[NU Sports] PICKS - Week 11

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Standings soon, but we have yet another battle of
unbeatens in the Big Least ... probably because these
schools have only played THREE conference games so far
and in the meantime have been thoroughly tested by the
likes of Eastern Washington, Temple and Howard. Wow, I
can't imagine how these teams are still undefeated.
The Big Least must really be a good conference ...
consider that Pitt is still in the running for their
B(C)S berth and they lost to Michigan State ... at
home.

But anyway, I digress and the next Big Least Game of
the Century is Thursday night in New Jersey, so picks
are due by THURSDAY'S kickoff in the beautiful Garden
State.

PIGSKIN PICKS - WEEK 10
#######################
Name: 

BIG TEN
=======
Game  1: Purdue @ Illinois
Winner: 

Game  2: Michigan @ Indiana
Winner: 

Game  3: Wisconsin @ Iowa
Winner: 

Game  4: Minnesota @ Michigan State
Winner: 

Game  5: Temple @ Penn State
Winner: 

NATIONAL
========
Game  6: Louisville @ Rutgers
Winner: 

Game  7: South Carolina @ Florida
Winner: 

Game  8: Tennessee @ Arkansas
Winner: 

Game  9: Oregon @ Southern Cal
Winner: 

Game 10: Nebraska @ Texas A&M
Winner: 

MY PICKS
========
* PURDUE 21, Illinois 16
C: Tough call here as Purdue was lucky last week to
escape in East Lansing while the Illini hung tough vs.
#1 ... all signs point to an Illini upset, but the
Boiler luck and Illini curse continue.

* MICHIGAN 35, Indiana 3
C: Much like NU, the Hoosiers will find a much more
focused Big Two team than last week and that's bad
news for bowl hopes in Bloomington.

* IOWA 17, Wisconsin 14
C: Much like last week in the Metrodome, I smell upset
here as the Badgers got banged up a bit last week vs.
the Lions and the Hawks were humbled by the Cats. Iowa
rebounds at home to salvage some pride.

* MINNESOTA 37, Michigan State 31
C: Winner of this game may get to a bowl game yet and
the Gophers appear to be cashing in their karma chips
from the earlier games this season.

* PENN STATE 41, Temple 6
C: JoePa can rest up this week while his sound D
handles temple and the sluggish O gets a chance to
brush up a bit for tougher challenges down the road.

* RUTGERS 26, Louisville 22
C: BCS CHAOS!!! BCS CHAOS!!! It's the biggest game in
Jersey since the G-men hosted a couple of NFC title
games in Jimmy Hoffa's stadium ... and I don't
remember the Jersey team losing any of those games.
Not many things have more pull than the B(C)S forces,
but bada bing, bada boom, the Knights prevail at
home.:)

* FLORIDA 31, South Carolina 13
C: Spurrier gets a rude welcome back to the Swamp as
the Gators still smell a title shot and jump out
early.

* ARKANSAS 20, Tennessee 17
C: A week ago I thought the Vols were gonna win this
one and send Auburn to the SEC title game when LSU
beat Arkansas later ... but Tennessee collapsed last
week and the Razorbacks just keep rolling without much
respect. Pig sooey earns its props this week.

* SOUTHERN CAL 49, Oregon 34
C: A wild Pac 10 shootout and the Trojans open it up a
bit just in time for that rugged schedule stretch.

* NEBRASKA 24, Texas A&M 20
C: Of couse, now that I pick AGAINST ATM, the friggin'
Aggies will probably win. But I think last week's loss
took the air out of 'em and they may get up again for
Texas, but not the Huskers.

And off the board ...

* OHIO STATE 35, Northwestern 10
C: Coach Fitzgerald may have some things to learn on
the X's and O's, but he really seems to have the
emotional/inspirational side of coaching down. After
that devastating loss to MSU and trips to Ann Arbor
and Iowa City ahead, few people expected a competitive
game in the Big House and a solid thumping of Iowa. So
after some growing pains, it appears the Cats have not
only found their quarterback, but also their coach.
Unfortunately, they'll also find an OSU team this week
a bit embarassed from a sluggish win at Illinois.

Remember, picks due by THURSDAY'S kickoff.

GO CATS!!!
GEAUX SAINTS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!



 
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