Week 14 College Football Predictions

Thursday
Ohio at Central Michigan (+3.5): Ohio's defense and Central Michigan's offense have been the teams strengths and constants this year which poses for an interesting matchup in the MAC title game. Ohio should play it tough and close all the way through, but I think the Chippewas may have just a bit too much on offense for the Bobcats to come out with a victory.
Central Michigan 24 Ohio 17

Friday
Southern Miss at Houston (+4.5): Just like in the MAC title game, the Conference USA title poses a matchup between two teams with completely different styles and philosophies. Southern Miss is known for their stingy and hard-hitting defense, meanwhile Houston is known for putting points on the board early and often. Houston has had a knack for playing the close games this year and against the Golden Eagles' defense, I think that poses well for SMiss.
Southern Miss 27 Houston 24

Saturday
Rutgers at West Virginia (+8.5): The 9-2 Mountaineers, coming off a disappointing 24-19 loss to South Florida a week ago, is over a touchdown favorite against 10-1 Rutgers? Now, I do think it'll be tough for Rutgers to win in Morgantown, but I wouldn't put it past them. They have the kind of power offense in tailbacks Ray Rice and Brian Leonard that could frustrate and wear down the under-sized Mountaineer defense. The weakness on the Scarlet Knights' defense is their secondary and as most know, West Virginia doesn't throw the ball much during the course of a game. I'm going to stick with the home team, but not by much.
West Virginia 28 Rutgers 24

Army vs. Navy (+20): One of the oldest rivalries in Division I-A football. The past couple years, I don't think there's any doubting who the best and the worst academies are in football, the best being Navy and the worst being Army. Even the history surrounding these two schools and the rivalry in which they present won't be able to help Army in the least bit on Saturday.
Navy 42 Army 21

Louisiana Tech at New Mexico State (+10): The Aggies hadn't beaten a Division I-A school for over a year until they beat Utah State 42-20 last weekend to improve them to 3-8 on the season. Now a home game against the three-win Bulldogs to close the season? New Mexico State could very well begin their upcoming season having won their final two ball games, both against Division I-A schools.
New Mexico State 38 Louisiana Tech 28

Stanford at Cal (+28.5): My problem picking this game is that enormous spread. Even though it's against one-win Stanford, I have a hard time picking a somewhat struggling Cal club to win by more than four touchdowns in this historic rivalry. Cal should win, don't get me wrong, but not by quite as much as the spread would have one believe.
Cal 31 Stanford 10

USC (+14) at UCLA: Danger zone right here for the 10-1 Trojans. After their dominating 44-24 win over Notre Dame a week ago and moving up to #2 in the BCS, USC could very well have a letdown and UCLA, their inner-city rival, is not the team they want to do that against. With Pete Carroll's experience, I think he'll pull the Trojans through with a victory, but it won't be easy.
USC 31 UCLA 21

Air Force at TCU (+17): What happened to Air Force? They started the season strong and were one two-point conversion away from upsetting Tennessee. They now stand at 4-7, officially eliminated from bowl competition, and well on their way to finishing 4-8 after a loss on the road to TCU.
TCU 38 Air Force 21

Fresno State at San Jose State (+4.5): Following a horrendous 1-7 start for Fresno, they've won three straight and are beginning to play like the team we all knew they could be. With that momentum, I think Pat Hill will motivate his troops enough to close the season out with four straight victories and carry something positive over from a tough season into next year.
Fresno State 28 San Jose State 24

UConn at Louisville (+27): I like Louisville. It's amazing how Michigan didn't drop at all in one poll following a three (but, really a ten or eleven) point loss to Ohio State on the road, yet Louisville dropped several spots following a three-point (actually a three-point) loss on the road to Rutgers. All four teams were unbeaten at the time they played one another. If Louisville wins, they're very deserving of a BCS bid, whether they're the Big East champs or not. They've played a semi-tough schedule (tougher than some teams ahead of them), usually excel when it comes to style points, and should close the season off at 11-1 following this win. UConn is pesky though, and I don't really see Louisville covering the spread.
Louisville 28 UConn 13

Colorado State (+3) at San Diego State: Who can play worse? The 4-7 Rams or the 2-9 Aztecs? That's up in the air as of late, but I'm going to predict that SDSU plays worse and the Rams finally win again. Yeah, it's been a while. Where's Bradlee Van Pelt when you need him?
Colorado State 24 San Diego State 17

Oregon State at Hawaii (+8): Hawaii was limited to 42 points last week against Purdue! That's seven under their season average of 49 and very much under their average in the past few games, when they've scored 60+ four times. Don't expect them to reach the 60 plateau this week, either. Heck, I'm even going out on a limb here and picking the road underdog Beavers to upset Hawaii.
Oregon State 38 Hawaii 35

Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette (+2.5): The Louisiana rivalry we've all been waiting for is finally here! Okay, so, maybe not. But, it could be a pretty competitive game for sixty minutes. I'm going to go with the 6-5 Rajun' Cajuns on this one, but not by much.
Louisiana-Lafayette 28 Louisiana-Monroe 21

Troy (+12) at Florida International: Troy could very well claim the Sun Belt crown with this win. There's no better team to do that against than the 0-11 Golden Panthers. Check that. Make it 0-12 Golden Panthers, as Troy wins and improves to 7-5.
Troy 31 Florida International 10

Georgia Tech (+2.5) vs. Wake Forest: Georgia Tech's Reggie Ball has been inconsistent in his entire career as a Yellow Jacket. What he's been most consistent about is his inconsistency. He and the coaching stuff don't utilize wideout phenom Calvin Johnson enough and that may come back to bite them in this game. Wake is coming off a big win over Maryland and outside of their breakdown a couple weeks ago against Virginia Tech, they've played solid football all season. Edge- Wake.
Wake Forest 24 Georgia Tech 17

Florida (+3) vs. Arkansas: Should be a good old-fashioned SEC brawl. But, I give the edge to Darius McFadden and Arkansas. Florida has won ugly all year long and I think that'll finally catch up with them in the SEC title game.
Arkansas 24 Florida 21

Oklahoma (+3.5) vs. Nebraska: This is the toughest Nebraska game I've had to predict. It wasn't tough picking USC or Texas against the Huskers, but Oklahoma? Without Adrian Peterson? The Sooners are 6-0 without their stud tailback, a feat I didn't think could've been accomplished. Kudos to Bob Stoops and the rest of the coaching staff. Even though it's still hard for me to pick OU to win the Big XII title game without the man in the backfield, I just have a gut feeling that they will. It should be a close, hard-fought battle between these two clubs, but I just feel that Oklahoma is more determined than Nebraska following the dropping the soap job they suffered against Oregon and the losses of Rhett Bomar and Adrian Peterson throughout the season.
Oklahoma 24 Nebraska 21