College Football's Week 14 ATS Picks: The Real "Rivalry Week!"

By Nostradamus

Well...As far as the media was concerned, "Rivalry Week" was last week.

Quite frankly, they were wrong. THIS week is the real "Rivalry Week," and I have no problems in naming a week like this as such.

Last week, you had about four games that could be rightly considered the tag of rivalry games.

This week? I'll say there are 11: 

Texas vs. Texas A&M, West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh, Mississippi State vs. Mississippi, Colorado vs. Nebraska, Virginia vs. Virginia Tech, Kansas vs. Missouri, Georgia Tech vs. Georgia, Auburn vs. Alabama, Florida vs. Florida State, Oregon vs. Oregon State, and Notre Dame vs. USC.

Now that I have noted the real rivalry games, it is time to make a timid attempt at breaking them down, plus a couple of others.

Tuesday

Western Michigan @ Ball State (- 11): Many of us have heard about Dan LeFevour out of Central Michigan. And likely, a few have heard about Nate Davis at Ball State. Another solid QB out of the MAC that you should learn more about is Tim Hiller at Western Michigan.

With a win over Ball State, Western Michigan would earn a tie for the MAC West with Ball State and Central Michigan. (I have no idea what the tiebreaker is, sorry). Ball State on the other hand has the huge gorilla on their backs in this contest. They are playing for the FIRST undefeated regular season in the history of Ball State football.

Yea, we all know that David Letterman and columnist Jason Whitlock are alums from this great school, but do you know a single player that has played in the NFL from Ball State? Without "googling" it? Me neither. What we do have in this matchup is two solid offenses against your typical MAC fare of defenses. Look for a lot of points and a very entertaining game put up by these two teams.

I won't call for the outright upset, but I see this one very much going down to the wire...Ball State 34 Western Michigan 31.

Turkey Day

Texas A&M @ Texas (- 35): What should be noted in this end of year clash is that Texas A&M has defeated Texas in the last two renditions of this rivalry game. However, this is 2008 and Texas A&M now finds themselves in the cellar of the Big 12 South.

Yes, they are even with Baylor and were defeated by the Bears two weeks ago by the final score of 41-21.

With that said it is very difficult seeing the Aggies actually pulling off a monumental upset in this contest to make it three in a row. But what you do have is an enormous amount of points that are being given in a traditional rivalry contest.

The Longhorns also have slim hopes alive of actually playing in the Big 12 Championship and National Championship games respectively.

Look for them to try and lay a hurt on the reeling Aggies in this one as they try to impress pollsters in their final regular season contest. With Margin of Victory not meaning anything to the computers, the 'Horns are looking to simply impress the voters.

Look for them to do just that, and at the same time covering the very hefty impost at the same time in a Turkey Day blowout...Texas 66 Texas A&M 13.

Friday

West Virginia @ Pittsburgh (+ 3.5): Talk about payback, all the Mountaineers needed to do in order to end up the National Championship game last year was to defeat the 4-6 Panthers in their annual Backyard Brawl. At home.

A 13-9 loss later, and all of their National Championship dreams were washed down the drain. Now they get a golden opportunity at revenge. But this time, it will be on the road against a solid Pittsburgh squad.

Pitt is fresh off a loss to Cincy that wasn't as close as the 28-21 final would lead you to believe. West Virginia on the other hand laid it to a depleted Louisville squad, and at the same time witnessed their stud QB Pat White set the all-time QB rushing record in brilliant fashion. The media matchup is going to be Pat White vs. LeSean McCoy.

Yes, they are both great, but what it will likely come down to is defense. Last year Wannstedt and company came up with a beauty over a hurt and confused West Virginia squad. This year, both defenses are about even. Therefore, I'll side with the more rested, and getting healthy squad from Morgantown to prevail in yet another classic BYB...West Virginia 27  Pittsburgh 23.

Mississippi State @ Ole Miss (- 13.5): For those that don't know, the annual Egg Bowl rivalry is an extremely heated one amongst fans in the Magnolia state. In recent years, we have seen...

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