Friday, October 13, 2006

College Football Picks: Week 7

And we're back with another thrilling edition of the picks, as we get close to the release of the BCS rankings, which are always fair and without controversy. Anyway, the picks:

Iowa St @ (23) Oklahoma
Each team remains winless in the Big 12, which makes this basically a must-win if they want to have any small chance at contending for a conference title. Iowa St. was thought to be able to compete this year, but they have really struggled... their 3 wins have all been tight this year, against Toledo (45-43), UNLV (16-10), and Northern Iowa (28-27... and by the way, go Univeristy of North Dakota, a D2 school, who went to Northern Iowa and won 35-31 earlier this year!). Iowa St. still has the weapons, especially offensively, to get it done in the Big 12. Unfortunately, they don't have the weapons to stop Adrian Peterson. OKLAHOMA 24-16.

(19) Missouri @ Texas A&M
If Iowa St. has been the disappointment of the Big 12, Missouri has been the revelation. Some thought the Tigers would struggle after the loss of Mr. Everything Brad Smith, but Chase Daniel has stepped in and played great football. Meanwhile, every game is big for Dennis Franchione, who's trying to save his job with the Aggies. Call me crazy, but with the 12th Man, I like the Aggies in a mild upset over a good Mizzou club. TEXAS A&M 28-24.

Arizona St. @ (3) USC
The year started with high hopes for the Sun Devils, with two good QBs returning and a talented offense. Things haven't exactly materialized. Sam Keller transferred, and Rudy Carpenter isn't exactly setting the world on fire. Meanwhile, the Trojans just continue to do what they do, which is win. A lot. Even with all the losses USC experienced offensively, they are still stacked with Booty at QB, all the young RBs, and the great WRs. ASU has a shot if Carpenter can get back to last year's form, but I don't see it happening at USC. USC 34-21.

(4) Michigan @ Penn St.
The Wolverines are playing like one of the best teams in the country, but they received some bad news when they found out Mario Manningham will miss this game. The Wolverines have lots of options offensively, but Manningham might have been the best, already with 9 receiving TDs. But even with him out, they still have enough weapons with Henne leading them to get by the Nittany Lions, in a rematch of the most underappreciated game of last year. MICHIGAN 28-21.

(2) Florida at (11) Auburn
And for the second straight week, Florida is in what looks to be the game of the week. Last week they took on LSU at The Swamp, but now they'll travel to take on a reeling Auburn team after an ugly defeat at the hands of Arkansas. Coming into the year, I was a really big supporter of Auburn, but they had some things exposed last week. They O-Line did not do a very good job of opening up holes for the talented RBs, and Brandon Cox can't win a game by himself, especially with a dirth of good WRs.

Meanwhile, the Gators played their best game of the year in handling LSU. The offense was solid, with Chris Leak taking the majority of the snaps, but Tebow playing great in relief, not only in the short yardage run game, but also throwing the ball a little. 2 passes last week for 2 TD... that's efficiency. Bottom line, I believe in a thing called Urban Meyer. Consider me firmly on the Gator Bandwagon. FLORIDA 24-13.

Of course, that just means you shouldn't be betting on Florida this week!

Last Week: 3-2
Season: 22-8

4 comments:

Andrew said...

I also think Meyer is a great coach, but I believe Auburn can pull off the upset. After their performance last week, they will have something to prove.

Toby said...

Woot, can't wait for the rankings. They are giving away tickets on the BCS website (http://www.tostitos.com/playmakers/) so go get em before they run out!

SAMO said...

Impressive season record. I like Florida against Auburn also.

Anonymous said...

Nice call on the Gators. This will be their toughest yet. I think they're 8-22 lifetime in Auburn. Playing a night game there is going to make it worse. If they walk out with a win, I don't know how they can't be possibly ranked #1 overall or at least getting some votes. Nice overall college football record however!