Kent State Golden Flashes running back Dri Archer whould be in for a good week as the Golden Flashes take on Miami of Ohio. Check out all my college challenge picks below. Photo by Jim O’Connor-US PRESSWIRE

Week 11 in College Football Challenge is a potentially tricky one. With some big names on byes, others injured, and some in killer matchups, make sure you take the time to evaluate the names on your roster and make sure to maximize your matchups and get the most points possible.

Last week in College Football Challenge my team finished with an above-average 162. In our Fantasy CPR group though (which now has 21 entries) it was sigpi24 and his “finally football” entry that went off for 211 thanks to the huge game from Kenjon Barner and solid outings by Johnny Manziel and Jordan Lynch. His big week moved him up to #2 in our overall standings behind our overall leader “Zach has the best entry.”

My goal is to get into the top 10% by the end of the year and right now I’m up to 86.3 with three weeks to go. Here’s who I’m taking this week and a brief reason as to why:

Quarterbacks

Nov 3, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) throws a pass against the Southern California Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Marcus Mariota-Oregon: Mariota put 37 up on the road last week at USC and will try to guide the Ducks to another big point-total on the road as they take on Cal to complete the back-to-back LA swing. Mariota has been over 20 in each of his last five games and had a season high 37 challenge points last week. The danger with Mariota is that if the Ducks get up too big he may sit part of the game, but I think amidst all the byes, injuries, and matchup issues he makes a very nice play this week against a Golden Bears defense that gave up 49 points at Utah just two weeks ago.

Matt Barkley-USC: Barkley doesn’t have as much upside as a run-heavy QB, but he’s a safe and solid option this week as the Trojans host Arizona State this week. He’s been over 30 challenge points in each of the last three weeks for the Trojans including last week’s 5-touchdown, 39-point effort. ASU’s defense has struggled allowing 45 to UCLA, 43 to Oregon, and 36 to Oregon State over their current three game losing streak.

Running Backs

Stefphon Jefferson-Nevada: Nevada takes on Fresno State in Reno this weekend in what are expected to be brutally cold conditions. Expect rushing, rushing, and more rushing from both teams. Jefferson should be rested and ready to continue his big season. He hasn’t had less than 20 carries in any game this year so expect another heavy workload against Fresno.

Dri Archer-Kent State: Archer has had a quietly nice season hitting double-digit challenge points each week and finding the endzone in every game. He’ll face a Miami of Ohio team that gave up 199 yards and a TD to Branden Oliver of Buffalo last week, so he sets up for a nice game against the RedHawks for the Golden Flashes.

Wide Receivers

Nov 3, 2012; Manhattan, KS, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys wide receiver Charlie Moore (17) makes a catch over Kansas State Wildcats defensive back Allen Chapman (3) during a 44-30 loss at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-US PRESSWIRE

Marqise Lee-USC: Lee is the top-ranked receiver on the board and against Arizona State the elite-level production should continue. He’s been in the endzone in every game but two this year and over 150 yards in each of the last two weeks.

Charlie Moore-Oklahoma State: Moore has found the endzone in each of the last four games. Tracy Moore is listed as doubtful and may be done for the year meaning that Charlie Moore and Josh Steward will be the Cowboys main weapons this week as they take on the Mountaineers in what should be a shootout in Stillwater.

Team Kicker and Defense

Kansas State Kickers: I’ll stick with K-State’s kickers who put up 14 points last week and have three consecutive games in double-digits as they’ve risen to #6 ranked overall.

Georgia Bulldogs  Defense: Georgia’s D has allowed just 19 points total in its last two games against Florida and Ole Miss. Last week they had 21 challenge points and have been in double digits in six of their nine games this year including 20+ the last two. They’ll travel to Auburn on Saturday night to face a Tiger team that is 0-7 in the SEC and ranks 112th in points for average with just 19.2 even after putting up 42 last week against New Mexico State. They’ve been held to 21 of fewer in each of their in-conference game, so look for Jarvis Jones and the hard-hitting Bulldogs D to have another big week.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly and the golden domers escaped in triple overtime last week to squeak by Pittsburgh. This week they should have no such trouble with BC. Photo by Matt Cashore-US PRESSWIRE

As we head into mid-November, the National Championship picture is still murky. Oregon, Alabama, Kansas State, and Notre Dame all stayed undefeated last week setting up a fascinating and frightening BCS scenario. This weekend I don’t see any of them going down either as ‘Bama hosts #15 Texas A&M, Oregon visits Cal, K-State heads to TCU, and Notre Dame plays at Boston College. Looking ahead, next week Oregon hosts Stanford and the following week head to Oregon State while Notre Dame travels to USC. We easily could finish with all four unbeaten, but I think at least one will go down. I don’t think it’s going to happen Saturday though.

Last week’s big college football weekend ended up following the chalk pretty much except for the Texas-Texas Tech game. I picked a few two many upsets (including LSU at home-almost got that one) and finished the week with 47. In our FantasyCPR group Josh Black M2 had the best week with 52 and maintains his overall lead with just four weeks left in the picking season.

I think we’re in store for more chalk this weekend in the top ten games. There are sure to be some exciting games, but here’s how I see the big games going on Saturday:

Nov 3, 2012; Corvallis, OR, USA; Oregon State Beavers quarterback Cody Vaz (14) hands the ball off against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

1 points-Oregon State over Stanford: My only minority selection goes to the Beavers as they travel south to take on the Stanford Cardinal. Cody Vaz will again start for Oregon State after helping his team past Arizona State last week after being replaced by the original starting QB Sean Mannion in the Beavers one loss on the year which happened the week before in Washington. Last week was also an important one for Stanford QB Kevin Hogan who replaced Senior Josh Nunes in last week’s romp over Colorado and played well enough to earn his first career start in this his redshirt freshman season. This gets my pick as the closest matchup of the week and it should be a great game in the late-afternoon window (3:00 kickoff time on FOX).

2 points-Oklahoma State over West Virginia: Oklahoma State hosts a West Virginia team that has dropped three straight now as they head to Stillwater. The Mountaineers were  rolling after beating Texas a month ago but have since dropped games at Texas Tech and at home to K-State and TCU. Oklahoma State meanwhile dropped out of the rankings after their own loss to K-State last week, but have the offense to keep up with West Virginia and can score in bunches themselves especially at home. Don’t expect a low-scoring battle here with WVU averaging 40.8 points per game on 340.9 yards passing while OSU averages 42.5 yards pre game on 355.9 yards passing per game and 222.0 yard rushing per game. Points anyone??

3 points-Nebraska over Penn State: This is a coin-flip game in my opinion. I’ll take Nebraska only because they’re at home. Penn State has only lost to Ohio State since week 3 of this season and has played extremely well in Coach Bill O’Brien’s offense. The Cornhuskers also have a solid offense that’s averaging 38.0 points per game so far this season. Nebraska lost to OSU  as well this season, but is unbeaten at home and is coming off three straight in-conference wins over Michigan State, Michigan, and at-the-time-unbeaten Northwestern. I’ll take the Huskers, but Penn State could get a nice road win if they can steal this one in Lincoln.

Nov 3, 2012; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) carries the ball during the first quarter against the Temple Owls at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Lindsey-US PRESSWIRE

4 points-Louisville over Syracuse: In all the discussion of the four unbeaten teams, don’t forget about Louisville who is also unbeaten after nine games as they head to the Carrier Dome to face the Orange. Syracuse has pulled some upsets in the past in games like this, but I’m relatively confident in a Cardinals team that has won six in a row on the road and three in a row against Syracuse.

5 points-Wisconsin over Indiana: Indiana has the #1 team in the country, but they’ll play football not basketball Saturday at noon in Bloomington as a tough Wisconsin team rolls into town coming off a tough home loss to Michigan State. Look for them to pile on the Hoosiers who are just 2-3 in the big 10 and have lost at home to Ball State, Michigan State, and Ohio State. They beat Iowa last week and aren’t a horrible football team, but Montee Ball and the Badgers will be a little to much for them Saturday.

7 points-Alabama over Texas A&M: Alabama showed last week why it’s the unquestioned #1 team in the nation. It did take a late drive though to pull the game out in Baton Rouge. This week they’ll return home to host the Aggies who are having a successful SEC campaign behind their do-it-all QB Johnny Manziel. It would take a herculean effort from Manziel to get this game won though against a tough ‘Bama D. I think it will be close, but Alabama stays undefeated.

6 points-Washington over Utah: The Huskies host the Utes Saturday night at 10:30 on the Pac-12 network for the nightcap in Pick’Em games for Saturday. Washington went on the road and beat Cal last week and has knocked off then #7 Oregon State and then #8 Stanford at home where they’ll host Utah in this one. Utah has struggled in the Pac-12 giong just 2-4 but they have won their last two games beating down CAl and Washington State. Both those games happened in Salt Lake City though, and playing in Seattle will be much more difficult.

Nov 3, 2012; Manhattan, KS, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Collin Klein (7) carries the ball during a 44-30 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-US PRESSWIRE

8 points-Kansas Stave over TCU: K-State heads to Fort Worth to take on TCU  in a game they may or may not have their all-important QB Collin Klein. Either way though I think they can get the win over a inconsistent Horned Frog team. TCU beat West Virginia last week after back-to-back losses to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. If K-State has to go Klein-less this could be close, but I think he’ll play.

9 points-LSU over Mississippi State: LSU played well at home as always last week, but fell just short of knocking off the Crimson Tide. Mississippi State had that same chance two weeks ago but was crushed at Alabama 38-7. They followed that up last week by losing at home to Texas A&M and the Johnny Manziel Show 38-13. LSU is incredibly tough to beat at Tiger Stadium on Saturday nights and I think Les Miles and the Bayou Bengals will bounce back and get the win over MSU fairly easily.

10 points-Notre Dame over Boston College: The Fighting Irish scraped past Pitt last week, but Boston College has been a disaster this year at 2-7. The only Eagles wins have come against Maryland and Maine. Both wins did take place at home, but they’ve also lost at home to Clemson and Miami. Notre Dame will be out to prove a point as they roll over BC in the 8:00 ABC featured game.