Friday, October 16, 2009

College football preview - week seven

This week’s schedule includes two huge, traditional contests—Oklahoma and Texas in the Red River Shootout in Dallas and USC journeying to South Bend, Indiana to play Notre Dame.

Season prediction performance to date: 47-19 (.712)

Kansas at Colorado. Line: Kansas by 9.5. Two years ago, Kansas went into Boulder and emerged with a hard-fought four-point win in a game they statistically dominated. Color me nervous about this one—as bad as Colorado has looked at many times this season, the team has talent including a strong running game. Look for a 10-point Kansas win with the Jayhawks pulling away late.

Missouri at Oklahoma State. Line: Oklahoma State by 7. The question for Missouri fans this week is how will their team react to last week’s comeback win by Nebraska—MU’s first loss of the season? Heading to Okie State is no easy task and the Cowboys’ offense will severely test MU’s D. I think OSU wins by 6.

Texas vs Oklahoma in Dallas. Line: Texas by 3.5. Texas is good but are they really good? We should find out tomorrow. Oklahoma has two losses and this game is critical if they harbor any major bowl game aspirations. Is this the game where Colt McCoy finally looks like a Heisman contender? My pick—Texas by 10.

Baylor at Iowa State. Line: Iowa State by 2. It’s hard to argue with the line here. Iowa State is a much better team than their record indicates. Baylor isn’t the same team without Robert Griffin. Cyclones by 10.

Texas Tech at Nebraska. Line: Nebraska by 10.5. This one will be fun to watch—Ndamukong Suh against Texas Tech’s always tough O-line. And, will Nebraska’s offensive coaching staff have figured out that they should use Roy Helu and their stout running game to keep an explosive offense off the field, unlike the passing attack they unleashed in the rain last week in Columbia? Nebraska by 7.

Texas A&M at Kansas State. Line: A&M by 5.5. I like Kansas State in this one on a late field goal. KSU by 3.

Iowa at Wisconsin. Line: Wisconsin by 2.5. Is it just me or is the Big Ten a snooze this year? I’ll go with Wiscy by 5 in this one.

South Carolina at Alabama. Line: Alabama by 17. Bama goes 7-0 after this home win over the Gamecocks…Crimson Tide by two TDs.

California at UCLA. Line: Cal by 3.5. I’ll take the Golden Bears too—by 5.

Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech. Line: Virginia Tech by 3. If there is an upset special this week, I think this one is it. Virginia Tech is on a roll but will face a high-powered option offense in Atlanta. This should be a great game. In an upset, Georgia Tech by 2.

USC at Notre Dame. Line: Southern Cal by 10. There is a lot of bold talk coming out of the Irish Nation about stopping the streak of losses to Pete Carroll’s team. And, I agree that this isn’t one of the better SC squads of recent years. Bottom line? USC by 14.

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