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The Demon Deacons have had some ugly losses but they are just one win away from becoming bowl eligible with two games to play. Neither will be easy but this week will be an extremely hard test as they visit Notre Dame.
The Florida State Seminoles are the 10th-ranked team heading into week 12, and if it weren’t for their one unexpected loss to North Carolina State in the middle of the season, they’d be a BCS contender at this point in the year.
The 11th-ranked Clemson Tigers have had an extremely successful season, which is why it’s unfortunate that their sole loss came at the hands of the ACC Atlantic division’s Florida State Seminoles. A win this week against the North Caronlina State Wolfpack would improve them to 10-1 on the year, but their division rival will likely be the ones in the ACC Championship game.
The Oregon Ducks have propelled themselves into the No. 2 spot in the country following Alabama’s shocking loss last weekend, which means if they win out, they are in the BCS National Championship game.
The California Golden Bears have had a disappointing year in 2012, and at this point, they’re simply trying to get out of the season with their heads held high. At just 3-8, the team from Berekely, Calif. travels to Reser Stadium this weekend, where they’ll take on the No. 16 Oregon State Beavers.
The USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins have a rich, storied rivalry, and while the series has been completely dominated by the Trojans in recent years, the Bruins are hoping to change that trend November 17. USC has fallen from grace this season, as they’ve dropped 16 spots from their preseason ranking, while UCLA has surprisingly climbed the ladder of the BCS to No. 17. Both teams are fighting for a spot in the Pac-12 championship game.
Northern Illinois is back in the same position they seemingly are in every year. Northern Illinois sits at the top of the MAC standings with a record of 6-0 in the league.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. Cincinnati Bearcats
Nippert Stadium
Saturday November 17, 12:00 PM EST on Big East Network
College Football Betting Odds from Bookmaker
Moneyline: Off
College Football Spread: Cincinnati -6.5 (-110) vs. Rutgers +6.5 (-110)
Over/Under: 47
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight! | Buy Ray’s Picks!
Rutgers has been one of the biggest surprises in the country this season. Greg Schiano is now in Tampa Bay, but the Scarlet Knights have continued on with a hugely successful year. Rutgers comes into this one at 8-1 and ranked 22nd in the country. Cincinnati enters at 7-2, and the Bearcats are 6-0 at home this season. Cincinnati is nearly a touchdown favorite here. Let’s take a look at this Big East matchup.
Rutgers
How has Rutgers put together such a big season once again in 2012? It has been their stellar defense leading the way all season long. Rutgers is 14th in the nation in total defense, and they are fifth in the nation in points allowed per game.
Opponents are only scoring 13.4 points per contest on this tough Scarlet Knights defense. This is a well-balanced defense that has fared well against both running and passing teams. In addition, they are very opportunistic. Not many people expected this defense to be so tough.
Gary Nova is a huge key to the Rutgers offense success. Nova has had one really bad game this year, and that was the game that Rutgers lost. Nova threw six interceptions in the team’s loss to Kent State. Excluding that game, Nova has thrown 16 touchdowns compared to just four interceptions. Jawan Jamison is the team’s leading rusher, but Savon Huggins showed he is capable of stepping in and providing the team with a nice option at tailback as well. Rutgers is averaging 26.2 points per game.
Cincinnati
The Cincinnati Bearcats have made a change at the quarterback position. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Munchie Legeaux was turning the ball over too much, and the Bearcats have decided to go with Brendon Kay under center. Kay was spectacular in last week’s win at Temple, but he’ll face a much tougher test this weekend when Cincinnati plays against a very good Rutgers defense. Kay has rushed for 138 yards on only 15 carries, so his running ability is definitely a plus for this team. Cincinnati hasn’t been able to throw the ball down the field much this year, which has allowed opponents to sit on their short yardage passing game too often. The Bearcats average 34.2 points per game.
Cincinnati’s defense has given up a decent amount of yards, but they have been great at keeping their opponent out of the end zone. Cincinnati has a good pass rush which can really make life difficult on the opposing quarterback. This unit has done a great job bearing down and forcing field goal attempts instead of touchdowns, which is a large reason why the team is 7-2 right now.
Rutgers has been underrated all year, and I don’t think the oddsmakers are giving them enough credit in this one. Look for this game to go right down to the wire.
Free College Football Pick: Rutgers +6.5
Wisconsin (7-3) has already clinched their spot in the Big 10 title game since both Ohio State (10-0) and Penn State are bowl ineligible this season.
Louisiana Tech (9-1) and Utah State (8-2) are each 4-0 in WAC play and the Bulldogs still have an outside chance to play for a BCS bowl game.
Texas Tech (7-3) has not been playing well, as they barely escaped a weak Kansas team in their last game and lost their previous 2 games. On top of that they have lost 3 straight games to Oklahoma State (6-3).
Oklahoma (7-2) looks to keep their slight BCS hopes alive with a win over a reeling WVU (5-4) team that needs one more win to be bowl eligible. The Sooners not only need to win out, but have Kansas State lose their last 2 games.
Kansas State (10-0) is the top ranked team in the nation and if they can win this game and then next week facing a ranked Texas team they should play in their first ever BCS title game.
When you play in the SEC it sometimes can be hard to tell just how good you really are. The Rebels have won all the games they were favoured in save one and the same has been true with them as the underdogs, losing all except one.
While Texas A&M is getting headlines this week about how smart their move was to the SEC nobody is talking about how bad Hawaii has been since moving to the Mountain West Conference.
Northern Illinois is back in the same position they seemingly are in every year. Northern Illinois sits at the top of the MAC standings with a record of 6-0 in the league.
Toledo vs. Northern Illinois
Huskie Stadium
Wednesday November 14, 9:00 PM EST on ESPN2
College Football Betting Odds from Bookmaker
Moneyline: Off
College Football Spread: Northern Illinois -10.5 (-110) vs. Toledo +10.5 (-110)
Over/Under: 63
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight! | Buy Ray’s Picks!
The Huskies only have one loss on the year, and that was a tough 18-17 season opening loss against Iowa. Toledo is putting together a nice season as well. The Rockets did drop a 34-27 decision to Ball State last week, and they must win this game to have a chance to reach the MAC title game.
Toledo
The Toledo Rockets lost their head coach after last season, but the team really hasn’t skipped a beat this year.
Over the last couple years, Terrance Owens and Austin Dantin split the time pretty evenly at quarterback, but Owens has emerged as the clear starter this year for the Toledo offense. Owens has thrown 14 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions. He has also run for 330 yards. Bernard Reedy has emerged as a star receiver for Toledo. Reedy has 69 catches for 901 yards this year. Overall, Toledo averages 33.6 points per game.
The Rockets defense gave up a ton of points last year, and this year has been no different. Toledo actually lost 63-60 last year against Northern Illinois. There’s no way you can expect Toledo to shut down the Huskies all game long, but they’ll have to come up with some timely stops in this one if they are going to win. The Rockets have been better at forcing turnovers this year, which has helped them keep opponents point totals down a bit. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Northern Illinois
There are different people at the skill positions, but Northern Illinois still has the same formula for success. The Huskies run the football extremely well and have a play maker at the quarterback position. They have added a better defense to the list in 2012, which makes this team even more dangerous. Jordan Lynch has been amazing at the signal caller spot for Northern Illinois. Lynch has run for 1,342 yards, and he has thrown for 2,175 yards. In all, Lynch has 35 touchdowns this season. Many expected Lynch to be a good runner, but his passing numbers are tremendous. He has thrown for 19 touchdowns compared to just three interceptions. Northern Illinois is averaging 40.9 points per game.
The Huskies defense has given up a decent amount of yards, but they have been great at forcing turnovers and holding opponents to field goal attempts. In three of their last four games, the Huskies have allowed 7 points or less. Opponents are only averaging 17.9 points per contest against the Huskies this year.
Both of these teams have a very impressive offense, but the Huskies have the much better defense. This game isn’t likely to be like last year’s 63-60 scoring fest, but I still think the over is the way to play this.
Free College Football Pick: Over 63
The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Virginia Cavaliers have both had confusing seasons this year.
