NCAA Week 12 Picks

Week 12 - In the league where coaches charge alumni upwards of $1,200 for a team newsletter.


Ohio State @ Michigan *Big Ten Championship*

Maybe we should start calling him Lloyd "John Mark" Carr, because Saturday the Michigan head coach will be on trial for a crime that many Wolverine fans think he has committed (Under-Achieving), though the actual evidence may suggest otherwise. If Michigan loses this game, don't be surprised to hear about Carr sending a strange message to the Ann Arbor police department from an email account in Thailand.

If you didn't get the correlation, please use the following 30 seconds to GOOGLE or WIKIPEDIA John Mark Carr.

Moving right along...

How big is this game? Well, Ohio State was so focused on their upcoming game against Michigan that they completely forgot they were undefeated and that a loss to Illinois would cost them a shot at the National Championship.

Michigan was also looking ahead while playing Wisconsin, though you can't blame them when they knew that their game against the Badgers had no real significance. The Ohio State game was going to be the Big-10 championship game regardless.

All week I was convinced this game was a slam dunk for Ohio State. I was even going to roll out a list of the reason why Ohio State would win on Saturday. But when I started writing the list, there was really no compelling argument as to why Ohio State would win. There were reasons, but nothing that made me think that the Buckeyes had a decisive advantage.

I think Ohio State is better, but marginally better. And in a rivalry game of this proportion, especially with the better team playing on the road, you can toss "marginally better" right out the window. So instead, I'll give you the reasons why Michigan will win this game.

1. You'd have to think that standout seniors Mike Hart and Chad Henne would be able to get themselves and their team up for their last hurrah versus Ohio State. They'll focus more on this game than they would for the Rose Bowl.
   


2. Michigan has in my opinion the best WR tandem in college football with "Super" Mario Manningham and "Yo" Adrian Arrington. Forget Cal's Desean Jackson and Lavelle Hawkins, they're speed guys who don't know how to run routes. Manningham and Arrington can stretch Ohio State out and Chad Henne (or Ryan Mallet) have huge arms to connect deep. BIG games come down to big plays and Michigan has the 2 best big play threats in this rivalry.
   


3. Michigan is a team built on senior leadership. Ohio State is an over-achieving young team that was not expected to contend the way they did this year. In front of 100,000+ fans in the BIG HOUSE, in the greatest college football rivalry this side of Fordham vs Columbia, I'll go with the more experienced team.
   


4. Michigan has essentially been preparing for Ohio State for 2 weeks. Remember, Michigan mailed it in against Wisconsin last week and has most likely been focusing on the Ohio State match-up knowing they've been eliminated from the BCS picture. Ohio State, who is one week removed from being in the National Championship picture, had to fully prepare for Illinois last week, thus giving them a one week disadvantage.

The Pick: Wolverines (+4)

UPSET PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Arizona OVER #2 Oregon

I just think the #2 ranked team in the country is cursed this year. Cal was #2 and they've lost 3 of 4. BC was ranked #2 and they've lost 2 straight games. And South Florida was #2 and they, like Cal, is completely un-ranked. Oregon is next...

Nevada OVER #16 Hawaii

I saw Nevada play Boise State in a 4 overtime game, on the blue turf nonetheless. Nevada's freshman QB Colin Kapernick made his first ever NCAA start in that game and ran for 177 yards, 2 touchdowns and threw for 3 more. Though Nevada lost, Kapernick proved why he's the WAC version of Vince Young. When the Nevada receiving corps was completely winded and barely able to run routes, Kapernick used his legs to propel his team to overtime after overtime. I'm going to bet that this kid gets a signature win as Hawaii gets caught looking ahead to its final game showdown with Boise State.