'Bama-LSU, USC-ASU, and the Rest of the Week 10 College Football Preview

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It doesn't matter who your team is, Aaron Torres has you covered. To read this article in its entirety, including his thoughts on Penn State-Ohio State, Navy-Notre Dame, and Cincinnati-UConn, please click here , or visit him at www.aarontorres-sports.com

South Carolina (plus-seven) over ARKANSAS: 12:20

Was it just me, or did it seem like every time you turned on the South Carolina-Tennessee game last weekend, Stephen Garcia was slowly walking off the field, ripping off his helmet with one of those crazed, “If those fat f---s don’t start blocking for me, I’m going to kill one of them,” looks in his eyes. I swear I saw that happen at least 15 times last Saturday.

Anyways, with South Carolina in the midst of their annual free fall, it’d be easy to just take the Hogs at home and move on.

But here’s the thing: Do you know that South Carolina hasn’t allowed a quarterback to throw for more than 160 yards since Week Three against Florida Atlantic? Granted, Jevan Snead, Mike Hartline, Greg McElroy, and Jonathan Crompton aren’t Ryan Mallett, but that’s still a pretty good overall body of work.

Factor that in with Arkansas’ inability to tackle (27 points against Eastern Michigan last weekend? Really? Really?), and I think we might have ourselves a lot closer ballgame than anyone’s anticipating.

Oregon (minus-seven) over STANFORD: 3:30 p.m.

I mean, I guess I understand why this line is so low: Oregon’s coming off a big win; they’re going on the road; Stanford’s coming off a bye, and it’s an early kickoff.

But just seven points, really? Was I the only one that saw Oregon’s offense roll up 613 yards last weekend, and turn the USC game into an And One mix tape?

Games like this are why I need my own ESPN stats team. There’s got to be some wacky stat Vegas knows that’s pushing this line so low, right? Something like, “Stanford is 11-2 since 2001 when facing quarterbacks named Jeremiah,” or “Jim Harbaugh has never lost a 3:30 kickoff against an Oregon school, coming off a bye week.”

Unfortunately, until I get that stats team I’m going to have stick with my guns. And because of it, I like Oregon to cover.

LSU (plus-seven-and-a-half) over Alabama: 3:30 p.m.

Whenever I’m having a really hard time deciding on a game, I always ask myself, “What direction would Beano Cook go,” and then run the opposite way. Just kidding.

What I seriously do though, is lay out all the questions that I have on each team, to better evaluate the situation.

For LSU, here are my questions. Is Jordan Jefferson ready to go into Bryant-Denny Stadium and get a win? Why doesn’t LSU use Charles Scott more? Will they Saturday? Do the Tigers have some kind of contractual agreement with Russell Sheppard on touches? Because there just doesn’t appear to be any rhyme, reason, or consistency to how they use him. And finally, as good as LSU has looked the last two weeks, did beating up on Auburn, and Tulane really help them get ready for this game?

For Alabama, it’s much simpler. The Tide said they needed last week’s bye to rest both physically, and mentally. Was that the truth, or an excuse? And most importantly, is Greg McElroy going to figure “it” out in time for Saturday?

In the end, I have more questions about LSU, but also have a clearer picture of the Tigers than I do of Alabama, after their wins the last two weeks.

Put it all together, and I’m still going to take the Tide to win, but in a squeaker.

Luckily, I don’t think Nick Saban, his players, and most Alabama fans care about point spreads, as long as they get to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. That won’t be a problem after Saturday.

ARIZONA STATE (plus-10) over USC: 8:00 p.m.

For selfish reasons I want USC to blow Arizona State out. Mainly that I have a bunch of friends going to this game, and if I can’t be there with them, well, I hope it’s lousy. What can I say, that’s just the kind of friend I am.

But anyways, after thinking about this one for awhile, here are three reasons this one stays close:

1. Arizona State’s defense is waaaaaaay better than people realize (25th in scoring defense, fourth in rushing defense in all of college football).

2. At this point, the guys on USC’s injured list (Stafon Johnson, Armond Armstead, Anthony McCoy etc.), might actually be able to beat the guys who’ll be on the field for the Trojans Saturday. You know, if they were healthy.

3. Matt Barkley just isn’t that good. There I said it. His numbers may be ok, but after watching him every week, I’m convinced that if his name were Craig Johnson, and he didn’t look like an Abercrombie model, we wouldn’t be nearly as enamored with him. In time, he’s going to be really good, but he’s not there yet.

Oklahoma (minus-seven) over NEBRASKA: 8:00 p.m.

I like Bo Pelini, and think he’ll eventually get Nebraska back to the top of the Big XII North (emphasis on eventually).

But after watching the Cornhuskers last weekend, I’m going steal a phrase from 1999, and say that the Nebraska’s offense is U-G-L-Y (Oh you better believe I went there). I don’t care who the quarterback is, unless your whole team has swine flu, or is shaving points (and to the best of my knowledge neither scenario happened last weekend) there is no excuse to only get 273 yards of offense, and 11 first downs against Baylor. None.

Oklahoma in this one, big.

(To read the REMAINDER of this article, please click here , or visit Aaron at www.aarontorres-sports.com )

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