And we’re back! (Well, kind of – I will be out of town and miss the vast majority of these games.) As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Short explanation: I only list games that will be on a major national TV (i.e., networks that are part of most major TV packages, so the networks, ESPN, ESPN2, and FSN). I will also list “interesting” games from non-major networks, like ESPNU and Gameplan, where “interesting” usually means at least two DI-A teams. As usual, my source for all this is Mr. Sarz.

Thursday
7:00: Texas-El Paso at Buffalo (Time Warner-NY): This isn’t even on Gameplan, but it is the only televised game that I saw on the list. This and 3 other games tie for the first game of the season (Northeastern at Ball State, E. Illinois at Central Michigan, and Indiana State at Eastern Michigan are the other three.) As for the winner, that’s pretty easy for such an anonymous game – UTEP going away.

7:30:

• Vanderbilt at Miami (ESPNU): Not “Da U” but just “Miami U” in Ohio. Vandy isn’t expected to really even be much of a spoiler this year, but they should have this one under control.
• Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech (ESPN360): Since I’m in the unfortunate position of having Comcast, I won’t be able to watch this game. Also, quick trivia question: Which state is Jacksonville State located in? Is it: a) Florida b) Alabama c) Georgia or d) Mississippi? (Answer in next week’s column.) Once again, I shall refrain from making any definite predictions involving GT, but JSU did just suspend three starters last week. Things in their favor include beleaguered LSU transfer Ryan Perrilloux and GT’s first use of their new offense in a real game. Things against them include GT’s new offense and what is likely the best defensive line in the country.

8:00:

• North Carolina State at South Carolina (ESPN): And here we go! Nothing gets the blood flowing like a good OOC matchup in the first week of the season, much less the first day. These teams played regularly before South Carolina joined the SEC in 1992. Since then, they have met once (in 1999) and NCSU won 10-0. NCSU also has a slight edge in the overall series at 26-25-4. It’s hard to get a read on this game from my perspective. NCSU shouldn’t really be that good but Spurrier still doesn’t really have a quarterback. Therefore, I will arbitrarily pick the Gamecocks and move on.
• Wake Forest at Baylor (FSN): FSN kicks off their Big 12 coverage by showing what is supposed to be a decent Baylor team. While Baylor may spoil a game or two, Wake is in the running to crash the ACC party again, so I’m going to go with Wake.

9:00: Oregon State at Stanford (ESPN2): Things get going up on Palo Alto in some early Pac-10 action. That is about as much space as I’m willing to devote to this game. OSU wins going away.

Friday
7:00: Temple at Army (ESPN Classic): Two bad teams! But it’s Friday night and you’re looking for something to watch. Because it’s Friday, most networks don’t do anything because you’re supposed to be out partying. But you’re not out, you’re watching Temple vs. Army. Anyway, both these teams are so bad it’s hard to tell who’s worse. Since my rooting interest lies with Army, I’ll pick them to win.

8:00: Southern Methodist at Rice (ESPN): Supposedly, the Pony Express is back, though I don’t think it’s really the Pony Express if none of the athletes involved are getting paid. I was dismayed to see that Craig James won’t be at this game, because it’s always amusing to watch them awkwardly avoid talking about the whole scandal thing.

Saturday
Noon:

• Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (@Charlotte, NC; ESPN): Much has been made of ECU almost beating VPI last year. I don’t think that’ll happen again.
• Syracuse at Northwestern (ESPN2): Bottom of the Big Ten versus the bottom of the Big East! I actually thing NU has a good shot of winning this.
• Bowling Green at Pittsburgh (ESPNU): I’m not sure why I listed this, honestly. Pitt should roll.

12:30:

• Hawaii at Florida (Raycom/Gameplan): Start your morning right with the Daves, and then change the channel because UF should be up by 3 or 4 touchdowns by the end of the first quarter.
• Georgia Southern at Georgia (Gameplan): Oh, if only this had any chance of happening. Any chance.

3:30:

• Southern California at Virginia (ABC/ESPN2): The question here isn’t whether USC will win. The question is “by how much?”
• Utah at Michigan (ESPN2/ABC): Michigan brought us Bizzaro Year last year right on the very first Saturday. While there is certainly potential here – Michigan has an entirely new offense and no quarterbacks to run it, and Utah isn’t terrible – I have a feeling that lightning won’t strike twice here.
• Oklahoma State at Washington State (@Seattle, WA; FSN): Theoretically, I could go to this game. I won’t, and I suspect the vast majority of the crowd in Seattle will be disappointed.

5:00: Appalachian State at Louisiana State (ESPN): The mythical national champion meets up with the NCAA-recognized Division I champion. Unfortunately for Appalachian State, LSU is slightly better than Michigan. A little. The mythical champion should roll.

6:00: Texas Christian at New Mexico (Versus): Versus is back with some hot, hot Mountain West action! UNM looks to revenge a 37-0 loss to the Horned Frogs last year, but I suspect (for no rational reason) that TCU will prevail again.

6:45: Mississippi State at Louisiana Tech (ESPN2): While the possibility exists of MSU Croom’ing itself, I would doubt that the Taylor Bennett led Bulldogs (that felt weird to type) will prevail.

7:00: Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn (Gameplan): The slightly better half of the UL-U-Pick ‘Em (i.e., the one that got really lucky and won the Sun Belt last year) shows up on the Plains to receive a loss and a large check.

7:30: Boston College vs. Kent State (@Cleveland, OH): I suspect this is in Cleveland to boost Kent’s home attendance, which is weird because BC probably doesn’t travel that well. Regardless of whether 1000 or 10000 BC fans show up, they should still win.

8:00:

• Michigan State at California (ABC/Gameplan): Okay, so I can’t complain about John L. Smith being gone anymore. I need to come up with a new schtick for Michigan State. Hrm. How about for the time being we agree that Cal should win this game and I’ll try to come up with something for next week?
• Alabama vs. Clemson (@Atlanta, GA; Gameplan/ABC): This is pretty much the game of the day. I would express surprise over Clemson’s high ranking and Alabama being ranked at all, but I have absolutely no faith in preseason polls. At any rate, I have to say I really want Clemson to win here. And by any logic I can come up with, they should. Alabama “won” the Fulmer Cup this year, which ideally means they have a few guys suspended for at least part of this game. (Though, in fairness, 20 of their 28 points were due to the tireless efforts of the amusingly named Jimmy Johns. A charmed life you lead when not only share the same name as a chain of sandwhich restaurants but also repeatedly sell cocaine to undercover officers. Bravo.) Anyway. Both these schools travel exceedingly well and I think it will end of 50-50 in the Georgia Dome. It will be nuts in there. Given where I think each of these teams are going (did anything actually happen to Alabama this offseason that made them better?), I have to give the Tigers the nod here.

8:30: Illinois vs. Missouri (@St. Louis, MO; ESPN): The rivalry returns for a second year! Gotta go with Mizzou here.

10:00: Washington at Oregon (FSN): Dennis Dixon or no, Oregon should take care of business in this early Pac-10 matchup.

Sunday
3:30: Kentucky at Louisville (ESPN): Sunday is rivalry day, apparently. Anyway, these teams have only met each other as DI-A squads every year since 1994. Disregarding their 3 wins from the 10’s and 20’s (when Louisville was not a major team) Kentucky is 5-9 against their non-SEC in-state rival, and last year was their first win since 2002. Of course, last year was Louisville’s worst squad since 2002 and Kentucky’s best. The future is highly uncertain for both teams this year, as UL looks to recover and UK looks to build on last year’s success. Louisville is slightly favored (3.5 at the time of this writing), for what that’s worth. Frankly, both these teams lost so much it’s hard for me to get a read on them. I’ll take the home team.

7:30: Colorado State vs. Colorado (@Denver, CO; FSN): Since 2002, the average margin of victory in this rivalry has been slightly more than 4 points. That said, CU usually pulls it out in the end (4-2 record over that span) and there’s not really any reason to think they won’t this time around.

Monday
4:00: Fresno State at Rutgers (ESPN): The early inter-sectional marquee game of the day. Lots of schedule re-jiggering happened back in the spring just to make this happen, and was one of the reasons the previews took so long to post. Not that I’m bitter, but I’m going to say Rutgers should have a handle on this. Kudos to these schools for making it happen, though.

8:00: Tennessee at California-Los Angeles (ESPN): And here’s the marquee inter-sectional game of the day. Tennessee ventures west once again to take on a Pac-10 opponent. UCLA has none other than Rick Neuheisel behind the helm now and he’s already established a rivalry with the Pete Carroll. How much will that help UCLA here? Not much, I suspect. Los Angeles, I hope you like “Rocky Top’.

And that’s it, kids! I probably won’t normally do Thursday games in this space (though there seem to be more of them this year), but I made an exception just for this weekend. (Also because Tech had a Thursday game.)

Last week of the regular season! As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

11:00: Central Michigan vs. Miami (@Detroit; ESPN2): It’s MAC-tastic! Miami won’t make a bowl game if they lose, so they’re going to have to win this to go anywhere. That said, they probably won’t.

Noon:

• Army vs. Navy (@Baltimore; CBS): My allegiance here, if it can be called that, is to the Black Knights. Unfortunately, I don’t really think they’ll have much of a chance against bowl-bound Navy.
• Tulsa @ Central Florida (ESPN): Both these teams have been the toast of Conference-USA this year, though UCF has one less conference loss, helped by the fact they won the first meeting between these two teams 44-23. Thought it may be closer this time around, it’s a home game for the Knights and I expect them to earn the trip to Memphis.

1:00: Boston College vs. Virginia Tech (@Jacksonville; ABC): And here we go again, a rematch of the rainy night in Blacksburg featuring a miracle come back for the Eagles that kept them in national title contention (at the time). No rain is expected tomorrow, for better or worse for these teams. Of course, since that night, VPI is 5-0 and won in convincing fashion, whereas BC is 2-2 with losses to moribund FSU and Maryland and an unconvincing margin over Miami (though the win at Clemson is good). That said, VPI seems to have found something of an offense and reversed their usual November swoon. I expect them to take the lead and hold it this time around, and get themselves some oranges in the process.

4:00: Louisiana State vs. Tennessee (@Atlanta; CBS): This game is of greatly diminished importance for all the obvious reasons. Tennessee has also been lucky (though not the luckiest team) since their loss to Alabama, beating Kentucky and Vanderbilt by a combined 3 points. LSU is also facing plenty of distractions, as not one but two of their coaches are rumored to be heading elsewhere. That said, Tennessee has no weapons like McFadden, and I still think LSU wins this one handily.

4:30:

• California-Los Angeles @ Southern California (ABC): Last year, USC was on their way to another shot at the national title when all of a sudden they got, shall we say, Dorrell’d. The plucky coach of UCLA probably needs to do it again if he wants to save his job. I’d say there’s a pretty good chance he’s going to need some new work come Monday. That said, would it not spectacularly sum up this season if UCLA and Arizona win, thus sending the Bruins to the Rose Bowl? (Ugh. I hate quoting Bill Simmons-isms, but I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.)
• Oregon State @ Oregon (ESPN2): Alas, poor Oregon. If there was an award in college football for “a player that individually makes a huge impact in the performance of his team“, Dennis Dixon would have to win it (and maybe there is, I think there are two “best player” trophies). The Oregon offense was offensive last weekend and put up a mighty zero against noted non-juggernaut UCLA. They are just completely boned without Dixon, and I don’t see that changing here. Beavers win.

7:00: California @ Stanford (Versus): Not only is it on Versus, it’s on Versus HD. Aw yeah, you know we’ll all be up for some Big Game action. Okay, well, not really, Cal should roll here.

7:45: Pittsburgh @ West Virginia (ESPN): Backyard brawl time! Does Pitt stand a chance? Not really! Many couches will lose their lives in Morgantown tonight.

8:00:

• Oklahoma vs. Missouri (@San Antonio, ABC): I feel conflicted about this. I want to like Missouri, I really do, but for whatever reason I still think Oklahoma is a better team. It also doesn’t help the Sooners won their previous meeting. Yet, in my bowl predictions, I took Mizzou because figuring out the Oklahoma winning scenario would be complicated. Of course, I’ll change the predictions after the games anyway before the bowls are announced in Sunday, but still. I’ll go with the #1 team in the country to pull off the upset here.
• Arizona @ Arizona State (ESPN2): ASU better not screw this one up, that’s all I can say. Sun Devils should win.

11:30: Washington @ Hawaii (ESPN2): You’d think this is an easy victory for the Warriors, but Washington played Boise State earlier this year and won, getting them one of their four victories. Of course, Hawaii took care of Boise pretty well, but still. That said, that was a long time ago, and I like Hawaii here, but it could be closer than many on the islands would like to think.

A special Turkey Day edition for Week 13!

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday
8:00: Southern California @ Arizona State (ESPN): Not sure I need state what’s at stake here. To sum it up, Arizona State controls its own destiny in the Pac-10. USC needs a win and an Oregon loss to clinch a Rose Bowl berth. Will they? I’m thinking no.

Friday
Noon: Nebraska @ Colorado (ABC): All that’s on the line here is a possible bowl berth, which the Big 12 will need because it likely won’t fill all its bids. The Buffs come in off a loss to Iowa State; their opponent comes off a bye week after shellacking Kansas. This game is basically a tossup, and I’m probably picking a minor upset by taking the Cornhuskers.

12:30: Mississippi @ Mississippi State (LF/Gameplan): Miss State will bring plenty of Cowbell as they try to guarantee themselves a bowl berth in a crowded SEC picture. Ole Miss is, of course, the only SEC team that has no shot at a bowl, and I don’t think they’ll suddenly start playing well in this contest. Miss State wins.

2:30: Arkansas @ Louisiana State (CBS): Houston Nutt is probably gone after the year and, oh yeah, LSU is really good. Tigers win the Battle for the Golden Boot.

3:30: Texas @ Texas Agricultural & Mechanical (ABC): Speaking of coaches likely to lose their jobs, Texas rolls into Kyle and should win. They desperately need help from the boys in Stillwater to play in Kansas City next week, though.

9:00: Boise State @ Hawaii (ESPN2): This is also a game worth watching, provided your turkey leftovers haven’t put you to sleep. This is Hawaii’s second real test all season, against by far their best opponent. A win here gets Hawaii ranked in all computer polls and will vault them into the top 14 of the BCS, which this year would just about guarantee them a bid. Boise is also right up there with Hawaii in the rankings, though, and is more well-liked by the computers. Neither team has beaten anyone from a BCS conference this year, and will play the same BCS team – Washington. I would say both teams would beat Washington handily at this point of the year – after their victory over Boise, the Huskies lost 6 straight and are 4-7 on the year. Honestly, I think Boise State could very easily pull the upset here, especially if Colt Brennan is still having issues related to the concussion he suffered during the Fresno State. That said, I’ll take the Warriors at home.

Saturday
Noon:

• Miami (FL) @ Boston College (ESPN): BC has clinched a spot in Jacksonville next week, and their opponent will be playing at the same time over on ESPN2. If this were an NFL team, they’d probably rest their starters, but they’ll probably get a chance to anyway as they should beat Miami handily. Unless the Canes pull off the upset, this will the first time they have not made a bowl since 1997.
• Virginia Tech @ Virginia (ESPN2): For the past few weeks, we knew this is what the ACC Coastal title would hinge on. I am still not sold on Virginia, unless you’re trying to sell me on the idea that they’re incredibly lucky. In other words, I’m going to say the Hokies win this one.
• Maryland @ North Carolina State (Raycom/Gameplan): One again, a bowl berth is on the line, the destination Boise. Both these teams have shocked at some point this season. Maryland by upsetting Boston College and then losing to FSU last week. NCSU won 4 straight games, and then lost by 20 to Wake. Whoops. At any rate, I’m taking Maryland here.

1:30: Tennessee @ Kentucky (CBS): Kentucky hasn’t played all that well away from home, a fact that’s brought them down from the high of beating LSU there. Tennessee should’ve lost to Vandy last week, the Vols got all the calls. Can UK pull off the upset at this point? Probably not. I hope not.

3:30:

• Oregon @ California-Los Angeles (ABC/Gameplan): Will Dixon-less Oregon be able to beat UCLA? Normally, this is kind of game Karl Dorrell would pull out, but without Dixon they have a realistic shot to win. Which is why they will lose.
• Georgia @ Georgia Tech (Gameplan/ESPN2/ABC): To Hell With Georgia.
• Connecticut @ West Virginia (Gameplan/ESPN2/ABC): Ladies and Gentlemen, your Big East Championship Game! Of course, I don’t think anyone planned it out that way, but hey, I guess those round-robin schedules produce some interesting late season matchups anyway. That said, I can’t really fathom any way WVU loses this game. This season hasn’t helped me believe that all, but I can’t in good conscience predict an upset here.
• Kansas State @ Fresno State (ESPN2/Gameplan): Why is this taking up space on ESPN? The mind boggles. The mind also boggles at why K-State is going to Fresno. Anyway, the only reason I can think of to watch this is that one of my cousins is blocking TE for K-State. Fresno should win, though.
• Notre Dame @ Stanford (ESPN): After subjecting us to Duke last week, ESPN for some reason opts to show us this contest. I cannot fathom why. Just for the hell of it, I’m going to say the Cardinal prevails and move on.
• Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma (FSN): It’s Bedlam, baby! I’ve always liked watching this rivalry. And you don’t need to go too far back to find an upset by the Cowboys in a situation where Oklahoma desperately needed a win: a 12-1 Oklahoma team came into Stillwater in 2002 and lost 38-28. An 11-1 OU team lost by 3 a year before. The 2000 OU team that won the national title only beat a 3-8 OU squad by a 12-7 score. Last year, the Sooners only won by 6. However, these upsets will stay just that, upsets. Despite the loss next week, Oklahoma gets it done here.

5:00: Florida State @ Florida (CBS): Florida needs a win to stay in contention for a possible BCS bid. FSU needs a win to solidify their bowl position (though they’ll probably end up on this side of the country anyway, see below). Florida has been rolling since Tebow got a little healthier, and I see no reason for that trend to stop against a mediocre-to-terrible FSU squad.

7:00:

• Clemson @ South Carolina (ESPN2): Definitely the more interesting of the state rivalries at this time slot. Clemson had better not screw this up, but South Carolina has to know they’re probably playing for a bowl berth here.
• Washington State @ Washington (FSN): Yawn. U-Dub wins. Next.

8:00:

• Missouri vs. Kansas (@Kansas City; ABC): Can you say “national title implications”? I thought so. Anyway, this is seriously the first real test for the Jawhawks all season long. I think Mizzou is slightly better, honestly. They’ve played an infinitely better OOC schedule and their only loss is to Oklahoma. Whatever the outcome, don’t expect a blowout, but probably a lot of points. I think this is a tossup to be completely honest, and I’ll take the safe but less ballsy pick of Kansas.
• Alabama @ Auburn (ESPN): If I need cheering up at this point, the only thing that would do it would see Auburn beat the ever-living daylights of Alabama. Again. Both squads are mistake prone, but Auburn is simply a better football team right now in all respects. And I really just hate Alabama.

Anyway, enjoy your turkey and I’ll be back on Sunday to analyze the new bowl situation, whatever it is.

Bowl predictions are up at the usual place.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

• Ohio State @ Michigan (ABC): This will be on the big screen at my apartment as a cadre of Big Ten alums invade. That said, with Hart having a high ankle sprain and Henne hurt, I like the Buckeyes here.
• Northwestern @ Illinois (ESPN): Will Zook, well, Zook it up after pulling off the huge upset and having an outside show at a BCS bid? Probably not, Illini roll.
• Syracuse @ Connecticut (ESPN2): Goodness Syracuse is a terrible. The Orange are ranked 114th nationally in total offense and 110th in defense. Does not bode well for them.
• Tulsa @ Army (ESPN Classic): Tulsa’s a pretty decent team and controls their destiny in C-USA west. Army is not a very good football team, especially on defense. Tulsa rolls.
• Maryland @ Florida State (Raycom/Gameplan): Part of one of the two ACC Raycom/Lincoln Financial Sports Games of the Week. Maryland is coming off their upset of Boston College while FSU just got rolled by VPI. Xavier Lee may be back for the Seminoles, but I really fail to see how that actually helps them. FSU also needs the win here to get to the 7-win mark going into Gainesville next week, which would increase their chances of staying in this part of the country for a bowl game. Maryland sits at 4 wins but this game and next week’s against NC State are both winnable. The line is FSU by 7.5, but to be honest I think that’s a little generous, and in fact I’m going to pick the upset here.
• North Carolina @ Georgia Tech (Raycom/Gameplan): We need to play better than we did last week at Duke, that’s for damn sure. Even though we won I’m still not excited about this offense and Choice’s knee worries me greatly.

12:30:

• Missouri @ Kansas State (FSN): Mizzou knows it has an oppurtunity to inject itself into the title game by winning out. Kansas State knows it lost to Iowa State two weeks ago and then got waxed by Nebraska last week. Tigers win.
• Kentucky @ Georgia (LF/Gameplan): Alas, poor Kentucky! Ravaged by injuries, Kentucky sits at 7-3 with two games left against the SEC East’s top two teams. I hate to admit it, but Georgia is playing good football right now. The top two priorities for any team playing UGA right now has to be to pressure Matt Stafford and stop Moreno. Georgia wins here. And with typing that, I think I’m going to kill myself after this post. Ugh.

2:30: Duke @ Notre Dame (NBC): Ahahahahahahahahahaha. Okay, I’m in a good mood again. Seriously! Oh man. I will laugh so hard if Duke wins. And you know what? Why not? This is the year to beat ND folks. Line up and get your automatic W in South Bend! Woooo!

3:30:

• Louisiana State @ Mississippi (CBS): I’m not really sure why the powers that be at CBS picked this over at a game that at least stands a chance of not being a blow out. I know it’s been close, but Ole Miss is terrible and LSU is really good. LSU rolls.
• Pennsylvania State @ Michigan State (ESPN/ABC): It’s your irrelevant Big Ten game of the day! Man, at least the Big Ten season is over after this week. PSU should win.
• Miami @ Virginia Tech (Gameplan/ABC/ESPN): Oh, Miami. On November 19, 2005, you were ranked 3 in the country when Georgia Tech beat you. Since then, you’re a decidedly un-“U”-like 13-12, including a blowout loss last week to Virginia in your last game ever in da “OB”. Yeah, folks, Miami sucks. Virginia Tech will hopefully not overlook them going into their division deciding showdown against Virginia next week.
• Iowa State @ Kansas (Gameplan/ABC): Iowa State has won two straight Big 12 games. Let that sink in a minute. Can they make it three straight? Probably not, setting up the biggest Big 12 North showdown in a long, long time next week. That said, I do like ISU to cover 26.
• California @ Washington (ABC/Gameplan): This season has fallen apart for Cal, but they’ll stop the bleeding against Washington this week and against Stanford in The Big Game in two weeks.

7:00: Oklahoma State @ Baylor (FSN): Why is Baylor on national television for the second week in a row? Who knows, and who cares? OSU rolls.

7:45:

• West Virginia @ Cincinnati (ESPN): At first glance, you might think WVU is gonna roll here. Not so fast! This has huge Big East implications, though Cincy doesn’t quite control their own destiny (as they need UConn to lose again). That said, I still have to like the Mountaineers.
• Boston College @ Clemson (ESPN2): Unthinkable a month ago, BC finds itself competing for the ACC Atlantic crown in Death Valley. At night. Not exactly a promising scenario for the Eagles. Clemson put up 44 on a pretty decent Wake team last week, continuing its roll on offense. Meanwhile, BC has lost two straight as their season falls apart around them. These are teams going in two different directions, folks, and I like the Tigers to continue putting up the points.

8:00: Oklahoma @ Texas Tech (ABC): Last game of the night. Texas Tech does not do the defense thing very well, as they tend to get blown out in their losses. If Oklahoma scores a couple touchdowns early, then this shouldn’t be a problem. TTU needs to keep the game in shootout mode. They probably won’t.

As usual, all predictions wrong and all times eastern.

Noon:

• Michigan @ Wisconsin (ESPN): In continuation with on branch of my harebrained predictions, Michigan wins, setting up what in August would’ve been considered a very unlikely match for the Big Ten championship.
• Wake Forest @ Clemson (ESPN2): Clemson ruined Wake’s perfect season last year with a FG block returned for a TD. Both still have an ACC title game berth on the line, but at this juncture only Clemson controls their own destiny. Wake is by far the meatiest opponent they’ve played since their two losses. The Tigers have racked up 49 points per game since the losses to GT and VPI while allowing only about 14, but those opponents were Central Michigan, Maryland, and Duke. In fact, Clemson’s best win was probably the season opener over FSU. However, Wake’s resume isn’t that impressive either and they’re coming off a tough loss to Virginia last weekend. Clemson wins, but it’s closer than most think.
• Indiana @ Northwestern (ESPN Classic): This joke has been made a thousand times over, probably, but there is nothing really “classic” about this matchup. Indiana is already bowl-eligible but NU must win this week or next week versus Illinois. Neither of these teams good, but Indiana at least managed to beat Iowa, so I’ll give them the edge.
• North Carolina @ North Carolina State (Raycom/Gameplan): Don’t look, but NC State has won three straight games, including a victory over a OOC opponent UNC couldn’t beat, East Carolina. UNC did manage to beat Maryland, but only NC State has felled Virginia in ACC play thus far. I’m going with a rejuvenated Wolfpack here.

12:30:

• Texas Agricultural & Mechanical @ Missouri (FSN): The Aggies simply got whipped last week at Oklahoma, and for the second consecutive week they played the 6th ranked team in the country. With all the questions surrounding the head coach’s job and 2 straight losses, I don’t expect a different result here. Mizzou wins.
• Kansas State @ Nebraska (Versus): The “Don’t Care” meter is reaching awfully high levels here, but that said Nebraska is just hapless at this point. K-State wins.
• Alabama @ Mississippi State (LF/Gameplan): Mississippi State is improved, yes. That doesn’t mean I’m about to start picking them to win anything until they play Ole Miss. ‘Bama wins.
• Arkansas @ Tennessee (LF/Gameplan): Tennessee is still very much in control of its own destiny in the SEC East. Arkansas seems to have rediscovered its offense, which you’d think wouldn’t be difficult since their offense consists of entirely one person. Nonetheless, I like the Vols here. I’m willing to chalk up the loss to Alabama as a fluke, and besides, it’d be infinitely more amusing if Tennessee lost the SEC East race because of a loss to Vanderbilt next week.

1:00: Georgia Tech @ Duke (accselect.com): Tech’s first non-televised game of the year comes against Duke. I don’t really have much to say about the Jackets right now.

2:30: Air Force @ Notre Dame (NBC): Notre Dame loses to a service academy the second week in a row. Fun fact: Notre Dame has not lost to two service academies in one year since 1944.

3:30:

• Auburn @ Georgia (CBS): This game is vastly more important for the Bulldogs than it is for the Tigers. If Georgia loses it significantly muddles their road to the SEC title game (more so than it already is since they still need Tennessee to lose). I think Auburn knows they’ve got nothing to lose and I expect an exciting game that hopefully will result in a victory for them.
• Illinois @ Ohio State (ESPN/ABC): Illinois has a two game winning streak, sure. Of course, those games were Minnesota and Ball State. I can’t really think of any way the go up to Columbus and win.
• Florida State @ Virginia Tech (Gameplan/ABC/ESPN): FSU seeks to ruin the dreams of another ACC program this week. By every conceivable measure Matt Ryan is a better quarterback than Sean Glennon, and FSU certainly flustered the former plenty last week. I don’t expect Glennon to repeat last week’s performance at all, but I also don’t see how FSU is going to score any points against the Virginia Tech defense in Blacksburg. Except a a defense-heavy game typical of the ACC with the Hokies edging out a narrow victory.
• Arizona State @ California-Los Angeles (Gameplan/ABC): Hop aboard the train of the country’s most schizophrenic football team, the UCLA Bruins. See a team that can beat Cal but lose to Arizona, Utah, and Notre Dame! I mean, hell, there’s a chance they could even beat ASU this weekend. That said, it’s not a very good chance. Arizona State wins.
• Texas Tech @ Texas (Gameplan/ABC): Mike Leach’s Texas Tech pirate ship ran aground a few weeks ago. They managed to patch the hull and fix some leaks and beat Baylor 48-7, but on the horizon is the frigate that is Texas and the veritable ship-of-the-line that is Oklahoma. The Texas frigate is also banged up, but it’s loaded with the appropriate amount of grapeshot to take the wind out of Tech’s sails. Longhorns win.

6:30: Baylor @ Oklahoma (FSN): Why is this a national broadcast on FSN? Who knows! Oklahoma rolls.

7:15: Virginia @ Miami (FL) (ESPN2): Miami is not a very good football team. Neither is Virginia, but they are exceedingly lucky. The Cavaliers average a mere 24 points per game and their average margin of victory is 6.6 points. Remove a blowout win over hapless Pittsburgh and the margin of victory shrinks to 3.3 points. That said, I don’t see this UM team defending the home turf in the “OB”. Cavs win.

7:45: Florida @ South Carolina (ESPN): It’s been an up-and-down season for the Gators, but for the Gamecocks it’s been down, down, down these past three weeks. South Carolina just can’t do much offensively and their defense seemed to have precious few answers against the one-dimensional Arkansas running attack last week. I don’t see much reason to pick them here.

8:00:

• Kansas @ Oklahoma State (Gameplan/ABC): It’s difficult to pick against a 9-0 team, especially when a 5-4 Oklahoma State really isn’t even the best opponent they’ve beaten.
• Southern California @ California (ABC/Gameplan): Still a reasonably big game for the Bears, but more for pride and bowl position more than anything else. USC sits at two losses and needs a lot of help in the Pac-10 race. It’s hard to get a feel for how these teams are going to tomorrow, so I’ll go ESPN-style and blindly take the Trojans.
• Boston College @ Maryland (Gameplan/ABC): Maryland hasn’t looked good as of late, and BC has to know they still control their own destiny in the ACC race, even if they didn’t handle that pressure well with regards to the national title race. Maryland just isn’t very good and with their remaining schedule could miss a bowl. BC wins.

10:15: Washington @ Oregon State (FSN): It’s your late night terrible Pac-10 matchup of the week! Seriously. Beavers roll.

11:00: Fresno State @ Hawaii (ESPN2): Now this is a late night game perhaps worth watching. Easily the best opponent Hawaii has played all year, Fresno gives them a chance, perhaps, to finally get some attention from the computers and boost their BCS standing into the promised land. Fresno’s only WAC loss is to the other WAC powerhouse, Boise State. That said, with the game in Hawaii you have to think the Warriors have an advantage with their passing attack. Hawaii wins.