Another Saturday full of college football as we get closer to bowl season at the end of the month. We've hit a lull in the schedule as for the next couple of weeks, we won't really see any major marquee matchups or big rivalry games. So, for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to focus on picking teams that are looking not only to win, but also trying to put themselves in the best position for the BCS or bowl games.
Indiana Hoosiers vs. Wisconsin Badgers (-22)
It's always takes a little extra push from yourself to take a team not only to win, but to win by over three touchdowns, but the Badgers have enough weapons at the running back spot that they can completely run over their conference rival and win big in the process.
You know what you're going to get with Wisconsin football. It involves a physical, power-running game designed to wear down opponents and beat them into submission by the 4th quarter. They average 216 rushing yards a game and simply punish inferior opponents with time of possession. A 4-5 Indiana team that's 0-5 in conference this year should be the inferior opponent they need for a big win.
Utah Utes (-6) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
If you're a consistent reader of the Saturday college football picks, then you know that I'm a big backer of the Utes because more often than not, they'll get you to the pay window. They certainly didn't do it last week against TCU, but they weren't favoured to. They're favoured this week against Notre Dame and I think public perception of their beating from TCU has a lot to do with their low number.
Losing by 40 will always put doubts into the public, but let's look at the opposition. The Irish are 4-5 on the year, will start a freshman quarterback due to injury and have lost 11 consecutive games against ranked opponents. Brian Kelly may one day turn this program around, but they're simply not good enough to match up against Utah.
Kansas Jayhawks vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers (-35)
Much like the Wisconsin game, it takes a bit of convincing in order to put money down on a team to not only win, but in this case, to win by over five touchdowns. However, this one is simple to figure out. Nebraska is a great football team and Kansas is a very bad football team. Seems very simplistic, but sometimes the simplest explanation is the best one.
The Huskers get back Taylor Martinez at quarterback and are such a dynamic team with him under center. The key to this matchup is how dominant the Huskers defence should be against an anemic Kansas offence. In 4 of 9 Kansas games this year, they've been held to 10 points or less. One of those games was a 6-3 loss to D-II North Dakota State. The blackshirts are a staple at Nebraska and the defence will rise to the occasion yet again.