COLLEGE FOOTBALL THURSDAY NIGHT PICKS

There are three Thursday night games, all of them potentially entertaining. Pittsburgh hosts UNC in a crucial ACC Coastal clash. While it probably won't have national implications, it will certainly be instrumental in deciding the division champion. In the Big 12, TCU hopes their defense can make enough stops to continue their run of outscoring teams, despite giving up a lot of points in the process. And in the Pac-12, Oregon travels to Arizona State in a game that is more important to bowl hopes than it is to any conference or national positioning.

North Carolina (6 – 1) 27 @ (23) Pittsburgh (6 – 1) 24: This is a big game in the ACC Coastal, with the winner setting up a big date with Duke for a possible division-deciding game. Carolina has the Blue Devils next week and Pitt gets them the following Saturday. Pittsburgh’s defense has been great, but eventually the Panthers will be forced to score some points to pull out a big win. I like the Tar Heels to be able to run the ball tonight and come away with a huge victory.

West Virginia (3 – 3) 38 @ (5) TCU (7 – 0) 47: This one is likely to be a shootout, but it’s improbable that  the Mountaineers will be able to contain TCU well enough to win. These teams are pretty even defensively, but the Horned Frogs have a lot more offensive weapons, especially against a pass defense ranked 77^th in the nation.

Oregon (4 – 3) 34 @ Arizona State (4 – 3) 37: These teams are fairly evenly matched overall, but there are a couple of match-up issues, especially for Oregon. Arizona State can pass the ball, something that everyone has been able to do against the Ducks. Oregon would prefer to run, but the Sun Devils have been decent stopping teams on the ground. This is a virtual tossup, so I’ll go with the home team in a close, high scoring game that could even go into overtime.

Don't forget to check out my new book, "Roughing the Passer - A PK Frazier Novel" and my first, "Illegal Procedure - A PK Frazier Novel", available in print and e-formats at Amazon.com, iBooks and Smashwords. The third installment, "Offsetting Penalties" is due out in the fall.