Foss' Football Forecast, Dec. 2-3, 2006

This is the final week of the regular college football season and there are some interesting match-ups as some conferences are having championship games. Last week in Pac-10 picks I only went 1-2 as the Ducks made a valiant come from behind and even held a 28-27 lead on a gutsy two-point conversion, but the Beavers got the winning field goal and blocked the Ducks final field goal attempt to win one of the greatest Civil War games in recent memory, 30-28. Congratulations to the Beavers on earning their first trip to the Sun Bowl in El Paso. The Ducks earned a bowl trip to Las Vegas to play Brigham Young (BYU) in a game we can win. In the battle of Arizona, the Sun Devils earned a bowl berth with a road upset over the Arizona Wildcats, 28-14, snapping the Wildcats three-game win streak and their bowl hopes. Arizona State earned a trip to Honolulu for the Hawaii Bowl against a good Hawaii team. My only Pac-10 win last week was the USC Trojans continuing their march to the BCS Championship game with an easy win over Notre Dame, 44-24. My overall Pac-10 record is now 49-24 for a 67.1 winning percentage. The Trojans only now need to beat their cross-town rival UCLA Bruins to earn a shot at Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl Championship Game. The Bruins don't need to win this game as they have already locked up a spot in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco against Florida State, which should be a pretty good match-up, but they would love to knock their cross-town rival out of the championship game. They're probably getting tired of seeing their rivals college the crystal footballs for a championship. Despite clinching the Sun Bowl, the Beavers have one more game with a trip to Hawaii, but the Warriors are good this season especially at home and will beat the Beavers, see picks below.

In my "other" college picks I went 3-2 as Nebraska, North Carolina (in a wild one over rival Duke, 45-44), and Rutgers came through. I was glad to see Texas lose to Texas A&M, 12-7, but wasn't bold enough to predict it. I went with the Air Force Academy for the second week in a row, and was burned again, in a game they should've won easily over Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) with a 10-game losing steak. However, the Rebels came in fired up and determined to end their season with a win and they did, 42-39. Their schedule looks like a sandwich with an opening season win against Idaho State and a season ending win surrounding a 10-game losing streak in between. My overall "other games" record is now 47-8 for an 85.5 winning percentage.

I had a good week in the Holiday NFL weekend going 4-1, including 2-0 on Thanksgiving. It was nice to see Joey Harrington go back to Detroit to play his former team and have a good game helping the Miami Dolphins beat the Lions easily, 27-10, and Dallas won easily over Tampa Bay, 38-10. The Buccaneers hardly look like the team that won the Super Bowl just four season's ago. Minnesota and San Diego were my other wins. Washington's upset of Carolina was my only loss, 17-13. My overall NFL record is now 37-23 for 61.7 winning percentage.

Here are this weeks picks:
College Football
Saturday, December 2, 2006:
Final week of Pac-10 picks:
southern california (usc) by 14 over UCLA
CALIFORNIA by 30 over stanford
HAWAII by 10 over oregon state

other games:
NAVY by 20 over army
LOUISVILLE by 28 over connecticut
TEXAS CHRISTIAN (TCU) by 21 over air force
FLORIDA by 7 over arkansas
WEST VIRGINIA by 14 over rutgers

NFL Sunday, December 3, 2006:
NEW ORLEANS by 10 over san francisco
CHICAGO by 7 over minnesota
ST. LOUIS by 10 over arizona
PITTSBURGH by 7 over tampa bay
indianapolis by 10 over TENNESSEE

With Army and Navy playing their annual game this weekend I need to give a shout out to all those troops out there defending our freedom overseas. My prayers go out to you for your safety and that your missions will succeed as you defeat the insurgents. Your battles are way more important than any played on a football field. We still support you!

Everyone enjoy the Holiday season, this is the best time of year!