Colorado State at Colorado
This contest is always hard fought and full of surprises. The spread favors the Buffs this year but in a rivalry type game at a neutral location you usually toss out the records and the spread. That being said I liked the gutty way Colorado battled Cal last week so I have to pick the Buffs with the points.
Vegas - Colorado by 8.5 - John B Picks - Colorado 34 Colorado State 21
Texas at UCLA
The Bruins rolled into Austin early last season and dominated the Longhorns. UCLA has plenty of talent but the team isn't responding to the coaching staff. Last weeks semi win against lowly San Jose State tells us all we need to know about the Bruins. This is a winnable game for UCLA...that being said...do they even care? If you can't beat Houston you shouldn't beat Texas...right?
Vegas - Texas by 3.5 - John B Picks - Texas 27 UCLA 21
Missouri State at Oregon
This should be an even higher degree of cakewalk for the Ducks this weekend. Expect all the young ducklings to play early and often which only helps Oregon develop depth for the season and keep their starters fresh for conference play.
Vegas - No Line - John B Picks - Oregon 77 Missouri State 14
Presbyterian at California
Cal had some scheduling complications and Presbyterian was willing to take a big check and even a bigger beating. Keep an eye on that Cal defense which was blown up by Colorado last week.
Vegas - No Line - John B Picks - California 45 Presbyterian 17
Washington State at San Diego State
The undefeated Cougars roll into San Diego to face a pretty good Aztec team. I am predicting win number three for WSU even though this should be a pretty tight contest. The Cougs haven't really faced anyone tough but they have won the way good teams do against lesser opponents.
Vegas - SDSU by 6 - John B Picks - Washington State 35 SDSU 28
Arizona State at Illinois
Playing on the road in a Big Ten stadium is always a tough road trip. The stands in Champaign will be packed for this contest. I give the Devils a slight edge because they seem to be a team with a mission this season. Erickson says that this is his best ASU team. If that is true they should be able to knock off a mid level Big Ten team on the road.
Vegas - Even Odds - John B Picks - Arizona State 27 Illinois 24
Syracuse at Southern California
USC isn't close to hitting on all cylinders at this point of the season. They will win their third game in a row but for the third consecutive week it won't be pretty. Syracuse is also 2-0 and I would definitely put them in the same class as a Minnesota.
Vegas - USC by 16.5 - John B Picks - USC 24 Syracuse 17
Utah at Brigham Young
Utah comes into this game a little beat up from the defensive struggle that resulted in a last second loss to USC last week in the Coliseum. This week they travel to Provo to face their traditional rivals in a game where BYU probably holds the most emotional cards not to mention the better QB.
Vegas - BYU by 4.5 - John B Picks - BYU 31 Utah 24
Stanford at Arizona
The Cardinals are a well oiled machine and even though playing on the road in Tucson will be their first serious test of the year I predict they will roll big time over the Wildcats. Arizona has way too many holes this year to compete with top ten teams lime Stanford and Oregon.
Vegas - Stanford by 10 - John B Picks - Stanford 42 Arizona 24