Last week was my first losing week...sorry, everyone. We'll try to do better this week:

Fox Family Picks:

Penn State -3 @ Purdue (11:00 am EST ABC, Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN; Rain and Snow Showers, 40): Neither team looked good last week, and with bad weather forecast for this week, and two offenses firing on five cylinders, I expect more of the same this week. If Illinois was able to score on Penn State (and they did, and the game was in doubt until late), Purdue will score. I think the spread is very fair and I would avoid this game. If it ends up being a windy day (the forecast is for 11mph winds), the UNDER at 48 looks good. If you forced me to bet, I'd take Purdue.

Washington State +1 @ UCLA (4:00 pm ABC, Rose Bowl, Pasadena; Partly Cloudy, 80): Wazzu just beat Oregon; UCLA almost beat Notre Dame in South Bend but didn't. UCLA plays at Cal next week (Cal is idle this week), and could be looking ahead and ignoring Wazzu. UCLA has lost the last two games in Pasadena to the Cougars. I'm not betting this game, but the trends and my gut says take Wazzu.

USC -12 @ Oregon State (12:30 pm FSN, Rizer Stadium, Corvallis; Sunny, 70): USC travels to face the Beavers after their bye week. Oregon State won in Tucson last week. Oregon State has traditionally played USC close -- their last game in Corvallis was a "fog bowl," where visibility went down to about 10 yards. That won't be the case this year, and USC will manage to win the game. However, I expect to see USC eke out yet another win, say by 10 (although a win by less wouldn't surprise me). Take the Beavers.

Other Games:

Miami, FL +6 @ Georgia Tech (3:30 pm EDT, Grant Stadium, Atlanta; Sunny, 60): I think that Miami is still getting an extra 3 points based on their reputation. They won at Duke by 5 points (yes, there were suspensions, but...). Take the yellowjackets, and I expect them to win by 10 points or more.

Connecticut +19 @ Rutgers (Sunday, 8:00pm EST, Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, NJ; Partly Cloudy, 50; may be windy): All Rutgers does is win. Once again the Scarlet Knights are on national television (although this time they may be opposite the world series and the Dallas/Carolina game). Rutgers wins big, too. UConn lost big at home to West Virginia (37-11). Now they must travel to face the best team in the Big East (IMHO). I expect a big blowout win by Rutgers.


That's it for this week.