Time to win the Pac-10

Well, week 4 in the college football season is here, and boy how time flies. In the young season, we have seen the mighty fall (Michigan, Notre Dame) while the contenders are starting to build their resumes for the push for New Orleans. This week, the Trojans host the Washington State Cougars in the Pac-10 opener for both schools. The Cougars are 2-1 on the season, but only played impressively against Wisconsin, though with the Badgers recent struggles against UNLV and the Citadel, that game is looking less impressive. They beat San Diego State, but the Aztecs aren't going anywhere, and they beat Idaho by 17 points. QB Alex Brink leads a scrappy Wazzu squad that played the Trojans tough last year, falling when S Taylor Mays picked off Brink on the game's final game This year, USC looks to improve their performance in Pac-10 play, where they played in 5 games that were decided by 7 points or less (WSU, UW, ASU, OSU, UCLA) and none, other than Stanford, were decided until the fourth quarter. Hopefully we'll face the Cougars of old, with Bill Doba going for an onside kick to start the game and trying to survive the first half without falling behind by 28. With our offense being dominant on the ground and sluggish in the air, SC really needs to get the offense moving in their home games, with tough road matchups coming up. In this one, I say that DT Sedrick Ellis and DE Lawrence Jackson dominate the line on defense, while C Kris O'Dowd and G Jeff Byers hold on offense, and that the Trojans (-25.5) win 38-17.

Here are the rest of my picks, including for last night's game between Texas A&M and Miami.

Thursday, September 20th
Miami (Florida) (-3) 34, #20 Texas A&M 17

Friday, September 21st
#4 Oklahoma (-24.5) 42, Tulsa 25

Saturday, September 22nd
#1 Southern California (-25.5) 38, Washington State 17
#2 Louisiana State (-18.5) 42, #12 South Carolina 10
#3 Florida (-24) 63, Mississippi 7
#5 West Virginia (-24.5) 31, East Carolina 10
#6 California (-14) 35, Arizona 14
#7 Texas (-38) 38, Rice 14
#8 Ohio State (-23.5) 35, Northwestern 7
#9 Wisconsin (-7.5) 14, Iowa 3
Michigan (+3) 21, #10 Penn State 17
#13 Oregon (-17.5) 42, Stanford 18
#14 Boston College (-27) 49, Army 10
#15 Clemson (-7.5) 31, North Carolina State 13
#16 Alabama (-3.5) 23, #22 Georgia 17
#17 Virginia Tech (OFF) 31, William & Mary 0
#18 Louisville (-37) 70, Syracuse 31
#19 Hawaii (OFF) 63, Charleston Southern 21
Arkansas (-7) 24, #21 Kentucky 21
#23 South Florida (-13.5) 34, North Carolina 19
#24 Nebraska (-23.5) 42, Ball State 10
#25 Missouri (OFF) 45, Southern Illinois 0
Arizona State (-11.5) 24, Oregon State 7
Washington (+6) 27, UCLA 20