Week 5 Predictions

Not much better last week as I went 12-7, bringing my season record to 42-25 (.627). Here are my 15 picks for this week:

Thursday, 9/27
NR Southern Miss.-28 @ #21 Boise State-38

Friday, 9/28
#4 West Virginia-28 @ #16 South Florida-34 (Potential game of the week, but I've got a better one for you later on. This will be a great game with USF pulling off another program-defining win.)

Saturday, 9/29

#1 LSU-52 @ Tulane-3

#29 Penn State-17 @ #42 Illinois-21 (The juice will be loose against a down Penn State team. It pains me to admit this, but I think Illinois pulls off the upset against PSU.)

NR Notre Dame-13 @ #22 Purdue-48 (Are the Boilermakers the best team in the Big Ten?)

#3 Oklahoma-55 @ NR Colorado-24

#35 Michigan State-27 @ #8 Wisconsin-25 (The Badgers are ripe for an upset. They never seem to want to win.)

NR Maryland-14 @ #6 Rutgers-38
#11 Clemson-23 @ #45 Georgia Tech-10
#7 Cal-41 @ #15 Oregon-45 (This game will be electrifying. No doubt, the game of the week. In the end, I see the Ducks proving they are a legitimate Top 10 team.)
#32 Alabama-16 @ #30 Florida State-27 ('Bama is overrated in my opinion. I think we are slowly starting to see the resurgence of the Seminoles.)
#26 UCLA-30 @ NR Oregon State-31 (Upset pick of the week!)
NR Pitt-3 @ #43 Virginia-24 (What happened to Pitt football? Fire Dave Wannstedt?)
#2 USC-28 @ NR Washington-16
#40 Auburn-17 @ #5 Florida-35

Week 4 Rankings

Rank	Previous	Team	Record
1	1	LSU	(4-0, 2-0)
2	2	USC	(3-0, 1-0)
3	3	Oklahoma	(4-0, 0-0)
4	4	West Virginia	(4-0, 0-0)
5	5	Florida	(4-0, 2-0)
6	6	Rutgers	(3-0, 0-0)
7	8	California	(4-0, 1-0)
8	7	Wisconsin	(4-0, 1-0)
9	10	Texas	(4-0, 0-0)
10	11	Boston College	(4-0, 3-0)
11	14	Clemson	(4-0, 2-0)
12	15	Ohio State	(4-0, 1-0)
13	12	Hawai'i	(4-0, 1-0)
14	13	Virginia Tech	(3-1, 0-0)
15	17	Oregon	(4-0, 1-0)
16	18	South Florida	(3-0, 0-0)
17	19	Missouri	(4-0, 0-0)
18	21	Kentucky	(4-0, 1-0)
19	16	South Carolina	(3-1, 1-1)
20	26	Georgia	(3-1, 1-1)
21	23	Boise State	(2-1, 0-0)
22	27	Purdue	(4-0, 1-0)
23	20	Nebraska	(3-1, 0-0)
24	34	Arizona State	(4-0, 1-0)
25	33	Kansas	(4-0, 0-0)
26	30	UCLA	(3-1, 2-0)
27	29	Wake Forest	(2-2, 1-1)
28	31	TCU	(2-2, 0-1)
29	9	Penn State	(3-1, 0-1)
30	32	Florida State	(2-1, 0-1)
31	40	Cincinnati	(4-0, 1-0)
32	35	Alabama	(3-1, 2-1)
33	24	Arkansas	(1-2, 0-2)
34	28	Tulsa	(2-1, 0-0)
35	43	Michigan State	(4-0, 0-0)
36	NR	Miami (FL)	(3-1, 0-0)
37	42	BYU	(2-2, 1-0)
38	NR	Michigan	(2-2, 1-0)
39	41	Houston	(2-1, 0-0)
40	45	Auburn	(2-2, 0-1)
41	NR	Wyoming	(3-1, 0-0)
42	NR	Illinois	(3-1, 1-0)
43	NR	Virginia	(3-1, 3-0)
44	NR	Oklahoma State	(2-2, 1-0)
45	25	Georgia Tech	(2-2, 0-2)
46	38	Texas Tech	(3-1, 0-1)
47	22	Louisville	(2-2, 0-1)
48	48	Tennessee	(2-2, 0-1)
49	39	Texas A&M	(3-1, 0-0)
50	37	Ohio	(2-2, 0-0)

Dropped out of the Top 25: #29 Penn State (Prev. #9), #33 Arkansas (Prev. #24), #45 Georgia Tech (Prev. #25), #47 Louisville (Prev. #22)

Dropped out of Top 50: Utah (Prev. #36), Indiana (Prev. #44), Oregon State (Prev. #47), Washington (Prev. #48), Southern Miss. (Prev. #49), Air Force (Prev. #50)

Teams Rising: #20 Georgia (+6), #22 Purdue (+5), #24 Arizona State (+10), #25 Kansas (+8), #31 Cincinnati (+9), #35 Michigan State (+8), #36 Miami (+15), #37 BYU (+5), #38 Michigan (+14), #40 Auburn (+5), #41 Wyoming (+12), #42 Illinois (+12), #43 Virginia (+12), #44 Oklahoma State (+12)

Teams Falling: #29 Penn State (-20), #33 Arkansas (-9), #34 Tulsa (-6), #45 Georgia Tech (-20), #46 Texas Tech (-8), #47 Louisville (-25), #49 Texas A&M (-10), #50 Ohio (-13), NR Oregon State (-5), NR Washington (-5), NR Indiana (-10), NR Utah (-25)

Week 4 Predictions

Rough week with my picks as I went 11-7, bringing my season record to 30-18 (.625). Hopefully these 19 picks are better:

Thursday, 9/20
#39 Texas A&M-14 @ NR Miami (FL)-17 (As usual Miami wins ugly. Technically an upset.)

Friday, 9/21
#3 Oklahoma-44 @ #28 Tulsa-24 (Home game against in-state rival should make for a competitive game until the second half.)

Saturday, 9/22
NR East Carolina-21 @ #4 West Virginia-41
NR Illinois-27 @ #44 Indiana-38 (The Hoosiers improve their record to 4-0 in what is fast becoming a magical season following the death this summer of head coach Terry Hoeppner.)
#5 Florida-49 @ NR Mississippi-21
NR Wyoming-12 @ #37 Ohio-20
#50 Air Force-24 @ #42 Utah-21 (Two weeks ago, Air Force beat Utah, which beat UCLA last week. Look for them to go 4-0 here.)
#43 Michigan State-30 @ NR Notre Dame-10 (The train wreck continues.)
#9 Penn State-30 @ NR Michigan-27 (Morelli MUST come up big with PSU's running game in limbo. Defense must also step up after giving up 24 to Buffalo. I see Michigan going up two scores early before Penn State realizes they are a better team and eventually wins.)
#38 Texas Tech-34 @ Oklahoma State-38 (After an embarrassing loss at Troy last week, Bobby Reid and Adarius Bowman must win this game to show they're worth.)
#26 Georgia-24 @ #35 Alabama-30 (Wow #16 in the AP? Alabama is overrated now, but I like them winning again.)
#21 Kentucky-28 @ #24 Arkansas-35 (This is a toss-up. John Madden says go with the home team.)
NR Marshall-9 @ #40 Cincinnati-52 (Marshall lost a home game to New Hampshire last week. 'Nuff said.)
NR Washington State-13 @ #2 USC-38
NR Iowa-21 @ #7 Wisconsin-28 (Neither team will look like they want to win, but the Badgers will prevail.)
#16 South Carolina-17 @ #1 LSU-45 (Not as close as the experts think. LSU proves their #1 rank.)
#46 Oregon State-31 @ #34 Arizona State-35
#47 Washington-17 @ #30 UCLA-16 (Not sure if the Bruins can bounce back after losing 44-6.)
I-AA Charleston Southern-3 @ #16 Hawaii-70 (Blowout of the week!)

Week 3 Rankings

Rank	Previous	Team	Record
1	1	LSU	(3-0, 1-0)
2	2	USC	(2-0, 0-0)
3	3	Oklahoma	(3-0, 0-0)
4	5	West Virginia	(3-0, 0-0)
5	7	Florida	(3-0, 1-0)
6	6	Rutgers	(3-0, 0-0)
7	4	Wisconsin	(3-0, 0-0)
8	10	California	(3-0, 0-0)
9	11	Penn State	(3-0, 0-0)
10	9	Texas	(3-0, 0-0)
11	19	Boston College	(3-0, 3-0)
12	13	Hawai'i	(3-0, 1-0)
13	14	Virginia Tech	(2-1, 0-0)
14	17	Clemson	(3-0, 1-0)
15	22	Ohio State	(3-0, 0-0)
16	23	South Carolina	(3-0, 1-0)
17	27	Oregon	(3-0, 0-0)
18	20	South Florida	(2-0, 0-0)
19	24	Missouri	(3-0, 0-0)
20	12	Nebraska	(2-1, 0-0)
21	42	Kentucky	(3-0, 0-0)
22	8	Louisville	(2-1, 0-0)
23	26	Boise State	(2-1, 0-0)
24	16	Arkansas	(1-1, 0-1)
25	15	Georgia Tech	(2-1, 0-1)
26	32	Georgia	(2-1, 0-1)
27	34	Purdue	(3-0, 0-0)
28	36	Tulsa	(2-0, 0-0)
29	29	Wake Forest	(1-2, 0-1)
30	18	UCLA	(2-1, 1-0)
31	21	TCU	(1-2, 0-1)
32	33	Florida State	(2-1, 0-1)
33	35	Kansas	(3-0, 0-0)
34	38	Arizona State	(3-0, 0-0)
35	49	Alabama	(3-0, 2-0)
36	NR	Utah	(1-2, 0-1)
37	28	Ohio	(2-1, 0-0)
38	40	Texas Tech	(3-0, 0-0)
39	43	Texas A&M	(3-0, 0-0)
40	44	Cincinnati	(3-0, 0-0)
41	41	Houston	(1-1, 0-0)
42	31	BYU	(1-2, 0-0)
43	46	Michigan State	(3-0, 0-0)
44	50	Indiana	(3-0, 0-0)
45	25	Auburn	(1-2, 0-1)
46	47	Oregon State	(2-1, 0-0)
47	39	Washington	(2-1, 0-0)
48	30	Tennessee	(1-2, 0-1)
49	NR	Southern Miss.	(2-1, 1-0)
50	NR	Air Force	(3-0, 2-0)

Dropped out of Top 25: UCLA (Prev. #18), TCU (Prev. #21), Auburn (Prev. #25)
-->Replaced by #17 Oregon, #21 Kentucky, #23 Boise State
Dropped out of Top 50: Iowa (Prev. #37), Central Michigan (Prev. #45), Fresno State (Prev. #48)
-->Replaced by #36 Utah, #49 Southern Miss., #50 Air Force

Week 3 Predictions

Last week saw slight improvement in my picks as I went 9-4, bringing my season record to 19-11 (.633). However, my score predictions were way off in most cases. At least I nailed the Penn State game! There are many intriguing matchups this week, so I will be picking 18 games. Here are the picks:

Thursday, 9/13
#5 West Virginia-38 @ NR Maryland-17

Friday, 9/14
NR Oklahoma State-45 @ NR Troy-39 (Should be a fun game to watch, winner will make my top 50)

Saturday, 9/15
NR Pitt-13 @ #46 Michigan State-41
#45 Central Michigan-31 @ #34 Purdue-38 (Another fun game to watch)
#28 Ohio-14 @ #14 Virginia Tech-29 (Ohio is better than East Carolina, but should still be Ohio's only loss of the season)
NR Western Michigan-24 @ #24 Missouri-35 (W. Mich. could put up a fight here)
#30 Tennessee-28 @ #7 Florida-42 (Could get high scoring, but I can't see the Vols competing)
NR Notre Dame-13 @ NR Michigan-17 (Battle of two inept historic programs. I think the Irish's anemic offense will finally make the Wolverines look good again. By the way I think this will be an ugly and very boring game to watch)
#22 Ohio State-17 @ #39 Washington-20 (Upset of the Week! Washington looked great against Boise, Ohio State looked mediocre against Akron.)
NR Southern Miss.-27 @ NR East Carolina-30 (Best two teams in Conference-USA?)
#16 Arkansas-21 @ #49 Alabama-13 (I'm tempted to call upset here, but the Tide just don't match up well)
#48 Fresno State-27 @ #27 Oregon-48 (Fresno impressed me with a near-win at Texas A&M, but the Ducks are explosive.)
#8 Louisville-51 @ #42 Kentucky-49 (First team to 50 wins...I'm serious!)
#2 USC-24 @ #12 Nebraska-22 (Biggest game in Lincoln since...well, I'll have to get back to you on that one. I'm swaying back and forth here, but I think USC escapes with the win, barely.)
NR Wyoming-17 @ #26 Boise State-38
#19 Boston College-13 @ #15 Georgia Tech-34 (Not as close as the SpeedyDave thinks)
#31 BYU-20 @ #36 Tulsa-27
#33 Florida State-12 @ NR Colorado-13 (an odd matchup and FSU has not looked good...a late upset?)

Week 2 Rankings

Rank	Previous	Team	Record
1	1	LSU	(2-0, 1-0)
2	2	USC	(1-0, 0-0)
3	4	Oklahoma	(2-0, 0-0)
4	3	Wisconsin	(2-0, 0-0)
5	5	West Virginia	(2-0, 0-0)
6	6	Rutgers	(2-0, 0-0)
7	7	Florida	(2-0, 0-0)
8	8	Louisville	(2-0, 0-0)
9	12	Texas	(2-0, 0-0)
10	10	California	(2-0, 0-0)
11	14	Penn State	(2-0, 0-0)
12	15	Nebraska	(2-0, 0-0)
13	13	Hawai'i	(2-0, 1-0)
14	9	Virginia Tech	(1-1, 0-0)
15	18	Georgia Tech	(2-0, 0-0)
16	17	Arkansas	(1-0, 0-0)
17	20	Clemson	(2-0, 1-0)
18	23	UCLA	(2-0, 1-0)
19	22	Boston College	(2-0, 2-0)
20	36	South Florida	(2-0, 0-0)
21	16	TCU	(1-1, 0-0)
22	21	Ohio State	(2-0, 0-0)
23	27	South Carolina	(2-0, 1-0)
24	24	Missouri	(2-0, 0-0)
25	19	Auburn	(1-1, 0-0)
26	11	Boise State	(1-1, 0-0)
27	30	Oregon	(2-0, 0-0)
28	28	Ohio	(2-0, 0-0)
29	26	Wake Forest	(0-2, 0-1)
30	31	Tennessee	(1-1, 0-0)
31	29	BYU	(1-1, 0-0)
32	32	Georgia	(1-1, 0-1)
33	34	Florida State	(1-1, 0-1)
34	38	Purdue	(2-0, 0-0)
35	39	Kansas	(2-0, 0-0)
36	37	Tulsa	(1-0, 0-0)
37	45	Iowa	(2-0, 0-0)
38	46	Arizona State	(2-0, 0-0)
39	NR	Washington	(2-0, 0-0)
40	41	Texas Tech	(2-0, 0-0)
41	40	Houston	(0-1, 0-0)
42	49	Kentucky	(2-0, 0-0)
43	44	Texas A&M	(2-0, 0-0)
44	NR	Cincinnati	(2-0, 0-0)
45	47	Central Michigan	(1-1, 1-0)
46	50	Michigan State	(2-0, 0-0)
47	25	Oregon State	(1-1, 0-0)
48	NR	Fresno State	(1-1, 0-0)
49	NR	Alabama	(2-0, 1-0)
50	NR	Indiana	(2-0, 0-0)

Dropped Out of Top 25: Boise State (Prev. #11), Oregon State (Prev. #25)
-->Replaced by #20 South Florida & #23 South Carolina
Dropped Out of Top 50: Miami (Prev. #33), Utah (Prev. #35), Southern Miss. (Prev. #42), Navy (Prev. #43), Notre Dame (Prev. #48)
-->Replaced by #39 Washington, #44 Cincinnati, #48 Fresno State, #49 Alabama, #50 Indiana

Week 2 Predictions

I went 10-7 on my picks last week for a .588 winning percentage. Sure I picked as many tough games as possible, but I would have liked to have done better in the first week. I am picking 13 games this week so hopefully I can do better.

Thursday, 9/6
#25 Oregon State-38 @ NR Cincinnati-14

Friday, 9/7
#43 Navy-10 @ #6 Rutgers-31


Saturday, 9/8
#5 West Virginia-49 @ NR Marshall-21 (Coal Bowl)
#33 Miami (FL)-12 @ #4 Oklahoma-28
#15 Nebraska-35 @ #26 Wake Forest-13
#10 Cal-49 @ NR Colorado State-10
#30 Oregon-42 @ NR Michigan-31 (Michigan can not stop a mobile QB. Dennis Dixon will be even more explosive than Armanti Edwards.)
#27 South Carolina-15 @ #32 Georgia-23
#48 Notre Dame-10 @ #14 Penn State-30
#16 TCU-20 @ #12 Texas-14 (This is my upset pick of the week.)
#42 Southern Miss.-17 @ #31 Tennessee-34
#36 South Florida-14 @ #19 Auburn-24 (USF could flirt with the upset here, but fall short.)
#9 Virginia Tech-6 @ #1 LSU-10 (Game of the Week...a defensive showdown.)

Week 1 Rankings

Rank	Previous	Team	Record
1	1	LSU	(1-0, 1-0)
2	2	USC	(1-0, 0-0)
3	4	Wisconsin	(1-0, 0-0)
4	5	Oklahoma	(1-0, 0-0)
5	6	West Virginia	(1-0, 0-0)
6	7	Rutgers	(1-0, 0-0)
7	9	Florida	(1-0, 0-0)
8	11	Louisville	(1-0, 0-0)
9	8	Virginia Tech	(1-0, 0-0)
10	12	California	(1-0, 0-0)
11	13	Boise State	(1-0, 0-0)
12	14	Texas	(1-0, 0-0)
13	15	Hawai'i	(1-0, 0-0)
14	16	Penn State	(1-0, 0-0)
15	17	Nebraska	(1-0, 0-0)
16	18	TCU	(1-0, 0-0)
17	19	Arkansas	(1-0, 0-0)
18	21	Georgia Tech	(1-0, 0-0)
19	20	Auburn	(1-0, 0-0)
20	23	Clemson	(1-0, 1-0)
21	22	Ohio State	(1-0, 0-0)
22	42	Boston College	(1-0, 1-0)
23	25	UCLA	(1-0, 1-0)
24	24	Missouri	(1-0, 0-0)
25	31	Oregon State	(1-0, 0-0)
26	10	Wake Forest	(0-1, 0-1)
27	28	South Carolina	(1-0, 0-0)
28	29	Ohio	(1-0, 0-0)
29	32	BYU	(1-0, 0-0)
30	34	Oregon	(1-0, 0-0)
31	26	Tennessee	(0-1, 0-0)
32	37	Georgia	(1-0, 0-0)
33	36	Miami (FL)	(1-0, 0-0)
34	33	Florida State	(0-1, 0-1)
35	30	Utah	(0-1, 0-0)
36	38	South Florida	(1-0, 0-0)
37	40	Tulsa	(1-0, 0-0)
38	41	Purdue	(1-0, 0-0)
39	NR	Kansas	(1-0, 0-0)
40	39	Houston	(0-1, 0-0)
41	46	Texas Tech	(1-0, 0-0)
42	43	Southern Miss.	(1-0, 0-0)
43	44	Navy	(1-0)
44	45	Texas A&M	(1-0, 0-0)
45	47	Iowa	(1-0, 0-0)
46	50	Arizona State	(1-0, 0-0)
47	27	Central Michigan	(0-1, 0-0)
48	35	Notre Dame	(0-1)
49	NR	Kentucky	(1-0, 0-0)
50	NR	Michigan State	(1-0, 0-0)

Dropped out of Top 25: Wake Forest (Prev. #10)
Dropped Out of Top 50: Michigan (Prev. #3), Western Michigan (Prev. #48), Oklahoma State (Prev. #49)