College Week 7 Fan's Guide

The upset bug wasn’t so rampant last week with only one top-10 team, South Florida, biting the dust. The Bulls 26-21 loss to Pittsburgh last Thursday eliminated the Big East’s best chance at making the BCS Title Game. It’s only October but it’s hard to imagine anyone from that conference making enough of a push to creep back into the national title picture. West Virginia has disappointed, and no other team in the conference has stepped up. Elsewhere, Terrelle Pryor helped Ohio state sneak by Wisconsin in a 20-17 thriller. The freshman standout really earned his stripes as a playmaker by scoring the game-winning touchdown on the road. The Buckeyes looked pathetic early in the season, but they have been improving ever since Jim Tressel made the move to Pryor. Stay tuned.

Week 7 offers a full day’s worth of marquee games with the Big 12 finally beginning some intra-conference matchups. There’s some talk that the SEC’s throne as the best conference in America is being challenged. The Big 12 is a league that's been getting better pretty quickly. Their conference has several teams in contention for double-digit win seasons, and a number of elite quarterbacks. They also have three teams in the top five. I still don’t agree with the notion that Big 12 can match the SEC right now, but I will say they are definitely closing the gap. Oklahoma’s recent BCS flops make me skeptical to crown them as the clear number one, but an impressive win in the Red River Shootout against fifth-ranked Texas would definitely help. The rest of the schedule is stacked as well.


#5 Texas (5-0) vs. #1 Oklahoma (5-0), 12:00 pm ET (Dallas)
This game is the first of two absolute blockbusters on the second Saturday of October. Oklahoma comes into this game with some impressive offensive numbers and Sam Bradford as the leader of the Heisman Race. The Sooners haven’t trailed in a single game yet this season, and their closet game was a 35-10 blowout of TCU two weeks ago. The bar goes up considerably in this contest. Texas has looked very strong to this point, and it finally seems like the light has clicked in Colt McCoy’s head. His play has improved immeasurably in his junior year. He looks nothing like the guy who threw 18 interceptions; his completion percentage is up 12 points to a career-high 79%. McCoy’s strong play has been mirrored by his teammates and Texas has been nearly as great as the top-ranked team. This game is probably going to be decided in the final minutes and could be a real classic.
Oklahoma, 31-28

Clemson (3-2) @ #21 Wake Forest (3-1), Thursday 7:30 pm ET
Tommy Bowden’s team looks nothing like the team they were prognosticated to be, and face a difficult road game against a quality team. Wake Forest was looking good prior to last week’s loss to Navy, a surprising loss that came out of nowhere. Riley Skinner and the Demon Deacons must do better this time around. They still have a shot at getting a BCS Bowl, but must step their game up a notch in this one. Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper has had a rough year, throwing more picks than touchdowns and playing well below expectations. They always seem to struggle in the big games, but Clemson has owned Wake Forest in the recent history of this rivalry. Picking the mild upset and going with the up-and-down Tigers.
Clemson, 24-17

#6 Penn State (6-0) @ Wisconsin (3-2), 8:00 pm ET
The Nittany Lions are sitting as the surprise leaders of the Big Ten standings as they head into the meat of their schedule. A four game stretch involving the conference’s big dogs will really tell us whether or not Penn State can win the national championship. It begins in Madison against the Badgers who were ranked ahead of Paterno’s boys just two weeks ago, but now are unranked at 0-2 in conference play. They fell apart against Michigan, and just couldn’t contain Terrelle Pryor when it mattered most. They never looked as good as their top-10 ranking, and should be on their back all day against Penn State’s relentless offensive attack.
Penn State, 30-16

#17 Oklahoma State (5-0) @ #3 Missouri (5-0), 8:00 pm ET
The Big 12 is chalk full of quarterbacks, and two of them will be on display here in the conference’s second showdown of undefeated teams. Chase Daniel you know about thanks largely to his wonderful season a year ago when he led the Tigers to the number one ranking on the last week of the season. He’s off to a wonderful start in his senior year, with 15 touchdowns and one interception. He’s been part of an offense that has been impossible to stop to this point. The guy you may not know much about is Zac Robinsin, the signal caller for the infamous Mike Gunday and the Cowboys. He’s a running threat that has become an accomplished passer in leading an explosive offense. Oklahoma State will score plenty in this one, but won’t be able to catch the high-flying Tigers.
Missouri, 49-31

#4 LSU (4-0) @ #11 Florida, (4-1), 8:00 pm ET
For the time in the BCS era, the last two national champions will meet in a regular season game. That’s all you need to know about where the SEC stands in the conference pecking order. LSU has to feel good that its one of only three undefeateds left in the SEC, with Florida, Georgia, and Auburn falling to the pack. They face a tall order in this one as they travel to the Swamp to face the Gators. Florida has something to prove in this game, and will be eager to get their home fans amped in this super charged matchup. LSU defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois has added more fuel to the fire by broadcasting his desire to make Tim Tebow feel an enormous amount of pain on Saturday. LSU's defense is stacked enough to believe he will have success doing that, but his quarterback won’t provide enough offense to finish the job.
Florida, 24-19

Other Picks for the Week:
#10 Georgia over Tennessee
Northwestern over #23 Michigan St.

Last Week: 4-2
Season: 23-9