[NU Sports] PIGSKIN PICKS - Week 12

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Well, I may not have been right about much this year. But I did know that Stanford was a pretender ... I know Musburger was slobbering all over Luck and Herbstriet had been hyping the Treez as a title contender all year, but thank goodness the Quacks came in there and smacked them around.

The only bad side? Now we'll either have a rematch of LSU/Bama (zzzzzzz) or LSU/Oregon (ouch! poor Duck roadkill!) in the title game unless those tricky computers finangle it so that a team who lost at home to a mediocre Texas Tech team vaults over Bama and Oregon to #2 after they beat the Stanford-overrated-like Cowpokes from Okie State.

We need a playoff. Wilbon was right today when he said he's just "done" with college football as he bemoaned the likelihood of Bama/LSU round ZZzzzzzzzzz.

Only other option? Root for Petrino's Piggies (blech) to beat LSU and create total B-C-MESS chaos! Maybe that would even make Oregon and the Pac 12 so mad that they'd say "chuck it" and join the Big Ten in dropping out of the Big XII Computer Sham and going back to a REAL Rose Bowl. One can dream! But Petrino's a weasel. Ugh. We need a playoff.

Back to the Big Ten, where there WILL be a "playoff" and a mad scramble regular season will come down to a title game. Looks like a lot of people in Cornland are gonna be Wildcat fans that final weekend of the year. But we gotta worry about beating Minnesota to become bowl eligible first. Ten of 12 teams in bowls? Take that depth, SEC! And since the SEC is taking their customary two weeks off after a challenging game to prepare for their other tough game of the year, all the big games this week are in Big Ten Country with another full slate of six league games (love it!) including biggies in the Big House and Shoe and what looked like a biggie in Champaign a month ago, before the Bears and Illini apparently swapped uniforms and the Zookers started sucking (while da Bears are surging!).

Oh well, still riding high over the Saints beating the F***ons. Now THAT is how an overtime game between southern rivals is SUPPOSED to be! WOOHOODAT!

Standings out soon, but for now, the picks lineup ... picks due SATURDAY by kickoff!

PIGSKIN PICKS - WEEK 12
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Name: 

BIG TEN
=======GAME 1: Wisconsin @ IllinoisWINNER: 

GAME 2: Indiana @ Michigan StateWINNER: 

GAME 3: Iowa @ PurdueWINNER: 

GAME 4: Nebraska @ MichiganWINNER: 

GAME 5: Penn State @ Ohio StateWINNER: 

NATIONAL========GAME 6: Louisiana State @ Mississippi
WINNER: 
GAME 7: Southern Cal @ Oregon
WINNER: 

GAME 8: Oklahoma @ BaylorWINNER: 

GAME 9: California @ Stanford
WINNER: 
GAME 10: Kansas State @ Texas
WINNER: 
MY PICKS========GAME 1: WISCONSIN ... The Zookers quit playing a month ago, while the Smug Smirk now controls his own destinyGAME 2: MICHIGAN STATE ... Sparty is smelling that mix of corn and auto fumes known as Indy and won't blow it at home
GAME 3: PURDUE ... Flip a coin here, as both bumblebee teams need this one for their bowl hopes
GAME 4: NEBRASKA ... A great offense vs. defense game and a possible inside track to a second B(C)S bid on the line for this one
GAME 5: PENN STATE ... Two stingy defenses (but if it winds up 9-6, no game of the century talk!), but PSU started turning the corner last week in the fourth
GAME 6: LSU ... Not much of a contest here
GAME 7: OREGON ... With everyone else tanking in the south, Fox may just want to replay this in the place of the Pac 12 "championship" game in a few weeks
GAME 8: OKLAHOMA ... Who decided to rank Baylor again? What blackmail evidence does the Big XII have on the pollsters and computers?
GAME 9: STANFORD ... I'm with Phil Simms on Andrew Luck, but fortunately for Stanford, Cal isn't one of the two decent teams the Treez face this year
GAME 10: TEXAS ... K-State has spunk, but is a tad overrated and the Horns suck up some semblance of pride at home (they were in the title game 2 years ago?!?!)
Picks due by Saturday kickoff!
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
-SjT
 
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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
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