Week 10 Picks

Another week begins tonight, although many of the top teams are off, there are still some big rivalry's this week.

#7 Miami (FL) at #3 Florida State: The Seminoles have been able to destroy everyone that they have faced, including twice against ranked undefeated teams in Clemson and Maryland. I don't see this game going any differently for Florida State, as Miami has struggled mightily to beat North Carolina and Wake Forest in the past two weeks, winning by a combined margin of 7 points against two of the ACC's bottom teams. Florida State has beaten the two ranked teams they have played by a combined score of 114-14. Jameis Winston has came through big time in the clutch and this time he will have his home crowd behind him, as Florida State will be at home in Tallahassee on Saturday night.
Prediction: Florida State-49, Miami-17

#4 Ohio State at Purdue: Ohio State is coming off of a 63-14 win over Penn State last week, which is quite easily their most impressive win of the season so far. Their opponent, Purdue is in last place in the Big 10 at 1-6 (0-3). Purdue is 106th in the country in points allowed, giving up 34.4 points per game. Ohio State should be able to roll right over the Boilermakers this week. It gives Braxton Miller a great chance to put up some huge numbers and increase his chances at winning the Heisman.
Prediction: Ohio State-52, Purdue-10

#8 Clemson at Virginia: Clemson's season changed drastically over the past two weeks, after the 51-14 loss to Florida State, and the close win over Maryland last week. They still have a shot at the ACC title or a BCS at-large bid, but to do that they will not only have to beat a Virginia team that hasn't played up to its potential, but they will have to win it in impressive fashion, something they couldn't do last week.
Prediction: Clemson-34, Virginia-14

Tennessee at #9 Missouri: I'm putting Missouri on upset watch this week. Tennessee has show snippets of greatness this year in a close loss to Georgia and a in over South Carolina, who was able to beat Missouri in OT last week. Tennessee wasn't able to keep it close with Alabama last week, but then again, who can keep in close with the Tide? Tennessee wants to rebound from the loss, where as Missouri is going to have to try and handle coming off their first loss of the season to face a real challenge. That being said, I think that Missouri has the edge at home.
Prediction: Missouri-27, Tennessee-20

#11 Auburn at Arkansas: Auburn should be able to handle Arkansas. The Tigers just seem to win and might be the quietest one loss team in the country, as nobody really talks about them. They were able to sneak into the rankings, and after they beat Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M, they moved up further in the rankings. Arkansas hasn't had a very good season, and there are no signs that it is going to change now.
Prediction: Auburn-35, Arkansas-20

UTEP at #12 Texas A&M: Johnny Manziel is looking for a big game this week to gain ground on Mariota in the Heisman watch. That should be the big story line coming into the game, as A&M shouldn't experience any trouble in beating UTEP, who just isn't at the same level as the Aggies.
Prediction: Texas A&M-56, UTEP-31

Mississippi State at #14 South Carolina: Connor Shaw came into the game in the fourth quarter of last weeks game against Missouri and led them to an overtime win over the previously unbeaten Tigers. They are now back in the race in the SEC East. If they want to get Missouri worried, they will need to play very well and win against a Bulldog team that hasn't done very well with a record of 4-3 (1-2).
Prediction: South Carolina-31, Mississippi State-17

#18 Oklahoma State at #15 Texas Tech: Texas Tech played very well and came up a little short against Oklahoma last week. Oklahoma State got back to playing like we thought they would play all year in a big win over Iowa State. This game will be huge in determining a conference champion, as the loser will have a lot of trouble trying to come back and win it.
Prediction: Oklahoma State-41, Texas Tech-38

Nevada at #16 Fresno State: Fresno State had a very tough time getting past San Diego State last week, pulling it out 35-28 in OT. They should do better this week against a Nevada team that is nowhere near as good as San Diego State. Nevada is 3-5 (2-3) and is currently 0-2 against ranked opponents, losing by a combined score of 120-27 in those two games.
Prediction: Fresno State-48, Nevada-24

#17 Northern Illinois at Umass: Jordan Lynch has put the team on his back, leading the Huskies to an 8-0 start, and they are trying to get their first undefeated season ever, while getting back to the BCS for a second year in a row. They should be able to get another easy win, similar to last weeks 59-20 win over Eastern Michigan.
Prediction: Northern Illinois-52, Umass-13

Colorado at #20 UCLA: The Bruins are trying to avoid doing what Washington did after losing back to back games against Stanford and Oregon, when they got blown out by Arizona State. UCLA should have an easier time bouncing back from the losses as they play one of the worst teams in the Pac-12.
Prediction: UCLA-42, Colorado-7

#21 Michigan at #22 Michigan State: This game will be huge in showing who will win the Legends division in the Big 10 and get a shot at Ohio State for the championship. Nebraska and Iowa still have a chance, but Michigan at Michigan State are the big favorites to win it.
Prediction: Michigan State-24, Michigan-14

#24 Wisconsin at Iowa:  Wisconsin could possibly be the best team in the Big 10 besides Ohio State, their only problem is that they lost to Ohio State and they won't be able to make the conference championship. Iowa has played very well, but as been unfortunate enough to lose a few tough games. They were able to pull out an overtime win over Northwestern last week, a team that Wisconsin was able to beat 35-6 earlier in the year.
Prediction: Wisconsin-28, Iowa-21

Navy at #25 Notre Dame: The Irish beat Air force badly last week, and hope to continue their dominance against the service academies this week, as they take on Navy. Notre Dame has played very well since the loss to Oklahoma a few weeks ago. Navy hasn't played well recently and is coming in with a record of 4-3, with 2 of those three losses coming in the last three weeks.
Prediction: Notre Dame-38, Navy-17

South Florida at Houston: Houston has played very well so far, with their only loss coming to a solid BYU team. They have a chance to showcase their talents tonight on ESPN. Their opponent, South Florida, should provide them with an easy win, as they are just 2-5 (2-1) this year.
Prediction: Houston-42, South Florida-27

Arizona State at Washington State: This game could be very interesting and I would suggest staying up late to watch it tonight. Arizona State has had a very high powered offense lately, scoring over 50 points in each of their last two games. Washington State is the definition of passing, as they are 6th in the country in passing, averaging 373.1 yards per game.
Prediction: Arizona State-52, Washington State-42

USC at Oregon State: USC has played pretty good after the firing of Lane Kiffin. They have won two of their last three games, with those wins being against solid opponents in Arizona and Utah. Oregon State has the nations leading passer in Sean Mannion, and they are coming off a a very tough loss, 20-12 against Stanford, where they almost took the Cardinal by surprise.
Prediction: Oregon State-38, USC-34

Virginia Tech at Boston College: Virginia Tech came into their game with Duke last week ranked 14th in the country, but after an ugly 13-10 loss, they dropped out. They still have a good chance to make the ACC title, if Miami loses to Florida State this weekend. Boston College has been a little surprizing this year. They put up a fight against Florida State, coming closer than anyone else has against them. They also almost beat Clemson a few weeks ago, but came up just short. They then fell badly to North Carolina last week, a team that had been struggling all year.
Prediction: Virginia Tech-20, Boston College-7

Illinois at Penn State: Penn State and Illinois both lost badly last week. Penn  State lost 63-14 against the best team in the Big 10, where Illinois lost 42-3 against Michigan State, who statistically has the best defense in the country. Both teams were expected to lose last week but not by so much.
Prediction: Penn State-31, Illinois-24

Army at Air Force: Air Force got rocked by Notre Dame last week. Army wasn't much better, losing 33-14 to Temple. Army is 3-5 compared to Air Force who is just 1-7 (0-5). Army should win in a game that will not see much passing.
Prediction: Army-21, Air Force-10

North Carolina at NC State: NC State looked bad against Florida State last week, giving up 35 points in the first quarter alone. North Carolina finally got its first conference win against a Boston College team that has done alright so far. The Tar Heels still stand at 2-5 (1-3), but NC State isn't looking great either at 3-4 (0-4) with all four of their losses coming in the last 5 games.
Prediction: North Carolina-34, NC State-24

Wake Forest at Syracuse: Another match up of middle of the pack ACC teams. Wake Forest almost beat Miami last week and showed that they have good potential. Syracuse has been able to score a lot of points all season, but has struggled against good teams. I'm not sure if Wake Forest should be classified as a "good team" or not but I do think that the Orange offense will struggle.
Prediction: Wake Forest-35, Syracuse-24

Georgia at Florida: This is the first time in a while that this historic rivalry hasn't carried much meaning in the SEC East race. Georgia and Florida are both trying to push through some tough injury problems and are almost out of contention for the SEC title. Florida is missing starting QB Jeff Driskel, and Georgia is missing both of its star running backs, Todd Gurley and Kieth Marshall.
Prediction: Georgia-28, Florida-20

Minnesota at Indiana: Minnesota is quietly becoming one of the top teams in the Big 10. With wins over both Nebraska and Northwestern in their last two games they are now tied with Iowa and still in contention to get to the Big 10 championship. Indiana has had one of the league's top offenses this year as they are 8th in the country in points per game with 42.4.
Prediction: Minnesota-49, Indiana-41

West Virginia at TCU: West Virginia looked good for just a little over a half last week before they blew a 12-7 lead and lost 35-12. West Virginia has been very inconsistent since their big upset of Oklahoma State early in the year. TCU hasn't had the season it was looking for and is coming off of a big loss to Texas last week.
Prediction: TCU-35, West Virginia-10

Northwestern at Nebraska: Nebraska rushed Taylor Martinez back too quickly and it showed in a 34-23 loss to Minnesota last week. He threw for just 139 yards while also throwing an interception. Northwestern might be even worse off than Nebraska is as they are completely out of contention in the Big 10 and are on a four game losing streak. Nebraska has Northwestern at a good time and it doesn't hurt that the game is taking place in Lincoln.
Prediction: Nebraska-38, Northwestern-24

Iowa State at Kansas State: Kansas State got off to a shaky start against West Virginia last week but rebounded to win 35-12. Iowa State, who had been playing tough and staying close with good teams all year, lost badly to Oklahoma State. Kansas State shouldn't have trouble winning the game, but the question is, can Iowa State come close or will they get blown out for a third week in a row?
Prediction: Kansas State-41, Iowa State-21

Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech was looking like ACC contenders until a Thursday night loss to Virginia Tech a few weeks ago. Since then, they have not looked impressive, losing games to both Miami and BYU, while also needing to come back from down 25 to a Virginia team that they shouldn't have had any trouble with. Pittsburgh had showed glimpses of a great offensive attack early in the year, but they haven't recently as they have scored over 20 points just once in their last 4 games.
Prediction: Georgia Tech-27, Pittsburgh-24

Boise State at Colorado State: Boise State is clearly not the team it was a few years ago, but this is a game they should be able to handle. They lost badly to BYU last week, while Colorado State beat the winless Hawaii by just a touchdown, 35-28.
Prediction: Boise State-35, Colorado State-14