College Football Game Picks - Week 7

Results

Last Week: SU 6-4 ATS: 8-2

Season to date: SU: 38-22 ATS: 33-26-1

Game of the Weak – Oregon (-14.5) vs Arizona St.

Evidently there is a chance LaMichael James might play this week after his gruesome looking dislocated elbow last week (just know that when the announcing crew yells Oh, ow like a drunken fat guy at a UFC fight the injury was not suitable for everyday viewing), No matter though, Arizona St. won't be winning this game. They turn it over too much and Oregon won't make the mistakes that Missouri and Utah have made. At least the Ducks won't make those mistakes in Autzen Stadium with the College Gameday crew on hand to watch.

Oregon 34, Arizona St. 24

Texas vs Oklahoma St. (-8.5)

Texas might be a whole lot better than last season. That really won't help here as Oklahoma St. has its best team ever. Texas will show some pride and keep this close for awhile (unlike last week), but its offensive inexperience will eventually show and I don't think anyone expects Texas to realistically slow down the explosive Oklahoma St. offense.

Oklahoma St. 44, Texas 27

Michigan St. (-2) vs Michigan

The Spartan defense is ranked as the best in the country right now. Of course the only offense with a pulse they played was Notre Dame. Michigan knows about that Notre Dame offense. Theirs is better. Michigan St. won't be able to keep up in the inevitable shootout this is destined to be.

Michigan 38, Michigan St. 20

Texas A&M (-9) vs Baylor

This isn't going to be pretty. Texas A&M has much better talent than Baylor. They also, at least in theory, have a defense whereas Baylor does not. Given the game is in College Station, I expect the Aggies to roll over the Bears, especially considering Robert Griffin III might be slowing down a little bit (though throwing more touchdowns than incompletions was going to be impossible to keep up) and he will need at least five touchdowns in this game. He'll get four but it won't be enough.

Texas A&M 41, Baylor 31

Auburn vs Florida (-2)

Welcome to the SEC version of passing game hell. Florida is on quarterback number three, going against a visibly improved Auburn defense (just disregard that 19 straight completions thing from Tyler Wilson and remember that he was held under 300 yards even with that). At Auburn, the receivers are hurt and Barrett Trotter has played worse every game after a strong start against Utah St. Given that, I trust the Auburn offense at home in a battle of running games. Even with the lack of passing, Auburn has been rolling on the ground. Florida will hit a couple of big plays to keep it close, but they won't get enough from the passing game to actually win on the road.

Auburn 24, Florida 20

Tennessee vs LSU (-17)

With Tyler Bray hurt, this game will be a squash match. Tennessee has rushed for -29 yards in its two SEC games thus far. LSU is incredible on defense. This is a bad matchup even with Bray. Without him, carnage will ensue, even in Knoxville.

LSU 34, Tennessee 10

Texas Tech (-3) vs Kansas St.

Kansas St. has been great so far, especially in crunch time, allowing them to seal close games against Miami, Missouri, Baylor and Eastern Kentucky (WTF?). Given that fact, I trust them in a close game. I just don't trust them to keep it close in Lubbock. The Texas Tech defense isn't good, but the offense is and I think the home team will be able to force a shootout that the Wildcats won't be able to win with its pedestrian quarterback play.

Texas Tech 38, Kansas St. 27

Maryland vs Clemson (-8.5)

Under normal circumstances, this game would be nowhere near the top games of the week. But with Clemson in the top 10 and Maryland being one of the teams of choice for the annual Clemson mind-numbing hiccup, this game is on the list. In addition, Tajh Boyd is expected to play after his hip injury, but nobody knows how that will really play out given that it was a hip injury and those can affect nearly all parts of a quarterbacks' play, especially a mobile running quarterback. Even with all of those signs, it won't matter. Maryland's passing game is just awful and they won't be able to take advantage of Clemson even if they are flat (and they will be).

Clemson 27, Maryland 17

Cal vs USC (-3)

USC is going to kill poor old Cal with its passing game. It won't matter. The USC defense is defenseless, especially on the road and Keenan Allen and Zach Maynard are due to have another good game after a few off weeks. Cal wins a shootout (feel free to ridicule me later for this pick) because they light the flammable USC secondary on fire.

Cal 37, USC 35

Wake Forest vs Virginia Tech (-7)

The biggest oversight of the week is that this game lacks national television coverage (just like the Clemson-Virginia Tech game being relegated to Virginia Tech a couple of weeks ago). It is the biggest game of the week in the ACC and will have a huge bearing on the conference title race that is seemingly being conceded to Clemson (why anyone would do that given Clemson's history is beyond me). As for the game, I'm not sold on the Virginia Tech offense (even with Logan Thomas' great game against Miami last week) on the road and Wake Forest's offense seems to be pretty good.

Wake Forest 31, Virginia Tech 27

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