College Football: 25 Hunches for Week 11

The Badgers' undefeated hopes went down the drain against Michigan State. Their division championship hopes took a tough turn against Northwestern.

While Bret Bielema and UW have had issues in marquee games, they have excelled at destroying inferior competition.

Despite the Gophers' recent respectable showings against Iowa and Michigan State, they qualify as decidedly inferior competition.

The Badgers will paste them for 70 points, Montee Ball will have a career day, and both Ball and James White will top 100 yards rushing.

Best Individual Performances by Receivers in Week 11

Patrick Edwards (Houston)

Kendall Wright (Baylor)

Juron Criner (Arizona)

Jeremy Ebert (Northwestern)

Jordan White (Western Michigan)

Best Individual Performances by Running Backs in Week 11

Montee Ball (Wisconsin)

David Wilson (Virginia Tech)

Ronnie Hillman (San Diego State)

LaMichael James (Oregon)

Robbie Rouse (Fresno State)

Best Individual Performances by Quarterbacks in Week 11

Andrew Luck (Stanford)

Robert Griffin III (Baylor)

Brandon Weeden (Oklahoma State)

Russell Wilson (Wisconsin)

James Vandenberg (Iowa)

Best Team Offensive Performances in Week 11

Illinois Fighting Illini

Baylor Bears

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Oregon Ducks

Stanford Cardinal

Best Individual Defensive Performances in Week 11

Devon Still (Penn State)

Lavonte David (Nebraska)

Sean Porter (Texas A&M)

Dont'a Hightower (Alabama)

Bacarri Rambo (Georgia)

Best Team Defensive Performances in Week 11

Cincinnati Bearcats

Alabama Crimson Tide

Virginia Tech Hokies

Penn State Nittany Lions

Georgia Bulldogs

Most Points Scored in Week 11

By Individual Team: Baylor Bears or Wisconsin Badgers

Total by Both Teams Combined: Stanford and Oregon

Defensive Shutouts in Week 11

Shutouts: LSU, Florida International

Low-Scoring, Defensive Battles: Georgia vs. Auburn and Penn State vs. Nebraska

Oklahoma State Shreds Iowa State

This isn't surprising for Oklahoma State, but Iowa State is a surprising 5-4 and one win away from being bowl eligible. Unfortunately for ISU, the OSU thrashing to be will be a prelude to how things will go for the Cyclones from here on out. After the Cowboys, they finish the year with road games against Oklahoma and Kansas State.

Despite being 5-4 following a close win over Kansas, the Cyclones will finish the season with three straight losses and a 5-7 record. This will leave them in Ames for the bowl season for the second year in a row.

That is an unfortunate end for a team that did an admirable job playing one of the toughest schedules in all of FBS football.

Air Force Beats Wyoming

The Falcons will reach bowl eligibility with their sixth win.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys, who have been stuck at five wins for two weeks, will still be at five wins. However, they should secure two more wins before the season is through.

Alabama Struggles Against Mississippi State

I'm not saying Bama will lose—they won't.

However, this will be a classic hangover game, particularly for the offense and particularly because it's on the road.

The defense will have to keep the Tide in this one, and back in Tuscaloosa, Bama fans will be holding their collective breath until the Tide's final possession.

LSU Mangles Western Kentucky

The Tigers won't miss a beat after their huge win against the Crimson Tide last week.

Expect the LSU defense to outscore the Western Kentucky offense.

Notre Dame Lights Up Maryland

Although Brian Kelly's offense is known for its passing, the Notre Dame rushing attack is the 12th most efficient in the country, averaging 5.54 YPC.

Meanwhile, the Maryland rush defense is one of the worst in the country, allowing 4.89 YPC.

Look for the Irish to have this one wrapped up after three quarters, with both Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray putting up more than 100 yards on the ground.

Houston Beats Tulane

The Houston defense still leaves a lot to be desired, but the Cougars will leave the game 10-0 and gear up for the only two quality teams on their schedule—Tulsa and SMU.

Wisconsin Puts Up 70 Points on Minnesota

The Badgers' undefeated hopes went down the drain against Michigan State. Their division championship hopes took a tough turn against Ohio State.

While Bret Bielema and UW have had issues in marquee games, they have excelled at destroying inferior competition.

Despite the Gophers' recent respectable showings against Iowa and Michigan State, they qualify as decidedly inferior competition.

The Badgers will paste them for 70 points, Montee Ball will have a career day and both Ball and James White will top 100 yards rushing.

Nevada Beats Hawaii

Hawaii is not very good on the road.

Who would be after a seven-hour plane flight? The same element that gives the Warriors a big home advantage also takes away from them when they are away.

On top of that, although they are known for passing fireworks, they are not terribly efficient. In fact, Hawaii is fourth in passing efficiency in the WAC.

In the end, Nevada is a better team than the Warriors, and coupled with the home-field advantage, the Wolf Pack will win fairly easily.

This will put Nevada head coach Chris Ault in the driver's seat for the third WAC championship of his career.

Iowa Beats Michigan State

Full disclosure: for those that haven't checked my profile, I am an Iowa fan. Although I try to keep from being swayed by personal biases, that certainly may play a part in my view of this game.

In short, this may be wishful thinking.

However, this game is very much a weakness on weakness and strength on strength game.

MSU's offensive line vs. Iowa's defensive line is the weakness on weakness matchup.

MSU's pass defense vs. Iowa's pass offense is strength on strength.

MSU head coach Mark Dantonio is as aggressive as Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is conservative.

If this were in East Lansing, I'd pick the Spartans without a second thought. But Iowa has played at another level at home, and I'm going with my preseason pick: last possession wins and I have that last possession going to the Hawks.

Moving forward, I expect Iowa to lose its final two games of the season, while MSU will win its final two, leaving the Spartans as the Big Ten Legends Division champions.

Illinois Beats Michigan

The Illini stop their skid (temporarily) and the Wolverines still have issues on the road.

Illinois head coach Ron Zook may be an idiot, but he has great coordinators, so if he can stay out of their way, they should be able to out-scheme UM.

In the end, I like the aggressive Illini defense against Denard Robinson. The last time he faced a really aggressive defense, Michigan State, they held him to his worst performance of the season.

Moreover, the Michigan rush defense isn't very good, which should give the Illini offense something to target.

I have Illinois winning this one by a touchdown.

Cincinnati Beats West Virginia

The Big East's most efficient rushing offense is the Bearcats'.

The Big East's second worst rushing defense is West Virginia's. The Mountaineers have given up seven rushing touchdowns over the last three games.

Meanwhile, the Bearcats have the 18th most rushing touchdowns in the nation.

On the other hand, WVU is the conference's best passing offense, while Cincinnati is the conference's second worst passing defense.

So, where does that leave us?

Special teams. West Virginia's coverage teams are pretty lousy. Cincinnati's aren't.

I go with the Bearcats by four points.

Boise State Beats TCU

The Broncos will take out TCU by two scores. This will all but cement their third undefeated regular season in four years, as well as their first MWC championship.

I admit, I tend to be hard on BSU and what I consider their junior varsity schedule, but their record is impressive no matter who they're playing.

Penn State Beats Nebraska

This one will be a low-scoring affair.

Nebraska's defense isn't very good, but Penn State's offense isn't good either. Meanwhile, Nebraska's offense has been very productive, while Penn State boasts arguably the best defense in the Big Ten.

Either way, this will be the best defense the Huskers will have faced all season. It will also be the biggest crowd any current Huskers will have ever played in front of. In fact, I would have to check the numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is the largest crowd any Cornhusker has ever played in front of.

This will be a close one, but I like the Nits at home.

Texas A&M Beats Kansas State

This is a meeting of two teams that, at one point, were ranked in the Top 10. The Aggies haven't been there since the preseason, but they were there, while the Wildcats were in there are recently as two weeks ago.

Texas A&M is better than its 5-4 record and KSU is worse than its 7-2 record.

This is a close one, but I go with the visiting Aggies by a field goal.

Virginia Tech Beats Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets' secret weapon is that they are difficult to prepare for in-season because they are so different from almost every modern offense. In effect, it is no coincidence that Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson is 0-3 in bowl games, when his opponents have time to prepare and adjust to his unique scheme.

Virginia Tech is on the road, but with a bye last weekend, they had an extra week to prepare for and adjust to Georgia Tech's triple option offense.

With that preparation time, shutting down Georgia Tech is pure assignment football. Frank Beamer knows how to coach that.

The Hokies will win by two scores and will be in the driver's seat to win the ACC Coastal Conference championship.

Oregon Beats Stanford

These two teams score, and score a lot, so expect a back-and-forth game.

In the end, the team that has the most possessions will win.

Although Stanford would seem to be at an advantage both for their home-field advantage and their seemingly stronger defense, my money is on Oregon for this reason: Oregon has the best rushing offense in the country, and it's not particularly close.

The only team that has held the Ducks to fewer than five YPC was LSU. In fact, the only teams that have held the Ducks to fewer than six YPC were LSU and Washington State, and Oregon was without its starting quarterback and halfback in the WSU game.

Despite what the stats say—Stanford is the 11th best scoring defense and the 13th best rushing defense (YPC) in the country—they are not that good against the run. The Cardinal allowed 6.53 YPC against its only quality opponents (Washington and Southern Cal). Oregon has a much better rushing offense than both of those teams.

I'm not saying that the Ducks' defense is especially good—it's not—but in the end, I have the visitor winning by a field goal in an offensive shootout.

Best Bet Upsets for Week 11

I am not a betting man, but these are the games that I feel strongest about:

Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets are currently giving away one point at home. I've previously explained my rationale in favor of the Hokies. I like Virginia Tech to win this one fairly handily.

Wisconsin beats the spread against Minnesota

The Badgers are giving away 28.5 points to the Gophers. Again, Bielema may have issues in marquee matchups, but he destroys the teams he is supposed to destroy. Wisconsin easily beats the spread.

Notre Dame beats the spread against Maryland

This is a good matchup for the Irish. Vegas is giving Maryland 19 points. I think Notre Dame beats them by three touchdowns.