Foss' Football Forecast, Nov. 18-19, 2006

It was another week of upsets in the Pac-10, and I correctly predicted two of them as I was glad to see the Bruins upset the Beavers easily, 25-7, ending OSU's four-game win streak. I also picked the Sun Devils upset of the Cougars, ASU rolled at home, 47-14. However, those were my only Pac-10 wins last week (2-3) as the Ducks couldn't keep up with the Trojans, as most expected, 35-10. But the biggest surprises were Stanford going into Seattle and winning easily over the Huskies, 20-3 for the Cardinal's 1st win of the season, just when I thought they'd go winless. California may have been overlooking Arizona with their big game against USC this week, and the Wildcats pulled the upset at home 24-20, ending Cal's eight-game win streak. The Golden Bears made life more difficult for themselves as they enter the game with the Trojans tied for the Pac-10 lead, when they could've been one game up. This season is probably Cal's best shot at ending its 48-season drought since they last played in the Rose Bowl, the longest in the Pac-10. I would like to see Cal end that drought, but with the game in Los Angeles where USC has won 31-straight home games at the Colesium, I don't see it happening for the Bears. They can look back to the Arizona game as the one that blew it for them. The fourth-ranked Trojans have a lot to play for too, as they still have a shot at getting into the BCS Championship Game with all the upsets in the Top 25 the past few weeks, a one-loss team may make it to the title game. With #1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan facing off this week with a playoff game feel, one of those undefeateds will fall and could open the door for USC, although #3 Florida at 9-1 also wants a shot at the title game. My overall Pac-10 record is now 46-19 for a 70.8 winning percentage.

I went 4-1 in my "other college games" picks, my only loss was Kansas State's upset of defending champion Texas in a wild one, 45-42, handing the Longhorns their second loss off the season and assuring they will not get a chance to defend their title this season. I was kind of glad to see Texas lose, but wasn't sure enough to predict the upset. I picked the Kentucky game because former Oregon coach Rich Brooks is coaching the Wildcats now. In his fourth season at Kentucky, after going 9-25 in his first three season, kudos have to go out to Coach Brooks for turning the Wildcats around. He had the team on a three-game win streak, including a 24-20 upset of Georgia on November 4th. Currently at 6-4, the Wildcats are bowl-eligible for the first time (since 1999) this century. Coach Brooks, who I have personally interviewed when I was at the U of O, has a knack for turning around struggling programs. The Ducks new winning tradition at Oregon can be traced back to starting in 1994, when Brooks led the Ducks to their first Pac-10 Championship and Rose Bowl Game in 38 seasons. I went to that Rose Bowl game to be a part of Oregon history, and although we lost to Coach Joe Paterno's Penn State team, making their first ever trip to the Rose Bowl, all the Oregon fans had a blast. We witnessed history for Coach Paterno too as the Rose Bowl win gave him a win in every major bowl game, the Rose was the only one that kept eluding him. But getting back to Kentucky, I'm picking them again this week to clinch a winning season with their seventh win of the season against Louisiana-Monroe in a well scheduled non-league game to get a break from conference play, before ending the season with a tough one at Tennessee. Kentucky is currently second in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division at 4-3 in conference play, which is very good in the tough SEC. Word out of Lexington today is Kentucky is giving Coach Brooks at least a one year contract extension. He still has one year remaining on his currently contract, so he will stay as coach of the Wildcats through at least 2008. Congratulations Coach Brooks, a job well done. It was a tough job to get Wildcats fans excited about something other than basketball, but you have done it.

You'll also notice I went out on a limb and included one of the biggest games of the season in my "other games" this week picking #2 Michigan to go into Columbus and upset the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes. Michigan will be dedicating the game to former Coach Bo Schembechler, who passed away at 77 years old, just one day before the big game. He will be with the Wolverines in spirit and give Michigan the extra edge to win this close battle. My overall "other college games" record is now 41-4 for a 91.1 winning percentage.

I went 3-2 in my NFL picks last week, but the two losses were a couple of upsets that bit me. Who would expect the Cleveland Browns to come to life and upset the Atlanta Falcons and Michael Vick in Atlanta, 17-13. The Houston Texans did the same thing with a rare road win at Jacksonville, 13-10. My overall NFL picks record fell to 31-19 for a 62 winning percentage.

On to this weeks picks:
College Football, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006
Pac-10:
oregon state by 14 over STANFORD
OREGON by 14 over arizona
WASHINGTON STATE by 3 over washington (Apple Cup)
SOUTHERN CAL by 7 over california
ARIZONA STATE by 3 over ucla
Others:
michigan by 3 over OHIO STATE
KENTUCKY by 21 over louisiana-monroe
NAVY by 28 over temple
AIR FORCE by 3 over utah
HAWAII by 21 over san jose state

NFL Sunday, Nov. 19, 2006:
PHILADELPHIA by 14 over tennessee
CAROLINA by 7 over st. louis
HOUSTON by 3 over buffalo
seattle by 10 over SAN FRANCISCO
TAMPA BAY by 7 over washington

For you NASCAR fans, including myself, this Sunday is the final Nextel Cup race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway a champion will be crowned. I'm predicting Jimmy Johnson will win his much deserved first championship after coming so close the past two seasons.

A BIG sports weekend, enjoy all! With Thanksgiving on Thursday, I'll be making my picks early next week. After Saturday it will start the countdown to the Oregon Civil War, which will be played for the first time on the day after Thanksgiving.