College Football Week 4 Predictions: Picking Winners of Top 25 Matchups

At face value, Week 4 of the 2014 college football season is pretty easy to digest.

Well, maybe.

Conference play is getting underway around the nation, but on paper, it looks like a bunch of great teams set to beat up on lesser teams before things get serious. Then again, last week was pretty similar in its appearance as a ho-hum slate, but then Boston College took down USC and other such shenanigans.

So really, this week is not one to skip. Below, let's take a look at the full Top 25 slate and identify a few games to watch closely, as things may not be all that they seem on paper.

2014 College Football Week 4 Top 25 Predictions

Home	Away	Prediction
No. 1 Florida State	No. 22 Clemson	FSU, 35-14
No. 2 Oregon	Washington State	ORE, 42-14
No. 3 Alabama	Florida	ALA, 30-10
West Virginia	No. 4 Oklahoma	WV, 38-35
No. 20 Kansas State	No. 5 Auburn	AU, 23-14
SMU	No. 6 Texas A&M	TAM, 56-7
No. 8 LSU	Mississippi State	LSU, 34-20
No. 11 Michigan State	Eastern Michigan	MSU, 35-9
No. 13 Georgia	Troy	UGA, 40-10
Vanderbilt	No. 14 South Carolina	SC, 35-18
No. 18 Missouri	Indiana	MIZZ, 35-28
No. 19 Wisconsin	Bowling Green	WIS, 38-20
No. 21 BYU	Virginia	BYU, 27-23
No. 24 Nebraska	Miami	MIA, 34-27

Note: AP poll via The Associated Press.

Breaking Down Notable Games

No. 22 Clemson vs. No. 1 Florida State

Really, Clemson's return to prominence in recent years has been fully overshadowed by Florida State figuring things out at the same pace.

Then winning a title.

Oh, and dismantling the Tigers 51-14 at Memorial Stadium last season. Meanwhile, the Tigers just lost names such as Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins to the NFL and started the season in a not-so-hot manner before making the trip to Doak Campbell Stadium.

So what can save the Tigers?

Jameis Winston, last year's Heisman winner, of course. Florida State announced Wednesday that the signal-caller will be suspended for the first half of Saturday's showdown, ever so slightly opening the door for an improbable comeback.

This means Clemson, 1-1 after a season-opening humbling at the hands of Georgia, will need to get production from senior quarterback Cole Stoudt in a hurry—he has thrown for just 446 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

That, and not turn the ball over, as coach Dabo Swinney told Natalie Pierre of the Tallahassee Democrat:

"

The biggest things is, we've got to take care of the ball. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. We turned it over four times last year and just put the ball on the ground on one of them, in just a scoop and score. Those are things where you just don't have that type of room for error when you're playing a great, great football team like Florida State.

"

When Winston does make his appearance after the break, elite Clemson end Vic Beasley and a few others will have something to say to him about this tweet from a few months back: 

Not that it will matter all that much.

Historically speaking, Florida State rarely loses to Clemson at home. Sans Boyd and Watkins, the Clemson offense does not have the firepower to match Winston, even for a half. Forcing a few turnovers may throw a wrench in things, but that's assuming the Tigers can turn down their own issues in that area at the same time.

On the road, that's a lot to ask a team still finding its footing.

Prediction: Seminoles 35, Tigers 14 

No. 4 Oklahoma vs. West Virginia

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

For a team that is ranked No. 4 overall and has outscored its first three opponents by a combined total of 134-33, Oklahoma sure does not get a ton of love.

Perhaps that is because the wins came against Louisiana Tech, Tulsa and Tennessee.

Alright, that last school is not horrible, but there are questions as to Bob Stoops' team's legitimacy, which will get answers against West Virginia—a team that gave Alabama all it could handle to start the season in a 10-point loss before going on to blow out Towson 54-0 and win in Maryland 40-37.

As Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer muses, even Vegas is getting nervous about the showdown:

In a word, the Mountaineers are explosive and rank No. 5 overall in the nation in terms of passing yards per game (410.3). The culprit under center is senior Clint Trickett, who has 1,224 yards and seven touchdowns to one interception.

The numbers are not fluff, either. Trickett stood tall against the Crimson Tide and completed 64.4 percent of his passes for 365 yards and a score. Flanked by running back Rushel Shell (207 yards, two scores), the Mountaineers can score on any defense in the nation.

Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight has not been as impressive, throwing for 860 yards and four touchdowns to two interceptions. Even worse, he will miss star back Keith Ford, who is out with an injury.

"That'll be a week-to-week," said Stoops, per Cliff Brunt of The Associated Press. "That could be two weeks, three weeks, it's always a little bit hard to tell, depending on how it heals, so we'll just have to wait and see how that goes. For sure, he won't be able to play this week."

Traveling to Morgantown without a top running back and encountering an offense that ran more than 100 plays last week and scored effectively on Alabama is a recipe for disaster.

Upset alert is fully engaged for this one. 

Prediction: Mountaineers 38, Sooners 35

Stats and information via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.