Monday, November 12, 2012

College Football, Week 12



There’s quite a bit of reshuffling going on at the top of the rankings and several new/revisiting teams at the bottom.

This week there are just a few games that match two ranked teams and quite a few that see SEC teams playing FCS teams—some good some bad.

(This week’s rankings from the AP, Coaches’, Harris Interactive, BCS Standings. Rankings given last week appear in parentheses.  NR = Not Rated. Numbers in parentheses after the team’s name are the records.)

1/1/1/2 (2/2/2/3) Oregon (10-0) The Ducks will host the #14 Stanford Cardinal (8-2). Look for the Ducks to score frequently, the Cardinal not so much.

2/2/2/1 (3/3/3/2) Kansas State (10-0) The Wildcats will be on the road to play the Baylor Bears (4-5). Collin Klein and company take care of business.

3/3/3/3 (4/4/4/4) Notre Dame (10-0) The Irish will host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-5). Exorcism anyone?

4/5/4/4 (1/1/1/1) Alabama (9-1) The Crimson Tide host the Western Carolina Catamounts a 1-9 FCS team. The Tide will roll in this one.

5/4/5/5 (5T/5/5/5) Georgia (9-1) The Bulldogs will host the Southern Georgia Eagles an 8-2 FCS team. Southern Georgia is an FCS power house. This is not the FCS. The Bulldogs will win.

6/NR/NR/NR (5T/NR/NR/NR) Ohio State (10-0) The Buckeyes head to Wisconsin to play the Badgers (7-3). Braxton Miller vs Monty Ball. Two strong rushing offenses and two strong rushing defenses. This will be closer than many think. The Badgers may well pull off the upset.

7/7/7/6 (7/7/7/6) Florida (9-1) The Gators will host the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (6-4) a FCS school. Another late season mismatch between BCS and FCS schools. Gators win.

8/8/8/7 (9/9/8/7) LSU (8-2) The Tigers will host the Ole Miss Rebels (5-4). The Tigers should maul the Rebels.

9/10/10/8 (15/14/15/15) Texas A&M (8-2) The Aggies will play host to the Sam Houston State Bearkats (8-2) an FCS school. The Aggies will win this one between BCS and FCS schools.

10/6/6/10 (8/6/6/10) Florida State (9-1) The Seminoles head north to face the Maryland Terrapins (4-6). The Seminoles feast on Terrapins.

11/9/9/11 (10/8/9/13) Clemson (9-1) The Tigers host the North Carolina State Wolfpack (6-4). Tigers win this one.

12/11/11/9 (12/11/11/8) South Carolina (8-2) The Gamecocks will host the 8-2 Wofford Terriers an FCS school. South Carolina wins. Big.

13/12/12/12 (14/13/13/12) Oklahoma (7-2) The Sooners travel to West Virginia to play the Mountaineers (5-4). Tough year for the Mountaineers and it won’t get better in this one.

14/13/13/13 (16/15/14/14) Stanford (8-2) The Cardinal head north to play the #1 Oregon Ducks (10-0). The Ducks are just too talented.

15/17/16/16 (13/12/12/11) Oregon State (7-2) The Beavers will host the Golden Bears of California (3-8). Pick the Beavers to win big.

16/14/14/14 (18/16/16/16) Nebraska (8-2) The Cornhuskers will host the Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-4).  The Huskers should find this one easier that some. Look for them to lead from start to finish.

17/16/19/17 (17/19/21/18) UCLA (8-2) The Bruins will host the #21 Southern California Trojans (7-3). This looks to be a pretty evenly matched pair. Matt Barkley has proven to be more error prone than expected. He and Marqise Lee will have to play mistake-free ball to beat the Bruins.  Pick ‘em.

18/15/15/15 (19T/17/17/17) Texas (8-2) The Longhorns have the weekend off.

19/19/20/20 (19T/18/19/20) Louisiana Tech (9-1) The Bulldogs host the Utah State Aggies (8-2). Go with the home team. Bulldogs have a lot of firepower.


20/18/17/18 (11/10/10/9) Louisville (9-1) The Cardinals have the week off.

21/21/18/19 (21/22/18/19) Southern California (7-3) The Trojans play the #17 UCLA Bruins (8-2). Close game. Flip a coin.

22/20/21/22 (24/20/22/23) Rutgers (8-1) The Scarlet Knights are on the road to play in Cincinnati against the Bearcats (7-2). The Knights will have to play better than they have recently. They have the tools, however—especially on defense. That and the fact that the Bearcats have been inconsistent may be all the Scarlet Knights need to become 5-0 in the Big East.

23T/23/24/23 (NR/NR/NR/NR) Michigan (7-3) The Wolverines will host the Iowa Hawkeyes (4-6).  Michigan has been up and down this year. If they are up for this one, they win by two TDs.

23T/25/22/21 (25/NR/25/22) Texas Tech (7-3) The Red Raiders will be on the road to play the Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-3). This should be a close game that could go either way. OSU has had to go with three different QBS this year when injuries struck that position hard. Doesn’t seem to have hurt them much.  The difference may well be the play of Seth Doege. If he’s hot, the Raiders can’t be outscored.

25/NR/NR/NR (NR/NR/NR/NR) Kent State (9-1) The Golden Flashes head out on the road to play the Bowling Green Falcons (7-3). Kent State has played lights out this year. They are likely to singe the Falcons.

NR/22/23/NR (NR/24/23/NR) Boise State (8-2) The Broncos host the Colorado State Rams (3-7). The Broncos will defeat the Rams easily.

NR/24/NR/24 (NR/NR/NR/NR) Oklahoma State (6-3) The Cowboys host the #23T Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-3). Don’t know who will be the OSU QB but it will be Doege for the Raiders and that should be more than enough. Raiders but it will be a shootout.

NR/NR/NR/25 (NR/NR/NR/NR) Washington (6-4) The Huskies are on the road to play the Colorado Buffaloes (1-9). If the Huskies haven’t given up, they should win this one.

NR/NR/25/NR (NR/NR/NR/NR) Mississippi State (7-3) The Bulldogs will host the Arkansas Razorbacks (4-6). The Dogs continue to make the Razorbacks season far from a dream season.

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