NCAA College Football 2008 Week 13 Picks early games

NCAA College Football 2008 Week 13 Picks

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Fearless Rick's 2008 College Football Week 13 Picks - Early Games

Rick Gagliano | November 19-22, 2008

All times Eastern - Click here for late games.

Wednesday, Nov. 19

7:00 pm Ball State (-7, 55) at Central Michigan - Well, we've been heading toward this showdown all season and the entire Mid-America conference season is on the line for both teams. Central Michigan is even with the Ball State Cardinals at 6-0 and the Chippewas have a solid tradition which won't be easily overturned. Outside the conference Central Michigan has two road losses - at Purdue and Georgia - which is hardly a dent in the quality of their program. They are on a par with the Cardinals offensively but probably will find stopping the high-octane Ball State offense too much to ask.

While home field is always an advantage, Ball State is looking like a really special team this season. The closest anyone has come to beating them is 12 points, and that was against the Middies of Navy, back on September 5 (35-23). They've won their last four road games by an average of 21.75 per game, and while the Chippewas are good and proud, they're destined to come up short against this powerhouse of a team.

Prediction: Cardinals 38 Chippewas 17

Thursday, Nov. 20

7:40 pm Miami (FL) at Georgia Tech (-3 1/2, 40) - Every week there seems to be a huge game in the ACC, but the surprise is that these two teams are playing in the biggest game of the season for the Coastal Division. Miami is 4-2 while Tech stands a game back at 4-3 in the division. If Miami wins, they will have a distinct advantage, with only one game remaining (at NC State) over the rest. Should the Yellow Jackets succeed at home, it could create a five team pile-up, all ending the regular season with identical 5-3 records. In that case, league tie-breaking rules would determine who goes to the ACC championship game.

The Hurricanes have only lost once on the road, and that was an out-of-conference experience at Florida, in a 26-3 loss. Their two conference losses have been close calls, losing to North Carolina by 4 and Florida State by 2 in consecutive weeks at the end of September. Since then they've won five straight, including wins over Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. As for the Yellow Jackets, they are 5-1 at home, but were handed their worst loss of the season in their previous game, a 28-7 loss at North Carolina. It would be presumptuous to think that Tech cannot recover from that game, but giving the Hurricanes 3 1/2 simply seems unwise. The Yellow Jackets have issues on both offense and defense which the Hurricanes can exploit to their advantage.

Prediction: Hurricanes 24 Yellow Jackets 12

Saturday, Nov. 22

12:00 pm West Virginia (-7, 46) at Louisville - The only conference win posted by Louisville was a stunning 24-20 win over then-ranked South Florida. The 5-5 Cardinals are so bad they are actually one of the two teams Syracuse figured out a way to beat, which doesn't bode well as they prepare to host the fired-up Mountaineers. West Virginia saw their five-game win streak end last week in a 26-23 loss to Big East leader Cincinnati, but that was only their first conference loss, so they are still in position to possibly win their way to a BCS bowl game. Pittsburgh and South Florida are still on the schedule for West Virginia, so this game is a must-win.

While West Virginia is having somewhat of an off year offensively, scoring only 25 ppg, their scoring defense is the 10th best nationally at an even 16 points allowed per meeting. Routinely victimized in the passing game, expect West Virginia QB Pat White to deliver one of his best performances of the season.

Prediction: Mountaineers 41 Cardinals 17

12:00 pm Michigan at Ohio State (-21, 44 1/2) - What used to be a classic matchup determining dominance in the Big 10 has deteriorated this season into a meeting between an also-ran (the Buckeyes) and a team that will not be invited to a bowl game (the Wolverines). Still, the game does have some allure, mostly to see if the Michigan defense can come up with a solid effort and keep the Buckeyes from running them all the way to the border. The line on this game actually looks a little bit short, as Ohio State will run up the score with reserves if they are well ahead in the second half.

Prediction: Buckeyes 48 Wolverines 10

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3:30 pm Michigan State at Penn State (-14, 48 1/2) - Despite their last-minute loss at Iowa two weeks ago, the Nittany Lions are in position to nearly wrap up the Big 10 title. Tied with both Ohio State and Michigan State at 6-1, a win here will land them a trip to the Rose Bowl for certain, having already taken the measure of the Buckeyes earlier in the season. The line is forecasting a one-sided affair, and that's probably what's going to occur. In three home conference games, Penn State has won by an average of 23.3 points and they also have a 45-14 win over Oregon State (the only team to defeat USC this season and a possible Rose Bowl participant) to their credit.

In their only other showcase game, at Ohio State on October 18, the Spartans fell flat on their collective faces, losing by an embarrassing 45-7 tally. As they showed against the Buckeyes, they simply do not have the defense to compete with top-flight opposition. Penn State will win this one going away.

Prediction: Nittany Lions 41 Spartans 20

3:30 pm Mississippi at LSU (-4 1/2, 55) - When all is said and done this season, few will remember that it was Mississippi who posted the only regular season win over the mighty Florida Gators. That is the truth, one which Tiger fans may not want to contemplate. The Rebels have been competitive in every game this year. Their four losses have been by 2, 6, 7 and 4 points, that last one at Alabama on October 18, and since then they've reeled off 3 straight wins. Last week's 59-0 slam of Louisiana-Monroe was just a tune-up for the real deal in Baton Rouge. The Rebels have a powerful offense and a defense that does not allow many big plays.

It's not that LSU is not a good football team, but rather that the SEC is a very tough conference. Besides, the Tigers have already lost two home games this season and almost lost their third before rallying past Troy a week ago. Their win-loss-win-loss pattern will continue this week.

Prediction: Rebels 27 Tigers 21

3:30 pm Boston College at Wake Forest (-1 1/2, 41) - If there's another conference as wild and mixed up as the ACC, I'd like to see it. 9 of the 12 schools represented have conference records between 3-3 and 4-2, so the margin for error is razor-thin. Both 3-3 Boston College and 4-3 Wake Forest need this game to stay within striking distance of Atlantic division leader Maryland, who has issues with Florida State later in the evening. After seeing what BC did to the an offense not fully prepared, as in Florida State, the Demon Deacons - scoring only 20 ppg on average - had better hope for a freak snowstorm to even things up.

It's somewhat surprising that wake is even favored in this game, but that's probably only because they are at home. However, the Eagles haven't exactly been pushovers on the road, where they are 3-1. BC stays in the fray as the Deacons' prayers go unanswered.

Prediction: Eagles 26 Demon Deacons 17

All times Eastern - Click here for late games

Copyright 2008, 2009, Rick Gagliano, Downtown Magazine. All rights reserved. Downtown Magazine is located in the Uinted States of America and is not affiliated with the National Football League or the NCAA. For more information, contact us here. Use of this site is for entertainment purposes only.

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