Nov 13th predictions

Pretty weak day of college football overall tomorrow.

Somehow, GameDay decided that going to Columbus for Penn State @ Ohio State would be a really terrific idea even though the Buckeyes will win by at least 3 scores. That should prove my point just fine. Iowa needs to be careful on the road in Northwestern, where the Wildcats always seem to get one big win each year, but I like the Hawkeyes to survive and set up a Buck/Hawk showdown next week for a potential Big 10 title.

I like TCU and Utah to both take care of business against #23 SD State and Notre Dame, and sadly the Irish are by far the worst of those four teams.

The ACC (sadly) has some of our better action tomorrow. There are three matchups of teams all at .500 or better in conference, so tomorrow will go a long way toward determining which team gets to steal a spot from someone far more deserving at BCS bid time. Clemson goes to FSU for the Artist Formerly Known as the Bowden Bowl. I love the Noles in that one. Miami @ GT should be an interesting one, and with both QBs out I think it hurts Tech more. I'll take Miami. One of the best games of the day should be at UNC where Va Tech comes to town, both teams starting out awful in September but playing some really good football now. Logic says take the home team in a tight game, but I just think VT is the better squad and wins a nail biter.

Tomorrow is a big day for Boise St really. And they play their game today and should win by 40. But tomorrow they see that tough VT road game and also in their own conference #19 Nevada hits the road to Fresno St, an underrated but always tough opponent. Boise desperately needs VT and Nev as strong as possible to give them any shot at a title. I like the Wolfpack to survive this one as many lone wolves continue to form together a Wolfpack of lone wolves.

Some interesting games in the Big 12 as well. KSt at Mizzou will not be one of them; Tigers roll. Oklahoma St travels to Texas in a game that's pretty interesting for both teams. Okie St is in line for its first ever BCS trip and is still a longshot title contender. Meanwhile Texas has lost four of five, somehow beating Nebraska on the road in that span, and a loss in this game would leave them 4-6 and needing to win out just to make the CrappityCrap.Com Bowl. Still I think the Cowboys score too much for Texas to keep up. An underrated great game on Saturday, especially if you like the points, will happen in west Texas when A&M travels to Baylor. I wouldn't be shocked to see each team put up 50 points in this one. I still believe in the Bears so I'll take em.

There are a pair of SEC games tomorrow pitting nationall ranked teams. I don't think that makes them good games. SC shouldn't be ranked anymore and they won't be after they lose in Florida tomorrow. And Miss St has had a nice under the radar year for Dan Mullen, but they're going to get dumped pretty bad when they hit the road to face a pissed Alabama team that is still really good at home. Roll Tide. The best game of the day is one you might not expect - Georgia hitting the road to take on #3 Auburn, where the Tigers are a win away from wrapping up a surprising SEC west title and are getting ready for the historic Iron Bowl in a few weeks while the Bulldogs have had a disappointing 5-5 year and could actually miss a bowl game. But as Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend!! Auburn's defense has not been great by any stretch, and Georgia has scored 43 ppg over their last five. I think all this fuss catches up a bit with Newton and he has a pretty average day, I like the Dawgs to put up plenty of points, and I'm picking Georgia to hit the road and stun Auburn with a win.

The day's best action will be out west though, out in the Pac 10, where I smell upset city. First of all, I am feeling a USC road upset at Arizona as the Wildcats slowly start to slip out of relevancy for the season and the Trojans have played tough all year. But the two more important games are with my #1 Oregon and my #6 Stanford both hitting the road to take on Cal and Arizona St respectively. Neither of those teams is great... and that's precisely the problem. It's a Pac 10 trap week, where both these teams are good, fighting for bowls, and even better at home. Cal is averaging 48 points a game at home and has the firepower to keep up with the Ducks. They've been truly terrible at home with three losses by a combined 11 TDs against Nevada, USC, and Oregon St. But this feels like one of those weeks where no one thinks anything big happens, and then the biggest happens. I'm going with my gut on this one. I think Stanford survives, but I'm picking #1 Oregon to go down in Cal this weekend in the upset of the season that throws the national title picture into a big tizzy.

#1 and #2 both go down on the same Saturday? TCU and Boise St are the only unbeaten teams remaining? Kellen Moore as a sudden Heisman favorite? Oh my. Let's see what happens.