Football for Breakfast

Mmm. Football for Breakfast. Here's some last minute picks before the games start this morning.

West Virginia 27, Connecticut 20
Somebody has to win the Big East, right? At the moment I think West Virginia is the strongest team in the weakest of all BCS conferences. UConn is without the services of their top two quarterbacks, and running back Donald Brown (aka Javon Ringer-East) can only do so much. Meanwhile the West Virginia backfield duo of Pat White and Noel Devine are just starting to hit their stride. UConn will put up a fight, but they won’t be able to contain Devine’s speed for 60 minutes.

Central Michigan 32, Indiana 23
Indiana got their upset win a week ago against an injury plagued Northwestern team missing their top quarterback and running back. This week they’ll return to earth when one of the top non-BCS teams you know nothing about comes to town.

Virginia 25, Miami 17
Virginia continues their winning ways by beating a talented, but young and inconsistent Miami team. Look out for the 'Canes in 2009.

Notre Dame 34, Pittsburgh 27
Who knows what Pittsburgh team is going to show up? The Big East Conference has some of the most inconsistent programs in the nation. Notre Dame will beat Pitt the same way Rutgers did: with the passing game. Jimmy “the Ostrich” Clausen throws a nice deep ball and Golden Tate and true freshman Michael Floyd are more than capable of cashing in on the big play opportunities sure to come their way.

Mississippi State 24, Kentucky 21
Rich Brooks made a smart move by designating Randall Cobb the starting quarterback. The wide receiver-turned-signal caller has excellent athleticism and looks natural throwing the football. The problem is Kentucky has been bitten hard by the injury bug. Not only are receiver Dicky Lyons and running back Derrick Locke out for the season, but three offensive linemen and up to five defensive starters may miss this game against the Croomdawgs as well. You aren’t going to win many games missing that many key players no matter who you are.

Boston College 27, Clemson 17
Clemson is done. There isn’t a single player on the roster capable of blocking anybody, so BC’s defense should have no problem shutting the inept Tigers down.

Iowa 20, Illinois 16
Iowa running back Shonn Green will chew up yards and clock against the underachieving Illini defense, which will keep Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn on the sidelines.

Louisville 34, Syracuse 15
I’m going to go ahead and start hyping up the Cardinals. The rest of the Big East is clearly incapable of shooting themselves in the foot, so why can’t Steve Kragthorpe’s gang crash the party a year early?

South Carolina 24, Tennessee 16
Could this be the last meeting between Phil Fulmer and Steve Spurrier? This head coaching rivalry has brought us some great moments – such as the famous “you can’t spell ‘Citrus’ without ‘UT’” blast. I’m picking Spurrier for old time’s sake.

Oregon State 33, Arizona State 27
The honeymoon is over for Dennis Erickson in Tempe. After a successful first season (that happened to coincide with an easy schedule), the Sun Devils are crashing and burning in year two.