Friday, October 7th, 2011:
#5 Boise State at Fresno State, 8:00 pm ESPN, for the second straight week Boise plays a former and future conference foe. I like the Fresno program and how they schedule each year but Boise has too much firepower for this team. Winner: Boise State 48-23 ATS: Bosie -21
Saturday, October 8th, 2011:
#3 Oklahoma vs #11 Texas (Dallas), 11:00 am ABC, another addition of the Red River Rivalry comes to us from the Cotton Bowl. I keep hearing this will be a close one but the last 10 contests have been won by an average of 19.5 points which suggests the winners will walk away in the fourth quarter. Winner: Oklahoma 38-20 ATS: Oklahoma -10
Maryland at #13 Georgia Tech, 11:00 am ESPNU, Georgia Tech has been the second biggest surprise in the ACC this year behind Clemson be the anti-Clemson and the triple option is tough to prepare for in the middle of the season. Maryland looks to be having a tough time with the coaching transition and haven't shown much life this year. Winner: Georgia Tech 24-13 ATS: Maryland +14
Connecticut at #16 West Virginia, 11:00 am, last years Big East champion versus this years front-runner heading into the heart of the conference schedule looks like a mismatch on paper. The Holgersen offense seems to be gaining some steam after some sluggish starts to open the season. Connecticut has look bad so far this year with losses to Vandy, Iowa State and WMU. Winner: West Virginia 58-24 ATS: WVU -20
Kentucky at #18 South Carolina, 11:21 am SEC Network, if the Gamecocks hadn't lost to Auburn last week this would have been that game that South Carolina loses each year that you hear Homer Simpson in your head going, "Dope". Winner: South Carolina 24-10 ATS: Kentucky +21
#23 Florida State at Wake Forest, 11:30 am, Florida State had a week to stew over a loss to Clemson and Wake Forest has looked like it could at least contend with some of the better teams in the ACC. With the turmoil at QB for FSU and a home game for Wake a perfect storm could be a brewing. Winner: FSU 24-21 ATS: Wake Forest +10
#19 Illinois at Indiana, 1:30 pm BTN, Indiana gave Penn State a run for their money but I don't think that matters in this weeks game. Illinois is 5-0 for the first time since the Truman administration brings a stout defense and a meh offense with some pop. Indiana brings a loss to Ball State. Winner: Illinois 27-9 ATS: Illinois -14.5
Boston College at #8 Clemson, 2:00 pm, is this the week Clemson returns to being Clemson, I say know but put this down as a trap game for the Tigers. Boston College has looked bad and have some major injuries but the Tigers have to regress to past levels of Clemson one of these weeks and a bad team after three ranked wins just sounds right. Winner: Clemson 21-20 ATS: Boston College +21
#17 Florida at #1 LSU, 2:30 pm CBS, Florida comes in bruised and battered from it's match-up with Alabama and it's bag of oranges defense, this week it gets LSU and it's bag of potatoes. Florida has talent on both sides of the ball and the Defense has shown flashes of brilliance along the way. Winner: LSU 34-17 ATS: LSU -13.5
Kansas at #6 Oklahoma State, 2:30 pm, like Oklahoma last week, ummmmmm, yeah. Winner: Oklahoma State 58-20 ATS: Oklahoma State -31.5
Missouri at #20 Kansas State, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN, Kansas State has two esteem building wins in row now beating Miami (FL) and Baylor back to back which makes this match-up all the more intriguing. The Wildcats are young but so is Missouri which makes this a very close match-up. Winner: Kansas State 31-27 ATS: Kansas State +3.5
Miami (FL) at #21 Virginia Tech, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN, the Fightin' Beamers are coming off of a really poor showing against Clemson and with conference black-eye coming to town I think we see a beating at Lane Stadium. Winner: Virginia Tech 24-7 ATS: Virginia Tech -7.5
#22 Arizona Sate at Utah, 2:30 pm, Utah looks bad and it gets worse with Jordan Wynn out with injury, Arizona State has been everyone's favorite, "am I good, I'm not sure" team. Winner: Arizona State 38-24 ATS: Arizona State -4
Iowa at Penn State, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN, Penn State looks like Bama lite on defense and Fordham on offense. Iowa looks like a good young team that has grown in-season but looks like the wobbly infant learning to walk. Winner: Penn State 17-16
Vanderbilt at #2 Alabama, 6:00 pm ESPNU, Vanderbilt is improving in year one of the Franklin regime, Alabama is team 1B in the country. Winner: Alabama 27-10 ATS: Vanderbilt +29
#15 Auburn at #10 Arkansas, 6:00 pm ESPN, Auburn is coming off of a sloppy come from behind win at South Carolina, Arkansas is coming off an impressive come from behind game against the Fighting Gaggies of A&M. Auburn looks like it's starting to find it's stride defensively but Arkansas has Tyler Wilson. Winner: Arkansas 41-38 ATS: Auburn +10
#12 Michigan at Northwestern, 6:00 pm BTN, the second real test for the Michigan defense looks to be legitimate because of the return of Dan Persa. With his return we can judge the strides taken since the Notre Dame game in the weakest part of the defense, it's secondary. Northwestern on the other hand has less defense than Michigan which will make it very tricky to stop Denard Robinson from tearing them apart. Winner: Michigan 38-35 ATS: Northwestern +7.5
#24 Texas A&M at Texas Tech, 6:00 pm FX, the presumed last of the A&M-Tech match-ups for a while should leave A&M with fond memories and Tech saying good riddance. Winner: Texas A&M 45-20 ATS: Texas A&M -9.5
Iowa State at #25 Baylor, 6:00 pm, two lower tier Big XII teams trying to move up a tier and put themselves squarely on the minds of those fighting for the conference championship. This one should be a fun quarterback match-up between Steele Jantz and RG3.Winner: Baylor 31-28 ATS: Iowa State +15.5
Georgia at Tennessee, 6:00 pm ESPN2, two teams that have fallen on hard times to varying degrees during the SEC's time a top the college football hierarchy. Tennessee has some good pieces in place especially at QB but seems to still be lacking up front on both sides of the ball. Georgia lost it's opening two games to very good teams but winning this one keeps them in the East division race. Winner: Georgia 31-17 ATS: Georgia -2
Colorado at #7 Stanford, 6:30 pm Versus, ummmmmm... yeah Winner: Stanford 45-17 ATS: Colorado +30
Ohio State at #14 Nebraska, 7:00 pm ABC, Ohio State is struggling with issues on and off the field right now and there doesn't appear to be much help in sight with Posey and Herron being put back on suspension. Nebraska is coming off a beat down at Camp Randall in which their defense looks average and their offense proved it lacked the ability to play well from behind. Winner: Nebraska 34-13 ATS: Nebraska -11
TCU at San Diego State, 9:30 pm, TCU is down and San Diego State looks to keep the momentum from the Brady Hoke era going. TCU has been bad this year with the combination of youth and injuries on defense and youth on offense. San Diego has some pieces in place to make this game interesting especially at home. Winner: TCU 28-27 ATS: San Diego State +4.5
Enjoy the week of football and as always please leave your comments and thoughts below, I would love to hear from you.
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