Should be a good week for conference football teams

Another strong week of straight-up picks, though it’s always a little embarrassing when the one team you actually cover is part of the one game you didn’t pick correctly. Hey, at least the Cougs beat the spread.

This week presents a tougher task, with Pac-12 teams actually playing schools of similar size and enrollment. All games Saturday. All lines for entertainment and regretful Vegas decisions only.

UCLA at Nebraska, Nebraska by 4 1/2: Bruins will be playing with a lot of emotion. Here’s a guess it helps them through. UCLA 31-24.

Stanford at Army, Stanford by 28 1/2: Tough line. Cardinal should roll,. Stanford 42-6.

Fresno State at Colorado, FSU by 10: Wary of this one after last year’s lopsidedness. But the Buffs are better. Calling the upset. CU 28-24.

Boston College at USC, USC by 14: Trojans by two TDs? With that offense? No thanks. USC 20-13.

Tennessee at Oregon, UO by 27 1/2: There are SEC teams that should scare the Ducks. This is not one of them. UO 49-20.

Washington at Illinois, UW by 10: Don’t see this as a cakewalk, but Huskies should take care of business. UW 35-28.

Southern Utah at Washington State, WSU by 22: This spread is right about where I would have put it. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not. WSU 31-14.

Ohio State at California, OSU by 14: Hard to see the Bears keeping up for the duration of this one. OSU 35-17.

Oregon State at Utah, Utah by 3: Tough to pick against Utes in home night game. Utah 31-27.

Wisconsin at Arizona State, ASU by 5 1/2: This should be a fun one. Especially for the Sun Devils. ASU 45-35.

UTSA at Arizona, UA by 25 1/2: NAU, UNLV, UTSA. Wildcats don’t have SOS, but they’ve sure claimed some vowels. UA 49-14.

Last week: 8-1 straight up, 7-2 against the spread. Season: 16-3, 14-5.