NCAA College Football 2008 Week 8 Picks early games

NCAA College Football 2008 Week 8 Picks

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Fearless Rick's 2008 College Football Week 8 Picks - Early Games

Rick Gagliano | October 16-18, 2008

All times Eastern - Click here for late games.

Thursday, October 16

8:00 pm BYU (-1, 46 1/2) at TCU - A real treat in this Mountain West showdown. BYU is ranked in the Top 10 at 6-0, while TCU is feeling a little left out, unranked at 6-1, but with that sole loss at Oklahoma. Other than that game, nobody's come close to beating the Horned Frogs except for last week's 13-7 close call at Colorado State.

The Cougars pose a serious threat as invaders from the North. BYU may very well be among the top 3 or 4 teams in the nation. Their defense is second in scoring, allowing just 10.2 ppg, and the offense puts up an average of 37.8. The Cougars held UCLA and Wyoming scoreless in back-to-back wins (59-0 and 44-0) and last week held New Mexico to a field goal in a 21-3 walk-over. Give the Horned Frogs some credit for putting up a solid record thus far, but this one belongs to BYU.

Prediction: Cougars 30 Horned Frogs 13

Saturday, October 18

12:00 pm Connecticut (-1, 43 1/2) at Rutgers - Poor Rutgers is just 1-5 and 0-2 in the Big East, but they've covered the spread in both of their conference losses (24-17 at West Virginia and 13-10 at Cincinnati). One gets the feeling that this is an angry bunch. Finally back on their home turf, the Scarlet Knights can do serious harm to UConn's post-season aspirations.

It's bad timing for the Huskies to have to meet Rutgers at this point in the season. The Huskies will be playing their 3rd straight road game, following a week off after being punched out by North Carolina 38-12 on October 4.

Prediction: Scarlet Knights 23 Huskies 17

12:00 pm Georgia Tech (-2, 38 1/2) at Clemson - The implications of this game are enormous, especially in the case of a Georgia Tech win. The Yellow Jackets need to keep pace with Virginia Tech, who handed them their only loss, 20-17. Georgia Tech hopes that both the Hokies and Tar Heels will stumble down the stretch, but they need a win here to keep conference hopes alive. Clemson has already dropped a pair of ACC games and, after being touted as a Top 10 team in the preseason polls, has flopped mightily. There shouldn't be much scoring here, especially since the Yellow Jackets are allowing only 10.7 ppg (4th nationally). They should get the job done and improve GaTach to 6-1.

Prediction: Yellow Jackets 19 Tigers 10

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12:00 pm Kansas at Oklahoma (-20, 60 1/2) - No doubt Kansas players will get some insight from last week's 45-35 Texas win over the Sooners and motivation from being nearly three TD underdogs. Both teams are 5-1, but the sting of last week's loss still hurts the Sooners while Kansas has recovered well from their September loss at South Florida.

The Sooners will be without middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds, who was injured in the Texas game, and is out for the season. His loss was huge to the Oklahoma defense, which allowed the Longhorns to come from behind in the final 20 minutes of the game. At 34.3 points per game, Todd Reesing and the KU offense takes a back seat to very few, but the Sooners are averaging 47.2, 4th in the nation. Without Reynolds to bolster the defense, Kansas is poised to end the nation's longest home win streak - 21 straight - with an upset win.

Prediction: Jayhawks 38 Sooners 35

12:30 pm Vanderbilt at Georgia (-14 1/2, 45) - Here's another game pitting 5-1 teams for this SEC showdown in Athens. Vanderbilt suffered its first loss of the season last week at Mississippi State, 17-14, due primarily to a lackluster performance on offense. Mackenzi Adams will replace Chris Nickson at QB. Vandy is only scoring at a 24.5 ppg clip, though their defense is solid, allowing just 16.8 ppg. The Bulldogs demonstrate great balance offensively, scoring 33 points per outing, with a defense that is as good as any in the SEC (18.3 ppg).

Obviously, the oddsmakers believe the Bulldogs will handle the Commodore offense and do damage when they have the ball. Home field doesn't hurt, and Georgia bounced back nicely from their only loss - 41-30 vs. Alabama - with a 26-14 win over Tennessee. They are home for their third straight game, while the Commodores are on the road for the second week in a row.

Prediction: Bulldogs 34 Commodores 13

3:30 pm Pittsburgh (-3, 51) at Navy - Following an opening day loss at the hands of Bowling Green (27-17), the Panthers have reeled off four straight wins, the last a nifty 26-21 win at South Florida. Pitt hasn't exactly blown anyone out and the Midshpmen aren't going to just fall down here. They've already beaten some high quality teams - Rutgers, Wake Forest and Air Force - and are poised for their 4th straight win and second against a ranked opponent.

If history is any guide, the Middies should pull off another upset. Last season, they beat Air Force 31-20 and followed that up with a 38-35 win at Pitt. Their last win was an October 4, 33-27 win over the Falcons, and with a week off, they have had ample time to prepare.

Prediction: Midshipmen 33 Panthers 31

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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