College Picks, Week 11

Last Week: 16-4
Season: 151-39

Another set of picks, just in the nick of time before Thursday night’s games…

Oklahoma at Texas A&M: Aggies are riding high after winning two in a row. Sooners are still on a redemption tour. No one has come close to them except Texas. Look for more of the same here. Pick: OU

Oklahoma State at Texas Tech: The next in a series of titanic Big 12 South matchups. ABC’s cameras return to Lubbock for the second Saturday night in a row. Tech finds themselves ranked #2 in the latest BCS rankings. This will be yet another Big 12 game where offense will rule and defenses will be outmatched. Pick: Tech

Baylor at Texas: The Bears are improving, but will be no match for the Longhorns. Pick: UT

Iowa State at Colorado: Battle for last place in the Big 12 North. Colorado is a better team, especially at home. Pick: CU

Kansas at Nebraska: The Huskers have some problems, but get the Jayhawks at home. The last time these teams met, KU broke 70. They won’t score that many points this time, but they should be good enough to win in Lincoln. Pick: KU

Kansas State at Missouri: Kansas State fired coach Ron Prince this week, meaning there wasn’t enough Purple Reign in Manhattan. K-State would really like to win like it was 1999. The Wildcats now travel to Columbia, where Mizzou takes no prisoners. Pick: Missouri

TCU at Utah (Thursday): This game has Mountain West and BCS implications. A TCU win gives them at least a share of the conference title and a shot at a BCS bowl. A Utah win keeps the Utes’ unbeaten season alive, and keeps them in prime contention for the BCS. As much as I’d like to see the Frogs win, the Utes are at home on a Thursday night. Pick: Utah

Maryland at Virginia Tech (Thursday): The ACC is nothing if not balanced. Maryland is the only team left in the conference with less than 2 losses. That will change Thursday night. It’s hard to win in Blacksburg on a Thursday night. Pick: VT

Alabama at LSU: Nick Saban returns to Baton Rouge, home of the national championship trophy he won with the Tigers in 2003. Tiger fans will be waiting for him, loud and drunk. Bama is now #1 in the nation, but not for long. Pick: LSU

Michigan at Minnesota: This battle for the Little Brown Jug will be nothing if not interesting. Michigan comes into this game at 2-7 and headed nowhere. Minnesota is 6-2 and coming off a heartbreaking loss at home to Northwestern, in which the Wildcats returned an interception for a touchdown in the closing seconds of the game for the game-winner. Can the Gophers recover? Good question. Pick: Michigan

Ohio State at Northwestern: This will not be a pushover for the Buckeyes. Still, TOSU should have enough to win. Pick: TOSU

Penn State at Iowa: Lions are three wins away from an undefeated season, while rooting for Alabama and Texas Tech to lose. This won’t be an easy road trip, but these guys won in Columbus. Of course they’ll win in Iowa City. Pick: Penn State

Clemson at Florida State: This was scheduled to be another Bowden Bowl, but Clemson fired Tommy Bowden last month. Seminoles fumbled a win away in the final minute at Georgia Tech last week. Still, these Seminoles are better than they have been in recent years. Pick: FSU

Oregon State at UCLA: Beavers can still win the Pac-10 if they win out. They’ll outscore the Bruins this week. Pick: OSU-West

California at USC: The Bears should be able to hang with USC. They won’t win, though. Pick: SC

Notre Dame at Boston College: Who does the Pope root for? Or, does he care about American football? The Irish return to Boston for a tough matchup with a feisty Eagles team. Pick: BC

Florida at Vanderbilt: Vandy is looking to make some more noise and to become eligible for its first bowl since the Reagan administration. Gators beat Georgia like a drum last week. Nashville will be rocking Saturday night. However, Florida is better. Pick: UF

Stanford at Oregon: Quack, quack, quack. Pick: Oregon

Wyoming at Tennessee: The Vols put coach Philip Fulmer out to pasture this week. Fulmer only won 75 percent of his games and a national championship as head man of the Vols. But, it’s “what have you done lately?”, and the Vols aren’t doing much these days. Wyoming will be a much weaker opponent than what Tennessee is finding in the SEC. Pick: Vols

Fordham at Holy Cross: Once again, who does the Pope root for? Holy Cross, Batman! Pick: Crusaders