Free College Football Picks Week 12 2005

Rivalry Week Heroes

This is the week where bragging rights are bountiful throughout the sport of college football. Nothing is more exciting than the unranked fighting off chance and probability to annihilate their highly rated cross state rivals. Will there be upsets? Oh, yes, believe it! This is one of the years’ most exciting weekends. Lock your doors, give the wife your credit card (with proper limit restrictions), and send the kids off to Disney Land (or Tube Time if you’ve had a recent betting problem like myself), and watch college football games until your eyes hurt. Then take a time-out to buy some eye drops, and get back to the games. Rivalry Weekend is upon us!

Duke @ North Carolina (-24) – In the match-up of the “biggest basketball rivalry schools” Duke can’t even compare to North Carolina. The Tar Heels have trumped solid teams like NC State, Boston College, and Virginia. Duke has taken down… mmm… VMI. That’s my favorite Blue Devil gridiron team. No matter how well they play hoops, I can always bank on the fact that their football team will continue to suck on the asses of every other team in the ACC. Take the Tar Heels to bully the Blue Devils in hopes of sneaking into a bowl situation. ?

Minnesota (+5) @ Iowa – The Hawkeyes are tough at home (4-1), but they’ve lost to average teams more than once, (Iowa State, Northwestern). The Golden Gophers have only faltered against the likes of Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin, who have all shown off their power on a weekly basis. Basically, I think Minnesota is just flat out better than Iowa. This is a big rivalry, so almost every analysis can be thrown out the window, except mine. With three running backs who can punish opposing defenses, Minnesota has the advantage over the Hawkeye defensive front.

Ohio State (-3.5) @ Michigan – The Buckeyes took a little while to find themselves, but consider this game of hide and go seek over. The Buckeyes are here, solid, and dominate. Michigan has played better of late, but they don’t match-up with the speed in Ohio State. Look for the Buckeyes to do their damnedest to get into a BCS bowl by taking down the Wolverines at home.

Washington State @ Washington (+3) – The Huskies always seem to upset the Cougars. I realize the Coug’s have been leading every single PAC-10 game, but that just shows how good they are at Couging it. Yes, the Cougars manage to screw the pooch time in and time out, this time it will result in a loss to the Huskies and a winless Pac-10 Season. Awesome!

Oregon State @ Oregon (-14) – Those rascally Beavers don’t have their starting quarterback for this contest, so expect State to get their teeth kicked in quite painfully. Think American History X. Ouch! The Ducks have a chance to skip-to-my-lou right into a BCS Bowl Game where they will be severely outmatched by whomever the competition may be. Roll on rubber duckys!

Clemson (-2) @ South Carolina – South Carolina and Steve Spurrier will have a let down against the youngest Bowden and his Tigers of Clemson. The Tigers have played solid football all year long, culminating with a shocker last week against the Seminoles. Both teams should have a bit of a let down, but I think the Gamecocks will struggle more. Plus, the Tigers haven’t lost a game by more than 6 points all year long. They are the better team. Lets see if it transfers over on game day.

California (-4) @ Stanford – This game shows how much the Pac-10 sucks. Seriously, take a look at this match-up; the Cardinal are terrible, yet they are 5-4 because of the conference they are in. Cal, who was supposed to compete for first place, has a quarterback whose thrown twice the amount of interceptions as he’s thrown touchdowns over the past 4 games. Pathetic. Can I bet on both teams to lose? Either way, and especially if Cal sits their struggling starting Q, the Bears will win easily in this rivalry game.

Alabama (+6.5) @ Auburn – Alabama is coming off their most disappointing game in some time. The Crimson Tide will be at their best trying to prove themselves against an Auburn team whose been as tough as nails lately. Auburn is coming off of a huge win against the Georgia Bulldogs, so a let down might be in their near future. If Auburn isn’t all there, they’ll finish this game on the short end of the stick. But, it all comes down to the Crimson Tide. If ‘Bama is one of those teams that will sulk about their lost chances at a National Title, than they’ll be trampled by the Tigers. I get the feeling Alabama isn’t that type of team at all, in which case they’ll upset Auburn on Saturday.

Virginia Tech (-7) @ Virginia – After falling apart in the game against Miami the Hokies were given an honorary week off by the NCAA. In that week, the Hokies were allowed to sit down at a team meeting and think about everything bad about the Hurricane game. They’re still in the damn meeting. The Hokies are one of the Nations’ top 5 teams. Will they be done thinking about the seasons’ largest failure by the time they kick off against Virginia? I think so. I think Marcus Vick is the type of athlete that takes advantage of redemption. The Hokies will manage another victory against their cross-state rival, moving them into a big Bowl Game in the BCS category.

Fresno State (+24) @ USC – USC won’t get upset this week at home against Fresno, but State will play tight with the Trojans for the better part of the game. 24 points is a lot to win by against a team as scrappy as the Bulldogs, so look for SC to get covered. USC could get caught with their jocks around their knees, looking forward to their big rivalry game next week vs. UCLA. Could Reggie Bush really allow that to happen? Who knows, this is college football for Pete’s sake.

Penn State (-8) @ Michigan State – The Nittany Lions are the best one-loss team in the Nation, don’t be confused by that #5 ranking. They lost their only game on a last second, 4th down, lucky ass touchdown pass by the Wolverines. That’s the lone game separating them from an undefeated season. The Lions are winners, where MIchigan State has proved over the last 6 games that they are in face not winners at all. Early season trickery. Watch the Lions maul the Spartans in an exciting touchdown scoring festivity.

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