College Football Pick'em Week 13
We are getting down to crunch time in the college football season, and teams are fighting for their postseason lives. Saturday is going to be a huge day for college football. One game could very easily decide the national title as well as the Heisman Trophy. With all of that at stake, let's not waste any time; let’s dive right into this week’s edition of the College Football Pick’em.
There is no doubt that the biggest game of the week takes place in Norman, Oklahoma when the Oklahoma Sooners meet up with the red hot Texas Tech Red Raiders. The winner of this game will likely have their ticket punched for a trip to the Big 12 Championship game, as well as a chance to play in the BCS championship game.
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The Red Raiders have become the darlings of college over the course of the last month. They went from being the forgotten step child of the Big 12 South that ran a quirky offense to become a powerhouse knocking off two of the best teams in the South and the best team from the Big 12 North.
Now if the Red Raiders want to complete this magical run through the Big 12 and prove their dominance they need to take out the standard bearer for excellence in the Big 12 South, Oklahoma. For Texas Tech they are fighting against history. Never in school history have the Red Raiders knocked off Texas and Oklahoma in the same season.
While the Texas Tech defense is much improved this season, and held Oklahoma State and Texas to just 26.5 points a game earlier this season, they are about to embark on their most difficult test of the season. Oklahoma has a balanced attack with its ability to run the ball and with Sam Bradford leading the passing attack.
This means the front line of Texas Tech will play an all important role in Saturday’s game. The Raiders must stand their ground against the rush, and not allow the Sooners to create gaps where their backs can gash the Texas Tech linebackers.
In addition, it will be up to the defensive line to generate pressure on Bradford. The Texas Tech secondary showed show weaknesses against Texas when defending the deep ball. In order to prevent that from happening, the defensive line must pressure Bradford and keep him on the move so he cannot get a clear shot at his deep threats.
On offense, the Red Raiders are a well-tuned machine. The Texas Tech “Air Raid” offense will have to run with complete accuracy on Saturday to give their team a chance to win. The Red Raiders do not to find themselves in a shootout with Oklahoma because the Sooners are the one team who could keep pace with them. In addition, Texas Tech does not want to play catch up inside the hostile confines of Memorial Stadium in Norman.
The Sooners must put everything on the line Saturday night. I am actually calling this a must-win game for the Sooners because of the fact that the Big 12 championship and a trip to the BCS championship is on the line, and also because Bob Stoops legacy is on the line.
The knock on Stoops lately has been he fails to perform in the big games. There may be no bigger game than this one; it is without a doubt the biggest game in Texas Tech school history, but it could easily go down as one of the biggest games in Oklahoma history, as well.
Sam Bradford and company will need to be precise in their attack on Saturday. Texas Tech has gotten phenomenal pressure from its defensive line all season; this has allowed its linebackers to drop back into coverage and really confuse opposing quarterbacks. It was costly picks that cost Texas the game against the Red Raiders earlier this season.
In addition to being precise with their passing attack, the Sooners will need to run the ball well. An effective running game will force the Red Raiders to stack more players into the box. This will open up more passing lanes for Bradford. It will also give the Sooners the option of using some place action pass sets to open up the secondary deep down the field.
On top of that, a solid running game will allow Oklahoma to control the clock. There is no better way to stop Graham Herald and Michael Crabtree than simply keep them off the field.
On defense, Oklahoma needs to sell out. It needs to get to Harold early and often and disrupt the passing attack.
This game has the potential to go down as one of the great games of the season. And that is saying a lot considering the show that Texas Tech put on earlier this season against Texas.
Heading into Saturday's game, the Sooners are favored by seven points. With the spread that high, it does make me a little leery. However, I do understand the thought process behind it; Oklahoma is at home and while Texas Tech has played well to this points, all their big games have been in Lubbock.
I like the Sooners to win the game, and cover the spread, and please bet the over on this one also, because it will be a shootout.
Now a look at the other big games on tap this week.
The Big 10 title is on the line in this one and Beaver Stadium will be electric as the fans may be getting one of their last looks at a Joe Pa coached team. Michigan State has had a miracle season, seemingly coming out of now where to put their mark on the Big 10 and possibly the national scene, as well.
Right now the line is set with Penn State favored by 14 points. While that may be a lot of points, PSU has what it takes to cover the spread. Michigan State is just too one dimensional on offense to come into Happy Valley and walk away with a win. Penn State wins the game and covers the spread.
This was to be the biggest game in history for these two teams. Both entered the season with dreams of going undefeated and making an appearance in a BCS game. However, thanks to TCU, only Utah still has that dream intact.
BYU and Utah are both very talented teams, and, going into Saturday night's game, the spread favors Utah by seven points; however, I am smelling an upset. BYU spent its entire season building toward this game, and even though a BCS bid may not be on the line for the Cougars, you can bet they would love to spoil the Utes' season. Take BYU to win the came and cover the spread.
Yet another conference title is at stake in this matchup. The seemingly forgotten Big East is up for grabs and the two top teams will lock horns on Saturday night to decide who a sacrificial lamb will be for a Big 12 or SEC runner up.
The Cincinnati Bearcats have played amazing football all season, but their biggest opponent on the field Saturday evening will not be Pitt, it will be remaining focused and avoiding the distractions around them. Right now there are plenty of rumors swirling that their head coach could be moving south this winter to take on the Tennessee job that will be vacated at seasons end.
The spread has Cincinnati favored by five points, it will take all they to remain focused and get a win, but I think with the hometown crowd behind them the will do exactly that. The Bearcats cover the spread and win the game.
I am not sure how this happened, but somehow, the Maryland Terps wiggled their way back into the ACC title hunt and they have the opportunity to control their own destiny.
Saturday night, they get the Florida State Seminoles coming up to College Park. The Terps have beaten Florida State before. Last week I thought Maryland was left for dead and done for the season, now they appear to have some life. The spread has Maryland favored by one point, but I don’t like it. Too close to call. So I am going with Florida State to win and obviously cover.
This is traditionally one of the biggest games of the year, and one of my personal favorites. However, there is no doubt this year the game is more of an after thought for most people. Ohio State is out of the national title picture and Michigan is out of every post season scenario.
The spread has Ohio State favored by 21 one points, and that is huge. But this Michigan team is horrible, and their head coach is more concerned with reading blogs like this one, than going out and managing his team. Ohio State wins and covers the spread.
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