Last week was OK, but my string of 5-1 weeks was broken by Texas and Missouri. Sometimes erring on the side of history doesn't pay off. That gave me my first miss on Missouri this season, but I've now missed the Longhorns three times this season (UCLA, Nebraska, Iowa State). It seems like the only person having a harder time figuring them out than me is Mack Brown. Doesn't look like an easy task for either of us, with a tough game for the Longhorns on Saturday and a tough pick for me.
I'll be in Lincoln this weekend taking in the de facto Big 12 North championship game between the Huskers and Missouri. Should be a great one.
This is the most difficult week of picks we've had this season, but that's what you get in conference play. Three of the six games look like toss-ups, and I went against my gut on two of them.
Last week: 4-2 (.667)
Overall: 55-10 (.846)
No. 17 Oklahoma State 41, Kansas State 24: Justin Blackmon's absence will be felt, but the Cowboys still have plenty of power on offense that Kansas State can't account for. This already looked like a pretty bad matchup for the Wildcats, and only slightly less so without Blackmon. Kendall Hunter will get loose a lot in this one. Look for 200-plus yards from him once again.
Iowa State 31, Kansas 17: Kansas gets a little closer against the Cyclones, but Collin Franklin and Alexander Robinson have good days in a solid win for Iowa State.
No. 6 Missouri 31, No. 14 Nebraska 27: Count this as me going against my gut No. 1. Check back later today for a video of me explaining my pick.
Texas A&M 27, Texas Tech 24: The Aggies buck the trend of road teams winning two in a row in the series, start Jerrod Johnson and eventually go with Ryan Tannehill, who engineers a couple touchdown drives for the win.
Texas 21, No. 25 Baylor 20: Going against my gut here, too. I picked against an angry Texas team in Nebraska, but you have to think it'll only be more intense this week. Nebraska's offense is better than Baylor's, and the Horns shut it down. They've got the corners in the back to slow Kendall Wright and Josh Gordon through the air, and Sam Acho and Keenan Robinson play well up front to keep Robert Griffin III and Jay Finley from having the kind of days they enjoyed last week against Kansas State. And D.J. Monroe gets more than one carry!
No. 9 Oklahoma 45, Colorado 10: This one's not close. Roy Finch makes Sooners fans drool yet again, making a few late highlights in the fourth quarter. He'll be a good one real soon.