Sports Picks & Predictions

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have cooled off in recent weeks and are coming off their first loss of the season, which was a setback at Virginia.

But Miami will offer them a chance to get back on track and we get to bet them in a place where they are finally offering value.

Georgia Tech pummeled N.C. State and handled Maryland but in each of those games, the Yellow Jackets allowed their opponent back into the game late in the fourth quarter. That caught up with them in Virginia as they're sloppy play started early opposed to late.

But overall, the Yellow Jackets are still an explosive running team and if they can hit a few throws to keep the Hurricanes defense off balance, there's no reason to believe they can't win this game.

Miami has had problems stopping the run all season long. They rank 11th in the ACC in run defense and considering who they are facing this week, that's a big problem. Miami will get their share of points too but they have been up and down all season long. At the end of the day, don't be surprised if the Yellow Jackets have the win. Bet Georgia Tech. 10* play.

Ole Miss has lost four times this season and scored a total of 40 points in those contests. Without question, they are one of the worst teams in the SEC and among the worst in the nation. Normally, when you mention a team be 'worst in the country' and you're referring to the SEC, you're talking about Vanderbilt but surprisingly enough, Vandy stomped Ole Miss 30-7.

The bigger concern here is two-fold: first off, Ole Miss knows that Houston Nutt is gone at the end of the season. Secondly, they know that they really don't have the talent to compete with quality SEC teams.

The Rebels defense gave up 226 rushing yards to Trent Richardson last week and the scary part is that the pass defense has been just as weak recently.

Arkansas is a team that's going to score points against the best of defenses, so you know they'll put up plenty this week. Unfortunately Ole Miss, who is ranked 103rd in points scored, is not built to hang around.

The Rebels are without their top pass rusher Wayne Dorsey and their top corner Marcus Temple. Ole Miss needs turnovers - and lots of them - just to hang around. Bet the Razordbacks. 10* play.

It's hard to see this game going over when only one team is really going to be able to move the football.

The Jacksonville Jaguars offense has been absolutely awful this year as their 20-point total last week was their highest of the week. That actually was somewhat fluky as the Cincinnati Bengals blew a coverage and let the Jags score an easy touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Even with those 20 points, the Jags have still averaged just 11.8 points per game. Going on the road to Heinz Field is not the place to find solutions to a sluggish offense.

The good news is that the Jags defense should be able to play physical early and keep this game close in the first half. They also match the Steelers physicality and that will work for a while until their offense hangs them out to dry.

Unless the Jags start turning the ball over like crazy, this game should be low scoring. Bet the under. 10* play.

The Florida State Seminoles have had problems aplenty, but losing to Duke would take that to a whole other level.

The reality about Florida State is that they aren't a top-five team as they were in the preseason. We know that. We also know that if injuries happen, they can't compete with elite teams. But they can still definitely beat Duke.

This is a get-right game for Florida State and they'll face a Duke team that has high spirits, but hasn't faced a defense like Florida State's.

Duke is not a good defensive team and they are going to get exposed. With E.J. Manuel back in the lineup, the Seminoles will do what they weren't able to do in previous weeks: pass the ball at will. The Blue Devils also don't have much of a running game, so that will allow the Seminoles defense to tee-off on Sean Renfree.

Any other year, Florida State might have a tough time getting up for this game but after facing Oklahoma and Clemson in back-to-back weeks followed by a sloppy effort at Wake Forest, not only will they be fired up they'll be plenty focused. Bet the Seminoles. 10* play.

The Carolina Panthers have been a backdoor sweetheart all season long and we expect that to continue. They continue to be overlooked by the public mostly because they aren't winning games, but they simply don't have any quit to them now that they are being led by Cam Newton.

They'll be challenged this week as their awful defense goes up against the New Orleans Saints and their explosive offense, but really, that's nothing new for Carolina. They faced the Green Bay Packers at home a couple of weeks ago and they did just fine getting the back door cover.

The Saints defense is going to blitz the heck out of Newton but we've already heard that story before. The Packers did it, the Bears did and the Jaguars did it. Each time Newton did fine.

Look for Carolina to get their ground game going, which has been somewhat dormant to start the year and with Newton throwing the ball all over the place, expect them to keep this within a touchdown at home against a division rival. 10* play.

Two rookie quarterbacks will be leading the offenses on Sunday but the Jacksonville Jaguars may have a sense of remorse when they see who the Cincinnati Bengals drafted in the second round.

The Jaguars drafted Blaine Gabbert 10th overall in the 2011 Draft and have watched him complete 47.8% of his passes with two touchdowns and two picks while averaging 5.9 yards per pass.

The Bengals took Andy Dalton in the second round and he's completed 58.1% of his passes with four touchdowns and four picks, while leading his team to two wins. They could easily be 3-1 right now.

Both teams have good defenses but the question is which offense will be able to move the ball. The Jags have no receiving weapons and little help from their quarterback. That makes it a tough chore to cover three points at home. Bet the Bengals. 10* play.

Iowa has owned Penn State, winning eight straight meetings, and they'll be facing one of the easier editions of this team.

The Nittany Lions are a disaster on offense right now as both quarterbacks Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden have been terrible. The inconsistency at the position is not just affecting the offense as the entire team seems to get deflated when they struggle - or turn it over.

Different than previous years, Penn State doesn't have the running game to mask the quarterbacking problems. This is direct play against Penn State who's offense is dragging this team down in a major way. Bet Iowa. 10* play.

Fresno State has defeated a BCS AQ team in each of the last four seasons and they've got one visiting on Saturday. The good news for them is that they're not very good.

Ole Miss is an absolute wreck these days but Fresno State won't care. It's the first time they have ever hosted an SEC school and they are going to play like this is their BCS Championship Game.

The Bulldogs have actually looked quite good to start the year. They were on the road twice to star the year and were a handful for both California and Nebraska. They've won two straight and quarterback Derek Carr has proven to be an emerging star. With Robbie Rouse balancing the offense with a good effort on the ground, the Bulldogs can actually move the ball and score - something that Ole Miss can't say for themselves.

The Rebels are averaging 235 passing yards per game (118th in the country). Throw in the fact that the Rebels have to travel across the country for this one and Fresno State should be able to get their signature win of 2011. 10* play.

The Alabama Crimson Tide are the toast of the town so far this season but they haven't proved their mettle on the road. They'll be in for a dogfight on Saturday night and don't expect things to come as easy for them as they did against Arkansas.

We still don't know a lot about this team other than they have a great defense. They've run the ball on a number of feeble defenses but if they can do it this week, then we'll be believers.

The Gators have a stifling defensive front filled with plenty of athleticism. They aren't going to be pushed around by anyone in the SEC and the Crimson Tide - for the first time this season - will have a tough time running the ball. If that's the case, the workload falls on the shoulders of quarterback AJ McCarron and again, we don't know how he'll respond when the game is on the line.

Florida has improved coaching this year with the help of Charlie Weis manning the offense. He's a Super Bowl winning coordinator and he'll find ways to attack the Tide defense, as good as it is. Arkansas proved that there are some places to exploit and Florida has plenty of speed to do that.

This is a respect game for Florida as they have been run off the field by Alabama the last couple of seasons. At home, in front of a raucous crowd on Saturday night, they'll be game to play and pull the upset. There's less between these teams than most people think so with points and the home-field advantage, we're chomping Florida. 10* play.

This has all the makings of a shootout and we're not going to be scared away by a high total.

Both teams have excellent offenses and feeble defenses, so it's not hard to envision points aplenty.

For Texas Tech, their front seven is as weak as it gets. That means Kansas will be able to find success on the ground and if that's the case, Jordan Webb will be able to spread the ball around. The Red Raiders coughed up 256 rushing yards to Texas State and New Mexico found room. Kansas will as well.

Meanwhile, as bad as the Red Raiders run defense is, the Jayhawks secondary is even worse. They gave up 325 passing yards to McNeese State and struggled against Northern Illinois. They also gave up 604 total yards to Georgia Tech along with seven touchdowns.

Defense is optional in this contest and both teams will feel like they are in practice. Bet the over. 10* play.

The Baltimore Ravens have dominated the NFC under John Harbaugh and the same will be the case this week against a beat up St. Louis Rams squad on a short week.

The Rams offense is likely to be without Steven Jackson, who is the questionable to doubtful range. Even if he plays, he won't be at 100% and running at the Ravens in between the teams rarely works anyways. Backup Cadillac Williams is also questionable and hasn't practiced most of the week and there's a good chance he's also out. That puts more pressure on the Rams passing game, which has struggled to find it's rhythm under new coordinator Josh McDaniels. The Rams are struggling in the red zone, where they've converted once in five trips.

The Ravens are pissed after their letdown on the road in Tennessee last week. After smoking the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week One, they came out flat and were rolled by a medium-grade Titans team. Expect the Ravens offense to get back on track as they've averaged 27.7 points per game against NFC teams under Harbaugh and 26.3 last year. They'll get back on track with a win this week. 10* play.

The Arizona Wildcats are a team in flux right now and a matchup against another elite team isn't going to help matters.

The Wildcats were spanked by the Stanford Cardinal 37-10 last week and now they host the 10th-ranked Oregon Ducks, who have an even more explosive offense.

While the Wildcats do have a possible NFL-type quarterback in Nick Foles and arguably the deepest receiving corps in school history, they lack virtually everywhere else and it's killing them right now. Their offensive line has five new starters and gave up five sacks to Stanford last week. They are getting no push for the running game has just 240 yards this season - and that's including their game against Northern Arizona. This past week alone, they gave up 242 rushing yards to Stanford.

The Wildcats defense is also very green on their line of scrimmage and they are getting pushed around real easy right now. They allowed Stanford to go for scoring drives of 91, 81, 80, 72, 65, 64, and 57 yards.

The other thing to note here is that home-field advantage might not be such a great thing for Arizona as fans start to turn on the team and head coach Mike Stoops. About 2000 less people attended last week to see a Top 10 team and the potential No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, Andrew Luck than came for the home opener against Northern Arizona. Attendance could continue to drop as the team struggles.

Lastly, a big, back-breaking issue for the Wildcats - especially from a momentum perspective - is their place kicking. Jaime Salazar missed kicks from 36 and 45 last week and the coaching staff could go back to Alex Sendejas, who crippled the team with awful misses last year.

Any way you cut it, the Wildcats are in bad shape right now and Oregon isn't the cure. They've already lost 37-14 to Oklahoma State and 37-10 to Stanford. We'll lay the points with Oregon in this contest. 10* play.

Houston Nutt's time as head coach if the Ole Miss Running Rebels is running out. The biggest issue these days is that his smoke and mirrors offenses are producing no points.

JUCO quarterback transfer Zack Stoudt is under center - and he could be replaced shortly - and he's done absolutely nothing. He's passed for 397 yards and two touchdowns in three games. The Rebels scored seven points against Vandy and 13 against BYU. Georgia's defense should be on par or better than Vandy, which means we're not going to see a ton of points.

In any case, it's hard to see Ole Miss scoring a lot any way you cut it. Their strategy has to be to pound the ball, play conservative and keep this game close so they have a shot in the end.

As for Georgia, they are likely going to lean on running back Isaih Crowell to keep things steady on the road. This is an important game for Georgia, so they may be a bit conservative to start out until they have a lead.

Even so, if Georgia reaches the the 30-34 point range, that gives us - and Ole Miss - 17 points to work with to keep this game under. That's more than reasonable given how they've performed, so we're playing the under. 10* play.

People keep laughing when I tell them that the Washington Redskins are a decent team but I guess they'll have to keep winning to fend off the critics.

Nobody wants to say it out loud, but Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman looked good in their season-opening 28-14 win over the New York Giants, completing 21-of-34 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns. Beyond that, the Redskins ran the ball effectively enough to keep the dogs off of Grossman's back.

The Cardinals defense coughed up 477 yards of total offense at home to the Carolina Panthers, who were 2-14 last year. Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton did whatever he wanted and there's little reason to believe the Redskins won't do the same as well.

The Cards overall effort was questionable as they used a blown coverage by the Panthers and then awful coverage on a punt return for a touchdown by the Panthers two come from behind in a 28-21 win. They also nearly let the Panthers tie it as they fell short on the one-yard-line as time wore down at the end of the fourth quarter.

Now the Cards have to go on the road on a long East coast trip. They're rarely a good road team in the East time zone and after last week's effort, there's not a whole lot of reason to have faith in them.

We'll stick with the Redskins, laying just a field goal at home. 10* play.

At face value, it would be pretty easy to lay the points with Wisconsin and think nothing of it. They've arguably been the most impressive team in the nation through two weeks but there's a little more to this matchup when you scratch below the surface.

For starters, first-year head coach Dave Doeren was the Badgers defensive coordinator up until this year. The Badgers have a relatively conservative defense and Doeren will know where the holes are.

Secondly, as good as Wisconsin is at Camp Randall, they have a little bit of that Sooner syndrome - as I like to call it - that when you get them off their home field on the road or a neutral site, they are far more vulnerable.

Keep in mind that when you look back at what Wisconsin's done so far, they could be perceived as overrated. The UNLV they smoked in Week 1, Washington State crushed by a wide margin in Week 2. The Oregon State team they beat last week lost to Sacramento State at home in Week 1.

Northern Illinois has an excellent quarterback in Chandler Harnish, who could be playing as good as anyone right now. He's the type of quarterback that's accurate enough to keep the NIU defense on the sidelines and keep moving the chains. The fact that the Badgers top cornerback Devin Smith was lost for the season should only help matters.

The Badgers will likely eventually pound out a win but look for NIU to hang around in this neutral-site affair. 10* play.

While the biggest storylines of the last two weeks has really been about the two 3-4 defenses and how they rank No. 1 and No. 2 in scoring, they won't be the story on Super Bowl Sunday.

There are a number of key factors coming into play as to why the over is the play. For starters, both defensive coordinators, Dom Capers and Dick Lebeau, are very familiar with each other - and their schemes - after having worked together in Pittsburgh in the mid-1990's.

With two weeks to prepare, both offenses couldn't have had better preparation than going up against the very units they are going to see on Sunday. Both quarterbacks will have a good idea about the blitzing schemes, characteristics and patterns.

But more importantly than that, the key to this contest going over will be the Green Bay Packers passing the ball. The Steelers do have an elite defense and while their run defense is top-flight (No. 1 overall), their pass defense is mediocre.

The Steelers lack depth at cornerback and the Packers have tons of depth at wide receiver. That's a horrible matchup for Pittsburgh.

Much has been made about the Steelers ability to run versus the Packers No. 18 rush defense but at a closer look, that run defense has been far better of late. The Packers have given up just 209 rushing yards on 59 carries in three playoff games (3.5 yards per carry). Contrary to popular opinion, Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall won't get going - especially with the Steelers offensive line woes.

So this sets up to be a passing games and considering how well the Packers have passed the football indoors, this could be a very high-scoring affair. The Packers have scored more than 40 points in each of their last two indoor playoff games and have averaged over 31 points per game in their last 12 dome games. In that span, Rodgers has 26 touchdown passes and just five interceptions.

The Steelers would have loved this game to be outdoors, in the rain or snow, so that they can muck it up and dictate the pace. Instead, the Packers speed and finesse will dictate the pace of this game, which will lead to plenty of points. Bet the over. 10* play.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets combined for 39 points in the first meeting and were a hair away from adding another touchdown to the total, but there is still plenty of reason to go under in this matchup.

For starters, just the fact that they have squared off once already will allow the defenses to be more prepared for what they have already seen from their opponent's offense.

Any way you cut it, this is a matchup of two excellent defensive teams that are going to takeaway what their opponent does best. On offense, the Jets will continue to do what they've done, which is milk the clock, get first downs and take advantage of any mistakes their opponents give them. Since they are on the road, their goal is to hang around and try to steal the game late.

On defense, the Jets have allowed just 36 points in the last two contests to Peyton Manning and Tom Brady's teams. They are dialed in and playing as good as they have all season long.

The weather may factor with snow expected early in the day and possibly turning to rain. The weather is expected to be 18 Fahrenheit at its warmest.

As long as the Steelers don't give up big kick returns, safeties and field position like they did in the first matchup, this game will be a hard-fought defensive battle and will stay under. 10* play.

It just feels like destiny, doesn't it? The Green Bay Packers have been the media sweetheart all this week and everyone is just writing them in for a Super Bowl berth.

Unfortunately, this isn't a Disney movie and the games are not played on paper.

When it comes to Sunday's matchup with the Chicago Bears, the Packers have virtually every advantage except for the home field.

While most people wouldn't even argue that the Packers have the better offense, the better offensive line, the better quarterback and the better crop of wide receivers, the Packers are also better on the other side of the ball as well.

Green Bay has the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFC. Their total defense ranks fifth while the Bears are ninth, they've generated the second-most sacks in the NFL with 47 while the Bears have just 34 (17th in NFL) and the Packers have 24 interceptions while the Bears have 21.

The Bears defense excels at stopping the run (2nd overall), which means that the Packers won't have the balance that they have had the last couple of weeks with rookie James Starks taking some pressure off of the passing game, but the Bears pass defense ranks 19th in the NFL, which is going to be a problem.

The Packers are a pass-oriented team and their quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, is red-hot right now with seven touchdowns and no interceptions through his first two playoff games.

On the other side, the Bears offense - specifically Jay Cutler - is just too mistake-prone to trust. They don't run the ball very well and while we know that the Packers can win the game if the burden is put on Rodgers, there is far less confidence in Cutler winning this game on his own. Every week, Bears fans are holding their breath that Cutler won't give the game away.

With home-field advantage helping the Bears, this game might be nip-tuck. If you're uncomfortable betting the moneyline, buy it down to a field goal or 2.5. Either way, the Packers are moving on to the Super Bowl and the Bears are going home. 10* play.

The Green Bay Packers will visit the Georgia Dome for the second time this season in just one of four regular season rematches this weekend in the NFL.

The Packers fell short by a field goal in the late-November meeting but this time, the result will be different.

Much has been made about the Atlanta Falcons and their home-field advantage but the New Orleans Saints went into the Georgia Dome in Week 16 and proved to everyone that the Falcons are still very much human at home. Green Bay will do the same.

It's hard not to factor momentum into this contest as the Packers, who had to win out the final two weeks of the regular season, have essentially been playing playoff football since December. Even with Aaron Rodgers shelved in a trip to Gillette Stadium, the Packers gave the Patriots all they could handle, then they stomped the New York Giants at home and topped the Chicago Bears in Week 17. Last week, they were in control the entire way in Philadelphia en route to a 21-16 win.

Most impressive was the fact that they muted Michael Vick, who was expected to be a defensive nightmare. Defense wins championships and the Packers, who held the explosive Eagles to just 16 points, have the NFC's No. 1 scoring defense.

Atlanta may have lost momentum with a Week 16 lost to New Orleans and then a bye week last week. Rust may be in effect.

The Falcons are just 3-3 against the spread versus teams with a winning record, which indicates that they've done a lot of their damage against weak foes this season. The Packers are 3-1 ATS as an underdog and they'll make it 4-1 as they exact some revenge and get another hard-fought road win. 10* play.

The Auburn Tigers may have the sexy attractions for the bettors in this game - the No. 1 ranking overall, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Cam Newton, the SEC pedigree - but the Oregon Ducks are the better football team.

Auburn had a cupcake schedule this season as they only played four true road games this season. To contrast, Oregon had to play at Tennessee, at Arizona State, at USC, at Cal and at Oregon State.

The Ducks have the better defense as well - especially since it had to go through the rigors of the Pac 10, which is the better offensive conference. They have the Pac 10's top-ranked rushing defense and are ranked 15th in the nation against the run. Their scoring defense ranks 12th (18.4 points per game) while Auburn's is 54th (24.7 points per game). The Ducks defense is also among the leaders in the nation in sacks per game with 2.58.

Auburn has displayed a bad tendency to fall behind in some games this season and they've had to ride Newton in a number of big comebacks. But Auburn also hasn't fallen behind to a team like Oregon, which will simply run away with the game if they get any sort of lead.

The Ducks also have an experience edge as they played in the Rose Bowl just last season. For Auburn, this is their first taste of a major bowl game, which is different than anything they've faced.

Oregon is the better team and they'll win this game outright. 10* play.

The New Orleans Saints have a cupcake matchup this weekend as they face the first team in NFL history to qualify for the playoffs with a losing record.

But the Saints have only won one road playoff game in their franchise history and that came in the Super Bowl last season.

On top of that, the Saints have issues in their backfield right now as running backs Chris Ivory and Pierre Thomas will miss this game. The Saints have struggled this season when they have been one-dimensional on offense.

The Saints are an indoors team that has to travel to the west to play a game outdoors. Not only that, they are being asked to cover 11 points.

The Saints are just 1-4 against the spread when facing a team with a losing record. Meanwhile, the Seahawks have played better at home than away this season as they have covered five of eight spreads.

New Orleans should win but this game will be closer than the odds makers expect. 10* play.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have struggled against SEC teams in bowl season (0-9) but this matchup should be a bit different.

For starters, unlikely their last two SEC BCS embarrassments (against Florida and LSU), they are not facing the best team in the conference. Arkansas is still good but clearly, with losses to Alabama and Auburn, they are below the cusp.

Ohio State matches up really well against the Razorbacks. Most SEC teams have stifling run defense but not the Razorbacks. Ohio State lives and dies by the run, which means it's a great news for them that Arkansas gives up just under 160 rushing yards per game.

Secondly, Arkansas is a passing oriented team and they'll be going up against the No. 4 passing defense in the country. Ohio State has only given up seven passing touchdowns this season while picking off 18 passes.

The Buckeyes do struggle against SEC teams but this is one that they should beat. They'll have the better defense on the field and if they'll be able to run, this will be an easy one for them. 10* play.

The Seattle Seahawks will host the St. Louis Rams on Sunday night in a winner-takes-the-NFC-West showdown.

Offense should be hard to come by in this one as the Seahawks unit is regularly pathetic but may be without starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. Even if he plays, the passing game has been lifeless in recent weeks and the running game has been dormant all season long. The Seahawks rank 30th in the NFL in rushing yards per game with just 85.5.

The Seahawks have lost three straight and seven of their last nine while scoring just 15.3 points per game in those seven losses. Even so, they are a team that plays better at home - especially their defense.

The Rams are an indoors team that is traveling west to play outdoors in frigid temperatures. They aren't running the ball particularly well, which is never a good sign when heading out on the road.

Running back Steven Jackson is averaging just 3.7 yards per carry this season and has never had a 100-yard rushing game against Seattle. In the second half of the season, his yards per carry average is even lower at 3.5.

This has the makings of an ugly defensive struggle. The under is 3-1 in the four games that the Rams have been favored this season and it's 11-5 in their last 16 divisional games.

With Charlie Whitehurst likely starting for a toothless Seahawks team and the Rams taking a young offense on the road outdoors, look for a low-scoring contest in this one. 10* play.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are still playing for a playoff spot in Week 17 but they aren't going to get it. For starters, they need the Indianapolis Colts to lose at home. Secondly, they need to defeat the Houston Texans, which they have already done once this season, but they'll need to do it without their starting backfield.

Both quarterback David Garrard and running back Maurice Jones-Drew will not suit up for this game, which puts the burden on Trent Edwards and Rashad Jennings. The Houston Texans defense is pathetic but it should be able to look a bit better against Edwards, who was cut by the Buffalo Bills earlier this season.

The Texans won't have Andre Johnson at their disposal on Sunday but they still have an explosive offense. They'll have a big edge in their backfield as both Matt Schaub and Arian Foster are Pro Bowl-caliber players (Foster was selected to the 2011 Pro Bowl).

This is also a revenge game where the Texans lost a heartbreaker in Jacksonville on a last-second Hail Mary pass.

With the recent rumors that head coach Gary Kubiak will be back in 2011 with Wade Phillips manning the defense, the Texans can use this game as a springboard for next season. They'll be charged up for this one while the Jags won't be able to match points with them on offense. 10* play.

The Michigan Wolverines have had a brutal defense all season and it's not going to magically get better for their New Year's Day bowl against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Overall, this is just a matchup of two teams heading in different directions.

Since taking over for Mississippi State, Dan Mullen has guided the Bulldogs in the right direction and they are thrilled to be playing in a big bowl on New Year's Day. The offense has become dangerous and the defense is still rugged, which means the Bulldogs are no longer in the basement of the SEC.

Meanwhile, Michigan looked like they were trending upwards to start the season but that balloon quickly deflated. They finished up the year losing their last two games by a combined score of 85-35. On top of that, head coach Rich Rodriguez had to plead publicly just to keep his job.

It's a matchup of two good offenses but only one team has a defense to speak of: Mississippi State. They have a tough SEC defensive line that will be able to get a few stops while Michigan won't. 10* play.

Penn State was beaten up a few times by teams that could run the ball, which is bad news considering who they are facing on New Year's Day.

The Nittany Lions have failed several times this season against teams that can run the ball well. Alabama worked them over on the ground in the first half of their meeting, Iowa ran all over them, as did Ohio State and Illinois. In their five losses this season, Penn State gave up an average of 212.2 rushing yards per game.

That's bad news considering the Gators are known as a rushing team.

On top of that, there will be a huge emotional edge for Florida as this will be the final game for head coach Urban Meyer. The players are going to go full boar to send him off well.

Penn State's offense hasn't faced SEC-type speed readily this season and that could lead to a few mistakes from their quarterbacks. This one won't be a close contest. Bet Florida. 10* play.