College Football Pick’Em-Week 5

Florida State looks like a legitimate national title contender and I don’t think they’ll slip up this weekend as they visit South Florida. Melina Vastola-US PRESSWIRE

Week five in College Football got off to a big start last night with Washington knocking off the eighth-ranked Stanford Cardinal. There’s most likely more where that came from this weekend. There’s two great matchups between ranked teams in East Lansing and Morgantown but theres some other intriguing games as well. Many teams start conference play which means plenty of hard-hitting, close games can be expected.

Last week was disastrous for my College Pick’Em entry. Somehow my 10 points on Georgia was mis-marked (even though I wrote it here) and I ended up with only 19 points thanks to UCLA’s loss, Georgia Tech’s loss, and not getting credit for the Bulldogs. I dropped to fourth in our Fantasy CPR group (click here to join) and johnackeren took over the lead with 144 points which puts him right on the edge of the top 10%. TD Dean had the best week with 37 points.

Here’s my picks for the week, and I’ll double-check that I have them all entered correctly this time:

September 22, 2012; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions running back Zach Zwinak (28) runs in the second half in the game against the Temple Owls at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Temple 24-13. Mandatory Credit: Rob Christy-US PRESSWIRE

1 point- Penn State over Illinois: The Nittany Lions are a hard team to read after picking up two wins to get back to .500 at 2-2. Illinois also comes in at 2-2 but have lost ugly games at Arizona State and lastweek at home to Louisiana Tech. I’ll go with Bill O’Brien’s team on the road in the Big 10 opener for both teams.

2 points-Cincinnati over Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech and Cincinnati meet on neutral ground at FedEx Field in a Big East-ACC clash. The Hokies got crushed by Pittsburgh 35-17 two weeks ago after Cincinnati dismantled the Panthers the week before. QBs Muchie Legaux and Logan Thomas are both dual threats and this game should be an exciting game to watch, but I think the front seven of Cincinnati make the difference and the Bearcats pull the (mild) upset in D.C.

3 points-Ohio State over Michigan State: The Buckeyes hit the road to face a tough Spartan defense and their first true test under Urban Meyer. Michigan State lost to Notre Dame two weeks ago at home before bouncing back with a walk over Eastern Michigan. This will be the third time the Spartans have faced a ranked team, but their offense seems a bit one-dimensional to me and I like the playmaking ability of Braxton Miller to decide this game with plenty of late drama as the marquee mid-afternoon game.

4 points-Texas over Oklahoma State: The Longhorns pulled out the win last week against Ole Miss but also appeared vulnerable to big plays through the air. Expect Oklahoma State to put points on the board as they feature the top-scoring team in the country. Texas’s offense still should be enough to get them the win, but don’t tune it to this one expecting to see a defensive struggle. If it’s points you like, this 7:50 FOX primetime game is the one for you. I think the Longhorns get it done, but it wouldn’t shock me if the Cowboys pull off the upset at home so I won’t go any more confidenct than four points.

5 points-Nebraska over Wisconsin: The Cornhuskers have had a rough start to the season, but sit at 3-1 coming into conference play as they host Wisconsin. Nebraska has won big three times and lost their road game to UCLA the second week of the season. Wisconsin has had struggles of their own losing at Oregon State in their only road game. They will have Montee Ball back for this game which should give their ofesne a much needed boost. However, even the Badgers three wins have been relatively unimpressive, so I’ll take Nebraska at home.

6 points-Arizona State over California: Arizona State has started strong under Todd Graham and have been crushing teams at home. They did lose their only road game of the year at Missouri, but they won’t have too much trouble from a 1-3 Cal team who has dropped consecutive road games top top 15 opponents in OSU and USC. Cal isn’t a bad team, but they just don’t have the fire-power to keep up with the high-scoring Sun Devils.

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE

7 points-Texas A&M over Arkansas: The Razorbacks once promising season has completely imploded on them as they rank 116th in the nation in rushing yards and 110th in points allowed. The past three weeks they’ve lost to Louisiana-Monroe, Alabama, and even to the Big East’s Rutgers.  Now they have to visit the Aggies who are looking for their first SEC home win. A&M QB Johnny Manziel has had two huge games in a row getting the Aggies to 2-1 after dropping their delayed opener to Florida by 3. I like this A&M team and think they’ll put up some big points against a struggling Arkansas defense especially at home at Kyle Field.

8 points-Clemson over Boston College: Even without Sammy Watkins sidelined due to injury, expect Clemson to go to Boston and get a win against a struggling BC team. The Eagles’ only win can against Maine as they’ve lost to Miami at home and at Northwestern. Clemson’s high-powered offense behind Tajh Boyd, Andre Ellington, and DeAndre Hopkins should still be able to put up the points to get the win on the road.

9 points-West Virginia over Baylor: In what shapes up to be a great shootout, the Mountaineers open Big 12 play at home in Morgantown by hosting the 25th ranked Baylor Bears. Both teams are undefeated at 3-0 coming into the game but Baylor got a scare last week when they only won by five against Louisiana-Monroe. West Virginia has the offense to keep up with Baylor and I like the Mountaineers defense much better and they’re the home team so I’m pretty confident that WVU will win this Big 12 shootout.

10 points- Florida State oer South Florida: Florida State has the better team in this game as they travel to Tampa to take on USF. However, they won a huge game last week and could be in for a “letdown game.” I don’t see that against an instate rival though, and think that the Seminoles can win with either their defense or their offense as they showed last week. South Florida doesn’t have the horses to stay with Florida State and they’ve dropped their last two games to Rutgers and Ball State.