College Football Week 8 Preview

Games of the Week

#6 Wisconsin @ #16 Michigan State – A few weeks ago all we heard was that the Badgers had not played any decent teams. Now they haven’t played any decent teams on the road. We are not buying into this line of thinking. Wisconsin is a great team and may be the best in the country. Michigan State has a really good defense that may hold the Badgers under 35 points but the Spartan offense won’t be able to score more than 10. Pick: Wisconsin 34 Michigan State 9

#20 Auburn @ #1 LSU – So we thought that the preseason suspensions were going to derail the Tigers; now they face more adversity. We would be more concerned if Auburn wasn’t starting a freshman QB. Why would you make a QB switch on the road against the best defense in the country? We are still on the LSU bandwagon. Pick: LSU 31 Auburn 12

#25 Washington @ #8 Stanford – This will be the first real test for the Stanford Cardinal. They have not faced offensive or defensive lines that are as big or as physical as Washington. The most interesting part of this game might be watching All-World QB Andrew Luck vs. Husky QB Keith Price, who is 2^nd in the nation in TD passes. In the end we like the experience of Luck over the Husky defense. Pick: Stanford 45 UW 42

USC @ Notre Dame – The storied rivalry continues at South Bend this weekend. Both of these teams have been flying under the radar as of late but are playing good football. Notre Dame needs to beat USC if they want any chance of getting to a BCS game. USC, on the other hand, is on probation and can’t play in the post season. They’re playing every game like it is their bowl game. These teams are pretty evenly matched so we are going with the home team. Pick: Irish 27 USC 21

Upset of the Week

North Carolina @ #7 Clemson – On paper it looks like Clemson will ride rough shot over theTar Heels. If you really dig into it we like two things about North Carolina: #1 The Tar Heels have a balanced attack on offense. #2 Taj Boyd is banged up. We know Clemson claims he is ready to go but we will see how he feels the first time he takes a shot to the hip. Pick: North Carolina 31 Clemson 27

Something to Look for 

Houston – The Cougars are undefeated going into the week. As we look at the schedule we don’t see a team that will beat them. It is time to pay attention to Casey Keenum as he battles to get his Cougars into a BCS game.