Week 5 Picks

Well Thursday night sure kicked off an exciting weekend of college football. There are lots of good match-ups this weekend, not all of them marquee, but lots of intra-conference matchups that will help shape the BCS landscape soon enough. I wouldn't be shocked if there was one more major upset this weekend. Here are the records so far: Gomer (33-18) (good pick of NCST over ECU, terrible pick of TAMU over Miami) Chief (34-17) (Solid all around)

P.S. Neither of us saw the Oregon loss to Boise, talk about ugly, the Pac-10's suckage makes the bashing of the Big Ten subside for now.

Wisconsin Badgers vs. Michigan Wolverines
Gomer: The Badgers have not won in Ann Arbor since 1994, that will change Saturday. While Michigan's run defense has been one of their few strengths, their offensive has been, well, offensive. Wisconsin's D is good, and healthy, these should signal a rough day for the Wolverine attack. P.J. Hill will have a slow start to his day but in the end put up decent numbers. Sam McGuffie will struggle but will hit a home run somewhere in there. UW: 28 - UM 13

Chief: A great matchup…a few years ago. Not as much this year. The Wolverines are hoping to use the ‘energy’ of the Big House to spark a rough start, but the Badgers will come in prepared. That win over Fresno was much more impressive than you think…and the UM loss to Notre Dame was just as bad as you think. Michigan will come out and show some heart with a flashy Threet, but the blue-collar Badgers will grind out a victory. UW: 31—UM: 13

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Georgia Bulldogs
Gomer: The long slow fall back to Earth begins Saturday for the overrated Crimson Tide. Alabama was able to smoke a vastly unprepared and poorly coached Clemson team with 4 new linemen, and trounced an awful Arkansas team. Georgia is busting out the black jerseys to help "black out" the Tide on Saturday night and the Tide offense will struggle to get anything going in this intimidating environment. 'Bama: 10 - UGA: 24

Chief: Bama looks for a signature win to show they’ve returned to prominence, but I don’t think they can get that win between the hedges. The Black Out in Athens will unnerve the young Tide line to allow Knowshown Moreno to have a solid game while the Bulldog defense puts a hurt on everyone’s favorite 3-named QB Jon Parker Wilson. UGA VII chills on the ice as the Dawgs bring home a big win. Bama: 10—UGA: 17

Illinois Illini vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
Gomer: PSU looks to continue its roll through the non-conference schedule right through the Big Ten. So far the Nittany Lions haven't played anyone of note, except for an Oregon State team who took the Trojans to the woodshed Thursday night. The Juice Williams led Illini could make this a game but the running game will be shutdown too easily making Williams have to throw to beat the Lions. Unless Juice has a game much like he did versus Ohio State last year, the Lions should win easily. UI: 14 - PeeSU: 35

Chief: The Zookers enter Happy Valley hoping to bring down the Nittany Lions who are riding high. Juice Williams looked like he could pass against Mizzou, but the Penn State’s secondary is much better than the Tigers’. I liked Penn State coming into this year and they have lived up against middling competition. Illinois will ‘up the quality opponent’ ante, but they aren’t the same without Mendenhall. I think Illinois covers a 14.5 point spread…but just barely. UI: 14—PSU: 28

Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Gomer: Virignia Tech is walking into a trap when they visit Lincoln, Nebraska, also known as "Bo Pellini Land". Tyrod Taylor and the Hokie offense are going to be in for a long day, the Husker Blackshirts have not allowed a TD in the last eight quarters. The good news is that the Hokie D is one of the best in the nation and will help keep the Nebraska offense in check. I expect a low scoring affair. VT: 14 - Neb: 20

Chief: I really don’t care about this game-another matchup of two programs who used to be good. VT beat a flashy UNC team last week and the Huskers have beaten…no one of note. Bo Pelini may bring Nebraska back to relevance eventually, but VT will grind out a close win. Neither of these teams are anything to call home about. VT:20—NU:19

Minnesota Gophers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Gomer: The Bucks look to get the offense rolling with the (limited) return of Beanie Wells to the backfield. Minnesota is a much improved team over last year and has just enough weapons to give OSU's D some fits. While the Minnesota D is marginally better than last year, Pryor will still continue to emerge as a play-making QB who doesn't quite have the touch down perfectly. Beanie will get about 15 carries while Boom still gets the majority in an effort to save Beanie for next weeks showdown in Camp Randall. UM: 20 - OSU: 35

Chief: BEANIE’S BACK!!! Bad news for Minnesota. The Gophers enter this game with a better record than the Buckeyes for the first time since 1999. They were completely inept last year, but Sophomore QB Adam Weber has really matured. I firmly believe that this Buckeye team has the ability to wake up and that Beanie will provide that spark. OSU has looked deflated in the last 3 games, but it’s Big 10 time. Beanie for 3 TDs and the Bucks remind the Big 10 whose conference this is. UM: 9—OSU: 38

Other Games that don't really matter:

Fresno State vs. UCLA: Gomer - FSU Chief - FSU
Colorado vs. Florida State: Gomer - FSU Chief - FSU
TCU vs. Oklahoma: Gomer - OU Chief - OU
Troy vs. Oklahoma State: Gomer - OSU Chief - OSU
South Florida vs. NC State: Gomer - USF Chief - USF

Rankings

These rankings are comprised of the old BCS formula, with one minor tweak of my own, I add in Collegefootballnews.com rankings. Something to note about their rankings, unlike AP and Coaches, CFN looks at how the team is playing, not necessarily what they have accomplished all season.

1. USC
2. Georgia
3. Wisconsin
4. LSU
5. Missouri
6. Alabama
7. Oklahoma
8. Florida
9. Texas
10. Utah
11. Brigham Young
12. Wake Forest
13. Boise State
14. Texas Tech
15. Ohio State
16. South Florida
17. Penn State
18. Auburn
19. TCU
20. Oregon
21. Vanderbilt
22. Virginia Tech
23. Kansas
24. Nebraska
25. Connecticut

A few notes:
-The gap between #2 UGA and #3 UW is huge (8.37-16.57) whereas the gap between #3 and #8 is small (16.57-19.51)
-The computers love #10 Utah. Average human ranking is 18.33 average computer ranking is 7.00, quite a bit of disparity. If they keep winning, they will have the biggest impact on the actual BCS bowl matchups.
-If the BCS was ran the way it should (no tie-ins) this is what your games would look like:

#1 USC vs. #4 LSU (play-in)
#2 Georgia vs. #3 Wisconsin (play-in)
#5 Missouri vs. #6 Alabama
#7 Oklahoma vs. #8 Florida
#9 Texas vs. #10 Utah

Surprisingly all intriguing match-ups, unfortunately here is what we would see using real system:

#1 USC vs. #2 Georgia... okay
#3 Wisconsin vs. #4 LSU... not bad
#5 Missouri vs. #10 Utah... I don't care
#12 Wake Forest vs. #7 Oklahoma... ugly
#16 South Florida vs. #15 Ohio State... intriguing

It Has Begun...


Terrelle Pryor made his first start as OSU's QB yesterday in front of 102,000+
While rushing for 66 yards on 14 attempts, TP was able to go 10/16 for 139 yards and 4, yes 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception.

All but one of the four TD passes was unimpressive, ducks thrown to relatively wide open receivers, so the passing still has plenty of room for improvement. His feet allowed him to keep plays alive, now I don't know for sure if he had to use his feet on any of the four TD passes, but the fact of the matter is his versatility allows more flexibility and can better forgive a porous offensive line.