This week isn't nearly as appealing on paper as last week was, but let's hope my record continues to be quite attractive. I'm going with all favorites this week in an odd turn that I'm not crazy about, but who knows. Home teams in CAPS.
Utah (-5.5) over NOTRE DAME
There's not much I can say about this, really. Notre Dame is in shambles right now amidst tragedy and successive embarrassing losses to Navy and Tulsa. In case anyone hasn't heard yet, there was a piece in the ND student newspaper a few weeks ago calling for students to rush the field if Utah wins this game, thus giving the current group of students the honor of having witnessed the most Irish losses in a 4-year period among any class to come through the school. The Utes kissed their BCS hopes goodbye last week but should still be playing on New Year's Day if they can continue to take care of business.
OHIO STATE (-18) over Penn State
Ok, let's see how the former walk-on QB Matt McGloin does for Penn State with no variables working in his favor. He's on the road against a team that is giving up only 11 points a game at home and won't stop playing in the 3rd quarter the way Northwestern did. If Ohio State refrains from the type of mistakes that cost them the Wisconsin game and lets Terrelle Pryor and their offense play with a lead early on, I don't think Penn State will have an answer.
FLORIDA (-6.5) over South Carolina
I'm not sure where the South Carolina team that beat Alabama went, but the one I saw last week against Arkansas looked slow and out of position on defense. Florida would love to make them look just as bad in this latest Spurrier homecoming, and if the same Florida offense that beat Georgia and gave LSU all it could handle shows up, they may end up running circles around the Gamecocks' defenders. I'll take the Gators minus less than a TD at home.
Oregon (-19.5) over CALIFORNIA
This is a slight cop-out, but like Kevin said, Oregon gives you no reason to go against them. That offense just keeps coming at you and coming at you until the next thing you know there's a half a hundred points on the board. If someone picks Oregon off along the way, it's not going to be Cal.
Oklahoma State (-5.5) over TEXAS
I originally liked Texas plus the points in this game all week, but I'm having an 11th-hour change of heart. The Longhorns have lost 5 of 6 and look worse every week. Initially this game said to me "ok, let's see how good a coach Mack Brown really is now that his players are dealing with something other than prosperity." However, the other side of it got me thinking about how Mike Gundy has got to have his Cowboys smelling blood with a chance to get into the Top 10 and BCS conversation while beating Texas (for the first time in ages) along the way. I can't get the image out of my mind of Oklahoma State receivers streaking up the sidelines with the ball and running straight at Bevo. I'll take the bright orange over the burnt orange.
Last Week: 4-1-0
Season: 28-19-3
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