Overall Record A.T.S. ( 28-22-4)
Last Week A.T.S. (2-3-1)
Notre Dame sucks. I'm so tired of listening to pundits and deranged fans talk about them deserving a spot in the national championship game. Yes, they have a chance to make it, but they don't deserve it. After Notre Dame plays Army this weekend it will have gone eight straight weeks without playing a team in the Top 25.
Brady Quinn looked like absolute garbage against Michigan. He threw three interceptions and cracked under the pressure of the Wolverine pass rush. He overthrew balls frequently and he reverted to his sophomore year form by throwing frantic jump passes to covered receivers. But Notre Dame Idiots will tell you that Quinn has played a lot better as the season has gone on.
However, the fact that Notre Dame hasn't played anyone with a pulse since Michigan cannot be ignored. Can anyone seriously think Brady Quinn should win the Heisman because he led the Irish to a come-from-behind victory against 4-7 Michigan State? Maybe he gets so much respect because he was cool enough to toss a last minute TD against 5-5 UCLA's 73rd ranked pass defense. Maybe the four touchdowns he tossed against 1-9 North Carolina really impressed.
If Notre Dame passes either Ohio State or Michigan to get a shot at the national championship, I will literally puke. Ohio State embarrassed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl last year, and, oh yeah, Ohio State is now scoring more points and giving up fewer than their squad last year whereas Notre Dame returns the same offense and pretty much the same terrible defense.
Michigan thrashed Notre Dame on the road 47-21 this year, and it wasn't even that close. You can't even begin to argue that Notre Dame is somehow the better team of the two.
If Notre Dame plays in the national championship game instead of either of the last two teams that have exposed it as the mediocre, overhyped fraud that it is, it will be the biggest case of pro-Notre Dame media bias in a very long history of favoritism.
No. 2 Michigan (+7) @ No. 1 Ohio State
Did you expect the line to be that big? Neither did Pwang. In my opinion these two teams are clearly the best in the country, but is Ohio State really that much better than Michigan?
The Michigan defense will be the best Ohio State has seen this year. Lamar Woodley and Alan Branch are both getting first-team All-American attention and deservedly so. The Wolverine defense is leading the nation with 41 sacks, and thanks in part to all the negative yardage those sacks have added to the Wolverines' rush defense, they are only giving up an astounding 1.3 yards per carry.
Ohio State, however, can play a little defense too. Sophomore linebacker James Laurinaitis is one of only three finalists for this year's Butkis award, and his defense is allowing only 7.8 points per game.
A lot of people think "The Game" will come down to Troy Smith outplaying Chad Henne, and when you couple that with Jim Tressel outcoaching Lloyd Carr it seems hard to disagree. I too think Ohio State is going to win this game, but I have hard time believing it will be a blowout.
Pick: Michigan (+7) over Ohio State
No. 17 California (+5) @ No. 4 USC
I can't hide it and I won't try. I'm rooting for Cal in this one. I need Cal to beat USC so that USC can beat Notre Dame next week. That way neither USC nor Notre Dame will get to play in the national championship game. USC isn't as good as their 50-14 win over Arkansas makes some people think.
Cal isn't as bad as their 24-20 loss to Arizona and their 35-18 loss to Tennessee made them look. Wait a minute, yes they are.
Pick: USC (-5) over California
No. 15 Auburn (-3) @ Alabama
Tommy Tuberville is undefeated in the Iron Bowl. He will be on the road this week, but he's bringing in the better team. The best team Alabama has beaten is Vanderbilt and they only managed to win that one by three points despite playing at home. Bama' is giving up 17.6 points per game and Auburn is allowing 11.9. This should be a low-scoring slugfest like usual and a low-scoring game usually gives the underdog a chance, but I don't think the excitement of a rivalry game will be enough to get the Crimson Tide over the hump.
Pick: Auburn (-3) over Alabama
No. 21 Maryland (+8) @ No. 20 Boston College
This game has big time implications in the ACC Atlantic division. A Maryland win will let it control its own destiny next week against Wake Forest. A BC win coupled with a Virginia Tech win this week and a Maryland win next week would put BC in the ACC championship game. Maryland wasn't expected to be any good coming into this year, but they have found ways to win in close games. Maryland has won five games by four or fewer points, but one of those was against lowly Florida International, one of the worst teams in D-1A football. Maryland really isn't as good as its record or ranking would indicate, but their defense is good enough to keep this one close.
Pick: Maryland (+8) over Boston College
Dartmouth @ Princeton
Charging the field at Yale was exhilarating. I've seen a lot of college football games, but I've never seen a team rush its opponent's field. Last week's game is going to be a lifelong memory for both the fans that attended and the players that made the moment.
It's too bad the bonfire has to be on Friday night since that means the actual players on the team won't get to enjoy it as much as they otherwise could, but maybe, if we're lucky, it will get postponed one more night. Then we could celebrate our Ivy League championship in addition to the wins over Harvard and Yale.
Pick: Princeton 31, Dartmouth 0
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