NCAA Week 9

A little better slate of games even as the two big boys take a break before next week’s Game of the Century. . .

Michigan State +4 at Nebraska: Battle of two over-rated teams, with Michigan State coming off a fluke win over Wisconsin, and once again imagining itself a national power.  With the lucky ricochet pass to Keith Nichol, all memories of the Alabama rape are buried deep in the Sparty subconscious, and the Spartans once again believe they can step on the field with anybody and not get violated.  The best thing that could happen to the Spartans is to lose to Nebraska, and avoid having to play the LSU-Alabama loser.  Do the Spartans really want to be an SEC punk again?  I don’t think Nebraska matches up against MSU very well, they are similar to Michigan, with their running QB who can’t throw. . .but Nebraska does get more out of their tailbacks than Michigan, and has the home field advantage.  Nebraska.

Purdue +14 at Michigan: Purdue has played much better the last two weeks, giving Penn State a tough game, and then upsetting Illinois in a convincing fashion.  Michigan sits in a familiar spot as the last two RichRod teams, opening undefeated, and now having to salvage the season after losing to Michigan State.  RichRod’s teams always unraveled at this point in the season, as the poor weather and better defenses exposed Denard Robinson’s terrible arm, and the defense played dead, with Michigan getting hammered by increasingly larger margins as the season winded down in humiliating fashion.  Michigan’s defense has seemed to improve this year, and maybe Brady Hoke can pick off three more wins, this one against PU, one against either Iowa or Illinois on the road, and one at home against either Nebraska or Ohio State.  That would satisfy most fans for this year--though there could be a lingering uneasiness if Robinson continues to struggle: what to do with him next year, when the schedule is much much tougher, including a frightening opener against Alabama.  Well, Michigan will worry about that later.  They'll shoot for 9 wins this year, and believe things are looking up.  Michigan should win this game, but they ain’t gonna cover.  Purdue.

Oklahoma at Kansas State +14.  Oklahoma is coming off an embarrassing home loss to Texas Tech, which showed once again how soft they and their conference, the Big Whatever It Was, really is.  Now they play on the road against a higher ranked team, and find themselves 14 point favorites.  That’s because that higher ranked team is Kansas State, with their joke schedule and whose best win is a road win over the very same Texas Tech team which just beat Oklahoma.  But Texas Tech gave that game to KSU, with four costly turnovers.  Kansas State is rated #8 in the country. . .in reality there are probably 40 teams which could beat their ass every which way but loose.  The line here is 14, and that shouldn’t be points, but spots. . .K State should drop at least 14 spots in next week’s poll after they get exposed in this one.  Oklahoma.

Illinois +5 at Penn State.  Illinois starting to smell like a RichRod team.  They started out 6 - 0, then flopped at home against a crummy Ohio State team and then somehow managed to lose at Purdue.  Ron Zook looked a magician two weeks ago, now he’s facing 3 ranked teams in a row, and a possible 5 game losing streak.  Penn State is horrible, yet somehow manage to find themselves in first place in one of the Big 10’s two dumbly named conferences.  I actually think Illinois is the better team, but Penn State has got them at the right time, just as they are on the verge of a total collapse.  Penn State.

Georgia at Florida +3: Just as I thought would happen after Georgia opened with two losses and it looked like Richt was on his way out: Georgia is now in the middle of what will probably be a season-ending 10 game winning streak and trip to the SEC title game.  An easy schedule saves Richt.  Florida started out real pretty-looking with their new coach, but once they had to play some mens teams, the losses have piled up.  Here’s loss #4 in a row for a team that has only scored 27 points in its last 3 games.  Georgia.

Clemson at Georgia Tech +4 1/2.  Ga Tech’s high-powered option offense has sputtered the last couple weeks, with embarrassing losses to Virginia and Miami.  Now they run into Dabo Swinney’s Clemson team, which has given up 83 points in its last two games, yet still won them fairly easily.  Old boy Dabo is the Coach of the Year so far, and has Clemson sitting in striking distance of the BCS title game.  A few weeks ago this looked like one of the only two games which could spoil an undefeated season (the other being the season ender at South Carolina).  But now I have to wonder if Tech has the ability to outscore Clemson.  Paul Johnson better win this game, or he could be headed for his second straight season-ending collapse, and people may begin to wonder if his offense is just a gimmick that only works for Service Academy schools sneaking up on the big boys.  Clemson.

Stanford at USC +8: Stanford owned this game under Jim Harbaugh, but now Jimmy is gone, and Stanford's got some negro coach on the sidelines.  Here’s the first game where Stanford fans get a glimpse of the future, and realize how much they really lost when Harbaugh took off to the NFL.  USC.

Wisconsin at Ohio State + 71/2.  This looked like a Big Game before the season started, but OSU lost Tressell and Pryor, and now they are just another team, while Wisconsin took a huge tumble in the polls after their DUMB loss to Michigan State.  I’ll be shocked if Wisconsin doesn't bounce back with their fancy negro quarterback and beat the shit out of Ohio State.  Wisconsin.