College Game Picks 11/21

The Big Three
#9 Ohio State @ Michigan
I don't care that Ohio State's already clinched a spot in the Rose Bowl. I don't care that Michigan is following up last year's 3-9 record with a 5-5 record this year. This game matters. It's Ohio State and Michigan in the Big House. It matters. Ohio State is clearly the better team but don't count out the Wolverines in this one. I think that they'll give the Buckeyes all that they can handle but at the end of the day, Ohio State is just too good. Terrelle Pryor is playing well as of late and should continue to make plays against RichRod's porous defense. Tate Forcier better get used to DE Cameron Heyward because he'll be in the backfield an awful lot on Saturday. The Buckeyes win 34-21.

#10 LSU @ Ole Miss
Ole Miss has been playing very well as of late and most of the credit has gone to RB/WR/Playmaker Dexter McCluster and rightfully so. The Rebels really don't have any true gamebreakers outside of Rebel DMC and they've finally begun to feed him the ball(15 touches, all rushes, for 87 yds 0 TDs vs South Carolina in a 16-10 loss; 29 touches, 25 rushes, for 324 yds 4 TDs vs Tennessee in a 42-17 win). Rebel DMC with run all over the Bayou Bengals who struggled last week against Louisiana Tech. Ole Miss makes the Tigers geaux home losers, 33-20.

#11 Oregon at Arizona
Raise your hand if you predicted that the biggest game in the Pac-10 this season would be played in Tuscon. Don't get too excited though, Wildcats fans. Oregon is just flat out better than Arizona. The Wildcats do boast an excellent QB, sophomore Nick Foles, and an excellent RB, Nic Grigsby but the Ducks boast a better QB, senior dual-threat Jeremiah Masoli, and a better RB, LaMichael James. Oregon and Arizona both have fantastic TE's but as the theme has been, Oregon's Ed Dickson is better than Arizona's Rob Gronokowski. Both teams field solid, if unspectacular defenses, so I don't expect that to be the difference. Oregon averages 36.1 points per game and Arizona averages 30.4 points per game so I'll predict Oregon wins 36-30.

Quick Picks
#14 Stanford 45 California 17-Cal's been exposed against good teams, losing by a total of 72-6 in consecutive blowout losses against Oregon and USC.
#3 Texas 38 Kansas 35-All the talk about Mangino getting the can, the players will play their hearts out for him but it will fall short.
#16 Wisconsin 34 Northwestern 21-Wisconsin's power running game will wear Northwestern down.
#23 Clemson 38 Virginia 6-Clemson blows away Virginia en route to their first ACC Title Game.
Nebraska 22 Kansas State 10-Big 12 leading rusher Daniel Thomas won't be able to get past Nebraska's DT's Ndamukong Suh and Jared Crick and K-State doesn't go to a bowl
North Carolina 23 Boston College 15-UNC's defense has been fantastic during their 3 game win streak that includes wins against Miami, rival Duke, and at Virginia Tech
Notre Dame 38 Connecticut 33-Notre Dame's won the most close games in the country and UConn's lost the most close games in the country. I'll follow that formula.

Upset Picks
Michigan State over #14 Penn State-Sparty's D behind LB Greg Jones shuts down Penn State's running game
Ole Miss over #8 LSU-See reasons stated above
Indiana over Purdue-Indiana's lost the most close games in the Big Ten this season. They finally get one in the one that really matters in the Hoosier State
Arizona State over UCLA-Arizona State has the best defense in the Pac-10 and UCLA has one of the worst offenses in the Pac-10. Arizona State wins a game that will look like a baseball score.
Texas Tech over Oklahoma-Red Raiders get revenge from last year's drubbing at the hands of the Sooners in Lubbock with their always potent air attack.