CFB Picks

First of all, hope everyone enjoyed a fun and safe Turkey Day. It is always a nice way to start off what is usually a great football weekend; and I doubt it will be any different this year. With a lot of the action starting today, let's get right into it.

Boise State -14 @ Nevada. Haven't I seen this before, another slightly above average team shows up on the Broncos schedule and people think, ok, maybe it won't be route, but no, it will. Boise State is legit (despite what the President of Ohio State thinks). I agree, their schedule is weak, but that only helps them in games like this as they have even more motivation. And this week they will have a little extra as they need to pass TCU in the BCS (especially if Auburn falls today at Bama). So, I realize that Nevada's offense is pretty impressive and they have slaughtered some lesser opponents, but their fun will end here. Broncos are seemingly just as good on the road and will just shred the Nevada D. Nevada may put a few scores on the board, but Boise will be in the 40 or 50s when it's over and no way Nevada keeps up. 4 units. Loss. Ouch, what an unexpected collapse by the Broncos in the 2nd half. Greatly accelerated by some of the worst officiating I have seen which brings the "fixed" aspect into question but that is when I thought the zebras would just keep Nevada close enough to cover.

LSU +4 @ Arkansas. Honestly was surprised when I saw this line so jumped on it early (I think it is now down to 3.5). LSU has been improving all year and I admit they didn't look good last week versus a suspect Ole Miss team, but that was clearly a let down situation in the SEC and they still got it done. That will help them to focus this week as they, rightly or wrongly, are likely still holding out hopes that if they win out and Auburn loses they can play for the BCS title. LSU is also a solid road team, so definitely not the same as playing in Tiger stadium in Baton Rouge, I don't think they will be as phased by the surroundings. And finally, in games like this I also like to have Les on my side because you never know what the mad hatter may do. 3.5 units. Loss. Game went as expected other than when the LSU defender decided to hit his teammate instead of the receiver leading to TD on the last play of the 1st half.

South Carolina -3 @ Clemson. Gamecocks are really playing well right now. I don't think Clemson will be able to slow them down and the S. Carolina D is pretty solid as well. Backing the Gamecocks always brings in the possibility that Garcia just kills his own team, but as a senior he as really limited his mistakes pretty well and has the weapons to help him. I realize it's tough to win a rivalry game like this on the road, but think S. Carolina is just superior in this case. 2.5 units. Win. As expected but honestly the low line scared me on the units.

Ohio -3.5 @ Kent State. This one seems pretty simple to me, Ohio is a decent team who is playing very well this year and Kent State is slightly above terrible. I realize Kent is at home, but Ohio is looking to when the MAC (a solid feat) and similar to S.C., is a far superior team. Expect Ohio to handle them, but it is still a MAC game so can't be too sure. 3 units. Loss. I guess winning the MAC didn't mean anything to Ohio as they sure looked like they didn't care.

Wisconsin -23 vs Northwestern. This one was tough to get me to lay 23 with the Badgers; but after watching them simply run over people repeatedly without any real surprise I realized that Northwestern is in trouble. The Wildcats gave up 330 yards rushing to an average Illini rushing attack last week; this could get ugly because Wisconsin has at least 2 and maybe 3 (if Clay is healthy) backs so they just keeping pounding you. Not to mention, somehow, Tolzien no longer sucks, but is actually good. Northwestern is well coached and will fight hard, but without Persa they really don't have a chance to move the ball at all and there isn't enough trickery available to them to keep up the Badgers. 3 units. Win. So embarrassing for NWern that I almost felt sorry for them. They should have started taking a knee and quick-kicking on 3rd downs early in the game to try to keep it respectable.

There you have it, enough all the great games, including the Iron Bowl, which I can't wait to watch even though I don't think I can wager on it because I really don't feel like I have much of an idea of what will happen. Should still be fun though!