Week 12 NCAA Football Predictions

By: Rob Thompson

Prediction   Georgia 23 – Auburn 21

Do you get the feeling that both teams are just about out of gas. Georgia was a preseason #1 but just couldn’t handle the week in week out rigors of the SEC. Coach Mark Richt does still have the weapons in the Dog House though. Georgia QB Mathew Stafford will be a first round draft choice next year and Knowshon Mareno runs like a Cadillac if you know what I mean. Last week the Bulldogs unleashed some anger on Kentucky rolling up 520 total yards. The only problem, they needed a touchdown with 1:54 left in the game to win 42-38. Kentucky is good but even at home it shouldn’t have been that close. Auburn is in terrible shape. Rumors have Tommy Tuberville leaving after the season. He’s already fired Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin and it didn’t help. The Tigers just can’t get in the end zone. Although the Tigers racked up 460 yards of total offense against Tennessee-Martin’s “dreaded” defense, they still only managed a 47-20 win over what was clearly thought of as a prep game for Georgia. The Bulldogs still have an outside shot at a BCS game and will play like it. We all expect the Dogs to bark on Saturday!

Prediction   Texas 34 – Kansas 13

Kansas has had a rough year and it’s about to get worse. The Jayhawks started the season ranked 14th, three spots behind Texas in the preseason poll, but have fallen out of the Top 25 with three losses in its last four games. They remind me of Texas Tech five years ago. Coach Mangino has started to recruit players that fit his offense but he just doesn’t have the depth yet to win games in the fourth quarter. The Jayhawks still have a shot at representing the shallower Big 12 North in the conference championship game, trailing division-leader Missouri by one game. But they can’t be feeling good about their chances after a 45-35 loss at Nebraska last Saturday.  Jayhawk quarterback Todd Reesing is as fun to watch as any play making QB in the country. He’s got a little Doug Flutie style to him. In short that means, he’s undersized, agile and may have a mullet. He also has a very good playmaking receiver in Dezmon Briscoe and solid if not spectacular running game in Jake Sharp. Kansas can move the ball, its season average of 443.2 a game, the 18th-best mark in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Texas is still a juggernaut and needs a huge win over Kansas to stay in the BCS title hunt. This may be easier said than done though. Aside from Texas, who beat Oklahoma, Kansas played OU in Norman and made a game of it losing 45-31. Their offense moves the ball. They just can’t stop anybody or score when they need to. Texas will roll up the points to keep up with the Floridas of the world. Look for a beat down in Austin.

Prediction   Boise State 38 – Idaho 10

It’s time to rename the WAC. Boise State has dominated the WAC for nearly a decade. Let’s call it the “BState Conference”. The Broncos have a 1 1/2-game lead in the WAC and are chasing their second BCS birth in three seasons. They’ve outscored conference opponents 196-40 this season and allowed no more than 16 points in any of those games. The Smurf Turfers routed visiting Utah State 49-14 last Saturday. Now the Broncos travel to Idaho for what could be an utter humiliation game. The Broncos had four different players throw touchdown passes last week and rolled up 563 yards of total offense. We love Bronco HC Chris Peterson. He’s a gunslinger that no big school wants to play, they may want to hire him but they don’t want to lose to him. Ask anybody, who’s more imaginative on offense than Peterson? The only weakness for the Broncos is penalties. They tend to get a little sloppy when they’re up big. The Bronco’s are lead by a Fr. Kellen Moore at quarterback and a host of others. RB Ian Johnson is still there (We think it’s his sixth year of eligibility, he'll knit you a hat if you'd like). He is still solid if not spectacular. The Broncos will embarrass Idaho and get into the BCS. Take that Big X.

Prediction   Cal 38 – Oregon State 34

While the Georgia v Auburn game will steal a few headlines as the game of the week. This is the game of the weekend. If you would have told Beaver Head Coach Mike Riley that Oregon State would be (6-3, 5-1) after losing his season opener to Stanford on Aug. 28, dropping its first conference game for the fifth straight season that OSU would control their own destiny and could win the PAC-10 title, He would have laughed. OSU will probably start back-up Sean Canfield at QB. He’s solid and efficient. The key to Oregon St. winning will be a little freshman running back from Texas named Jackuizz Rodgers. He’s barely 5’9 but is as quick as anyone in the country with strength to boot. As he goes so will the Beavers. Cal is coming off a hard fought loss to USC. If there is such a thing as moral victories in football the Bears did hold USC to just 17 points unfortunately they only managed to put 3 on the board. Jefft Tedford has already said he will be starting Kevin Riley at QB. Riley’s from the Oregon area and he might provide a little spark to a passing game that needs help. Cal RB Jahvid Best is going to have to be at his best for the Bears to have chance. He’s another in a line of Cal playmakers, does a little bit of everything and will be playing on Sundays. This will be a great game but the Beavers see a date in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1964, If they lose the entire conference loses face, Then again this the PAC-10.

Prediction   USC 32 – Stanford 13

It’s time for revenge at Stanford Stadium. USC was on the verge of its sixth consecutive victory over Stanford until Mark Bradford's 10-yard pass to Tavita Pritchard with 49 seconds remaining lifted the Cardinal to a 24-23 victory. Well it’s a new year and the Trojans have already suffered their usual unlikely PAC-10 loss. This time they gave one away to Oregon State. Let’s be realistic, Stanford is an average team (5-5, 4-3) and they are about to face the most dominating defense in college football. USC has gone more than 10 quarters since giving up a touchdown. That’s two and a half games without anyone scoring a touchdown on them. Please tell me why they aren’t ranked higher? Arizona got one in the second quarter of the Trojans' 17-10 win on Oct. 25. They rank first in the Football Bowl Subdivision in points allowed (6.7 per game) and total defense (206.4 yards per game). On the season, it has yielded just seven touchdowns - four by Oregon State and three by its other eight opponents combined! Pete Carroll’s defense has gone four straight games allowing less than 200 total yards. USC and many others feel they are being shut out of the BSC hunt. We smell a beating so bad that Jim Harbaugh leaves to Coach the Oakland Raiders. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

Mike’s back to himself going above water at 3-2 last week. He’s now 58-18 on the season and looking for perfection. This week it will happen!

Rob Thompson (aka “Mamboking”) is one of EA’s “One-Air Talent” and writers, along with his brother Jason on EA Sports World. Rob and Jason were nationally syndicated Sports Radio hosts before coming to EA SPORTS. When Rob’s not talking sports he’s talking politics. He can be seen regularly on FOX News’ “Americas Voices”.