Big college football games on tap this weekend
Toolbox
By RALPH D. RUSSO The Associated Press - Published: October 29, 2009
Much like politics, college football is essentially local.
Sure, Florida, Texas and Southern California will play huge rivalry games with national title implications Saturday. But more importantly, those three games will go a long way toward sorting out the conference races.
The top-ranked Gators face Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla., with a chance to clinch the Southeastern Conference's East Division, depending on what happens with South Carolina and Tennessee.
The Bulldogs are two games behind the Gators in the standings, so even with a win they'll need help to catch Florida. But this qualifies as the Bulldogs' last stand when it comes to winning an SEC title.
No. 3 Texas goes to Stillwater with a half-game lead in the Big 12 South over No. 13 Oklahoma State. With the Longhorns having already beaten Oklahoma and Texas Tech, a victory over the Cowboys would give them a relatively smooth road to the conference title game.
"We don't want, like last year, to leave it up to a tiebreaker," Texas linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy said.
The Cowboys would take the lead in the division race with a victory, but they have plenty of heavy lifting to come with games against Texas Tech and Oklahoma in November.
No. 4 USC goes to No. 10 Oregon trailing the Ducks by a game in the Pac-10 race. The Trojans have won seven straight conference titles, but the streak would be in grave danger if they take a second Pac-10 loss.
Keeping an eye on that game will be Arizona, which is tied with the Trojans at 3-1 in the Pac-10 standings. The Wildcats still have both USC and Oregon on the schedule, so don't let anybody try to tell you this game will settle the Pac-10 title. But it is a big one.
The picks:
Thursday
North Carolina (plus 16-1/2)
at No. 14 Virginia Tech
Lane Stadium is no place to snap out of a funk ... VIRGINIA TECH 31-13.
Friday
No. 20 West Virginia (minus 3)
at South Florida
USF has won two of three vs. 'Neers, allowing 15 points per game ... SOUTH FLORIDA 24-17.
Saturday
No. 1 Florida (minus 15-1/2)
vs. Georgia at Jacksonville
Gators are overdue for good game ... FLORIDA 37-17.
No. 3 Texas (minus 9)
at No. 13 Oklahoma State
'Horns have won 11 straight vs. Cowboys, but with several wild comebacks ... TEXAS 28-17.
No. 4 Southern California (minus 3) at No. 10 Oregon
Hard to pick against this year's Trojans when spotlight is on them ... USC 28-24.
No. 5 Cincinnati (minus 14-1/2)
at Syracuse
Orange playing better under new coach ... CINCINNATI 35-14.
San Jose State (plus 35)
at Boise State
Another Broncos blowout ... BOISE STATE 48-10.
Indiana (plus 17-1/2) at No. 7 Iowa
Finally an easy week for Hawkeyes — relatively speaking ... IOWA 27-14.
UNLV (plus 35) at No. 8 TCU
Horned Frogs go point-for-point with Boise State ... TCU 48-10.
Tulane (plus 35-1/2) at No. 9 LSU
Tigers have won 17 straight vs. Green Wave ... LSU 34-13.
No. 11 Georgia Tech (minus 12)
at Vanderbilt
Jackets lead nation in time of possession; Vandy 117th ... GEORGIA TECH 41-14.
No. 12 Penn State (minus 15)
at Northwestern
Daryll Clark has 12 TD passes in PSU's four-game winning streak ... PENN STATE 27-17.
Southern Miss (plus 6-1/2)
at No. 15 Houston
C-USA's best defense (Golden Eagles) vs. best offense (Cougars) ... HOUSTON 34-24.
New Mexico State (plus 44)
at No. 17 Ohio State
Aggies offense ranks last in nation at 254 ypg ... OHIO STATE 42-3.
No. 18 Miami (minus 7)
at Wake Forest
Hurricanes have won five straight vs. Demon Deacons ... MIAMI 28-24.
Wyoming (plus 17) at No. 19 Utah
At least Cowboys can escape snow in Laramie ... UTAH 35-10.
No. 21 South Carolina (plus 5-1/2)
at Tennessee
Offensive coaches with nasty defenses ... SOUTH CAROLINA 14-13.
Kansas State (plus 28)
at No. 22 Oklahoma
Sooners appear ready to close strong ... OKLAHOMA 45-14.
No. 24 Mississippi (minus 3-1/2)
at Auburn
Tigers have lost three straight after 5-0 start ... MISSISSIPPI 26-25.
No. 25 Notre Dame (minus 28) vs. Washington State at San Antonio
Irish get to rest starters in fourth quarter for change ... NOTRE DAME 47-14.
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