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College Picks: Ohio State may be last hurdle for Penn State
By Ralph D. Russo, AP College Football Writer
Thursday, October 23, 2008 | No comments posted.
There will be plenty of new Ohio State fans all over the country when the Buckeyes face Penn State on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions are third in the nation in the rankings and BCS standings, behind No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Alabama.
The Longhorns and Crimson Tide have several tough games still to come, including possible conference championship games, so conventional wisdom suggests there’s a good chance one or both won’t get through the first weekend of December unbeaten.
Penn State, however, has a far more manageable slate after it visits Columbus, Ohio, where the Nittany Lions never have won as a Big Ten team. Penn State has lost seven straight at the Horseshoe and its last victory there came in 1978.
After Ohio State, Penn State plays at Iowa and completes the regular season with home games against Indiana and Michigan State. No championship game in the Big Ten, in case you forgot.
So all those Southeastern Conference teams (Georgia, Florida, LSU), Southern California and any other squad hoping to overcome an early loss and reach the BCS national championship game have to think the Buckeyes are their last hope to pin a loss on Penn State.
While the top of the rankings were mostly unchanged this week, the bottom half was overhauled. That led to six new teams in the Top 25 for only the third time since 1989 — when the AP rankings expanded from 20 to 25.
The past two times were Sept. 14, 2003, and Sept. 27, 1999.
Half the new teams — Georgia Tech, Florida State and Boston College — are from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Half the teams to fall out also were from the ACC — Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and North Carolina.
There’s a chance a couple of them could swap places again as Virginia Tech plays Florida State and Boston College is at North Carolina on Saturday.
The picks:
Friday
No. 13 Boise State (plus 7) at San Jose State
Broncos need big wins to bolster BCS hopes ... BOISE STATE 24-20.
Saturday
No. 7 Oklahoma State (plus 121⁄2) at No. 1 Texas
Longhorns coach Mack Brown is 10-0 against Cowboys ... TEXAS 42-31.
No. 2 Alabama (minus 61⁄2) at Tennessee
Tide thinking national title; Vols trying to salvage season ... ALABAMA 24-14.
No. 3 Penn State (minus 21⁄2) at No. 10 Ohio State
Might as well be called Big Ten championship game ... PENN STATE 24-20.
No. 4 Oklahoma (minus 19) at Kansas State
Bob Stoops only loss to Wildcats came in ’03 Big 12 title game ... OKLAHOMA 51-24.
Kentucky (plus 241⁄2) at No. 5 Florida
Gators have won 21 straight against ’Cats ... FLORIDA 40-10.
No. 6 Southern California (minus 16) at Arizona
’Zona’s big chance to take control of Pac-10 race ... USC 28-14.
No. 8 Texas Tech (plus 11⁄2) at No. 19 Kansas
Red Raiders get Texas at home next week ... KANSAS 44-38.
No. 9 Georgia (plus 2) at No. 11 LSU
The loser can shelve its national title hopes ... GEORGIA 27-17.
No. 14 South Florida (minus 4) at Louisville
Cardinals still hoping to make Big East title run ... USF 28-20.
Wyoming (plus 31) at No. 15 TCU
Cowboys are last in nation in scoring (9.0 ppg) ... TCU 45-9.
Colorado (plus 211⁄2) at No. 16 Missouri
Sorry, Buffs, somebody has to pay for Tigers’ consecutive losses ... MISSOURI 55-21.
Rutgers (plus 91⁄2) at No. 17 Pittsburgh
The old Panthers would lose this game ... PITT 36-14.
UNLV (plus 221⁄2) at No. 18 BYU
Are Cougars sulking or furious after first loss? ... BYU 40-17.
Eastern Michigan (plus 241⁄2) at No. 20 Ball State
Perfect Cardinals keep rolling ... BALL STATE 48-21.
Virginia (plus 12) at No. 21 Georgia Tech
ACC parity gives every game championship implications ... GEORGIA TECH 27-14.
No. 23 Boston College (plus 3) at North Carolina
Injuries wearing down Tar Heels and Eagles ... NORTH CAROLINA 27-21.
Virginia Tech (plus 5) at No. 24 Florida State
Hokies snapped 12-game losing streak to ’Noles last season ... FLORIDA STATE 24-23.
No. 25 Minnesota (plus 1) at Purdue
Joe Tiller’s final season at Purdue is getting ugly ... MINNESOTA 27-20.
Sunday
UCF (plus 231⁄2) at No. 22 Tulsa
Ranked and on national TV, Golden Hurricane goes crazy ... TULSA 66-24.
The Nittany Lions are third in the nation in the rankings and BCS standings, behind No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Alabama.
The Longhorns and Crimson Tide have several tough games still to come, including possible conference championship games, so conventional wisdom suggests there’s a good chance one or both won’t get through the first weekend of December unbeaten.
Penn State, however, has a far more manageable slate after it visits Columbus, Ohio, where the Nittany Lions never have won as a Big Ten team. Penn State has lost seven straight at the Horseshoe and its last victory there came in 1978.
After Ohio State, Penn State plays at Iowa and completes the regular season with home games against Indiana and Michigan State. No championship game in the Big Ten, in case you forgot.
So all those Southeastern Conference teams (Georgia, Florida, LSU), Southern California and any other squad hoping to overcome an early loss and reach the BCS national championship game have to think the Buckeyes are their last hope to pin a loss on Penn State.
While the top of the rankings were mostly unchanged this week, the bottom half was overhauled. That led to six new teams in the Top 25 for only the third time since 1989 — when the AP rankings expanded from 20 to 25.
The past two times were Sept. 14, 2003, and Sept. 27, 1999.
Half the new teams — Georgia Tech, Florida State and Boston College — are from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Half the teams to fall out also were from the ACC — Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and North Carolina.
There’s a chance a couple of them could swap places again as Virginia Tech plays Florida State and Boston College is at North Carolina on Saturday.
The picks:
Friday
No. 13 Boise State (plus 7) at San Jose State
Broncos need big wins to bolster BCS hopes ... BOISE STATE 24-20.
Saturday
No. 7 Oklahoma State (plus 121⁄2) at No. 1 Texas
Longhorns coach Mack Brown is 10-0 against Cowboys ... TEXAS 42-31.
No. 2 Alabama (minus 61⁄2) at Tennessee
Tide thinking national title; Vols trying to salvage season ... ALABAMA 24-14.
No. 3 Penn State (minus 21⁄2) at No. 10 Ohio State
Might as well be called Big Ten championship game ... PENN STATE 24-20.
No. 4 Oklahoma (minus 19) at Kansas State
Bob Stoops only loss to Wildcats came in ’03 Big 12 title game ... OKLAHOMA 51-24.
Kentucky (plus 241⁄2) at No. 5 Florida
Gators have won 21 straight against ’Cats ... FLORIDA 40-10.
No. 6 Southern California (minus 16) at Arizona
’Zona’s big chance to take control of Pac-10 race ... USC 28-14.
No. 8 Texas Tech (plus 11⁄2) at No. 19 Kansas
Red Raiders get Texas at home next week ... KANSAS 44-38.
No. 9 Georgia (plus 2) at No. 11 LSU
The loser can shelve its national title hopes ... GEORGIA 27-17.
No. 14 South Florida (minus 4) at Louisville
Cardinals still hoping to make Big East title run ... USF 28-20.
Wyoming (plus 31) at No. 15 TCU
Cowboys are last in nation in scoring (9.0 ppg) ... TCU 45-9.
Colorado (plus 211⁄2) at No. 16 Missouri
Sorry, Buffs, somebody has to pay for Tigers’ consecutive losses ... MISSOURI 55-21.
Rutgers (plus 91⁄2) at No. 17 Pittsburgh
The old Panthers would lose this game ... PITT 36-14.
UNLV (plus 221⁄2) at No. 18 BYU
Are Cougars sulking or furious after first loss? ... BYU 40-17.
Eastern Michigan (plus 241⁄2) at No. 20 Ball State
Perfect Cardinals keep rolling ... BALL STATE 48-21.
Virginia (plus 12) at No. 21 Georgia Tech
ACC parity gives every game championship implications ... GEORGIA TECH 27-14.
No. 23 Boston College (plus 3) at North Carolina
Injuries wearing down Tar Heels and Eagles ... NORTH CAROLINA 27-21.
Virginia Tech (plus 5) at No. 24 Florida State
Hokies snapped 12-game losing streak to ’Noles last season ... FLORIDA STATE 24-23.
No. 25 Minnesota (plus 1) at Purdue
Joe Tiller’s final season at Purdue is getting ugly ... MINNESOTA 27-20.
Sunday
UCF (plus 231⁄2) at No. 22 Tulsa
Ranked and on national TV, Golden Hurricane goes crazy ... TULSA 66-24.
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