Tues Oct 24
Liberty Flames at Western Kentucky Hilltoppers : The Flames are one of two unranked unbeaten teams. A win here won't help much, as the Hilltoppers are struggling, but they will remain unbeaten. LIBERTY by 24
Thurs Oct 26
Syracuse Orange at Virginia Tech Hokies : The Orange are still looking for their first conference win, and this might be it. The Hokies have improved, but the Orange have a good team -- they have not been blown out and remain competitive. This game could go the other way, but I predict the Orange's fortunes will change. SYRACUSE by eight
Sat Oct 28
Top 25
#2 Ohio State Buckeyes at Wisconsin Badgers : The Badgers escaped Champaign with a win by scoring 25 fourth quarter points. That won't happen with the Buckeyes defense, although they might allow them a "pity" TD late in the fourth. OHIO STATE by 23
#3 Oklahoma Sooners at Kansas Jayhawks " Prior to last week, I would have picked the Sooners to win easily. However, they exposed some vulnerabilities last week, and the Jayhawks are talented enough to exploit that. I'll still favor Oklahoma, but watch for an upset. OKLAHOMA by nine
#4 Washington Huskies at Stanford Cardinal : The Huskies faced a scare the last two weeks. Stanford won't give them much trouble. WASHINGTON by lots
#5 Florida State Seminoles at Wake Forest Demon Deacons : The Seminoles have proven to be the toughest ACC team this season, and Wake Forest isn't strong enough to knock them off. FLORIDA STATE by 24
#6 Georgia Bulldogs at Florida Gators : Ooh, this should be a fun game! Both teams took an extra week to prepare, and these two always come up with some tricky plays for this battle. Florida is good, but not good enough to beat the Bulldogs. This game will be close, though. GEORGIA by eight
Pitt Panthers at #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish : The Irish took a bye week to get themselves together, so this should be a schmear. NOTRE DAME by 24
#8 Oregon Ducks at #13 Utah Utes : A last second field goal preserved a win for Utah last week against USC, and now they face another tip team in the conference. Utah can surprise, but I think the Ducks will work to prevent another road loss to a ranked opponent, redeeming themselves from the Washington loss. OREGON by four
BYU Cougars at #9 Texas Longhorns : BYU is not having an easy time in this first season as a Big XII team. Texas will feed Cougar meat to their cattle. TEXAS by 21
Indiana Hoosiers at #10 Penn State Nittany Lions : Ohio State kept the Lions from succeeding on third down. I don't see the Hoosiers being so successful. The Nittany Lions will run up the score to wash away the offensive disaster of last week. PENN STATE by lots
#11 Air Force Falcons at Colorado State Rams : The Falcons are one of only three FBS teams who have not thrown an interception. One reason? If their running game is working, they don't pass. They've already had one game where they threw less than five passes in the game. Given the poor D-line of the Rams, this might be another. AIR FORCE by 24
#14 North Carolina Tar Heels at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets : Although the Yellow Jackets won last week, the Tar Heels want a strong victory to bounce back from the Virginia upset. They should get it. NORTH CAROLINA by lots
UNLV Running Rebels at #15 Fresno State Bulldogs : The Rebles are a strong contender in the Mountain West, but they haven't yet faced the upper teams. Here's one, and the Bulldogs have the stiffest defense in the conference. FRESNO STATE by 16
#16 USC Trojans at Cal Golden Bears : After some tough weeks, the Trojans get an easy game. USC by lots
Vanderbilt Commodores at #18 Ole Miss Rebels : Possibly the easiest conference game on the Rebs schedule. OLE MISS by lots
#19 Oregon State Beavers at Arizona Wildcats : The Wildcats won't really be a roadblock for the Beavers. OREGON STATE by 26
#20 Tennessee Volunteers at Kentucky Wildcats : Don't discount the Wildcats! Kentucky has a good team. This will be a real scrapper. I'm tempted to pick the home team, but I think Tennessee wants to show that struggles they suffered last week are not an indication of weaknesses. TENN by three
#21 Duke Blue Devils at #22 Louisville Cardinals : Duke got pulverized last week. I'm not sure they've recovered enough to hold back the Cardinals. LOUISVILLE by six
Virginia Cavaliers at #23 Miami Hurricanes : I don't think the Cavs will have two consecutive upsets. MIAMI by 23
Houston Cougars at #24 Kansas State Wildcats : Houston can perform, but the Wildcats defense will wear them down. This will be a dominant second half by Kansas State. KANSAS STATE by 18
South Carolina Gamecocks at #25 Texas A&M Aggies : The Aggies will push the Gamecocks around. TEXAS A^M by 20
Big Ten
Maryland Terrapins at Northwestern Wildcats : Maryland is still a potent and dangerous team. Northwestern continues to look for conference win #2. MARYLAND by 23
Purdue Boilermakers at Nebraska Cormhuskers : Nebraska has a good offense. Their weakness is defense. Purdue can move the ball, but then they make mistakes. If that continues, Nebraska should do well. NEBRASKA by nine
MAC
Western Michigan Broncos at Eastern Michigan Eagles : The Eagles are having a good season, but the Broncos can always be dangerous. This won't be easy for the home team, but I still favor them. EASTERN MICHIGAN by four
Miami Ohio Redhawks at Ohio Bobcats : Two division contenders face off. Ohio started the season strong, but they've faltered a bit recently. They could get it up for this game, but I think I'll favor the consistency of the Redhawks. MIAMI OHIO by nine
Other Games of Interest
West Virginia Mountaineers at UCF Golden Knights : UCF finally threatened a Big XII opponent last week, but they may have exhausted themselves. If it was an indication that they are adapting to this conference, they might win this game, but I'll stick with the Mountaineers. WEST VIRGINIA by eight
Clemson Tigers at NC State Wolf Pack : Clemson may be having a down year, but they showed power last week. I think that will continue. CLEMSON by nine
Tulane Green Wave at Rice Owls : Easy win for the Wave. TULANE by lots
Colorado Buffaloes at UCLA Bruins : The Bruins have tumbled after a stellar start to the season. Will they bounce back this week, or will the Coach Prime train roll over them? I think the luster of the the Prime Buffaloes has reduced. UCLA by six
Old Dominion Monarchs at James Madison Dukes : The Dukes are possibly the most impressive Gang of Four team playing. It's even more impressive when you realize that this is just their second year at this lee3l of competition. JAMES MADISON by 24
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