COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK ELEVEN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY PICKS

Last Week: 19 - 5      79.2%
Overall:     224 - 71   75.9%

Not much change at the top of the College Football Playoff Committee (CFP) rankings this week. Texas A&M fell out after a loss to Mississippi State, but very few analysts really felt they belonged in the first place. At the top now are the undefeated front runners in four of the five power conferences. Can they win out to create an elite playoff field? History would dictate otherwise, but all four are certainly playing at a level above the rest of the field, barely ahead of the one-loss teams just behind them, Ohio State and Louisville. Top ranked Alabama takes on that Mississippi State team that sent Texas A&M tumbling slightly to number eight, so I'm sure the Bulldogs got the Tide's full attention before a virtual tie week precedes their Iron Bowl game against dangerous Auburn. I would have to agree with the committee's selections with the other top four teams playing dangerous opponents: Washington hosts twentieth ranked USC, Clemson entertains Pittsburgh and Michigan travels to Iowa.

Thursday:

(17) North Carolina (7 - 2) 27 @ Duke (3 - 6) 20: Usually a Thursday road game can be a problem for the visitors, but these schools are only a few miles apart. In addition, Duke's home field advantage is non-existent. But the Blue Devils gave now-14th ranked Virginia Tech all they could handle last week and might be able to challenge the Tar Heels.

(15) Utah (7 - 2) 30 @ Arizona State (5 - 4) 24: Utah had a bye week to get over a close loss to Washington and they head to the desert to take on the Sun Devils. Trailing Colorado by a game in the Pac-12 South, they still control their own destiny because of a win over USC and a season-ending clash with Colorado. Arizona State's defense is just too much of a liability against good teams.

Friday:

Boston College (4 - 5) 17 @ (18) Florida State (6 - 3) 34: Florida State is hanging on in the rankings because their losses are to number two Clemson, number six Louisville and number seventeen North Carolina, three of the top four teams in the ACC. Boston College finally won a conference game, a close win over NC State before getting mauled by Louisville. I expect more of the same from the Seminoles.

Don't forget to check out my new book, "Offsetting Penalties - A PK Frazier Novel" at  Amazon.com and listen to me Friday's at 8:40 am EDT/ 7:40 am CDT on Lou in the Morning, streaming live on www.WPFLradio.com, 105.1 FM. I can also be reached via email at kevin@pkfrazier.com.