SATURDAY
12:00 PM
Cincinnati (5-4) @ #8 West Virginia (7-1)
...Rutgers? Anyway, I don't even know anymore. But seriously. Cincinnati is a wholly decent team, and going there may be a trap game for the aforementioned Scarlet Knights. That game will likely be more interesting than this, with a Mountaineers team looking to prove themselves at home against a team that will probably allow them.
My Pick: West Virginia
Confidence (out of 5): 4
#16 Wisconsin (9-1) @ Iowa (6-4)
Wisconsin looks like a good team, but that weak schedule works against that. Iowa's not as bad as they've been lately, and I'm looking for some regression to the mean, so the upset would not shock me at all. I dig Wisconsin's mini-Michigan thing they've got going on, but I'm gonna pick the rebound.
My Pick: Iowa
Confidence: 1
#18 Georgia Tech (7-2) @ North Carolina (1-8)
Joe Dailey is...oddly resurgent, even if that requires once being good. And GT keeps winning only 7 games under Chan Gailey. So...maybe. But probably not. UNC's pretty awful, and, well, Calvin Johnson.
My Pick: Georgia Tech
Confidence: 3
NC State (3-6) @ #25 Clemson (7-3)
NC State looks hapless like, I don't know, a duck without a head. I probably mixed metaphors there or something. Still better than UNC and Duke, though, sadly. Anyway, Clemson. They're worrying me because they're pulling a reverse of what they usually do, tailing off rather than picking up as the season goes on. If they don't win this, I've lost all hope.
My Pick: Clemson
Confidence: 3
Purdue (6-4) @ Illinois (2-8)
Illinois hung in there last week against a high-octane Ohio State offense. Purdue's offense contains significantly less octane, and their defense is horrible, so hey, why not?
My Pick: Illinois
Confidence: 1
Minnesota (4-6) @ Michigan State (4-6)
Both these teams are hopeless. For probably one last time, I guess I'll take good talent and horrible coaching over mediocre talent and mediocre coaching.
My Pick: Michigan State
Confidence: 1
Syracuse (3-6) @ South Florida (6-3)
USF seems like a different team at home, with their only loss there to Rutgers by 2. Undefeated Rutgers. God. Anyway. Cuse could pull off the upset, but probably not in Tampa.
My Pick: South Florida
Confidence: 3
12:30 PM
Georgia (6-4) @ #4 Auburn (9-1)
That Bulldogs offense. Ohhhh that Bulldogs offense. Or lack thereof. Sigh. Auburn can be inconsistent, but with Georgia's defense looking not so great and that offense being, well, offensive, the Tigers should walk.
My Pick: Auburn
Confidence: 3
Baylor (4-6) @ Oklahoma State (5-4)
OK State's momentum hit a brick wall against Texas, but well, that'll happen. The new Baylor QB, whose name escapes me but it's long and eastern European, seems to be more mobile than Shawn Bell, but, well, not as good. Poor Baylor.
My Pick: Oklahoma State
Confidence: 3
1:00 PM
Marshall (4-5) @ East Carolina (5-4)
Two teams on 3-game winning streaks, but ECU's been much more impressive with theirs including a win over Southern Miss. Plus the Pirates are at home. Though with C-USA, who knows.
My Pick: East Carolina
Confidence: 2
Navy (6-3) @ Eastern Michigan (1-8)
Navy's running game hasn't missed a beat with their new QB, although they'll miss Brian Hampton's passing. But that doesn't matter much for Navy, and probably won't matter against a subpar MAC team.
My Pick: Navy
Confidence: 3
Vanderbilt (4-6) @ Kentucky (5-4)
Vanderbilt's competitive. Kentucky's improved from last year, but they're still not that great. Still, with the Georgia wins cancelling out, Kentucky has the best win among the two (Central Michigan, really) and the home-field advantage. Upset, if you consider Vandy winning an upset, could easily happen.
My Pick: Kentucky
Confidence: 1
2:00 PM
Colorado State (4-5) @ Utah (5-4)
Utah's inconsistent, but CSU looks dead and buried.
My Pick: Utah
Confidence: 3
Southern Miss (5-4) @ Tulane (3-6)
Tulane got killed by Marshall, so a once-mediocre team now looks just bad. USM still has that defense. The offense not so much, but that defense. Tulane has an offense where they could put together enough points to put up the upset, but I'm not picking it.
My Pick: Southern Miss
Confidence: 2
3:00 PM
Iowa State (3-7) @ Colorado (1-9)
Colorado's improved, and ISU...sigh. I'd give them a chance if they were playing to save their coach, but he's already given up. Rightfully.
My Pick: Colorado
Confidence: 2
Houston (7-3) @ SMU (5-4)
Houston's inconsistent, but I don't think enough to lose here.
My Pick: Houston
Confidence: 3
Rice (4-5) @ Tulsa (7-2)
Rice actually looks pretty decent. Tulsa's looking to redeem themselves after that Houston loss, though. Uh oh.
My Pick: Tulsa
Confidence: 3
3:30 PM
#1 Michigan (10-0) @ Indiana (5-5)
Indiana's fortunes hinge on QB Kellen Lewis, who might be the most inconsistent player in the nation. Michigan has to be beaten by the opposing QB, and I don't think the good Lewis is showing up with that Michigan defense in his face.
My Pick: Michigan
Confidence: 3
#2 Ohio State (10-0) @ Northwestern (3-7)
I think Northwestern might actually be no Illinois.
My Pick: Ohio State
Confidence: 4
South Carolina (5-4) @ #6 Florida (8-1)
Florida's vulnerable, but against, Vandy's better than you'd think. SC's QB situation is in flux, so the chance for the upset is moderately slim, but bet against Spurrier in Gainesville at your own risk.
My Pick: Florida
Confidence: 2
#8 Cal (8-1) @ Arizona (4-5)
Cal's definitely vulnerable, but Arizona didn't look all that impressive despite beating Wazzou. And even though Cal looked bad for allowing UCLA to give up all those yards, who knows if Arizona's as good as them.
My Pick: Cal
Confidence: 3
#22 Nebraska (7-3) @ #19 Texas A&M (8-2)
TAMU's tied into QB Stephen McGee, who looked horrible against Oklahoma. However, that OU defense has finally gotten its act together, so that can be counted as a mulligan. Nebraska looked good and beat Missouri last week, though, so this one's about even. Push goes to the home team!
My Pick: Texas A&M
Confidence: 1
Kent State (5-4) @ #20 Virginia Tech (7-2)
Yeah no. Kent State looked like a good MAC team, then they lost by 31 to Buffalo, so there.
My Pick: Virginia Tech
Confidence: 5
Pittsburgh (6-3) @ Connecticut (3-5)
Sigh. Pitt got shut down by the USF defense, and UConn's been good on that side of the ball lately, so they may be able to hold off a Pitt rebound for another week. Of course, it's pretty improbable the UConn offense will be able to score enough points to capitalize. Sigh.
My Pick: Pittsburgh
Confidence: 2
Miami (5-4) @ Maryland (7-2)
Maryland's the most overrated team in the country. Miami's not awful or anything, and heck, they actually are probably better than the Terps.
My Pick: Miami
Confidence: 2
Temple (1-9) @ Penn State (6-4)
Yep.
My Pick: Penn State
Confidence: 5
Stanford (0-9) @ Washington (4-6)
Washington may not have their one-man team, but I think Stanford is the new Temple. Yep.
My Pick: Washington
Confidence: 3
4:00 PM
#12 Notre Dame (8-1) @ Air Force (4-4)
Man, how does Notre Dame keep winning against this fearsome schedule.
My Pick: Notre Dame
Confidence: 4
Troy (4-4) @ Florida Atlantic (3-6)
Geez, the Sun Belt. FAU's surprisingly competitive, but I'll go with the better team.
My Pick: Troy
Confidence: 2
Utah State (1-8) @ Nevada (6-3)
Utah State's hopeless. Sigh. Nevada's one of the top teams in the WAC, probably behind Boise and right below Hawaii.
My Pick: Nevada
Confidence: 4
5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee State (6-3) @ Arkansas State (5-4)
Geez, the Sun Belt. Two top teams in that conference for whatever that's worth, but I'll go with the home team that's seemed more competitive out of conference.
My Pick: Arkansas State
Confidence: 1
New Mexico State (2-7) @ Fresno State (1-7)
Is Fresno a I-AA team? No?
My Pick: Fresno State
Confidence: 4
North Texas (2-7) @ Louisiana-Lafayette (4-4)
Well, UNT's pretty much given up. ULL's been unimpressive in conference play, but hey, they beat Houston.
My Pick: Louisiana-Lafayette
Confidence: 2
5:30 PM
TCU (6-2) @ New Mexico (5-4)
TCU's rolled over the dregs of the MWC, while UNM's squeaked by. The Lobos are more impressive than expected, but they're probably outclassed here.
My Pick: TCU
Confidence: 2
6:00 PM
#13 Boise State (9-0) @ San Jose State (6-2)
If SJSU pulls off the upset, then I give up. And God, it's possible.
My Pick: Boise State
Confidence: 2
6:15 PM
Oregon State (6-3) @ UCLA (4-5)
UCLA seemed to have gotten the offensive kinks worked out against Cal. As for Oregon State, I'm not sure if I buy them just yet, but they've been the more impressive team.
My Pick: Oregon State
Confidence: 1
7:00 PM
#15 Tennessee (7-2) @ #11 Arkansas (8-1)
Arkansas has beaten up on nothing competition lately, so now they might be exposed. Tennessee was somewhat overrated in the top ten, but they're perfectly capable and new QB Jonathan Crompton is whatever a synonym for capable is. That said, Tennessee's run defense isn't that great, and that'll definitely be a problem here.
My Pick: Arkansas
Confidence: 1
Texas Tech (6-4) @ #14 Oklahoma (7-2)
Tech's always a threat just out of sheer volume of passes, but Oklahoma has its defense together, and I think the TTU defense is just what a struggling quarterback ordered.
My Pick: Oklahoma
Confidence: 2
Duke (0-9) @ #24 Boston College (7-2)
As much as I don't really like BC, there's no excuse to not win this easy.
My Pick: Boston College
Confidence: 4
Louisiana-Monroe (1-7) @ Florida International (0-8)
The worst game of the year.
My Pick: Florida International
Confidence: 1
7:45 PM
Alabama (6-4) @ #10 LSU (7-2)
Alabama's offense looked like it existed for a while, but not so much now. So LSU will probably kill them.
My Pick: LSU
Confidence: 3
8:00 PM
#3 Texas (9-1) @ Kansas State (6-4)
I have absolutely no idea how Kansas State has 6 wins.
My Pick: Texas
Confidence: 4
#23 Wake Forest (8-1) @ Florida State (5-4)
FSU's actually competitive, they've just had some hard luck in games like the Maryland one. Wake's not as good as their record, but then again, I suppose they are in the ACC. Anyway, I'm looking for some return to the mean for both teams, which means...
My Pick: Florida State
Confidence: 1
Central Florida (2-7) @ Memphis (1-8)
Memphis is pretty awful. Central Florida is just bad. Which is better than awful.
My Pick: Central Florida
Confidence: 2
9:00 PM
Washington State (6-4) @ Arizona State (5-4)
Wazzou's a wholly decent team, almost making my top 25 before losing to Arizona in a game that was statistically about even. Arizona State QB Rudy Carpenter has absolutely imploded. Though I will say, in the Pac 10, like most conferences this year, who the hell knows.
My Pick: Washington State
Confidence: 2
UNLV (1-8) @ San Diego State (1-7)
I guess I'll take the team that beat the I-A team (and a pretty good Air Force squad at that) but lost to the I-AA over one that's done neither.
My Pick: San Diego State
Confidence: 1
10:15 PM
#21 Oregon (7-2) @ #7 USC (7-1)
Oregon's defense ain't too great, and well, they're not winning at USC.
My Pick: USC
Confidence: 2
11:05 PM
Louisiana Tech (3-6) @ Hawaii (7-2)
Create your own summary! Use a combination of any of the following words and phrases: Passtastic, blowout, no defense, next Temple, 6 touchdowns for Colt Brennan.
My Pick: Hawaii
Confidence: 4
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