It’s all about parity these days. With four weeks now gone in the forecast, the race is still tight with only four games separating first from last. Last week’s picks were not published simply because I didn’t have space, but picks were still made. Ross Dellenger has joined Jon Hillard at the top of the standings at 17-7 followed by the student guests, who come in at 16-8. After a 5-1 week, I followed up with a 2-4 showing last weekend.
This week’s games promise to be just like the previous 24 featured in our forecast. All six games this week feature teams that are in the middle their respective conference races, and one features a team who can literally rewrite their program’s history with a win this weekend.
The Iowa State Cyclones host the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Ames, Iowa this weekend, and as I mentioned earlier, a win would be nothing short of a “program maker” for ISU. With Nebraska suffering through what many people are already calling a down year, the Cyclones have their best chance ever to beat the Huskers.
Our Bulldogs travel to Baton Rouge tomorrow to take on the LSU Tigers, a team many people feel can win the SEC this season. After the 42-14 home loss to Auburn, the only question around Starkville is, “Can the Dawgs bounce back?”
In Fayetville, Ark., the Arkansas Razorbacks will try to open their SEC season with a win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. ‘Bama has lost star running back Ahmad Galloway to a knee injury, so it should be interesting to see how the Tide’s running game will survive with Galloway.
Oregon State is coming off a 59-19 trashing of Fresno State last week and is looking to get their first Pac-10 win this season against the USC Trojans in Los Angeles on Saturday. The Trojans are coming off a road loss to Kansas State.
For some reason, the Florida-Kentucky game this weekend has actually raised some eyebrows around the SEC simply because the ‘Cats are 4-0 for the first time since 1984, and have already beaten one ranked team this season. The Gators are looking to follow up their win over Tennessee with another over the perennial “cellar dwellers” of the SEC.
A win for Kentucky could be classified as one of the biggest wins in the history of Kentucky football, not to mention one of the biggest upsets in the storied history of the SEC.
In our final game this week, the Washington State Cougars travel to California to take on the 3-1 Bears. Cal lost last week to Air Force, and WSU’s only loss was a 25-7 setback to No. 6 Ohio State back on Sept. 14.