College Morning Picks: Big Games in California

Boy, ESPN is really working Kirk Herbstreit this week. You can tell he's losing his voice and they haven't even put on the main show.

I won't lose my voice, because I'm not actually talking for this, unless you’re inside my head.

My head is a scary place for anyone to visit, but right now it’s a .500 mind looking to improve after two weeks.

I got a 3-2 week under my belt to bring my overall record to an even 6-6. Hopefully, like any good baseball team, I can get that record up well over the mark and pad my lead like the Los Angeles Angels.

I went pretty easy last week and still managed to lose two games, including one failed upset and one failed "I still believe in you" pick.

Boston College failed me late, and Nevada couldn't hang longer than a half. In fact, they couldn't do what I expected them to do, score touchdowns.

I'm sure Florida and Oklahoma were "gimmie" picks, but I went out on the limb with East Carolina once again and got rewarded.

So, I'll take the 3-2 week and move on to much more difficult tasks. Like picking a winner between two storied programs on a collision course to meet head on.

The only thing with that is that they are meeting head on like two trains and they will inevitably knock each other off the track.

I'm not talking about Ohio State and Southern Cal. I'm talking about Michigan and Notre Dame of course!

I'll pick that other game as well, not to worry.

Last Week: 3-2

Overall: 6-6

Neuheisel Two-Step: UCLA @ BYU

Can the Bruins do it again?

The fact of the matter is that this time, it isn't a Tennessee team prone to let-down that they are facing. It's a BYU team that narrowly won last week after they blocked an extra-point attempt against Washington.

We all know the story, but did you know BYU did the same thing to UCLA a year ago in one of their two meetings?

UCLA did win the regular-season game, but don't think they don't have that loss and what happened to their Pac-10 brethren in mind.

Game two will be much smoother for Kevin Craft, and UCLA probably has a little more talent than Washington does. Granted, they don't have a Jake Locker, but they have momentum.

Not to say last week was an injustice, but a UCLA win will remove all that animosity over BYU's win last week. Go with Neuheisel and the Bruins in a close one. Don't forget, Norm Chow against the program he wanted to be the head man at.

The Bulldog Letdown: Auburn @ Mississippi State

Last year, the Bulldogs went into Auburn and shocked the Tigers in their SEC opener.

This year, Auburn has LSU on-deck, and they have to travel to Starkville to take on Sly Croom and Mississippi State.

While Mississippi State has a lot of experience on the defensive side of the football, Auburn is in week two of their new offense with Chris Todd at the helm, and they could have been farther along, had Todd started from Week One.

Don't worry about the fact that the Bulldogs lost to Louisiana Tech in the opener, they are a decent team that will play Auburn tough.

But, I'll go with Auburn to narrowly escape a letdown. They survived Southern Mississippi last week; expect them to take Mississippi State more seriously this time around.

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