College Football Top 25 Picks

Noon Eastern Games

(15) Cincinnati -14 over Fresno State
Dr. Wedge Buster will see this one live. The Cats are battle tested with two tough road wins at Rutgers and Oregon State. They come home to beat down a Fresno team that doesn’t seem to have the non-conference magic they had in years past.o

Southern Miss +13.5 over (19) Kansas
Jayhawks win in a tight one. KU hasn’t played anyone and face a team with a 13 game win streak on the line. Todd Reesing’s QB leadership and home crowd help him pull out a tight one in Lawrence.

Georgia Tech -3 over (18) North Carolina
UNC did not look good in a fluky win over UCONN and let East Carolina hang around for awhile last week. Paul Johnson’s Jackets are fuming after a lackluster performance at Miami. They’ll control the clock on the ground and swarm Tar Heel QB T.J. Yates on D.

(22) Michigan -19.5 over Indiana
The Wolverines offense is simply too dynamic for IU to stay in this one. The Hoosiers have snuck by Eastern Kentucky and Western Michigan. Tom Crean would have better luck covering this spread.

(25) Florida State -12.5 over South Florida
No Grohawk. No chance. NOLES roll at home.

12:20 Eastern Game

(7) LSU -14 over Mississippi State
The road win over Washington looks even better for the Bayou Bengals. They have too much talent for the Bulldogs anyway.

3:30 Eastern Games

Oregon +6.5 over (6) Cal
The home team has won 5 of the last 6 in this series and the Ducks have proved resilient since their opening loss at Boise. I smell an upset in the wacky Pac-10.

(3) Alabama -15.5 over Arkansas
Ryan Mallett has never seen a defense this good. The Tide will run wild on the spotty Razorback D.

(12) Virginia Tech -2 over Miami
The Hokies are a gutsy team with a great defense year in, year out. After tough early season tests with Alabama and Nebraska this team is ready for a big game. A freshman QB like Jacory Harris is going to have growing pains from time to time and heading to Blacksburg is as tough a place to play as any.

(2) Texas -34 over UTEP
Is Jordan Palmer available? Does that matter? No. Should we put lines on games like this? No.

(14) TCU +2.5 over Clemson
You’re going to give me 2.5? With this aggressive defense? I’ll take em even in Death Valley.

Illinois +14 over (11) Ohio State
You’ve heard the whole “Tressel’s too conservative bit before” but you won’t see that Saturday at the Shoe. The Illini will give the Buckeyes a scare but ultimately they’ll lose in a shootout. Not much D from Zooker’s crew.

6:00 Eastern Games

(20) BYU -14.5 over Colorado State
The Cougars get back on track. Since thrashing the Buffs in week 1, the Rams barely got by Weber State and struggled with Nevada, their stiffest test will result in failure.

Kentucky +21.5 over (1) Florida
Settle down! I’m not picking an upset. UK has kept it pretty close the last three times the Gators have come to Lexington. Brian Hartline’s little bro Mike will put some points on the board. Gators by 2 TDs.

7:00 Eastern Games

(16) Oklahoma State (No Line) over Grambling State
If there was a ridiculously high line for this, I’d pick Grambling just for the sake of the classy Eddie Robinson, but alas, we have no 50 point spread to guess against.

(8) Boise State -15 over Bowling Green State
Chris Peterson will not let his team overlook anyone. He’s been on the other side of it. The Broncos are for real and 15 points is not enough.

Louisiana-Lafayette +27.5 over (24) Nebraska
This one depends on Zac Lee’s status. The Husker QB hurt his thumb last week in a tough loss at Virginia Tech. He had a rough day and his play is important. If he is hampered or doesn’t play, this could be much closer than Bo Pelini would like. The Ragin’ Cajuns knocked off Kansas State two weeks ago and could smell more blood in the Big 12. Nebraska wins but no blowout.

(17) Georgia -12.5 over Arizona State
The Dawgs’ offense has picked it up since laying an egg opening week. Between the hedges, they have too much talent for the Sun Devils

8:00 Eastern Game

Iowa +9.5 over (4) Penn State
The Hawkeyes have won 6 of their last 7 outright in this heated series. This game will be won on at the line of scrimmage and a 9.5 line isn’t big enough for the Lions to cover.

9:15 Eastern Game

Texas Tech +1 over (23) Houston
The Red Raiders are the better team. A lot of points will be put up and maybe 1,000 yards passing between Keenum and Potts, but Mike Leach usually wins offensive battles. Houston’s big win was fortunate over the Pokes and it will be their last over a Big 12 team this year.

Washington State +43 over (10) USC
Barkley’s injury and Corp’s performance suggest a likely 35 point win. Not enough.