College Football - Week 10 Predictions

Well, I thought it was tough to find time to write last week, and now, this week has been even worse. Sorry, but no Week 9 college football review - I promise to have a week review for Week 10. The college football week is off to an amazing start with this epic Big East battle between Louisville and West Virginia. As I write this, Louisville has just gone into the half with a 16-14 lead over the Mountaineers. It should be a great second half...and also a great weekend of college football. So, here the Total System Failure predictions for Week 10:

#1 Ohio State at Illinois - Yet, another tough road trip for the Buckeyes in the mighty Big 10 conference. I think the biggest concern for Coach Jim Tressel is whether or not his Buckeyes will be mentally prepared to handle the hostile environment in Champaign-Urbana. Okay, enough sarcasm regarding his collossal mismatch. While Illinois has showed some signs of improving under Ron Zook, expecting the Illini defense to contain Troy Smith, Antonio Pittman, and Ted Ginn is just unrealistic. Last year, the Buckeyes pounded the Illini 40-2 in Columbus, Ohio, and I think Illini quarterback Juice Williams will at least make a play or two against the Buckeye defense to keep this game close - for a quarter....Ohio State 42 Illinois 9

Ball State at #2 Michigan - As if playing the lower division Big 10 teams isn't enough of a cakewalk for the Wolverines, the powerful Cardinals of Ball State roll into Ann Arbor on Saturday to battle Michigan. The biggest news for this mismatch is that WR Mario Manningham may return for the maize and blue. The real question is why bring Manningham back for a game against Ball State - maybe Lloyd Carr really wants to pile on the style points. With or without the style points, the Wolverines will move to 22-0 all-time against MAC teams...Michigan 56 Ball State 7

Oklahoma State at #4 Texas - The Oklahoma State Cowboys have had great opportunities to knock off the Longhorns the past two season. In 2004, the Cowobys had a 35-14 halftime lead and ended up losing to Texas. Then, last year in Stillwater, the Cowboys were up 28-12 and again feel to the Longhorns. So, is the third time a charm? Oklahoma State is coming off a great comeback road win against Nebraska, while Texas survived a scare in Lubbock, Texas against Texas Tech (thanks to a few very generous spots by the Big 12 officiating crew). Colt McCoy has emerged as a bona fide star and the Cowboys defense isn't exactly stingy. The Cowboys are going to score some points with their star WR Adarius Bowman. Look for another shootout for the Longhorns, but fortunately, for Texas fans, Colt McCoy has a few more weapons ....Texas 45 Oklahoma State 28

Arkansas State at #6 Auburn - Saturday provides the final breather for Auburn before "Amen Corner'. Most Auburn fans were hoping that last week against Ole Miss was going to be a breather too, but as accurately predicted here on the Total System Failure blog, it turned into a war. Although the Indians were shutout last week by Florida Atlantic, they won't be a pushover for the Tigers. Arkansas State brings the #32 ranked rushing offensive in Division I into Jordan-Hare Stadium, and the Tigers haven't exactly played that well against the run this year. Fortunately, for the Tigers, Brandon Cox and the rest of the Auburn offense seems to be starting to hit on all cylinders, and the Indians do not have much a passing attack. It should be a big day for Irons, Lester, and yes, even freshman Ben Tate, but don't expect the Tigers to cover the 31 point spread...Auburn 41 Arkansas State 14

#7 Florida at Vanderbilt - The Gator nation better not look past this road trip to Nashville and start the countdown until the SEC Championship in Atlanta. The Commodores of Vanderbilt will give the Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators all they want on Saturday. Since the second half of the Auburn game, the Florida offense has been sputtering, while the defense lead by Reggie Nelson continues to play lights out. Vanderbilt quaterback Chris Nickson is getting more and more comfortable at the helm of Bobby Johnson's offense, and he has got a star WR in Earl Bennett to look for when things get tough. The Commodores just don't have the rushing attack to keep their defense off the field for long periods of time. Florida survived an upset scare last year in Gainesville, and they'll survive yet another scare for the Commodores...Florida 24 Vanderbilt 20

#13 LSU at #8 Tennessee - LSU gets their third chance to defeat a Top 10 team this season, and if Les Miles wants to lead the LSU program for an extended period of time, he might want to try winning one of these big games. LSU's defense always comes to play in these big games, but it's quarterback Jemarcus Russell that tends to choke on the road against upper echleon competition. Maybe it's time for Miles to put Matt Flynn at the helm? Tennessese's offensive line has only given up 6 sacks this season, but the Vols have yet to face a defensive front as good as the one the Bayou Bengals will bring to Neyland Stadium on Saturday. LSU will be able to stiffle the Tennessee rushing attack, so it will be up to Erik Ainge to once again shoulder the burden for the Vols. This time, he'll come up short, and Jemarcus Russell will do just enough to get Les Miles a big road win...LSU 17 Tennessee 10

#9 USC at Stanford - What has happened to Stanford football? The tradition built by the likes of Bill Walsh, Dennis Green, and Ty Willingham has not be relived under the direction of Walt Harris. I wonder if Harris regrets his decision to leave Pitt, and I have got a feeling he is really going to miss coaching at Pitt after the USC Trojans visit Palo Alto. Finally, USC's stranglehold over the Pac-10 came to an end last week in Corvallis, Oregon, and now, the rest of the Pac-10 has hope when they see USC on the opposing sidelines. Unfortunately, for Stanford, T.C. Ostrander will only be making his second start at quarterback, and the Trojans are going to be quite angry. This will will be ugly and ugly very early...USC 63 Stanford 7

UCLA at #10 California - The Golden Bears of California now control their destiny in the Pac-10, and with some help, they could find their way to the BCS Title Game in order to fulfill ESPN's Lee Corso's preseason prediction. Cal is coming off a bye week, while UCLA is still reeling from their last second loss at Notre Dame. UCLA was not able to regroup last week against Washington State, and one cannot help but wonder if Karl Dorrell can pull the Bruins out of their post-Notre Dame funk. The Bruins do bring a tough defense into this game, do the Golden Bears. The trio of Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett, and Nate Longshore should be too much for the UCLA defense that surrounded 515 yards to Washington State....California 38 UCLA 14

#12 Arkansas at South Carolina - South Carolina has played a lot of highly ranked teams close at home this season. Both Auburn and Tennessee survived upset bids at night in Williams-Brice Stadium, but both of those teams had veteran quarterbacks under center. Mitch Mustain has shown that he can win on the road (at Vanderbilt and at Auburn), but he hasn't lead a team into a hostile SEC environment on a Saturday night. The question is whether or not the South Carolina defense can slow down the Arkansas rushing attack, but Mustain is not going to go into Columbia, South Carolina and win this game with his arm. The Gamecocks only surrounded 71 yards on the ground last week against the Vols, but for the year, are giving up over 130 yards per game and are ranked #67 against the run. Steve Spurrier is going to knock off someone this year, but it won't be the Razorbacks on Saturday night....Arkansas 20 South Carolina 17

And now predictions for other games this week....

#11 Notre Dame 41 North Carolina 6
#16 Boston College 24 #22 Wake Forest 20
#17 Wisconsin 14 Penn State 9
#18 Oklahoma 24 #21 Texas A&M 21
#19 Clemson 38 Maryland 17
#20 Georgia Tech 28 North Carolina State 20
#23 Virginia Tech 17 Miami(FL) 13
#24 Oregon 31 Washington 17
#25 Washington State 35 Arizona 10
Nebraska 24 Missouri 17
Indiana 28 Minnesota 14
Purdue 17 Michigan State 14
Houston 27 Tulsa 24
Alabama 16 Mississippi State 13
Georgia 24 Kentucky 14
Texas Tech 35 Baylor 13
Florida State 27 Virginia 3
Arizona State 38 Oregon State 24

Note: Through 2 weeks of making predictions, season record is: 46-9