The Oregon Ducks were hoping to bring a perfect record into their matchup with the Oregon State Beavers, but that won’t be the case following a tough loss to the Stanford Cardinal last weekend. Oregon is still the fifth-ranked team in the country, but they’re up for another big challenge in the final regular-season game of the year.
Its time for the annual Bedlam game between these two in-state and conference rivals. Oklahoma State knew it wasn’t going to be as good as last year but that #21 next to its name is an indicator of the status of the program at current.
The Yellow Jackets have to be one of the most maddening teams out there this season. With their old school offense they rumble away at teams at times looking unstoppable.
The Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins are both coming off statement wins heading into their week 13 contest. The No. 8 Cardinal took down the then-No. 2 Oregon Ducks, while the No. 17 Bruins defeated the then-No. 18 USC Trojans. UCLA has already locked up a spot in the Pac-12 championship, but Stanford’s place in the game is up for grabs depending on the outcome of this matchup.
When the 2012 college football season began, this game was looked at as one of the final steps for a USC Trojans squad that would surely be in the mix for a BCS National Championship. Well, the tides have turned, as it’s the Notre Dame Fighting Irish that bring in an undefeated ranking and the first-overall ranking in the NCAA.
The rivalry between the Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils is one with a lot of history behind it, but this is the first time that first-year head coaches Rich Rodriguez and Todd Graham will face off for the Territorial Cup. The Wildcats have won four of their last five games, while the Sun Devils have lost four of their last five.
The Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars won’t grab many headlines this weekend, but the Apple Cup is a tradition in the Pacific Northwest. Over the past decade, these two teams have split the series six games to four in Washington’s favor.
Nebraska can clinch the Legends division this weekend with a victory at Iowa. This team has been special at home but not nearly as convincing on the road.
Before the season started this was supposed to be a huge season ending contest with SEC and possibly BCS Championship implications. Now those hopes have long since been dashed with neither team having much to play for in this finale.
Nebraska can clinch the Legends division this weekend with a victory at Iowa. This team has been special at home but not nearly as convincing on the road.
Both Texas and TCU will not play in a BCS game, but the winner of this Thanksgiving match up can improve the bowl they play in.
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
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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.
Arkansas is looking to steal a couple of late season games and perhaps put a good final shine on this complete disaster of a season.
