College Football Picks Week Three, Part Four: USC-Ohio State and More...

After the Rutgers performance yesterday, I now stand at 29-18 against the spread and +13 1/2 units, I really would like to just leave it at that for now, though you know I'm not going to.

Last night in New Jersey, we learned why we feel having a cushion is important and, while no matter how sure of a thing we think a game is and no matter how much sense our decision regarding a game seems to make, they still have to play the game, and once that starts we're never 100 percent sure exactly what's going to happen.

I talk about it on today's video, so I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I don't think we're going to be on Rutgers again in the near future until they can convince us that they want to score touchdowns and that they have learned that it doesn't work to throw into quadruple coverage. While these seem like the basics, they don't seem to be on the agenda in Piscataway this year. I'm done with this portion of today's story.

All the way up until the time I sat down to write this I had planned on spending an entire day's post, or a least an entire post, just on Saturday night's Ohio State-USC game; I honestly believe there is enough information out there to do so, but that may be the problem.

When I moved from the newsletter to the blog format and it became an at-least-daily thing, I promised myself and my then-limited readers that I wasn't going to regurgitate what other people were saying. I also promised that I wasn't going to try and be a news site or a news reporter—that's not what I'm all about.

The thing is, while I follow the news, I don't report on it. If that's what you are looking for, you've absolutely come to the wrong place. On my site I have some wonderful links that I make available to all of my readers that are where I look for the news. They are the best ones I have found as far as reliability, as I don't waste my time on places that aren't. If I'm missing any, be sure to let me know and I'll add them.

In any event, what my blog is about is college football. I think all of you can tell by reading my blog that most of my writings center around my observations of what I've seen as I try and watch at least most of every game that is available to me. I believe that is what being real is. I haven't watched five minutes of Game Day and I haven't even really have time to look at ESPN's college football coverage on the Web except to check on things like whether they canceled the Arkansas-Texas game this weekend (they did) or other breaking news.

So if you want the news, go check those guys out; I'm not offended in the slightest. If you want to get real about college football and talk about real observations of real games, regardless of what network they may be on or what conference, you are at the right place, and everyone is always welcome here. Let's get back to the games.

Washington State at Baylor (Friday 9/12/08, 7:30 EST) line: Baylor -2, No Play

Because the time of the game and the location was changed, all wagers have been declared "No Action," and when I saw that it kind of made sense to me; how could we even touch this thing? Neither of these underachievers can seem to get out of their own way and don't give us a lot to like, so I have decided to place no action on this game at all.

I just don't have enough faith on either side of the ball that either team can do anything well consistently, nor can they not do any of the things they do poorly for four straight quarters. Since getting out of their own way seems next to impossible, my money isn't leaving my wallet.

There are some trends we could talk, but I don't see anything there too helpful, as most relate to last season and beyond, and the only thing consistent I can find about these two this year is that they are inconsistent. Maybe by putting a few things out there, someone can show me the golden opportunity I'm missing by staying away from this gem.

Baylor is 7-2 against the spread when playing a team with a winning record, 0-4 against the spread at home against teams with a losing record, and 1-4 against the spread in its last five games overall. WSU is 1-4 against the spread in its last five non-conference games, 5-1 against the spread in its last six following a double-digit home loss, and 2-5 against the spread in its last seven road games. This game looks like a reflection of both teams—just a total mess.

More Picks from Mitch including USC-Ohio State at The College Football Place