college football preview, week 11

(13) michigan at wisconsin - 12:00 pm

ever since michigan's embarrassing first two home games, they've actually played a lot better while under the radar. of course, they still play in the big ten, so they're not exactly challenged on a weekly basis. this game should be no exception. michigan is on a mission to win out and make the rose bowl, thus cementing the truly mediocre nature of the big 11. wisconsin was exposed by illinois a few weeks ago and has not really been the same since. camp randall stadium is a tough place to play in, but less so at noon. as is often the case in college football, it will go down to who wants it more.

the pick: michigan

arkansas at (22) tennessee - 12:30 pm

i don't understand why darren mcfadden has been getting virtually no talk for the heisman lately. i mean, look at these stats. or this table. anyone that's watched him play even a little bit knows he's a lock top 3 pick in the nfl draft next year. once again this goes to show that being awarded the heisman has become increasingly more a matter of being popular and playing for a good team, and less to do with actually being the truly best player. this is perhaps the topic for another post, so i digress. tennessee has no run defense to speak of. arkansas has no defense at all to speak of. while i think mcfadden will get his yards, houston nutt will make his typically terrible calls at crucial points in the game.

the pick: tennessee (begrudgingly)

air force at notre dame - 2:30 pm

navy beat notre dame last week, and i think air force has an even better chance of beating the irish. and i will be rooting for this. i'm quite happy that notre dame has struggled so much this year. they made their bed with charlie weis and now they have to sleep in it. that 10-year contract will look like an albatross yet.

the pick: air force

illinois at (1) ohio state - 3:30 pm

this is an interesting game. illinois only lost by 7 to the buckeyes at home last year, and that was really before they had as good players as they do now. i was thinking of picking illinois for this, but then i heard mark may pick them on sportscenter. so now i'm a little less convinced. i am of the opinion, however, that this house of cards is soon going to crumble for the buckeyes, but that it will be next week vs. michigan.

the pick: tOSU

(16) connecticut at cincinnati - 3:30 pm

cincinnati has laid waste to many an inferior team this season. connecticut is one of those types of teams. yes, their rush defense is supposedly really good, but they've also played nobodies. i expect the bearcats to murder them with a trident.

the pick: cincinnati

(18) auburn at (10) georgia - 3:30 pm

most people outside the south probably don't know that this is a big rivalry game. last year, auburn was ranked in the top 5 and lost at home to an inferior georgia team. i would suspect auburn is out for some measure of revenge. also, tommy tuberville seems to have supplanted mark richt as the best road coach in the SEC. all three of auburn's losses were close games, so they're better than their record might indicate. and georgia was pummeled by tennessee, so they're certainly worse than their record.

the pick: auburn

baylor at (4) oklahoma - 6:30 pm

baylor stinks.

the pick: oklahoma

(17) florida at south carolina - 7:45 pm

the cocks are reeling, having lost 3 in a row. i have absolutely no proof of this, but i think that the rest of college football coaches in general have caught up to spurrier's genius. at the very least he no longer has that aura of invincibility. plus, it's really hard to recruit at south carolina. on the other side of the ball, florida had their get well game vs. an inferior vanderbilt team last week after having gone more than a month between home games. now they're back on the road again in a hostile environment at night. this will be a tough a test for a still mentally weak gator team.

the pick: florida

(5) kansas at oklahoma state - 8:00 pm

i think this is going to be a really good game. despite their 5-4 record, oklahoma state is a lot better team than you might think. they have some explosive players on offense. it's their semi-permeable defense that gets them in trouble, and kansas has had no trouble moving up and down the field this year. however, it's a night game, and stillwater, oklahoma is one place where you do not want to make a wrong turn down a dark alley. this will be kansas toughest test of the season, and they will just barely fail.

the pick: oklahoma state