Last week, the BCS rankings were shaken as perennial top-five team, Oklahoma, was defeated by Texas Tech. Oklahoma’s departure from the top-three team’s leaves the door open for another team to fill their spot. With plenty of action to watch this Saturday, these are the games you should make sure you catch.
(11)Oklahoma at (10)Kansas State
Don’t be fooled by their ranks, Oklahoma is the clear favorite in this game. However, after the Sooner’s stunning loss to Texas Tech last weekend, Oklahoma dropped from the third ranked team in the nation all the way to eleventh.The big favorite to play in the BCS championship game, Oklahoma’s chances are looking very bleak now. OU will now hope to pick up the pieces when they face off against worthy Big 12 opponent, the Kansas St. Wildcats. If the Wildcats can manage to pull off another huge upset over the Sooners, they will be a legitimate contender to play in the Rose Bowl.
Players to watch:
Kansas State:
QB Collin Klein(1481 total YD’s, 22 total TD’s)
DB Nigel Malone(4 INT’s)
Oklahoma:
QB Landry Jones(2589 passing YD’s, 21 passing TD’s)
WR Ryan Broyles(899 receiving YD’s, 9 receiving TD’s)
Prediction: Oklahoma 41, Kansas State 32
(4)Stanford at (20)USC
Arguably the biggest game on either team’s schedule, both the Stanford Cardinals and USC Trojans have long anticipated this contest. The matching up of the two best quarterbacks playing right now, this game should feature a lot of passing and scoring. Although Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is the consensus number-one pick in this year’s NFL draft, don’t sleep on USC quarterback Matt Barkley. The two pocket passers have very comparable stats, and play in very similar game-plans. This game will ultimately come down to which defense can step up late in the game. While Stanford is much higher ranked than USC, this game will be very close, and could decide Stanford’s BCS championship fate.
Players to watch:
Stanford:
QB Andrew Luck(1888 YD’s, 20 passing TD’s)
RB Stepfan Taylor(774 total YD’s, 7 total TD’s)
USC:
QB Matt Barkley(2006 passing YD’s, 19 passing TD’s)
DB Nickell Robey(1 INT)
Prediction: Stanford 45, USC 35
(9)Michigan State at (13)Nebraska
Michigan State is heating up the cold state of Michigan with their fiery play. With one of the toughest months, in terms of schedule strength, in recent memory, the Spartans have come out of the scrum relatively unscathed. Narrowly edging out their last three opponents by a total of just 15 points, Michigan St. will face off against a very tough Nebraska team, led by versatile quarterback Taylor Martinez. Martinez has led the Cornhuskers to a respectable 6-1 record, only losing to Wisconsin three weeks ago. Nebraska will attempt to put a halt to Michigan State’s winning streak, and they have the home-field
advantage.
Players to watch:
Michigan State:
RB Le’Veon Bell(453 total YD’s, 6 rushing TD’s)
CB Isaiah Lewis(4 INT’s, 2 INT TD’s)
Nebraska:
QB Taylor Martinez(1911 total YD’s, 16 total TD’s)
RB Rex Burkhead(805 total YD’s, 11 total TD’s)
Prediction: Michigan State 35, Nebraska 21
