Power Rankings: Top 5 College Football Games of the Weekend

1)   Oklahoma at Miami: We said last week that if Miami finished the first 4 games of the season 2-2, it should be viewed as a success. After last week’s drubbing, we think that the fan base in Coral Gables might disagree with us. OU hasn’t allowed a point since their loss to BYU. Canes aren’t as bad as they showed last week. The rain took away the passing game and Miami just isn’t strong enough up front to beat team’s on the ground. No Sam Bradford for this one unless Landry Jones struggles. It probably won’t matter. Our pick: OU by 2 scores

2)   USC at Cal: Cal got their pants pulled down by Oregon last week and the Trojans are the ugliest offensive team west of Blacksburg. We get the feeling that this one is a low scoring affair. The question is whether Cal got caught looking forward to this matchup or if Oregon just exposed them for their softness. Best is going to need help from the Bears passing game for Cal to compete. That probably means that Kevin Riley’s streak without an interception comes to an end. Our pick: USC in a close, ugly game

3)   LSU at Georgia: If you went by the recent college football script, this would be the week that LSU gets exposed. Their lofty ranking reeks of Ole Miss or Cal’s situation last week. These two teams are among the most underachieving in the nation. The team that leads in rushing yards wins this game. Our pick: LSU in a tight one

4)   Auburn at Tennessee: Dropped this one down the list based on how little it really matters to anyone outside of the two fan bases. We can’t see one reason on paper to not pick Auburn. Monte Kiffin may have figured the trick to the spread option, though. Follow the pulling guard. Our pick: Auburn by 10

5)   UCLA at Stanford: If we would have told you in August that the winner of this one would be in the driver’s seat in the Pac 10 you’d have punched us in the throat. None the less, after Stanford’s demolishing of Washington last week the Cardinal look like this year’s Oregon State. UCLA has a couple of wins over fallen traditional powers and very little else. The winner here won’t win the conference, but the winning fan base will have to feel good about the direction of their program. Our pick: Stanford close.