Week 12 College Football Picks

It’s November for college football, meaning losses now hurt much worse than they did back in September.

However, with the recent BCS rankings, it shows if you’re in a good enough conference, it might not hurt as bad.

With that said, it was a solid week picking, still with single digit losses for the week, continuing the streak of not incorrectly picking more than nine games this season.  You can never complain with that.

Also, after checking out the picks, be sure to find where your favorite team might be playing after the regular season on our 2012-13 College Bowl Projections.

Last Week:  20-7 (.741)

Overall:  245-60 (.803)

#1 Kansas State vs. Baylor

#13 Stanford vs. #2 Oregon (If Oregon makes it to the National Championship game, you can not say that November was easy for them.)

Wake Forest vs. #3 Notre Dame

Western Carolina vs. #4 Alabama

Georgia Southern vs. #5 Georgia

Jacksonville State vs. #6 Florida (The Gators should be able to win this without Jeff Driskel, but then you do have to remember about last week.)

Ole Miss vs. #7 LSU

Sam Houston State vs. #8 Texas A&M (Normally you would say that the Aggies are set for a let-down, but that shouldn’t happen with Sam Houston State.)

Wofford vs. #9 South Carolina

#10 Florida State vs. Maryland

North Carolina State vs. #11 Clemson (If N.C. State were to win, they could at least claim they beat the two best teams in the ACC this year.)

#12 Oklahoma vs. West Virginia

Minnesota vs. #14 Nebraska

California vs. #16 Oregon State

#18 USC vs. #17 UCLA (Winner will likely go to Pac-12 Championship game.)

Utah State vs. #20 Louisiana Tech (Louisiana Tech has to win out to have a shot at going to a BCS bowl.)

Iowa vs. #21 Michigan

#22 Rutgers vs. Cincinnati

#23 Texas Tech vs. #24 Oklahoma State

#25 Washington vs. Colorado

North Carolina vs. Virginia

Virginia Tech vs. Boston College

South Florida vs. Miami (FL)

Duke vs. Georgia Tech (Closest to 100 wins, unless they go over.)

Arkansas vs. Mississippi State (The Bulldogs have to rebound; they were going strong but have really stunk it up the last few weeks.)

Alabama A&M vs. Auburn (The SEC should win this, right?)

Syracuse vs. Missouri (The SEC should win this, right?)

Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt

Samford vs. Kentucky (The SEC should win this, right?)

Boise State 2010 Schedule: Tough Enough?

As all college football fans will tell you, the Boise State Broncos have been evolving into a powerhouse over the past few seasons.

Boise State had burst onto the scene with their win for the ages over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.  They finished their 2006 regular season with an undefeated 12-0 record.

Since the 2006 season, Boise State has a record of 49 wins and only four losses, with only one of those losses coming to a conference opponent (Hawaii, 2007).  Their bowl record over these four seasons is 2-2, with wins over Oklahoma and Texas Christian and losses to East Carolina and Texas Christian.

While some fans say the record speaks for itself, many other fans, including myself have a problem with their overall strength of schedule.  In the past four seasons, the Broncos have scheduled four BCS conference opponents (Oregon State in 2006, Washington in 2007, Oregon in 2008 and 2009).

Of their 47 regular season wins over the past four seasons, 43 of them came over opponents in non-BCS conference, including 35 wins over conference opponents.  Also, four of those wins were over FBS teams.  Is this schedule strong enough to warrant a berth to a BCS game?

It seems like Boise State has heard the ridicule and is taking an extra step to ensure the fans will get what they want.

To open the 2010 season, Boise State will travel FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland to face perennial ACC powerhouse Virginia Tech.  This contest with a national power on a neutral site clearly upgrades their schedule significantly.

Boise State will host Pac-10 contender Oregon State on September 25^th.  This marks the first year of Boise State’s recent dominance in which they have scheduled two BCS opponents in the same season.

The other two non-conference opponents the Broncos have scheduled are a home game against Toledo and a game at Wyoming.  While the game with Toledo is not a “schedule-changer,” Wyoming is a much improved football and will pose a challenge for Boise State.

The conference home schedule for the Broncos will have them hosting Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Hawaii and Utah State.  While Fresno State has improved under Pat Hill, their best player, running back Ryan Mathews has moved on to the NFL.  Louisiana Tech, who just lost former head coach Derek Dooley, and Utah State should serve as pushovers for Boise State.  Hawaii is always a coin toss.  Their system could give them a big win, or their lack of defense could cost them the game.  Bottom line, Boise State should win these four games.

The conference road schedule is a little more daunting however.   The Broncos have to travel to San Jose State, New Mexico State, rival Idaho and top 25-caliber Nevada.  Boise State and Idaho have a heated rivalry and Idaho is a much improved team.  Nevada finished last season as the only team in Division-IA football history to have three players with over 1000 rushing yards in a season.  Two of those players, quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back Vai Taua will be returning for their senior seasons.

Boise State has improved their schedule dramatically by adding Oregon State at home and Virginia Tech, who they will play at a neutral site in Landover, Maryland.  Also, the improvement of other WAC teams, Nevada, Idaho and Fresno State will help there strength of schedule.

While this schedule is still not as tough as those played by BCS conference teams, it is a gigantic step in the right direction.  I would still like to see a third BCS team, but we cannot ask for too much.  Also note, Boise State played in thirteen games last season and could still add one more to this schedule.

But is this still tough enough?  Is this schedule worth a BCS Game?  I would say yes, but barely.  I would still like to see a third BCS team, but we cannot ask for too much.  Finishing this season undefeated would be much more impressive than past years and would warrant another Fiesta Bowl.

Is it National Championship worthy?  To this, I say no.  Boise State is clearly head and shoulders above every other team in their conference, and playing only two BCS conference teams, while BCS teams play at lease seven others each season, is not enough.  An easier path should never be rewarded the same as the more difficult path.

Of course this discussion always leads to the question I ask every time Boise State’s schedule is brought up… When will the Pac-10 just invite them to join?  That would solve all of these problems.