Record last week: 7-7 (2-6 in college picks, 5-1 in NFL picks) Overall record: 57-27
Luckily this week there is no Virginia or Dallas game, so I should have a relatively stress-free weekend. :)
** Game of the week: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 Texas at the Cotton Bowl, Noon ABC
Oklahoma is sliding down the rankings despite winning. People like what they see with LSU and Alabama and have them at 1-2 in the polls and how could you not, since the SEC has won the last five national championships? But Oklahoma is a very dangerous team with a great passing attack led by QB Landry Jones and WR Ryan Broyles. Texas, meanwhile has rebounded nicely from a 5-7 season. The heir apparent to Colt McCoy at QB, Garrett Gilbert, has decided to transfer after some early struggles and the Texas offense is now led by Case McCoy, Colt's brother, and also David Ash, who sees time under center as well. Texas will have a good year, but I don't think they'll be able to keep up with Oklahoma, which will pull away in the second half for a solid win in the Red River Rivalry.
Oklahoma 31, Texas 21
Maryland at No. 13 Georgia Tech, Noon ESPNU
Maryland beat a depleted Miami team at the beginning of the year at home but has not looked too good since then, with losses to West Virginia and Temple (38-7 blowout by the Owls). Georgia Tech's offense is rolling along, and hasn't scored less than 35 points in a game yet.
Georgia Tech 42, Maryland 21
No. 23 Florida State at Wake Forest, 12:30 p.m. ESPN3.com
The surprising Demon Deacons are 3-1 but I expect them to get a wake up call this weekend against FSU. Wake has these Seminoles and then the Hokies next week at home, too. If they somehow pull out a win in one of these games, watch out, Wake could be headed to another dream season like in 2006, when they won the conference and went to a BCS bowl.
Florida State 30, Wake Forest 17
No. 17 Florida at No. 1 LSU, 3:30 p.m. CBS
Florida is probably going to have a true freshman QB in Jeff Driskel go up against the Tigers defense in Baton Rouge. Uh oh. John Brantley is out with an ankle sprain. The Gators fell flat against Alabama last week in the Swamp so I don't expect them to fair to well against another tough defense in Death Valley.
LSU 28, Florida 9
Missouri at No. 20 Kansas State, 3:30 p.m. ESPN GamePlan, ABC in Big 12 country
K-State has come from nowhere into the top 25 with a hard-fought 36-35 win over Baylor last week. Missouri has been an enigma. The Tigers struggled in a win over Miami (Oh.), hung tough but lost at Arizona State in OT, pounded Western Illinois, and then only lost by 10 at Oklahoma. This game should be a good measuring stick for both teams. Can either compete with Oklahoma?
Kansas State 31, Missouri 24
Miami at No. 21 Virginia Tech, 3:30 ABC
Miami has been schizophrenic thus far. The 'Canes, who are 2-2, lost to Maryland, crushed Ohio State, lost to K-State, and then blew out FCS school Bethune-Cookman last week, even though Bethune actually outgained Miami 422-335 and had over 200 yards rushing. As for the Hokies, it is hard to tell what they are right now. They breezed through their first four games and then were clocked by Clemson last week in Blacksburg. I'm not really sure if Tech has problems, or if Clemson is the real deal. As far as this game goes, though, I'll take the Hokies to bounce back at home.
Virginia Tech 24, Miami 20
Iowa at Penn State, 3:30 p.m. ESPN
Penn State has struggled mightily this season, edging Temple and Indiana, but Joe Pa does have the Nittany Lions at 4-1. Iowa, meanwhile, has bounced back strong from a loss to rival Iowa State on Sept. 10 and are also 3-1. I expect this game to come down to the wire, much like the contest in 2008 at Iowa when the Hawkeyes knocked off the No. 3 Nittany Lions 24-23.
Iowa 27, Penn State 24
No. 15 Auburn at No. 10 Arkansas, 7 p.m. ESPN
Auburn has proven to be resilient, having managed to get to 4-1 even though its defense is not very good at all. The Tigers held star South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore to under 100 yards last week in a win over the Gamecocks. Arkansas came back in the second half in Cowboys Stadium to beat Texas A&M 42-38 in an exciting game. Razorbacks QB Tyler Wilson whipped the ball around for 510 yards. I don't think Auburn wins a second straight SEC road game this week.
Arkansas 36, Auburn 26
No. 12 Michigan at Northwestern, 7 p.m. Big Ten Network
I was telling my coworkers at the beginning of the year, watch out for Brady Hoke and the Wolverines. Hoke turned around two dreadful programs at Ball State and San Diego State. So far, Hoke has backed me up with his team's play. But Michigan fans have seen this movie the past few seasons. The Wolverines have gotten off to fast starts only to falter in Big Ten Play. Playing at Northwestern is a difficult first conference game for Hoke, but I think he passes the test.
Michigan 38, Northwestern 31
No. 24 Texas A&M at Texas Tech, 7 p.m. FX
Texas A&M has blown two first-half leads to good teams -- Arkansas last week and Oklahoma State two weeks ago. If the Aggies had held on against both teams, they'd find themselves in the top 5 and the national title discussion. Instead, they now have two conference losses and are clawing just to stay in the top 25. Texas Tech is another good team at 4-0, though the Red Raiders have been mostly untested so far. Two weeks ago, Tech barely edged Nevada, 35-34. I like A&M to finally play well in the second half during this game and pull out a win.
Texas A&M 38, Texas Tech 24
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NLDS GAME 5s
The MLB postseason has been thrilling so far, with three of the four division series going five games. It hasn't been a success so far for me, however. I picked both the Rays and the Yankees to win their series and they lost. Not good news for the Phillies and Brewers tonight. But, I still like those teams to advance in this evening's games.
Diamondbacks at Brewers, 5 p.m. TBS -- Ian Kennedy vs. Yovani Gallardo -- The Brewers were the best home team in baseball all year, so I expect them to ride the fervor of the home crowd and Gallardo -- who was probably the best pitcher on my fantasy team this year -- to the NLCS.
Brewers 6, Diamondbacks 4
Cardinals at Phillies, 8:30 p.m. TBS -- Chris Carpenter vs. Roy Halladay -- a gem of a pitching matchup. The Phillies have looked like the best team in baseball all year and I think they win a close one tonight at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies 4, Cardinals 3
Luckily this week there is no Virginia or Dallas game, so I should have a relatively stress-free weekend. :)
** Game of the week: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 Texas at the Cotton Bowl, Noon ABC
Oklahoma is sliding down the rankings despite winning. People like what they see with LSU and Alabama and have them at 1-2 in the polls and how could you not, since the SEC has won the last five national championships? But Oklahoma is a very dangerous team with a great passing attack led by QB Landry Jones and WR Ryan Broyles. Texas, meanwhile has rebounded nicely from a 5-7 season. The heir apparent to Colt McCoy at QB, Garrett Gilbert, has decided to transfer after some early struggles and the Texas offense is now led by Case McCoy, Colt's brother, and also David Ash, who sees time under center as well. Texas will have a good year, but I don't think they'll be able to keep up with Oklahoma, which will pull away in the second half for a solid win in the Red River Rivalry.
Oklahoma 31, Texas 21
Maryland at No. 13 Georgia Tech, Noon ESPNU
Maryland beat a depleted Miami team at the beginning of the year at home but has not looked too good since then, with losses to West Virginia and Temple (38-7 blowout by the Owls). Georgia Tech's offense is rolling along, and hasn't scored less than 35 points in a game yet.
Georgia Tech 42, Maryland 21
No. 23 Florida State at Wake Forest, 12:30 p.m. ESPN3.com
The surprising Demon Deacons are 3-1 but I expect them to get a wake up call this weekend against FSU. Wake has these Seminoles and then the Hokies next week at home, too. If they somehow pull out a win in one of these games, watch out, Wake could be headed to another dream season like in 2006, when they won the conference and went to a BCS bowl.
Florida State 30, Wake Forest 17
No. 17 Florida at No. 1 LSU, 3:30 p.m. CBS
Florida is probably going to have a true freshman QB in Jeff Driskel go up against the Tigers defense in Baton Rouge. Uh oh. John Brantley is out with an ankle sprain. The Gators fell flat against Alabama last week in the Swamp so I don't expect them to fair to well against another tough defense in Death Valley.
LSU 28, Florida 9
Missouri at No. 20 Kansas State, 3:30 p.m. ESPN GamePlan, ABC in Big 12 country
K-State has come from nowhere into the top 25 with a hard-fought 36-35 win over Baylor last week. Missouri has been an enigma. The Tigers struggled in a win over Miami (Oh.), hung tough but lost at Arizona State in OT, pounded Western Illinois, and then only lost by 10 at Oklahoma. This game should be a good measuring stick for both teams. Can either compete with Oklahoma?
Kansas State 31, Missouri 24
Miami at No. 21 Virginia Tech, 3:30 ABC
Miami has been schizophrenic thus far. The 'Canes, who are 2-2, lost to Maryland, crushed Ohio State, lost to K-State, and then blew out FCS school Bethune-Cookman last week, even though Bethune actually outgained Miami 422-335 and had over 200 yards rushing. As for the Hokies, it is hard to tell what they are right now. They breezed through their first four games and then were clocked by Clemson last week in Blacksburg. I'm not really sure if Tech has problems, or if Clemson is the real deal. As far as this game goes, though, I'll take the Hokies to bounce back at home.
Virginia Tech 24, Miami 20
Iowa at Penn State, 3:30 p.m. ESPN
Penn State has struggled mightily this season, edging Temple and Indiana, but Joe Pa does have the Nittany Lions at 4-1. Iowa, meanwhile, has bounced back strong from a loss to rival Iowa State on Sept. 10 and are also 3-1. I expect this game to come down to the wire, much like the contest in 2008 at Iowa when the Hawkeyes knocked off the No. 3 Nittany Lions 24-23.
Iowa 27, Penn State 24
No. 15 Auburn at No. 10 Arkansas, 7 p.m. ESPN
Auburn has proven to be resilient, having managed to get to 4-1 even though its defense is not very good at all. The Tigers held star South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore to under 100 yards last week in a win over the Gamecocks. Arkansas came back in the second half in Cowboys Stadium to beat Texas A&M 42-38 in an exciting game. Razorbacks QB Tyler Wilson whipped the ball around for 510 yards. I don't think Auburn wins a second straight SEC road game this week.
Arkansas 36, Auburn 26
No. 12 Michigan at Northwestern, 7 p.m. Big Ten Network
I was telling my coworkers at the beginning of the year, watch out for Brady Hoke and the Wolverines. Hoke turned around two dreadful programs at Ball State and San Diego State. So far, Hoke has backed me up with his team's play. But Michigan fans have seen this movie the past few seasons. The Wolverines have gotten off to fast starts only to falter in Big Ten Play. Playing at Northwestern is a difficult first conference game for Hoke, but I think he passes the test.
Michigan 38, Northwestern 31
No. 24 Texas A&M at Texas Tech, 7 p.m. FX
Texas A&M has blown two first-half leads to good teams -- Arkansas last week and Oklahoma State two weeks ago. If the Aggies had held on against both teams, they'd find themselves in the top 5 and the national title discussion. Instead, they now have two conference losses and are clawing just to stay in the top 25. Texas Tech is another good team at 4-0, though the Red Raiders have been mostly untested so far. Two weeks ago, Tech barely edged Nevada, 35-34. I like A&M to finally play well in the second half during this game and pull out a win.
Texas A&M 38, Texas Tech 24
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NLDS GAME 5s
The MLB postseason has been thrilling so far, with three of the four division series going five games. It hasn't been a success so far for me, however. I picked both the Rays and the Yankees to win their series and they lost. Not good news for the Phillies and Brewers tonight. But, I still like those teams to advance in this evening's games.
Diamondbacks at Brewers, 5 p.m. TBS -- Ian Kennedy vs. Yovani Gallardo -- The Brewers were the best home team in baseball all year, so I expect them to ride the fervor of the home crowd and Gallardo -- who was probably the best pitcher on my fantasy team this year -- to the NLCS.
Brewers 6, Diamondbacks 4
Cardinals at Phillies, 8:30 p.m. TBS -- Chris Carpenter vs. Roy Halladay -- a gem of a pitching matchup. The Phillies have looked like the best team in baseball all year and I think they win a close one tonight at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies 4, Cardinals 3
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