Pigskin Picks: College Football

Louisville vs. Rutgers
   This is the sexiest game on the schedule this week.  Two unbeaten Big East teams with completely different styles of play clash on a Thursday night in New Jersey.  Ray Rice is one the most talented football players in the country at any position.  Throw in the all-conference fullback Brian Leonard, and you have best rushing tandem in the Big East.  Louisville’s defense will have its hands full, but Brian Brohm, Mario Urrutia, and their offense should man-handle the Rutgers defensive squad.  This one will be hard-fought throughout, but the Cardinals cash their ticket to an inevitable BCS snub.

Louiville-27
Rutgers-21

Arkansas vs. Tennessee
   The “Dirty South” just got a little nastier.  Expect emotions to run high when these two SEC teams mix it up in the best college football matchup on Saturday.  Arkansas is having its best season in years on the legs of Darren McFadden, a homegrown running back coming off a career high 219 yard performance last week. Both teams have questions at quarterback, with Casey Dick replacing an ineffective Mitch Mustain and Jonathan Crompton starting for injured Tennessee starter Erik Ainge.  The Vols have off-the-field issues as well with three suspensions this week.  But can the Razorbacks continue their unlikely run through the SEC West?  All signs point to the pigs.

Arkansas-17
Tennessee-10USC vs. Oregon
   The Trojans still have hope of returning to the BCS Championship game for a third consecutive year.  That hope could be vanquished this Saturday when the Ducks come to town.  John David Booty should be able to exploit the Oregon secondary, while Dennis Dixon may struggle against the USC defense.  He has thrown 9 picks this season, and USC is a turnover driven team.  If Oregon can protect the pigskin then they could pull the upset.  The edge goes to Coach Carroll’s Trojans in this one.

USC-42
Oregon-21

Wake Forest vs. Florida St.
   Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that of these two teams, Wake would be the one chasing after a BCS Bowl berth while Florida St. would collapse amid whisperings of a coaching change.  The unthinkable has happened. With a win this week, Wake Forest can move closer to an ACC championship and put Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden a few steps closer to the door in Tallahassee.  The problem is, Florida St. has lost just twice to the Deamon Deacons in twenty-four meetings all-time, and won all fourteen since Wake joined the ACC.  Can the unthinkable happen? Absolutely.

Wake Forest-21
Florida St.-20

Countdown to Ohio State vs. Michigan: One week.
   After some nail biting last Saturday, the top two teams in the nation stayed on course for a head to head collision of unbeatens in Columbus on Nov. 18.  Neither team is likely to suffer the same scare this week, with Ohio State playing a Northwestern team coming off of an upset win against Iowa, and Michigan going up against the feisty Indiana Hoosiers. Both games should be over by the half, setting up arguably the biggest regular season game in college football history.

Ohio State-38                
Northwestern-13

Michigan-28
Indiana-10

*Other picks this week:

Oklahoma-24
Texas Tech-17

Boise St.-44
San Jose St.-13

Auburn-13
Georgia-6

Texas A&M-19
Nebraska-3

Wisconsin-27
Iowa-20

Florida-24
So. Carolina-10

LSU-17
Alabama-0

Miami-21
Maryland-14

Notre Dame-35
Air Force-12