[...and, of course, a new theme song at the bottom of the page...]

Well, my on-the-brink-of-a-national-title Red Raiders are off this week, resting up for Oklahoma, but I am eagerly anticipating the pack chewing each other up and further isolating Alabama and Texas Tech.

Here are my picks, against the spread, with lines taken from MGM Mirage and quoted material from College Football News.

• WIN - Indiana 7 at #8 Penn State 34 (-33.5) - Are you serious? 34 points? I am thinking that Jo-Pa won't leave his starters in to run up numbers like that. After all, the Spartans are next. GO HOOSIERS!
• WIN - #11 Ohio State 30 (-9.5) at Illinois 20 - "The Illinois running game has gone bye-bye. There was the 292-yard, four touchdown effort against Indiana, but you and ten friends could do that at the moment on the hapless Hoosier run defense." GO BUCKEYES!
• LOSS - #3 Texas 35 (-13) at Kansas 7 - "Reesing’s a gunner. Yeah, the KU pass defense is the worst in the Big 12, but the Texas secondary hasn’t exactly been a prize allowing a mere nine fewer passing yards per game than KU. Texas didn’t look tired against Baylor last week, but it struggled a wee bit to put the game away...." ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!
• WIN - #10 Georgia 17 (-9.5) at Auburn 13 - According to my brother, Auburn is the best five-loss team in the country. Since the Tigers are out of contention for the SEC title, and holding onto a glimmer of hope to play in the WhoCares.com Bowl, they seriously have nothing to lose and frustration to vent. WAR EAGLE!
• LOSS - #25 South Carolina 6 at #4 Florida 56 (-22) - "Florida hasn’t faced a defense like South Carolina’s all season long, and that includes Georgia, LSU and Tennessee. The Gamecocks are playing another level defensively, especially on defense, ranking third in the nation allowing just 257 yards and 15.6 points per game." GO GAMECOCKS!
• WIN - #16 North Carolina 15 (-2.5) at Maryland 17 - "The Terrapins have been a different team at Byrd Stadium, winning all five of their games, including upsets of Cal and Wake Forest. As is often the case when less is expected, they’ll be ready to vex the experts and spit out an “A” game." FEAR THE TURTLES!
• LOSS - Texas A&M 21 at Baylor 41 (-8) - the battle for the basement - "Baylor won’t be able to slow down the A&M passing game. Griffin and the ground game will produce, but they won’t be able to keep up in the second half." GIG 'EM AGGIES!
• LOSS - #6 USC 45 (-23.5) at Stanford 23 - "Suffice it to say, there’s no chance USC will be looking past Stanford this time around. The Trojans defense is playing too well these days to have problems with a Cardinal offense that’s last in the league in passing." GO TROJANS!
• LOSS - #13 Oklahoma State 30 (-17) at Colorado 17 - "It shouldn’t take more than a few early scores to put this away. Colorado doesn’t have the firepower to keep up with Iowa State much less Oklahoma State." GO COWBOYS!
• LOSS - Mississippi State 7 at #1 Alabama 32 (-21.5) - According to my bro's wife, the Dawgs are just the team to pull off this upset - after all, they have done it the prior two years. With the LSU scare still fresh on Tide minds, and Auburn coming up next, she may be right. "Granted, the [MSU] secondary hasn’t faced a who’s who of quarterbacks, the SEC West isn’t the Big 12 South, but the D is just good enough to make this interesting if Bama isn’t sharp." GO DAWGS!