College Football Predictions - Week 12

Oh boy, this week might get bad for me.  Out of the 12 games that I am picking, not a single one am I going with the underdog.  The only two that I really considered was Nebraska and Penn State.  Let's go with the favorites and hopefully ride into a big week picking winners.

1) No. 18 USC at No. 4 Oregon (-14.5) - Well, this is the Trojans bowl game for this year.  Since they are banished from a bowl game, the PAC-12 bylaws also keep them out of the Championship game for the league.  I expect them to play hard, but ultimately not be able to keep up with the quack attack that took out Stanford last week.  LaMichael James is over his injuries and looks like he is one of the best backs in the nation.  Sorry, Lane Kiffin, but the Trojans are not talented enough at this point to keep the Ducks from winning this game.

2) No. 5 Oklahoma (-13.5) at No. 25 Baylor - Another Top 25 matchup, another Top 25 blowout according to yours truly.  Baylor isn't that talented.  RG III is a great college quarterback, but the Sooners defense should be up for the job.  Bob Stoops has the Sooners rolling into the Bedlam game.

3) No. 17 Nebraska at No. 20 Michigan (-2.5) - The reason that I took Michigan in this game is Denard Robinson and the lack of passing from Nebraska.  If either of those reasons are not there, I would take the Cornhuskers to romp easily.

4) No. 1 LSU (-28.5) at Mississippi - Ole Miss has a new Athletic Director and new Head Football Coach next year.  The only thing going for the Rebels is history.  Last year LSU struggled to beat them.  The previous two years, LSU lost.  I don't see history repeating itself.

5) No. 21 Penn State at Ohio State (-7) - I am sure that Bob Bradley has been on a rollercoaster ride over the past two weeks.  I am glad that I don't have his job of trying to keep the Nittany Lions together and focused on football.  Penn State is the better team, but going on the road and still dealing with the distractions is too much for Penn State.

6) SMU at No. 11 Houston (-20) - Case Keenum has monster numbers as the Cougars are lighting up scoreboards all over C-USA.  The thing is that the Houston defense sometimes takes games off.  I don't think that is the case this week with the Mustangs coming to town.  June Jones should be applauded for turning around the SMU program after 20 years of mediocrity at best.

7) Kentucky at No. 13 Georgia (-27.5) - The Bulldogs have rebounded from an 0-2 start for 8 straight wins.  I see #9 here as the Kentucky Wildcats are still a bottom feeding SEC team in football.  While Joker Philips seems like a good coach, he needs help in getting Wildcat football to the upper echelon of the SEC.

8) Vanderbilt (-1.5) at Tennessee - It is a sad day to be a Tennessee Volunteer and see that Vanderbilt is favored to win a football game against the Rocky Top Orange.  Vandy is looking good and has been fighting teams hard and making them earn wins.  I expect the Commodores to win by double digits.

9) California at No. 8 Stanford (-20) - With their BCS Championship Title Game hopes crushed by the Ducks last week, the Cardinal should be able to take out their anger on a Cal team that isn't up to their usual standards. 

10) Harvard (-8) at Yale - Harvard is a scoring machine in the Ivy League.  They have scored at least 35 points in their past 6 games.  Yale hasn't scored that many in any of their last 6.  The Yale QB should have went for the Rhodes Scholarship interview because the Bulldogs are going to get whipped.

Additional Two

11) Mississippi State at No. 6 Arkansas (-12) - Mississippi State has a good defense.  But the offense sputters along.  That is one thing that Arkansas doesn't have to worry about, the sputtering of the offense.  Arkansas is looking forward to LSU and should take this contest rather easily.

12) No. 10 Boise State (-16) at San Diego State - I do not envy the Aztecs.  The last time Boise lost, they came back and won their next game by 36.  Kellen Moore should have 5 or 6 TD passes and the Broncos bounce back from a bad performance vs. TCU.