College Football Picks

Filed in archive College Football on October 18, 2007

It's been an increasingly odd season of NCAA football, but that just means it's also been as entertaining as ever. Starting with Appalachian State taking down Michigan and continuing with Stanford beating USC, the season has been an odds-maker's nightmare, and a viewer's dream (unless you're a Michigan or USC fan). That said, let's take some educated guesses concerning this weekend's slate of college football action. (

(Number in parenthesis: national rank)

(2) South Florida 31, Rutgers 28
This will be a close one, in large part due to the fact it will be a Rutgers home game with a national broadcast audience. Last year, in a similar situation, Rutgers took Louisville down when the Cardinals were a top ranked team. The game will come down to the wire, but South Florida will knock home a late field goal to win.

Alabama 28, (21) Tennessee 24
Tennessee is last in the SEC in scoring defense, 9th in rushing defense and 10th in pass defense. Though they do have arguably the top QB-WR combo in the conference with Erik Ainge behind center and Lucas Taylor out wide, the Crimson Tide also feature an excellent duo in QB J.P. Wilson and WR D.J. Hall. This game is at Alabama, so the crowd will be in a frenzy in a mild upset.

(15) Florida 34, (7) Kentucky 24
Another crucial SEC contest pits Kentucky and QB Andre Woodson against the Gators and their own Heisman contender, QB Tim Tebow. Florida is desperate for a win as they are just 2-2 in conference play. Meanwhile, Kentucky is coming off an emotional upset over #1 LSU and could be primed for an emotional letdown. Another factor is Kentucky's defense. While they were solid against LSU, they are 10th in the SEC in total defense, and last in the conference in rushing defense. If Tim Tebow can get the ground game going, he can effectively keep Andre Woodson off the field.

(16) Missouri 55, (24) Texas Tech 49

There's going to be scoring in this game. Lots of it. And it may take four hours to play. Both teams use the spread offense and incorporate lots of passing, though Texas Tech does more of it. In fact, they do more of it than anybody else, as they are the number one passing offense in the NCAA, averaging 500 yards per game. Missouri is fifth in the country, but they average 358 yards through the air per contest. That's in stark contrast to the ground game, in which the Red Raiders average just over 80 yards per game on the ground, while Mizzou averages 175. So, scoring isn't going to be a problem. It will be interesting to see how Missouri attacks the Tech defense, which gives up over 160 yards per game on the ground, and if they utilize more of the run option to keep Tech off the field. Either way, the scoreboard will be lit up as Mizzou pulls out a wild one at home.

(Photo: Flickr))