Rev Picks 'Em: Rivalry Time

My, what a season it has been. Oregon bit the dust last night at Arizona, clearing the way for a new no. 2 next week. That, of course, followed Ohio State’s loss last weekend to Illinois. At this point, the national championship is completely up for grabs. LSU, Kansas, Oklahoma, even West Virginia and Missouri all have a chance to play for the title later this year.

So to put it lightly, this week’s slate of games is going to go a long way towards determining who will remain in the championship hunt and who will have to just settle for going to a bowl.

HHR went 7-3 last week, so we’re on a bit of a winning streak. Here are this week’s picks:

10 points: Iowa State (3-8) at KANSAS (10-0): With Oregon losing last night at Arizona, the Jayhawks will be the no. 2 team when rankings are released on Sunday. That is assuming they will win against a punchless Iowa State team, which they should not have a problem doing. For all the talk about the Jayhawks possibly being left out of the BCS title game, they control their own destiny now. Beat Iowa State, Mizzou, and Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship and they’re in.

9 points: OKLAHOMA (9-1) at Texas Tech (7-4): Like Kansas, Oklahoma seems to control their own destiny too: win out, play for national championship. Simple as that. On the other sideline, things don’t get any easier for the Red Raiders and their cry-baby coach, Mike Leach. Leach was fined a Big XII record $10,000 smackers for complaining about the officiating in last week’s 59-43 loss to Texas. Said Leach:

"I think it's disturbing that Austin residents (referee Randy Christal) are involved in this. People work too hard, too long, there's too much money invested in these games to allow that. Am I condemning the crew? Hell yeah, I'm condemning the crew."

Looks like Leach might be taking media pointers from Red Raiders basketball coach Bobby Knight. While it doesn’t quite surpass Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy’s ludicrous “I’m a Man!! I’m 40!!” rant from earlier this year , it’s still pretty good.



8 points: LOUISVILLE (5-5) at South Florida (7-3): Louisville played well in a 38-31 loss at West Virginia last week, despite taking only 22 active defensive players and abandoning the concept of running the ball effectively. But no matter how you cut it, this has been a disappointing season for the Cardinals. It was announced yesterday that starting DE DeAntwan “Peanut” Whitehead’s football career was over after being diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a potentially paralyzing condition where the spinal canal narrows in the neck. He’s the second Card to be diagnosed with the condition and the 4th Card overall to suffer a career-ending injury this year. From a fan’s perspective, I’m hoping against hope that QB Brian Brohm can go out on a high note, so that’s why this game is here.

CLUELESS.



7 points: WEST VIRGINIA (8-1) at Cincinnati (8-2): Mountaineers RB Steve Slaton seems to have regressed over last year’s breakout performance. However, while Slaton may have slipped just a bit, QB Pat White is proving that he is still one of the most electrifying players in college football today (see last week’s game breaking 50 yard TD scamper against Louisville with 1:36 left to play). This game will be tough as Cincy has a hard-hitting defense that will severely test WV’s potent offense. In the end though, the Mountaineers just have too many weapons, and I look for them to squeak by the Bearcats by no more than 6 or 7 points.

6 points: PENN STATE (8-3) at Michigan State (6-5): Michigan State needs this game bad to lock up a bowl berth, but … winning is just not something they do in East Lansing this time of year.



5 points: Kentucky (7-3) at GEORGIA (8-2): UK inexplicably laid an egg against Mississippi State their last time out, all but ending the Cats chances of winning a wide-open SEC East. Now Georgia is in the driver’s seat, and they have revenge on their mind for last year’s loss in Lexington. UGA has hung 40+ points on three straight opponents, including SEC stalwarts Florida and Auburn. The Wildcats better come ready to play or they could be in for a long, long afternoon between the hedges in Athens.

4 points: Boston College (8-2) at CLEMSON (8-2): It hurts my brain to pick Clemson in a game of this magnitude (winner wins the ACC Coastal Division), but I can’t find a reason not to take them at home.

3 points: OREGON STATE (6-4) at Washington State (4-6): I won’t be watching this game. I doubt you will either.

2 points: Maryland (5-5) at FLORIDA STATE (6-4): Five, six, maybe seven years ago, Florida State wins this game by 90 points. Maybe that’s a little high, but you get my point. Now, who knows. Granpda Bowden is definitely asleep at the wheel.

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… and now, for the one point game of the week:

1 point: OHIO STATE (10-1) at Michigan (8-3): With apologies to Dunbar, I’m going with the Bucks tomorrow. I don’t really think he could convince me otherwise, considering how Lloyd Carr’s final year in Ann Arbor has gone.

The Buckeyes blew their chance at getting back to the national championship game, so they’ll have to settle for doing what they do best: beating Michigan. Michigan, on the other hand, needs this game unlike any other. QB Chad Henne skipped the NFL draft with the express purpose of coming back to beat OSU at least one time during his career for the Maize and Blue. By the way, if this game wasn’t already hyped enough, this game will also decide the Big Ten championship and the league’s designee for the Rose Bowl.

I’m not a Big Ten fan, but even I’ll admit: this is bar none the best college football rivalry anywhere in America.

For the record, Michigan leads the all-time series 57-40-6.

HHR’s Season Record: 57-44


-posted by Rev. Shaw Moore