This week’s picks are as follows:

UCLA over STANFORD … both are coming off huge wins and both assume they’re finally on a roll. The best game of the week, by far.

OREGON over OREGON STATE … let’s see, if UCLA beats Stanford, USC beats Notre Dame, Florida State beats Florida, and Oregon beats Oregon State and then UCLA, the Ducks still might get to play for the national championship.

WASHINGTON over WASHINGTON STATE … two programs headed in opposite directions. Wazzu “couged” this season long ago.

ARIZONA over ARIZONA STATE … the best running back in the nation resides in Tucson.

UTAH over COLORADO … speaking of seasons that died long ago.

FLORIDA STATE over FLORIDA … the Gators are having trouble scoring points, which is not a way to win football games.

ALABAMA over AUBURN … this one might be a bitter rivalry, but you’d never know it by the final score.

UPSET OF THE WEEK: USC over Notre Dame … Matt Barkley is a great quarterback and a stand-up guy who had a less-than-stellar final season. The “unfinished business” he came back for remains unfinished. His freshman replacement helps the Men of Troy assure that Irish eyes will not be smiling at the end of this one. (Upset record: 5-7.)

ROUT OF THE WEEK: Utah State over Idaho … the Vandals are afraid to drop down to I-AA because they wouldn’t win any games there either. (Rout record: 12-0).

DON’T BET ON IT, BUT: Ohio State over Michigan … a couple of tattoos cost the Buckeyes a shot at the national championship. (Don’t bet record: 11-1).

FIVE EASY PICKS: Hey, it’s rivalry week. There are no easy picks. (FEP season record: 60-0).

OTHER GAMES: Nebraska over Iowa, Bowling Green over Buffalo, Central Michigan over Massachusetts, Syracuse over Temple, Northern Illinois over Eastern Michigan, LSU over Arkansas, Vanderbilt over Wake Forest, Georgia over Georgia Tech, North Carolina over Maryland, Virginia Tech over Virginia, Michigan State over Minnesota, Miami (Fla.) over Duke, Northwestern over Illinois, North Carolina State over Boston College, Tennessee over Kentucky, Wisconsin over Penn State, Clemson over South Carolina, Central Florida over Alabama-Birmingham, Louisiana-Lafayette over South Alabama, BYU over New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech over San Jose State, and Fresno State over Air Force.

Last week: 28-7, season: 386-88, percentage: .814.

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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