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College Football

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-10

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College Football

College Football Week 10 Thoughts

Joe Pa Takes One for the Team
I’ll admit that I am not in any way a Joe Paterno. I think that, like Bobby Bowden, his best coaching days are far behind him and he is holding the Penn State football program hostage. However, whenever a 79 year old guy takes a tumble like this, has surgery the next day and still plans on being on the sideline this weekend you have to give him due credit.

Paterno’s injuries were a broken shin bone and torn knee ligaments.

Mountain Climbers
I’ve been on the West Virginia band wagon since last season. I picked them to play Ohio State in the BCS Championship game but Louisville brought all of that to a screeching halt Thursday night with their 44-34 win over the Mountaineers.

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College Football

College Football Week 9 Thoughts

Can’t Say We Didn’t See It Coming
Well, maybe not to Oregon State but I think we all knew that USC was going to lose this season. This isn’t the same Trojans team that we have seen the past three seasons and I’m not just talking personnel. They have struggled several times this season and just don’t have the ability to put teams away. To use the famous pun, “they lack that killer instinct.”

You almost get the feeling with this USC team that they need to figure out that they are not going to win just because the name on the front of their jersey. They need to go out on the field and earn it!

Mountaineers Moving Up!
Thanks to the USC loss and another impressive victory on their part the West Virginia Mountaineers are the number three team in the most recent BCS Poll giving them a legit opportunity to be in the BCS Championship Game.

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College Football

Virginia Tech Football Preview

This is my very biased view of Virginia Tech’s 2006 football season. The QB is not the key. Warning: very long.

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College Football

What a Spectacular Separation Saturday!

What a day of college football. I am nearly speechless. Separation Saturday lived up to its billing and then some… and then some! There were upsets, unexpected blowouts, nailbiters and of course, another week that draws us closer to understanding who is the best team in the nation!

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College Football

College Football: Week One Remix

It began with a “did that really just happen” moment on August 31 and ended (mercifully) around the twilight hour on Labor Day.

Here’s what stood out from college football’s opening week:

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College Football

2006 National College Football Preview

No real intro, I just want to say that I am a Virginia Tech fan, so nobody jump on me for making a homer pick, because I picked a team to win the National Title that lots of columnists here are fans of.

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College Football

Pac-10 Preview S-W

Round 2:  Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State.
*Note: specialists are counted as returning starters.

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College Football

Pac-10 Preview A-O

2006 Pac-10 team breakdowns for:  Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon and Oregon State.
*Note: specialists are counted as returning starters.