pigskin prognostications week 11...

i went 7-3 last week. now at 59-31 for the season for a .656 average.

louisville@west virginia: louisville has stunk it up lately. the #7 mountaineers are a solid 17 point favorite at home. play in the big least has been odd and this could be a thursday night upset. i look for louisville to lose in ot. west virginia 37 louisville 35.

alabama@mississippi state: the #22 crimson tide lost a heartbreaker last week to lsu and vegas smells the upset as bama is but a 4.5 point fave at starkville. can alabama shake off the 'coulda-shouldas' from last week, that is the question. meanwhile, the other dogs are playing to be bowl eligible and save sly croom's job. msu also had last week off. I think they win it. mississippi state 26 alabama 24.

arkansas@tennessee: nuttjob's team may also be playing to save his job and, if i were him, i would ride darren mcfadden til he drops in this one because ut is weak against the run. vegas has it even as the razorbacks visit neyland stadium, the home of the #24 volsintears. this game has huge implications for georgia. the dawgs need arkansas to win. i'm going with the hogs because i just don't like orange. arkansas 31 tennessee 30.

kentucky@vanderbilt: the #25 wildcats are 3.5 point favorites in nashville. kentucky could have been a contender. now they are a pretender. and, their basketball team lost to gardner webb. geeze. don't count the dores out in this one but i think kentucky gets it done after a struggle. kentucky 45 vanderbilt 41.

fsu@virginia tech: the seminoles are all the rage after knocking off then #2 boston college last week. this week, they come back down to earth. the hokies are 6.5 point faves but it will be a whole lot worse than that for fsu. hokies roll. virginia tech 31 fsu 13.

baylor@oklahoma: the sooners are ranked #5 but they just don't impress me. can the baylor bears take them down? the simple answer is a resounding 'no'. oklahoma 51 baylor 12.

florida@south carolina: 'depth, oh depth. wherefore art thou?" that is the lament of steve spurrier as the college football season grows long in the tooth. the #15 gators are 6.5 point favorites as they visit columbia and both spurrier and urban cryer say florida playing the old ball coach is no big deal. that's bull! spurrier wants this one badly and gets it. south carolina 27 florida 24.

kansas@oklahoma state: it is still difficult for me to absorb the fact that kansas is ranked #4 in the country - in football! but, alas, the jayhawks have proven themselves thus far and are 5.5 point faves in this one. oklahoma state needs something good to happen but it won't happen this week. jayhawks win in a rout. kansas 72 oklahoma state 37.

georgia tech@duke: this one used to be called the 'brain game'. as long as chan gailey and ted roof are still employed, that moniker just won't work for me. both teams are unranked but tech is a 14 point favorite. tech was hyped as a contender before the season but now is at 5-4 and not yet bowl eligible. that changes this week as the jackets enter the blue turf picture. georgia tech 35 duke 25.

auburn@georgia: the biggest game in the country is in athens this weekend and espn's gameday goes to amherst or some such place. the oldest rivalry in the south has been sweet for the visitor in recent years. the #10 dawgs are 2 point favorites at home but you can bet the #18 wareagletigerplainsmen want to repay georgia for last year's rout when auburn was #5. it will be a war but one which the dogs will win. knowshon is solid again but look for thomas brown to do something big to make the difference. georgia 41 auburn 40.