NCAA Week #3 Predictions and Picks

It's a busy weekend, so let's get right into it:

Thursday, Sept 17
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Miami Hurricanes:  Miami played well in their opener, but the poor performance of Florida State last weekend now weakens that showing.  Georgia Tech continues to impress with their defense, which may frustrate Miami.  GEORGIA TECH

Friday, Sept 18
#7 Boise State Broncos at Fresno State Bulldogs:  This can be a bitter battle, but Fresno State hasn't been nearly as impressive as Boise.  The Broncos have owned this rivalry in recent years, and that streak should continue.  BOISE STATE

Top 25
#1 USC Trojans at Washington Huskies:  Washington should be more successful than last year, but not against this opponent.  USC

#24 Tennessee Volunteers at #2 Florida Gators:  The Vols seem to have improved this season, but they'll get smeared by the Gators, which might damage the image of the Vols' performances so far.  FLORIDA

North Texas Mean Green at #3 Alabama Crimson Tide:  Alabama has shown strong talent on both sides of the ball, which is more than North Texas has shown.  ALABAMA

Southeastern Louisiana at #4 Ole Miss Rebels:  This will count as a victory, but the certain large margin of victory won't help the Rebs in my Top 25.  OLE MISS

#5 California Golden Bears at Minnesota Golden Gophers:  Battle of the golden teams should go to the West Coast.  Cal simply has too many tools for Minnesota's punky defense to stop.  CAL

Texas Tech Red Raiders at #6 Texas Longhorns:  This was my runner-up for Game of the Week.  These two always play a shoot-out, and that should continue to be true, even with the loss of some key offensive players on the Raiders' sideline.  TEXAS

Temple Owls at #8 Penn State Nittany Lions:  Penn State should wipe the floor with the sleepy Owls.  PENN STATE

Louisville Cardinals at #9 Kentucky Wildcats:  If this were basketball, this could be a fun game.  Here, it probably won't be pretty.  Kentucky has had an extra week to prepare for this game, although they didn't need it.  KENTUCKY

Eastern Michigan Eagles at #10 Michigan Wolverines:  After beating Notre Dame in the waning seconds, there might be concern about a letdown, but I don't think Coach Rich Rodriquez will allow that.  MICHIGAN

#11 Nebraska Cornhuskers at Virginia Tech Hokies:  Another Game of the Week candidate, this is also an upset possibility.  Virginia Tech hasn't looked too smooth so far, so I'll stick with Nebraska, but the Cornhuskers had better not get complacent.  NEBRASKA

#12 Cincinnati Bearcats at Oregon State Beavers:  Oregon State has squeezed by so far this season, but I think that luck is over.  The Bearcats have a fierce team this year, and I don't think the Beavers can compete.  CINCINNATI

Utah State Aggies at #13 Texas A&M Aggies:  The battle of the Aggies should be decided long before halftime.  TEXAS A&M

#14 Ohio State Buckeyes at Toledo Rockets:  The Buckeyes have adjusted after each game.  The Navy Midshipmen ran all over them, so their running defense tightened against USC.  They were holding USC until the secondary opened up holes, so those will be sealed.  Toledo will find themselves entirely overmatched.  OHIO STATE

#15 Utah Utes at Oregon Ducks:  The Ducks improved last week, but they nearly buckled against Purdue.  Utah will completely overwhelm them.  UTAH

Florida State Seminoles at #16 BYU Cougars:  Florida State barely squeezed past FCS Jacksonville State.  That doesn't bode well for their performances.  BYU

Furman at #17 Missouri Tigers:  No contest here.  MISSOURI

Louisiana-Lafayette Rajin Cajuns at #18 LSU Tigers:  The Cajuns can be tricky, but LSU is rarely fooled.  Their defense will stuff Lafayette all day.  LSU

Michigan State Spartans at #20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  The Spartans fell to Central Michigan last week.  They want a chance to regroup, but traveling to South Bend isn't a good way to do that.  NOTRE DAME

#21 Arizona Wildcats at Iowa Hawkeyes:  Iowa has been sporadic, struggling in Week One and shining this past week.  If they had been more consistent, I'd pick them over Arizona.  While this is an upset alert, I'll have to go with the more consistent team.  ARIZONA

Tulsa Golden Hurricane at #22 Oklahoma Sooners:  If Bradford plays, he won't be 100%.  I hope they keep him out, as he could get injured more seriously.  The Sooners did well without him last week, but they played an FCS team.  Tulsa will push them.  This is another upset alert, but somehow I think the Sooners will pull themselves up and come together to support their absent teammates.  They don't want them to believe they cursed the team.  OKLAHOMA

Duke Blue Devils at #23 Kansas Jayhawks:  Duke looks better this season, but they aren't ready to compete with a ranked team.  KANSAS

Navy Midshipmen at #25 Pittsburgh Panthers:  Pitt had better watch themselves.  Navy has the best running attack in the nation, and the Pitt line isn't as strong as you'd like when facing that challenge.  Navy could pull off the victory, but I'll favor the home team -- barely.  PITT

Big Ten
Northern Illinois Huskies at Purdue Boilermakers:  Purdue should have this game, unless their close loss to Oregon was not due to an improving Ducks team, but instead due to a poor Purdue team.  PURDUE

Other games of interest
Boston College Eagles at Clemson Tigers:  Clemson had a great opener, but that may have been their season's highlight.  BOSTON COLLEGE

Kansas State Wildcats at UCLA Bruins:  The Wildcats seem tame this season.  UCLA

GAME OF THE WEEK:  West Virginia Mountaineers at #19 Auburn Tigers:  This one could go either way.  It'll be a close one, and I usually favor defense in those matches.  So I will again.  AUBURN