Gobble-gobble. It’s Thanksgiving and this year, we have so much to be thankful for-
- a BCS system that is in utter chaos
- Case Keenum putting up silly-ass numbers
- Lee Corso
…and that’s about it. College football is a mess, the SEC west is atop the BCS, whether we like it or not (NOTNOTNOT!!!) and every other conference in the country is a tire fire of varying dimensions. In fact, outside of LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, and possibly Georgia, you could make the case that the SEC is a tire fire in it’s own right. So if LSU wins on Friday, join me on the LSU vs. Houston in the BCS title game bandwagon. If the 2011 college football season is going to go up in flames, it might as well be spectacular, right?
The chaotic side of me wants Arkansas to win this game, Auburn to beat Alabama, Virginia to beat VaTech, and Notre Dame to beat Stanford, just to throw the whole BCS system one step further into the abyss. Sure, you might be thinking that there’s no way all those upsets could happen in a single week, but you were probably thinking that before last week’s Top 10 slaughter, too. I think if the same happened this week, Rece Davis’ head might pop off.
Since there’s food to be eaten, friends and family to be thankful for, and food to be eaten, let’s get to the picks, shall we?
Last week: 2-3 / All-time: 120-66
No. 3 Arkansas at No. 1 LSU - Like I stated earlier, I really want to pick Arkansas in this game. Chaos at all costs! But in reality, I simply don’t see Tyler Wilson having enough time to find all of his talented receivers, as good as they are. And unless Knile Davis miraculously comes back, their run game isn’t going to factor for much.
LSU wins, 19-14
No. 2 Alabama at No. 24 Auburn - Auburn can’t stop the run and their offense is a sloppy mess at times. Trent Richardson coud very well eat them alive.
Alabama wins, 31-10
No. 19 Penn State at No. 16 Wisconsin - Nopenopenopenopenope. Penn State has a damn good defense, but not this good. And their offense is bad enough to be stopped consistently by Wisky’s average D. Plus, Camp Randall in November. Those cheese-fed kids never get cold and they can yell like the dickens.
Wisconsin wins, 23-10
No. 5 Virginia Tech at Virginia - I’m on the Mike London bandwagon. I just am. I can’t help it.
Virginia wins, 24-21
No. 22 Notre Dame at No. 6 Stanford - Okay, so bear with me as I try to rationalize my dereliction of sanity. I think Notre Dame has a shot at winning this game in Palo Alto. I really do. They might have to play out of their minds to do so, but I think they could win Saturday night. They have a very solid offensive line and Stanford doesn’t have a great defense agains the pass - allowing 240 yards a game and only picking off 4 passes on the season - even if their rush defense is solid. If Notre Dame is going to win this game, they are going to need a few long runs from Cierre Wood to keep them honest. Otherwise, Stanford may just pin their ears back all game long. Wood is capable of giving them those runs and I wouldn’t be shocked if George Atkinson wouldn’t break one or two himself.
If the Irish can get enough pressure on Luck and continue to be solid against the run, they could slow Stanford down just enough to get an advantage for the offense.
Irish win, 35-31
