Week 11 Games of the Week and FBS, FCS Picks

Week 11 Games of the Week

PRS #17 Memphis at PRS #2 Houston
When Memphis lost to Navy last week, it basically took the Tigers out of the race for a divisional title. Without winning the AAC outright, the chances of even landing a decent bowl bid are minimal, despite the best season in years. Houston, on the other hand, can still win the AAC, and is making a run for their second PRS title in the last five years. The Cougars are at home, but UH home crowds haven’t been a thing to fear this season, as evidenced by Tom Herman’s complaining about lagging fan support at home. Houston cannot trip up here.
Pick: Memphis…The Tigers are coming in very desperate at this point, and neither team played their best game, but the Tigers offense may outscore the Houston offense in the end.

PRS #5 Oklahoma at PRS #4 Baylor

So the Big 12 portion of the playoffs has begun, and Oklahoma is kind of an outside in the race having already lost to Texas earlier this season. Baylor is huffing along, but played their worst game of the season at Kansas State last week. What we have here is a class one elimination game, and the home team holds most of the cards.
Pick: Baylor…OU may not have the weapons to keep up, as even the freshman QB Stidham may just slightly outclass Baker Mayfield at QB.

PRS #11 Alabama at PRS #30 Mississippi State

This would be one hell of a week for Alabama to be a bit emotionally empty after their hard fought rout of LSU last week. Mississippi State has been quietly very good this season, and may be coming in with less baggage this week. If the Tide is suffering a hangover, this could be the week for a massive upset, but Alabama still deserves to be favored.
Pick: Alabama…Going with the hot hand, but the Tide could be vulnerable.

Washington State at PRS #24 UCLA

This is a low profile game nationally (isn’t every PAC-12 game?) but this game has serious consequences. For UCLA, this is their first elimination game of three n a row upcoming, as the Bruins will play at Utah and at USC the next two weeks. The Cougars have gotten better every single week this season, and look nothing like a team that was shocked by Portland State in the opener, and they gave Stanford one hell of a scare. This is UCLA’s final home game, but UCLA is tougher on the road under Jim Mora than at home, so the Bruins have plentiful reason to worry.
Pick: UCLA…I am tentatively going with the Bruins here, because so much is on the line, and the fan base is not happy. A loss here would lose serious good will with a fan base that has already started staying in their fickle caves rather than venture out to the Rose Bowl to fill the joint.

FCS

PRS #29 Towson at PRS #12 William & Mary

The Tribe has been on a frolicking run to close out the season, and with two games to go, they are looking more and more like a playoff lock. Towson is in a more tenuous situation, as they are basically trying to play into one of the final 4 bids as we speak, and they desperately need a road win here to grab the brass ring.
Pick: William & Mary…The Tribe is on fire, and losing to Towson here may set them back. Even though Towson has more to play for, the Tribe have seeding potential, and that’s important as well.

PRS #15 Citadel at PRS #22 Chattanooga

This is basically a Southern Conference championship game, with the 1^st place Bulldogs looking to fend off the 2^nd place Mocs. The Mocs were beaten last time out, and a loss here hands everything over to the Citadel, including an auto birth in the FCS playoffs, something I never thought I would ever see for Citadel.
Pick: Chattanooga…Sorry Bulldogs, but I am thinking that last week was a glitch for Chattanooga, and they are at home.

PRS #18 Southern Utah at PRS #17 Portland State

Southern Utah has come out of nowhere to take a lead in the Big Sky, and Portland State sits two games back with just two games to play. Winning at home would give the Vikings a share of the conference title if SUU loses twice. Either way, both look like playoff locks as of now, but this should be hard fought.
Pick: Portland State…The Vikings could steal the Thunderbird title run out from under them, and it’s always tougher to win these kinds of games on the road.

 FBS Picks

Navy over SMU W

Memphis over Houston L

Temple over USF L

Army over Tulane L

Cincinnati over Tulsa W

Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech W

Clemson over Syracuse W

Notre Dame over Wake Forest W

Florida State over NC State W

North Carolina over Miami W

Duke over Pittsburgh L

Virginia over Louisville L

Baylor over Oklahoma L

Oklahoma State over Iowa State W

TCU over Kansas W

West Virginia over Texas W

Texas Tech over Kansas State W

Ohio State over Illinois W

Iowa over Minnesota W

Michigan State over Maryland W

Michigan over Indiana W

Northwestern over Purdue W

Nebraska over Rutgers W

Old Dominion over UTEP W

Middle Tennessee over FAU W

Tennessee over North Texas W

UTSA over Charlotte W

Southern Miss over Rice W

Marshall over FIU W

Akron over Miami (Ohio) W

U Mass over Eastern Michigan W

Ohio over Kent State W

Toledo over Central Michigan W

Bowling Green over W. Michigan W

Northern Illinois over Buffalo W

Air Force over Utah State W

Nevada over San Jose State W

Colorado State over UNLV W

Boise State over New Mexico

San Diego State over Wyoming W

Fresno State over Hawaii

USC over Colorado W

Stanford over Oregon L

Utah over Arizona L

UCLA over Washington State

Arizona State over Washington W

California over Oregon State W

Alabama over Mississippi State W

LSU over Arkansas L

Florida over South Carolina W

Auburn over Georgia L

Kentucky over Vanderbilt L

Texas A&M over Western Carolina W

BYU over Missouri L

South Alabama over UL-Lafayette W

Arkansas State over UL-Monroe W

Georgia Southern over Troy W

Texas State over Georgia State L

Appalachian State over Idaho W 42-13

FCS Picks

Fordham over Georgetown

Monmouth over Presbyterian

Harvard over Penn

C. Conn. State over Wagner

San Diego over Davidson

St. Francis over Robert Morris

Bryant over Sacred Heart

Columbia over Cornell

Maine over Elon

Stony Brook over Rhode Island

Dartmouth over Brown

Yale over Princeton

Bucknell over Holy Cross

Jacksonville over Campbell

NC Central over Howard

Butler over Drake

South Carolina State over Norfolk State

Colgate over Lehigh

Morgan State over Florida A&M

Dayton over Marist

North Carolina A&T over Delaware State

Hampton over Savannah State

Indiana State over Western Illinois

Wofford over Samford

Gardner-Webb over E. Tennessee St.

Furman over Mercer

William & Mary over Towson

Coastal Carolina over Kennesaw State

Charleston Southern over Liberty

Jacksonville State over SE Missouri St.

North Dakota over Northern Colorado

Chattanooga over Citadel

Alocrn State over Texas Southern

Morehead State over Valporaiso

North Dakota St. over Youngstown St.

Eastern Kentucky over Murray State

South Dakota State over South Dakota

Tennessee Tech over Austin Peay

UT-Martin over E. Illinois

Illinois State over S. Illinois

SE Louisiana over Abilene Christian

Lamar over Incarnate Word

Prairie View over Alabama State

Northern Iowa over Missouri State

Stetson over Ave Maria

E. Washington over Montana

Grambling over UA-Pine Bluff

James Madison over Delaware

Sam Houston St. over Northwestern St.

Richmond over Villanova

Stephen F. Austin over Houston Baptist

Northern Arizona over Sacramento St.

Montana State over Idaho State

Southern over Alabama A&M

Cal Poly over UC Davis

Portland State over Southern Utah

New Hampshire over Albany

Texas A&M over Western Carolina

Central Arkansas over Nicholls State