Posting this a little later than usual as I’m on the road for the Clemson game and have been extra busy working on my “real” research projects this week. I put my VaTech/ECU prediction (VaTech 34, ECU 24) through on my Twitter feed on Thursday, so I’m 1–0 for the week so far. Had another pretty good last week, though I should have gone with my gut and picked UNC to beat VaTech outright (I just didn’t trust the Carolina offense enough; I thought the defense would be good enough) and switched the WVU/USF winner once I recalled how much WVU’s offense has struggled against USF the last couple years. Oh well, at least I got the Oregon/USC game right. On to the picks:

ACC:

Miami 37, Virginia 13

NC State 42, Maryland 24

Georgia Tech 38, Wake Forest 31

UNC 30, Duke 24 (Despite the records, I just don’t think Duke is as good as Carolina, who has played a much tougher schedule so far.)

Clemson 38, Florida State 31 (As with any game involving these two teams, this could go either way. I could see FSU forcing a turnover or two from Parker and winning, but Spiller and Ford provide Clemson with outstanding big play threats against a defense that has given up a ton of big plays all year. Ponder being hurt doesn’t help the ‘Noles, either.)

SEC:

Georgia 45, Tennessee Tech 10 (The SEC formula for a pick-me-up game: just play a terrible team.)

South Carolina 34, Arkansas 31

Tennessee 37, Memphis 13

Florida 38, Vanderbilt 13

Alabama 34, LSU 13

Other Top 25:

Texas 56, UCF 14

TCU 42, SDSU 13

Utah 41, New Mexico 10

Arizona 37, Washington St. 9

Pittsburgh 41, Syracuse 17

Cincinnati 31, UConn 28

Iowa 40, N’Western 21

BYU 38, Wyoming 21

Notre Dame 38, Navy 28

Wisconsin 31, Indiana 21 (How is Wisconsin ranked? Does anyone seriously think they’re better than say, Clemson?)

Oregon 41, Stanford 27

USC 30, Arizona St 13

Ohio St. 17, Penn St. 13

Oregon St. 31, Cal 28

Oklahoma St. 29, Iowa St. 20

Tulsa 31, Houston 28

Oklahoma 34, Nebraska 31

Last week: 20–4; Season 60–24 (71.4%)