2012-13 BOWL PREDICTIONS: WEEK 1

Arizona RB Ka'Deem Carey (25) rushed for an amazing 366 yards and five
touchdowns against Colorado on Nov. 10. (Photo by Rick Scuteri/US Presswire) 

NEW MEXICO BOWL
MATCHUP: Nevada vs. Arizona
NEVADA PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Stefphon Jefferson (Jr.) – 341 rush, 1703 yards, 22 TDs
ARIZONA PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Ka’Deem Carey (So.) – 275 rush, 1757 yards, 20 TDs
PREDICTION: Arizona 40, Nevada 34.

-What a treat to kick off the bowl season! This year’s New Mexico Bowl pits two offenses that are in the top 15 in yardage and the top 20 in scoring. The running back battle will definitely be one to keep an eye on as Nevada’s Stefphon Jefferson and Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey are two of only five players to run for 1700 yards this season. With both teams coming off of losses in to end the regular season, the opportunity to finish the year on a winning note will be great motivation.

Utah State QB Chuckie Keeton (16) and the Aggies hope to erase last year's
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl defeat. (Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News) 

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL
MATCHUP: Toledo vs. (22) Utah State
TOLEDO PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Bernard Reedy (Jr.) – 82 rec, 1051 yards, 6 TDs
UTAH STATE PLAYER TO WATCH: QB Chuckie Keeton (So.) – 254/376, 3144 yards, 27 TDs
PREDICTION: Utah State 35, Toledo 17.
-At 10-2, Utah State is trying to get a win in this year’s Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, but they may have a good opponent in the Rockets from Toledo. Toledo finished 9-3 and took down Cincinnati for its biggest win of the season, while junior receiver Bernard Reedy put up some solid stats on the offensive end. The Rockets’ defense did wonders this year, but Utah State’s was even better, only allowing 15.4 points per game. Sophomore quarterback Chuckie Keeton followed up on a decent freshman campaign (that was cut short due to injury), by finishing strong with 16 touchdowns to five interceptions down the stretch in the Aggies’ current six-game winning streak.

Stay tuned for capsules and predictions each week as the bowl season progresses!

REMEMBERING JOE PATERNO

January 22, 2012 marked a day of sadness in college football.

Joe Paterno, one of the greatest icons ever in the sport, passed away from lung cancer at the age of 85.

Looking back at the last two months, part of his legacy took a hit thanks to the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal and what Paterno did not do in order to stop it. However, Paterno was a man that stood for integrity and honor.

At a time where many coaches change jobs just like clothes, Paterno was the head coach at Penn State for an outstanding 46 years and had been at Happy Valley since 1950.

At Paterno’s memorial Jan. 26, former Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge said, “No one individual has ever done more for a university anywhere in the country than what Joe Paterno did for this school.”

During his tenure at Penn State, he won 409 games, two national championships, and each of the five major bowl games—Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar.

Even when he had four losing seasons in five years from 2000-2004 and numerous people calling for him to step down, Paterno bounced back to lead the Nittany Lions to an 11-1 season in 2005. This included the Big Ten title and a thrilling triple-overtime against fellow coaching legend Bobby Bowden and his Florida State Seminoles.

In his last game—a hard-fought 10-7 victory over Illinois in the snow—Paterno passed former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson for most victories by a Division I head coach.

After that game, his son and assistant coach Jay said, “This might be one of the best jobs Joe’s done of coaching, getting kids to buy into team-first, just win, the whole nine yards. Don’t worry about personal accolades, personal statistics. Don’t worry about playing time. Just (concentrate on) we’re going to continue to win.”

While doing so, he wanted his players to not only exceed on the field but off of it too, and doing so in a fair way.

In 2008, their Graduation Success Rate was at 78 percent according to the NCAA Graduation Rates Report. At the same time, the Nittany Lion football program had never been placed on probation.

Sadly, on Nov. 9, his coaching career came to an abrupt end following the Sandusky allegations and doctors diagnosed him with lung cancer shortly thereafter.

Still he was respected and supported by his peers such as former Penn State football player Charles V. Pittman.

Pittman said, “Despite being pushed away from his beloved game, and under the extreme pressure of the events of the past few months, Joe’s grace was startling.”

Whether he did or did not do enough or more than the minimum to stop the scandal in its tracks is a different story for a different time. However, his overall contributions should still be well noted.

2011-12 NCAA BOWL PICKS

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK PREDICTIONS

Northern Illinois 27, Ohio 20 (MAC)

Oregon 50, UCLA 3 (Pac-12)

Houston 49, Southern Miss 28 (C-USA)

Baylor 28, Texas 24 

LSU 30, Georgia 20 (SEC)

Oklahoma St. 45, Oklahoma 38 (Big 12..unofficial title game)

Virginia Tech 24, Clemson 14 (ACC)

Michigan St. 24, Wisconsin 21 (Big Ten)

WEEK: 5-3 (.625)

SEASON: 34-16 (.680)

BOWL GAME PREDICTIONS

TEMPLE over Wyoming (New Mexico)

UTAH ST. over Ohio (Idaho Potato)

ULL over San Diego St. (New Orleans)

FIU over Marshall (Beef 'O' Brady's)

TCU over Louisiana Tech (Poinsettia)

BOISE ST. over Arizona St. (MAACO)

SOUTHERN MISS over Nevada (Hawaii)

NORTH CAROLINA over Missouri (Independence)

PURDUE over Western Michigan (Little Caesars')

NC STATE over Louisville (Belk)

AIR FORCE over Toledo (Military)

TEXAS over Cal (Holiday)

NOTRE DAME over Florida St. (Champ Sports)

BAYLOR over Washington (Alamo)

BYU over Tulsa (Armed Forces)

RUTGERS over Iowa St. (Pinstripe)

MISSISSIPPI ST. over Wake Forest (Music City)

OKLAHOMA over Iowa (Insight)

TEXAS A&M over Northwestern (Meineke Car Care)

GEORGIA TECH over Utah (Sun)

UCLA over Illinois (Fight Hunger)

VANDERBILT over Cincinnati (Liberty)

AUBURN over Virginia (Chick-fil-A)

HOUSTON over Penn State (TicketCity)

FLORIDA over Ohio St. (Gator)

MICHIGAN ST. over Georgia (Outback)

SOUTH CAROLINA over Nebraska (Capital One)

OREGON over Wisconsin (Rose)

OKLAHOMA ST. over Stanford (Fiesta)

MICHIGAN over Virginia Tech (Sugar)

WEST VIRGINIA over Clemson (Orange)

ARKANSAS over Kansas St. (Cotton)

SMU over Pittsburgh (BBVA Compass)

ARKANSAS ST. over Northern Illinois (GoDaddy.com)

LSU over Alabama (BCS National Championship)

THE 2011 BCS TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND

Looks like we will get the LSU/Alabama rematch that everyone has all been asking for with the BCS.

However, have you ever imagined how things would turn out in a playoff system?

Last year, I wrote an article about the BCS needing to adopt a 16- or 32-team tournament and this year I decided to go through with that idea.

In this tournament, we have all 11 conference champions receiving automatic bids with 21 at-large teams coming from the remaining ranked teams from the BCS, AP and Coaches’ polls and other factors such as strength of schedule and the RPI are taken into consideration.

The teams are then seeded by their BCS ranking (unless there is a situation where two teams from the same conference would play in the first round, then we would swap out a comparable team that is one up or one down in the rankings). The first-round games are played at the highest seed’s place and then it shifts to neutral sites at bowl games afterwards.

I do not have a bracket but below is a list of games of what the games would look like.

LSU QUARTER
(32) Louisiana Tech at (1) LSU
(17) Michigan State at (16) Georgia
(24) Texas at (9) South Carolina
(25) Auburn at (8) Kansas State

ALABAMA QUARTER
(31) Arkansas State at (2) Alabama
(18) TCU at (15) Clemson
(23) West Virginia at (10) Wisconsin
(26) Missouri at (7) Boise St.

OKLAHOMA STATE QUARTER
(30) Northern Illinois at (3) Oklahoma State
(19) Houston at (14) Michigan*
(22) Penn State at (11) Virginia Tech
(27) Cincinnati at (6) Arkansas

STANFORD QUARTER

(29) Notre Dame at (4) Stanford
(20) Nebraska at (13) Oklahoma*
(21) Southern Miss at (12) Baylor
(28) Florida State at (5) Oregon

*-No. 13 Michigan and No. 14 Oklahoma were flipped due to Michigan having to play fellow Big Ten foe Nebraska in the first round.

Sadly, we do not have a system like that right now, but one can only hope this can happen soon. Until then…I will simulate a round of the tournament each week until the day of the BCS National Championship Game. Have fun and stay tuned!

2011 NCAA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK PICKS

WEEK 13 PREDICTIONS

Notre Dame 31, Stanford 30

Clemson 24, South Carolina 21

Florida St. 27, Florida 20

WEEK: 1-2 (.333)

SEASON: 29-13 (.690)

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK PREDICTIONS

Northern Illinois 27, Ohio 20 (MAC)

No. 9 Oregon 50, UCLA 3 (Pac-12)

No. 6 Houston 49, No. 24 Southern Miss 28 (C-USA)

No. 17 Baylor 28, No. 22 Texas 24 

No . 1 LSU 30, No. 14 Georgia 20 (SEC)

No. 3 Oklahoma St. 45, No. 10 Oklahoma 38 (Big 12..unofficial title game)

No. 5 Virginia Tech 24, No. 20 Clemson 14 (ACC)

No. 13 Michigan St. 24, No. 15 Wisconsin 21 (Big Ten)

2011 NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK 13 PICKS

WEEK 12 PREDICTIONS

Oklahoma 42, Baylor 25

Kansas St. 28, Texas 27

Oregon 42, USC 35

WEEK: 1-2 (.333)

SEASON: 28-11 (.718)

PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 13

No. 22 Notre Dame 31, No. 6 Stanford 30

No. 17 Clemson 24, No. 12 South Carolina 21

Florida St. 27, Florida 20

2011 NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK 12 PICKS

WEEK 11 PREDICTIONS

Penn State 17, Nebraska 14 (right score, wrong outcome)
Georgia 21, Auburn 20

Oregon 38, Stanford 35

WEEK: 2-1 (.667)

SEASON: 27-9 (.750)

PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 12

No. 5 Oklahoma 42, No. 22 Baylor 25

No. 13 Kansas St. 28, No. 23 Texas 27

No. 4 Oregon 42, USC 35

2011 NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK 11 PICKS

WEEK 10 PREDICTIONS

Arkansas 27, South Carolina 20
Oklahoma St. 34, Kansas St. 30
LSU 27, Alabama 24

WEEK: 3-0 (1.000)

SEASON: 25-8 (.758)

PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 11

No. 12 Penn State 17, No. 19 Nebraska 14
No. 15 Georgia 21, No. 20 Auburn 20

No. 7 Oregon 38, No. 4 Stanford 35

2011 NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK 9 RECAP

WISCONSIN LOSES BY ANOTHER HAIL MARY

Devin Smith's (15) game-winning catch gave Ohio State a
33-29 win over Wisconsin. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)

For the second week in a row, the Wisconsin Badgers were doomed by a last-minute Hail Mary pass on the road.

This time, it was the Ohio State duo of Braxton Miller and Devin Smith that did the Badgers in en route to a 33-29 win for the Buckeyes.

“(This is) real tough,” Wisconsin senior Nick Toon said. “We’ve handed them the game two weeks in a row at the end of the game. You can’t do that.”

Thanks to both losses, the Badgers—who were No. 6 in the initial BCS standings two weeks ago—are now 2 ½ games behind Penn State in the Big Ten Leaders division.

Despite the loss, Russell Wilson once again turned in a good game to keep his Heisman hopes alive. The senior quarterback threw for 253 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Two of those passing touchdowns came in the fourth quarter to bring Wisconsin back from a 26-14 deficit.

However, it would be his last pass that would fall harmlessly onto the Ohio Stadium turf that would give the Buckeyes a tough, gritty win much like their season this year.

“This is what Ohio State’s all about,” Ohio State head coach Luke Fickell said. “We don’t ever look at ourselves as underdogs. This is a huge win, a signature win. This is for this team, this is for this program. This is what we expect.”

CASE’S NINE-PACK OF TD’S SETS ANOTHER CAREER RECORD

Case Keenum now has 3219 passing yards and
32 touchdowns this season. (Photo by AP)

This Case Keenum kid is really trying to rewrite all of the records isn’t he?

One week after setting the career record for total offense, the Houston quarterback threw nine touchdowns in its 73-34 drubbing of in-city rival Rice.

“It was a blast,” Keenum said. “That was probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing football.”

The sixth-year senior surely had a field day against the Owls, throwing for 534 yards on 24-of-37 passing. Keenum is now 267 passing yards away from another record—Timmy Chang’s Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) record of 17,072 passing yards.

“Those are video-game numbers, something we couldn’t get stopped,” Rice senior linebacker Justin Allen said.

Keenum’s favorite target in the game was senior Patrick Edwards, who had a huge night catching the ball. He caught seven passes for 318 yards and five touchdowns.

The Cougars go to 8-0 and move up to No. 13 in the BCS.

JOEPA BREAKS COACH ROB’S RECORD

As had been the case for most of the season, Penn State’s 10-7 win over Illinois was a gritty one. However, this one was much special.

With the win, longtime Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno recorded his Division I-leading 409^th victory as head coach—passing a mark held by Grambling State coaching legend Eddie Robinson.

“It really is something I’ve [been] very proud of, to be associated with Eddie Robinson,” Paterno said. “Something like this means a lot to me, an awful lot. But there’s a lot of other people I’ve got to thank.”

Snowy conditions made things difficult and both teams were held scoreless at halftime.

Finally with 3:32 left in the third quarter Nathan Scheelhaase hit Spencer Harris from 10 yards out to break the deadlock.

In regular Nittany Lion fashion though, Penn State grinded its way back into the game.

After Anthony Fera’s 30-yard field goal with seven minutes left in the game, Silas Redd would score the game-winning touchdown to put the Nittany Lions ahead.

The Fighting Illini had one more shot to tie the game, but Derek Dimke had his 42-yard field goal try hit the upright giving Penn State the win.

“I guess it’s just something this team has inside of them, needing to make a play, needing to get the job done, to do what it takes to get another win,” Penn State junior quarterback Matt McGloin said.

Paterno was honored with a plaque after the game for his latest achievement.

Joe Paterno (right) was given a plaque commemorating his Division I
record setting victory. (Photo by Justin K. Allen/Getty Images)

“Eddie Robinson and Jake Gaither of Florida A&M were the two guys who opened the doors for African American men when there was no place for them to play,” Paterno said. “For me, coming from Brooklyn, being the grandson of an immigrant, it means a lot.”

The Nittany Lions now sit at 8-1 this season and hold an inside track to the inaugural Big Ten Championship game on Dec. 3 in Indianapolis.

CARDINAL NEED THREE OT’s TO WIN THIRD STRAIGHT IN COLISEUM

Much like their previous two trips to Los Angeles, the Stanford Cardinal recorded a memorable win against the USC Trojans. This one just needed three overtimes to seal the deal.

“I might need a couple of minutes to digest it, but it’s definitely up there,” Stanford junior quarterback Andrew Luck said. “More than anything, I’m just happy to get a win.”

Despite seeing its streak of 25-point blowouts end at 10, Stanford won three straight against the Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time since the mid-1930s according to College Football Reference.

USC gave the Cardinal a tough match all throughout the game, even taking a 20-10 lead 4:30 seconds into the third quarter. Stanford would then regain the lead nine minutes later, heading into the fourth quarter with a 24-20 lead.

As both teams were tied at 27 with 3:08 left, Luck threw a near-costly interception that sophomore cornerback Nickell Robley took back for a score. However, the Heisman hopeful shook off that setback and put together a 10-play, 76-yard drive to force a 34-34 tie capped off by a Stepfan Taylor two-yard plunge.

“He [Luck] was so mad at himself,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said.  “He wasn’t going to let that play lose the game for us.”

The Trojans had one last chance to win it in regulation, but Robert Woods could not get to the sidelines in time (despite USC having two timeouts left) setting up overtime.

Stanford players celebrate as Matt Barkley (7) disappointingly
looks on. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht/Daily News)

With both teams matching touchdowns in both overtimes, Taylor’s five-yard run put the Cardinal ahead 56-48 with USC having chance to respond in the third overtime. It would never come, as a Curtis McNeal fumble was picked up by Stanford to end the game.

“No excuse, I just fumbled,” McNeal said.

Stanford has Oregon State, before a showdown with Oregon on Nov. 12 that could determine the Pac-12 North.

MY WEEK 3 BCS RANKINGS

LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma St., Stanford, Boise St., Oklahoma, Oregon, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Carolina

WEEK 9 PREDICTIONS

Michigan St. 31, Nebraska 27
Oklahoma 35, Kansas St. 25
Stanford 45, USC 21

WEEK: 2-1 (.667)
SEASON: 22-8 (.733)

PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 10

No. 7 Arkansas 27, No. 9 South Carolina 20
No. 3 Oklahoma St. 34, No. 14 Kansas St. 30
No. 1 LSU 27, No. 2 Alabama 24

2011 NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK 8 RECAP

COUGS CRUISE AS CASE GETS CONGRATS

Case Keenum scans the field for an open receiver against Marshall.
(Photo by Thomas Campbell/US Presswire)

With a 30-yard pass to Justin Johnson, Houston Cougars quarterback Case Keenum became the most prolific player in total offense in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history.

Keenum, a sixth-year senior, blew past former Hawai’i standout Timmy Chang’s former record of 16,910 yards. He would finish the day with 17,173 career total offensive yards.

“It’s awesome, it’s incredible,” Keenum said. “It’s very special, to be in a place like this, in front of a home crowd, and to be able to do that. Nobody else has been able to do that. It means a lot to me.”

Keenum finished the day with 376 yards and six touchdowns on 24-for-28 passing.

As far as the game itself, Houston demolished the Marshall Thundering Herd 63-28 to stay undefeated and to keep its hopes of making a BCS bowl alive.

With no tough opponents on tap for the next three weeks, the Cougars could be 10-0 before showdowns with SMU, Tulsa and the Conference USA championship game. However, Houston is not jumping the gun quite yet.

“We’re doing a really good job of taking it a week at a time,” Keenum said. “We know that each week is the biggest game of the season. And that, in turn, makes the next week after that the biggest game of the season. That’s just kind of how we look at it.”

WRITER’S NOTE: Keenum threw for nine TD’s against Rice this week, so I might give him some more love in next week’s recap or in the near future.

LSU, ALABAMA INCH CLOSER TO SEC SHOWDOWN

LSU wide receiver Rueben Randle scored on two receiving
touchdowns against Auburn. (Photo by Gerard Herbert/AP)

Auburn and Tennessee were the last two roadblocks that stood of the possible game of the year, and LSU and Alabama ran over them like road kill.

With both teams having one last chance to prepare for their Nov. 5 tilt, all eyes were glued at the LSU/Auburn and Alabama/Tennessee games to see if both would deliver.

In Baton Rouge, LSU was not fazed one bit by Auburn last week after three players were suspended for a failed drug test.

The Tigers won 45-10 while gaining 174 rushing yards without Spencer Ware—their leading rusher—and even returned an interception for a touchdown without Tyrann Mathieu and Tharold Simon.

A clear sign that things did not go Auburn’s way was when LSU scored three touchdowns within the span of 90 seconds to put the game well out of reach.

Alabama running back Trent Richardson (3) continues to build
his case for the Heisman. (Photo by Trent Penny/The Anniston Star) 

While in Tuscaloosa, Alabama did have a little trouble early with Tennessee, but was able to win 37-6 to continue its perfect start.

The Crimson Tide struggled just like LSU a week earlier to put the Volunteers away, but they also used a dominant second half performance to prevail.

Alabama’s defense only allowed 155 total yards and six first downs—none after halftime.

Heisman hopeful Trent Richardson only had 77 yards on 17 carries, but he scored twice to give him an eye-popping 18 touchdowns this season.

The game on Nov. 5 should be a treat to see, even if we do have to wait another week for it.

OKLAHOMA FALLS SHORT TO TEXAS TECH

Sometimes even the littlest of things can get in the way of victory.

For the Oklahoma Sooners, a missed chip shot off the upright and a failed onside kick were the possible differences between a win and the real outcome—a 41-38 loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

A distraught Michael Hunnicutt (18) after missing a field
goal against Texas Tech. (Photo by Sue Ogrocki/AP Photo)

First, props should be in order to Texas Tech for the upset and coming out firing after two close losses to Texas A&M and Kansas State.

The Red Raiders shocked the Sooners with a 24-7 lead at halftime. That lead would swell to 31-7 after Seth Doege connected with Alex Torres on an 11-yard pass, but Oklahoma started to make their push.

The Sooners would score 17 unanswered to cut the lead to a touchdown. However, Doege continued to make things tough after his 14-yard strike to Tramain Swindall gave the Red Raiders a 41-24 lead with 7:38 remaining.

Nearly one minute later, Landry Jones found Jaz Reynolds on a 55-yard pass to cut the lead to 10. They would force Texas Tech to go three-and-out to get the ball back.

After the Sooners’ drive stalled, Michael Hunnicut attempted a 28-yard field goal, but it would hit the upright.

Oklahoma finally got the touchdown it needed when Jones found James Hanna to cut the deficit to 41-38, but the team could not recover the onside kick as Texas Tech snapped the Sooners’ 39-game winning streak at home. TCU was the last team to beat Oklahoma in Norman.

“I told the players that anyone who we’ll play the rest of the year will whoop us if we don’t play better than we did today,” Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said. “They just flat out beat us.”

Oklahoma will try to pick itself up against Kansas State this week.

PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED IN EAST LANSING!

The Hail Mary pass can be one of the more exciting plays in football—if not the most exciting one.

It all began in 1975, when Roger Staubach found Drew Pearson in the NFC Divisional Playoffs to win a game over the Minnesota Vikings en route to Super Bowl X.

If you are looking for the college football equivalent, look no further than Doug Flutie to Gerard Phelan to beat the Miami Hurricanes.

Michigan State Spartan players Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol can now place themselves on that list after a thrilling 37-31 win over the Wisconsin Badgers.

“We knew we had a chance,” Cousins said. “There’s always a chance.”

Michigan State's Keith Nichol (7) fights his way into the end
zone against Wisconsin. (Photo by AP)

The Spartans trailed behind 14-0 before mounting a 23-point second quarter to take the lead.

Michigan State would then have a 31-17 lead with just under 11 minutes left to play, until Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson would add two touchdowns—one rushing and one passing, respectively—to tie up the game with 1:26 left.

But Cousins would be magnificent on the final drive by going 6-for-8 passing on the 78-yard touchdown drive to seal the victory.

“It’s a play that everybody practices,” Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio said. “You never know when it’s going to come to fruition.”

Since the Big Ten now has two divisions and both teams are in opposite ones (Michigan St. is in the Legends, Wisconsin is in the leaders), it is possible that this matchup can happen again in Indianapolis on Dec. 3 for the conference title.

MY WEEK 2 BCS RANKINGS

LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma St., Clemson, Boise St., Stanford, Oregon, Kansas St., Arkansas, Oklahoma

WEEK 8 PREDICTIONS
LSU 30, Auburn 20
Michigan St. 28, Wisconsin 21
Stanford 38, Washington 24

WEEK: 3-0 (1.000)
SEASON: 20-7 (.741)

PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 9
No. 11 Michigan St. 31, No. 14 Nebraska 27
No. 9 Oklahoma 35, No. 8 Kansas St. 25
No. 6 Stanford 45, USC 21

2011 NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK 8 PICKS

WEEK 7 PREDICTIONS
Michigan 24, Michigan St. 23
Texas A&M 38, Baylor 35
Oklahoma St. 30, Texas 13
Oregon 42, Arizona St. 28


WEEK: 3-1 (.750)
SEASON: 17-7 (.708)


PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 8
No. 1 LSU 30, No. 20 Auburn 20
No. 16 Michigan St. 28, No. 6 Wisconsin 21
No. 8 Stanford 38, No. 25 Washington 24

RANKING THE 2011 BCS—WEEK 1

We are midway through the college football season and you know what that means?

The Bowl Championship Series rankings are finally here!

Now while for the most part, I like some of the placing of most of these teams on the original copy, there are some things I do beg to differ on.

Here is my list on how the top 10 should have gone…

     1)      LSU (7-0): It is only right that the LSU Tigers are the No. 1 in the BCS polls. Looking at their body of work you can see why. Beating Oregon, Mississippi St. and West Virginia away from Baton Rouge is no easy task and seeing that the Ducks and Mountaineers are still doing well, it adds on to the Tigers’ case. With an efficient offense and even better defense LSU has set itself up nicely for the epic showdown against Alabama on Nov. 5—as long as they do not overlook Auburn this week. THIS WEEK: vs. Auburn. RANKINGS: 1 (BCS), 1 (AP), 2 (Coaches), 1 (Harris), 3 (Computers).

     2)      ALABAMA (7-0): With all due respect, the Alabama Crimson Tide is a close No. 2 on my poll. Alabama impresses everyone thanks to its running game and stifling defense. Junior running back Trent Richardson already has 15 rushing touchdowns this season while the defense has only allowed seven points a game—best in the nation. Like the Tigers, the overall strength of schedule is strong with the Tide beating Penn State and Florida on the road, and Arkansas at home. The Tennessee Volunteers are next and Alabama will be looking to beat them by more than 31 (like LSU did). THIS WEEK: vs. Tennessee. RANKINGS: 2 (BCS), 2 (AP), 3 (Coaches), 2 (Harris), 2 (Computers).

     3)      OKLAHOMA (6-0): Almost as impressive as LSU and Alabama have played, the same can be said about the Oklahoma Sooners. The preseason No. 1 team has a lot of talent on the field and it continues to show. The Sooners boast the nation’s sixth-best scoring offense thanks to junior quarterback Landry Jones spreading the ball around. Oklahoma might have started sluggishly against Kansas, but the second half was where the team took care of business. With games against Kansas State and Texas A&M looming in the horizon, the Sooners must take care of business against Texas Tech first this week. THIS WEEK: vs. Texas Tech. RANKINGS: 3 (BCS), 3 (AP), 1 (Coaches), 3 (Harris), 4 (Computers).

     4)      OKLAHOMA ST. (6-0): Oklahoma State is finally living up to being a true dark horse candidate as the team comes in at No. 4 on my list. The Cowboys have not blown away ranked teams like LSU, Alabama or Oklahoma, but they do have the wins to show for it and a lofty No. 1 computer ranking. One of those wins came against Texas A&M, where Oklahoma St. trailed by 17 before taking the game in the second half with a 30-29 victory. With one of the best QB-to-WR tandems in Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon, the Cowboys look to keep the wins coming this week at Missouri. THIS WEEK: at Missouri. RANKINGS: 4 (BCS), 6 (AP), 6 (Coaches), 6 (Harris), 1 (Computers).

     5)      WISCONSIN (6-0): Wisconsin seems to have taken a page out of defending national champion Auburn’s playbook this year—have a talented quarterback for one year to guide the program to a championship. Auburn did it last year with Cam Newton and this year the Badgers landed North Carolina State transfer Russell Wilson to rejuvenate their offense. As a result, they are the highest-scoring team in the nation while Wilson is currently a Heisman candidate. However, the debate is who have they played? A soft non-conference schedule gives them no love from the computers and they have not played a true road game this season (Sept. 17’s game against Northern Illinois is designated as a neutral-site game). All of this will change as Wisconsin travels to East Lansing to take on Michigan St. this week. THIS WEEK: at Michigan State. RANKINGS: 6 (BCS), 4 (AP), 4 (Coaches), 4 (Harris), 11 (Computers).

     6)      BOISE ST. (6-0): For now, I have Wisconsin just ahead of Boise, based on who all Boise has played this season. The Broncos best opponent was a Georgia team that might be in the middle of the pack in the SEC but is improving, yet no one else on is really a team to lose sleep over. However, Boise St. helps out its case with back-to-back 50-point blowouts against Fresno State and Colorado State. Senior quarterback Kellen Moore is still running the offense and is still accurate with his passes despite breaking in some new receivers as main targets. The rest of the season might be one where Boise needs style points—and a lot of them—for a shot at the title, but for now, they appear to be BCS bound. THIS WEEK: vs. Air Force. RANKINGS: 5 (BCS), 5 (AP), 7 (Coaches), 5 (Harris), 6 (Computers).

     7)      CLEMSON (7-0): Clemson nearly reverted back to its old self last week against Maryland, yet the team found a way to win once again. Last week’s game against the Terps marked the fourth time that Clemson trailed or was tied at halftime only preserve its perfect 7-0 start thus far. It has not been pretty, but the Tigers’ stretch of wins against Auburn, Florida State and Virginia Tech while each team was ranked is a good reason why they are at this spot. Anything is possible in the unpredictable ACC, but Clemson must play more consistently at the beginning of games if they want to stay undefeated. THIS WEEK: vs. North Carolina. RANKINGS: 7 (BCS), 8 (AP), 8 (Coaches), 8 (Harris), 5 (Computers).

     8)      STANFORD (6-0): Another team that no one is really talking about as a whole is Stanford. Sure, they have Heisman hopeful and possible No. 1 pick Andrew Luck quarterbacking them, but not many people know much about them. Quietly, the team is 6-0, but like Wisconsin they get little to no love from the computers (Kenneth Massey has the Cardinal ranked No. 20 in his ratings). Part of this is that Stanford has yet to face a team that is above .500 at this point, but the second half will be much tougher. Games against Washington, USC, Oregon and Notre Dame will determine if this team is indeed a title contender. THIS WEEK: vs. Washington. RANKINGS: 8 (BCS), 7 (AP), 5 (Coaches), 7 (Harris), 8 (tie) (Computers).

     9)      OREGON (5-1): There are two great one-loss teams in college football so far, but in my opinion the Oregon Ducks narrowly take the cake here at No. 9. The Ducks have shaken off their season-opening loss to LSU in Cowboys Stadium quite well, by scoring many points with the quickness. Only one computer ranking has Oregon in the top 10—Richard Billingsley has the team at No. 7—but it did not stop the team from beating then-No. 18 Arizona State without Heisman candidate LaMichael James and Darron Thomas for most of the second half. The Ducks should have no trouble against Colorado and Washington State if both players decide to nurse their injuries, but if all’s not well for back-to-back road games at Washington and Stanford, they could be in trouble. THIS WEEK: at Colorado. RANKINGS: 10 (BCS), 9 (AP), 8 (Coaches), 9 (Harris), 12 (Computers).

     10)   ARKANSAS (5-1): The Arkansas Razorbacks have not missed a beat without Ryan Mallett, but they will come in at No. 10 in my poll. Like Oregon, Arkansas lost to a top team for its only loss, but games against Troy and Texas A&M show that this team can be vulnerable at times. The Razorbacks do have a pair of road game coming up against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, so all they must do is take care of business and everything will follow. THIS WEEK: at Ole Miss. RANKINGS: 9 (BCS), 10 (AP), 10 (Coaches), 10 (Harris), 8 (tie) (Computers).

\    NEXT FIVE UP: Kansas State (6-0), Virginia Tech (6-1), Nebraska (5-1), South Carolina (6-1), Texas A&M (4-2)