Christopher Hanewinckel- US PRESSWIRE
Every week our staff of college football writers at Rant Sports brings you their upset picks for the upcoming weekend’s games.
Here are the picks for Week Nine from several of our team:
Mike Amato is picking the Michigan State Spartans to knock off the Nebraksa Cornhuskers in East Lansing Saturday afternoon. The Spartans will be riding high after a big overtime win last week over the Indiana Hoosiers, and Nebraska has been unpredictable all season.
Mike Atkinson and myself both believe the Iowa State Cyclones have what it takes to surprise the reeling Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday morning in Ames. Morning games– especially cold morning games– are always dangerous for teams on the slide and this one will be no different. At a minimum, the Cyclones will give OU all they can handle, and the game should come down to a break or turnover one way or the other.
Our NFL (NFC) and MLB Network Manager Michael Collins believes the Ole Miss Rebels could pull a fast one and upset the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens on Saturday afternoon. Georgia is coming off of an emotional and draining win over the Florida Gators last week and Ole Miss has improved dramatically since the beginning of the year and is in search of a signature win.
Tyler Brett sees the TCU Horned Frogs knocking off the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown. TCU held the high-flying Baylor Bears offense to just 30 points last week, and true freshman quarterback Treyon Boykin has improved every week and should lead the Frogs to glory against a WVU defense that can’t stop anyone, and an offense that is starting to question itself.
David LaRose isn’t picking the Colorado Buffaloes, but instead is re-iterating his belief in the Colorado Curse– the bizarre phenomenon that has occurred so far this season when teams that beat Colorado, lose the following week. If this holds true, the Oregon Ducks would be the next victim, losing to the USC Trojans, and throwing the National Championship race into upheaval.
James Gomez is picking the UNLV Rebels to beat the New Mexico Lobos in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon. UNLV has several close losses this season and is a better team than their one win record suggests, and the Rebels’ skill players Tim Cornett and Nick Sherry will keep moving the chains against a struggling Lobos defensive unit.
Daniel Irwin is going out on somewhat of a limb and predicting the Missouri Tigers will pick up the biggest win of the SEC season and knock off the Florida Gators on Saturday in the Swamp. Florida has struggled to protect the ball recently, and Mizzou has one of the best turnover-forcing defensive units in the country. If the Tigers can force a few turnovers early on and keep Jeff Driskell and Mike Gillislee in check, this one could flip on a dime quickly.
Allen Faul thinks the Oklahoma State Cowboys have a chance to upset the Kansas State Wildcats, handing them their first loss of the 2012 season. Oklahoma State’s potent sixth-ranked offense can score with the best of them, and Mike Gundy’s team will certainly not back down from a shootout with the Wildcats. This could easily be a whoever-has-the-ball-last-wins kind of game.
Connor Muldowney sees the Indiana Hoosiers beating the Iowa Hawkeyes in Bloomington on Saturday afternoon. The Indiana offense has been potent, and with the litany of injuries Iowa has suffered (damn you AIRBHG), the Hawkeyes will have some big problems if this one opens up and turns into a high-scoring contest.
Will Wilson thinks the Boise State Broncos could fall to an upstart San Diego State Aztecs team, given Boise hasn’t had the pre-conference tests they have in the past and are more vulnerable to a surprise loss this season than in season’s past.
Make sure to join us again next Friday for the next installment in the Rant Sports College Football Upset Alert series!
—
Kris Hughes is the College Football Network Manager for Rant Sports and a member of the Football Writers Association of America. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Facebook page.
Kris is also the host of Rant Sports Radio on the Blog Talk Radio Network Wednesday evenings at 8 Central Time.
