College Football Picks: Week 12

When College Gameday goes to a school like Houston, you know that aren’t very many high quality games this weekend.  But here are the usual picks against the spread for the ACC, Big 12 and top 25 matchups.  Picks with a * (star) are what I have a high confidence in.

Top 25:

USC +15 over Oregon – Watch out for the upset here! I’m actually picking USC to win outright.  Oregon has a let down after there stellar performance last week at Stanford.

* Michigan -3.5 over Nebraska – Michigan’s defense keeps Nebraska’s rough looking offense in check and wins this one in the Big House.

ACC:

Georgia Tech -11 over Duke – Georgia Tech has the #1 ranked passing defense in the ACC and should be able to stop the only thing Duke does well, passing the football.  Duke’s last ranked rushing offense won’t be able to compensate. 

Wake Forest -10 over Maryland – Not sure why this line has gone down over the week (started at +11.5), but Maryland won’t win their first game against FBS competition since beating Miami on the opening weekend. 

Miami +1 over South Florida – South Florida will get up big for this in state rivalry game at home; however, Miami is getting better as the season progresses and USF is going in the opposite direction.  Miami wins this game at home.

* Clemson -7.5 over NC State – I’ll use the same logic I used above for the GT, Duke game.  NC State is 111^th in the nation in rushing, Clemson shuts down NC State’s passing attack and wins big.

* Boston College +24.5 over Notre Dame – Boston College has finally figured out how to at least show up for games and have won 2 of there past 3.  Notre Dame wins this one, but 24 points is to many to give up. 

* Virginia +17.5 over Florida State – UVA has consistently shown up for big games under Mike London.  UVA also has more to play for, in hopes of making it to their first ACC championship game.  Still, FSU wins this one and lets VT Clinch the coastal.

Big 12:

Oklahoma State -27 over Iowa State – That is a ton of points, but I don’t see OSU backing down in this one and Iowa State just doesn’t have the capacity to score anywhere near that of the Cowboys.  

Kansas +31 over Texas A&M – If I’ve learned anything this year, its to not bet on the Aggies! Kansas has been able to play better over the past few weeks, losing by 3 and 1 pts and will score enough to stay in this one.  A&M does go ahead and win this one though.

Missouri -18 over Texas Tech – Tech is playing just awfully lately and won’t get up for this one either.  Mizzou rolls at home.

Baylor +16 over Oklahoma – RG3 has a way of keeping his team in games and find a way to win.  They don’t win this one, but without Broyles, OU 1^st half struggles will continue and make it closer than expected. 

* Kansas State +8 over Texas – Kansas State will win this game in Austin.  Coming off a 3 pts offensive performance I don’t see the Longhorns making this one close.