Weekly Picks

Football every night of the week, folks - let's get ready. Sun Belt tonight, Big East tomorrow, and a C-USA/ACC double-up Thursday. I don't even time for early leans, for fucks sake.

But make no mistake, I LOVE it. Except for that whole 3-18 record thing...

Tuesday

FIU 24, Troy 16 - The Trojans find themselves in a new situation this season: lacking any semblance of an offense. Usually, Troy makes even the big boys on their schedule a little nervous. This season, Even the Golden Panthers are favored over the boys in crimson.

Wednesday

Pittsburgh 27, UConn 17 - THIS CONFERENCE MAKES NO SENSE! I'm kinda glad it's dying.

This is how I feel about the Big East.

Thursday

Houston 44, Rice 31 - Case Keenum looks to keep piling on to his total yardage number. Rice is just looking to keep it competitive.

Friday

TCU 34, BYU 17 - This is a very angry Horned Frog squad. They should be more than up for hosting what can best be described as a streaking BYU team. It should be a good one early, but I like TCU to pull away in the second half.

Saturday

Nebraska 27, Michigan State 26 - Oddsmakers are favoring the Cornhuskers right now, and I don't blame them; this is still the same Sparty squad that was thumped by Notre Dame. True, that loss seemed to wake up the defensive coaches, but I still don't see State winning this one on the road. I'll take NU, but it'll be closer than the 6-point line.

Texas A&M 31, Missouri 24 - A&M better be very careful; Missouri is finally going to catch one of these favored teams one weekend soon. The Tigers can run the ball very well, and should be better matched-up defensively against the Aggies than they were against OK State last week. It should be hard fought through three, but Christine Michael should be enough for A&M to ice it late.

Oregon 51, Washington State 22 - The pain train continues towards it showdown with Stanford.

Oklahoma State 37, Baylor 24 - I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out for the Cowboys, but State just keeps winning. I've looked for losses against A&M, Texas, and Mizzou and been wrong every time. Well, I'm changing my tune a little here. I'd like to call for RGIII and his Bears to finally spring the trap, but I'll go with the undefeated Pokes. All of this is predicated upon Blackmon playing, however.

Oklahoma 51, Kansas State 19 - This is going to be a VERY angry Sooners team Saturday. I already didn't like this match-up, but given the venom factor, it could get ugly fast. The WIldcats can run the ball very well, but their passing game is a disgrace (110th in the country!). Even with Willie Martinez as DB's coach in Norman, the Sooners secondary should be more than ready to handle whatever Kelin can dish out. Beyond that, those big OU linemen and backers will just load up the box and stuff the run. Look for the Sooner offense to be on the field a lot, and a tired State D to get torched, time and time again. I wouldn't look for Stoops to pump the breaks any time early, either. If you're a Wildcat fan, you better pack a lunch, cuz it's gonna be a long day and a bad way to see an unbeaten season come to an end.

Penn State 24, Illinois 21 - Zook's slide will be complete and the Nits ascension will begin in earnest.

Florida 27, Georgia 17 - I don't want to talk about it.

Tennessee 23, South Carolina 22 - UPSET ALERT The first of four upset alerts to close out the picks. Tennessee has played the best halves anyone has so far against LSU and Alabama, they just couldn't keep it up after half time in either game. The Vols are also finally finding a running game, matching their season total against 'Bama - which was also the most the Tide had allowed all year, btw. Dooley burned Worley's redshirt late in last week's loss, so look for the highly touted freshman to get the start and maybe bring some new energy to the offense with him. Meanwhile, Spurrier is down to his second dtring QB and has lost Lattimore, the backbone of the Cock's offense. It'll be a close one, but I'm taking the Vols to get their first conference win.

Georgia Tech 31, Clemson 30 - UPSET ALERT I can't explain why I'm feeling this, just know I hate it with every fiber of my being. This is one week I'll be all for Clemson - it's just also the week I see them finally falling.

Stanford 29, USC 27 - UPSET ALERT Stanford better be very careful with this road trip to L.A. Luck and the Cardinal are on fire right now, but the Trojans might have just enough in them to put out the flame. In the end, I think maturity and leadership will pull Stanford through, but young and fiesty SoCal will make it a true test. Hopefully, with the national audience, this Cardinal squad will get some much deserved attention, too.

Wisconsin 27, Ohio State 24 - UPSET ALERT Wisconsin better not let the cloud of last week's loss hang around their heads for too long, because this Buckeye squad would love to catch the Badgers slipping. I'll call for a little sleepwalking in the first half, but Wilson, Ball, and Co. should be able to pull it out.