ESPN College Football

In the last 37 months, USC has played 43 games and has won 42 of them. The defeat was a triple overtime battle at Cal two years ago. It wasn't a shock because Cal just missed toppling the Trojans at USC the year before, falling 30-28. Last year, Jeff Tedford's Bears threw another scare into the Trojans. With the winning streak and a bid to the BCS championship game on the line, USC travels back to Berkeley for what could be its last difficult hurdle this season. Unlike the past three meetings, we think the Trojans will get the jump on Cal early for the win.

Elsewhere, Fresno State should end Boise State's four-game hex on them, and we expect LSU to bring Alabama's undefeated season to a halt. Arizona (vs. Washington), Iowa State (vs. Colorado) and Utah (vs. New Mexico), however, are our best bets this week.

Fresno State -9 vs. Boise State: Boise State has seemed like it might be in a funk recently, probably because the Broncos haven't had a quality opponent since defeating Hawaii five weeks ago. They narrowly lost at Oregon State, 30-27. Against Hawaii, they were outplayed but won thanks to special teams. There's no doubt, though, that coach Dan Hawkins will have them ready, as he has in the past four meetings of these teams, all of which were won by Boise. Led by veteran quarterback Jared Zabransky, the Broncos have won their last four WAC games by an average of 31 points.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider