Well, that's what happens when you make Saturday's picks Tuesday. A trying 1-4 week last week brought the season record back to earth. Still picking 64 percent winners, though, so I'm still very much in the black for the year.
Oregon -10 vs. UCLA
Oregon's coming off a bad loss at Cal over the weekend -- a game they at least expected to compete in, if not win outright.
UCLA dominated Arizona, which is no special feat, but also saw QB Ben Olson go down with a knee injury.
UCLA was not great to begin with and this weekend begins a rough stretch for the Bruins.
Ducks take out their anger on the depleted Bruins.
Kansas State +10.5 vs. Nebraska
Ron Prince, the man whose third down draw plays and screen plays infuriated many a Virginia fan, is doing a pretty good job in his first year.
Although none of the guys are players he recruited, they seem to be willing to lay down on the tracks for him already.
After a frustrating 24-6 loss to Louisville and an absolutely unacceptable 17-3 defeat at the hands of Baylor, it looked like the season could totally tank.
Then the Wildcats came back and beat Oklahoma State 31-27 last week, and now the team is 4-2 and thinking about a bowl.
Whether or not they can beat Nebraska is questionable, but with the momentum in play and Bill Callahan coaching the other team, I wouldn't rule it out.
The Cornhuskers also have not shown a ton of interest in blowing lesser teams away (welcome to the West Coast offense in a college atmosphere), so I think all the Prince's men can keep it within shouting distance.
LSU -26.5 vs. Kentucky
Would you want to play the Bayou Bengals this week? A little bit of the same rationale as the Oregon game here.
LSU was humbled last week against Florida and is actually good enough to fix its mistakes and execute well the next week (unlike FSU, who I foolishly thought could do the same earlier).
Kentucky also didn't face LSU last year, so there's not much for Kentucky players to draw on.
It will be about a 49-14 final.
Rutgers +1.5 at Navy
This game will be won and lost on the ground. Both teams are in the top 10 in rushing yards per game -- Navy easily takes the cake with an absurd 350.5 y/g.
This is the type of game that should be played in the driving rain. When I picture what this game would look like in a perfect world, I think of "The Program."
Rutgers won't lose until they play at Pittsburgh next weekend.
UCF +10 vs. Pittsburgh
This is only Pitt's third road game of the year and second in a row. They handled but did not thrash Syracuse last week in the Carrier Dome, which makes me wonder if this is a lock for them.
Meanwhile, I have a suspicion that this game has been circled on the UCF calendars for quite some time. Other than their earlier game against Florida (which was obviously unwinnable), this is the biggest non-conference game of the season for the Golden Knights.
At 2-3, UCF can get back to .500, gain a ton of confidence before the rest of C-USA play and have something to brag about with a win against the Panthers.
All that should be enough incentive to gut out a heartbreaking loss to Dave Wann-'stache and company.
Last week: 1-4
Season Record: 14-8-3
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