Week 4 College FB Picks

Since there are not too many big games this week, I am only predicting the following six games:

#23 Penn State-13 @ #1 Ohio State-17
I am not totally convinced that this game will be as close as I am prediciting. Perhaps my faith in Penn State is skewing my thoughts some. Offensively I just can not see Penn State matching up against Ohio State. Expect a big game out of my leading Heisman trophy candidate, Troy Smith.

#10 Notre Dame-48 @ #38 Michigan State-41
Both teams have great offenses (although Notre Dame did look bad last week) and I expect this one to be a barnburner. Michigan State will flirt with the upset, but Notre Dame prevails here.

#20 Arizona State-20 @ #28 California-48
In my opinion, both of these teams started the season overrated. That is no longer the case for Cal, after being humbled at Tennessee. I like what I am starting to see out of Cal lately and I expect them to begin playing up to expectations. I predict a big win for Cal which will move them back into my Top 25.

#33 Wisconsin-6 @ #9 Michigan-38
Both teams are 3-0, but Wisconsin has played some cupcakes. Let's see here, Michigan returns home after stomping Notre Dame on the road, 47-21; meanwhile Wisconsin travels to the big house after an unimpressive home win against San Diego State, 14-0. Hmm...will this game be close? I doubt it, Michigan rolls to 4-0.

#19 Alabama-18 @ #42 Arkansas-17
This strikes me as an odd game because I think I have Alabama rated too high and Arkansas too low. I admit, Alabama still has a great defense, but what about their offense. As for Arkansas, they are looking better since getting throttled by USC. Interestingly, both teams struggled to beat Vanderbilt this season. I wonder if either team will score 20 points here.

#29 UCLA-34 @ NR Washington-35
Call it a gut feeling, but I like Washington to pull off the biggest upset of the week. Looking back at the history book, the Huskies have not beat the Bruins since 2000, and the Bruins have won 8 of their last 9 games against the Huskies. So history is against me, but I like Washington after pulling off a big win last week against Fresno State. If they do win, they will have to score a lot of points to do so.