Coming in at 29-8 (78.4%) sounds good, but in college football many of the games are mismatches, and in my mind you should really be about 85-90% if you know your business. With that, I’m looking to improve this week.

Most of what is going on this week pales in comparison to next week, when 10 of the top 21 teams will be hooking up in 5 games that will shape the rest of the season.

Clemson (3-1) @ #11 Florida State (4-1)

The ‘Noles get another Thursday night affair, and would rather forget about their last one. Let’s be honest, if not for inclement weather they probably get past Louisville, but their offense really struggled in the rain, especially as the field deteriorated in the second half. Clemson has run off a few wins following their 31-28 loss to #6 Georgia, and if they want to make the ACC a three-team race they have to win this game. When exactly has the ACC even be a two-team race though? Uh, that would be never since FSU joined, and they are going to re-establish themselves here: Florida State 37, Clemson 20

#22 Colorado State (3-1) @ Fresno State (2-3)

The Rams also get a jump, with a Friday night tilt against the team formerly led by David Carr. The Bulldogs have been very inconsistent this season, losing close to #15 Wisconsin (23-21) and #7 Oregon (28-24) but struggling to beat a pair of winless teams San Diego State (16-14) and Rice (31-28 last week) while also getting blown out by Oregon State (59-19). So you could say they play up or down to their competition. Colorado State sure played down last week, edging Nevada 32-28.Thus far, they have gotten it done on the ground, piling up 245.8 yards rushing per game. The Bulldogs may miss Carr, but they have put up 326.0 yards per game through the air, including 10 touchdowns, with a non-existent running game (93.5). I always like the team that can run the ball: Colorado State 38, Fresno State 27

Connecticut (2-3) @ #1 Miami (4-0)

Actually, the Huskies haven’t been that bad this year, which is to say they might even score a touchdown. The Hurricanes are rolling into next week’s visit from #11 Florida State, and they are not going to stumble in any way, shape or form: Miami 45, Connecticut 6

Oklahoma State (2-2) @ #2 Texas (3-0)

Like a lot of highly ranked teams, the Longhorns are trying not to get caught looking ahead to a showdown next week. There’s no chance of that here, because the Cowboys have played perfectly awful competition other than UCLA (38-24 loss) and have been extremely unimpressive. Bring on the Sooners: Texas 40, Oklahoma State 15

#3 Oklahoma (3-0) @ Missouri (3-1)

The Tigers are no strangers to highly ranked teams, having “beaten” Colorado in the infamous 5th down game a few years back. You can bet they’d love to rain on Oklahoma’s parade. They are not battle tested, however, and this is an experienced team they are going up against. I’m sure they will make it interesting early, but in the end there is no chance OU blows up prior to their battle with Texas next week: Oklahoma 31, Missouri 17

#5 Ohio State (4-0) @ Northwestern (2-2)

Let’s get serious, the Buckeyes are traveling to play a team that opened with a 52-3 loss to Air Force. They struggled to beat Duke and Navy, who are both awful football teams. The only real question is how much they will pile it on. The BCS no longer accounts for margin of victory, so they pack it in early: Ohio State 35, Northwestern 10

#6 Georgia (4-0) @ Alabama (3-1)

I wouldn’t say you throw out the records in this one, but surely the Tide can keep it close. After all, they scared #3 Oklahoma before losing 37-27 in a game they led in the fourth quarter. I think Georgia is ready though, after beating up a pair of scrubs the past two weeks. They know SEC play is the time to turn up their game a notch: Georgia 20, Alabama 14

#7 Oregon (4-0) @ Arizona (3-1)

The Ducks have lined up a bunch of, well, ducks early in the season. Fresno State is not a great team, and they struggled to beat them 28-24. I don’t think I need to tell you that North Texas is not good, and the Wildcats edged them 14-9 last week, after getting thumped 31-10 by #15 Wisconsin. I don’t think we’ll find out how good or bad Oregon is after this one, or even next week at UCLA, but they will surely come out of Tucson with a win: Oregon 31, Arizona 20

#8 Florida (3-1) @ Mississippi (3-1)

The Gators have come back to life, and the best thing I can say about Mississippi is that they’ve put up 35.5 points a game against mostly very bad competition. They won’t out score Florida, though: Florida 45, Mississippi 24

Stanford (1-2) @ #9Notre Dame (4-0)

The Cardinal defense has given up 41.7 points per game, which is probably a good antidote for an Irish offense that has struggled at times. Tyrone Willingham will get to see first hand what a mess he left in Northern California: Notre Dame 38, Stanford 13

Arkansas (2-1) @ #10 Tennessee (3-1)

The Vols have picked on three terrible teams, and gotten clobbered by #8 Florida. The Hogs have picked on two terrible teams, and gotten clocked by Alabama. None of that really matters, because Arkansas can’t score against good teams and Tennessee is not going to fall flat: Tennessee 31, Arkansas 10

California (3-2) @ #12 Washington (3-1)

The Golden Bears have been a nice surprise story following their dismal 1-10 campaign last year, but they’ve come up short in the clutch during two straight losses. Washington has beaten three duds in a row since their opening day loss to #13 Michigan, putting up 37.7 points a game in the process. In this one I’m going with history, and it tells me that Cal always struggles against the Huskies, especially in Seattle: Washington 34, California 22

#21 Penn State (3-1) @ #15 Wisconsin (5-0)

The Nittany Lions erased a 35-13 deficit to Iowa, only to lose in OT last week. The Badgers chalked up another win over a weak opponent, 31-10 over Arizona. Both teams want to be in the Big-10 title picture, and this is where it starts. In what I’d call a slight upset, I’m going with the visitors because Wisconsin has looked very shaky in winning by 3 points or less against Fresno State and Northern Illinois, with both games coming at home: Penn State 33, Wisconsin 28

#16 Kansas State (4-0) @ Colorado (2-2)

The real question here is which Buffs team shows up, the one that was trashed by USC 40-3 or the one that stuffed UCLA 31-17 last week on the road. I don’t know if it matters, because K-State followed up blowouts over three terrible teams with a solid 27-20 win over USC. I’m not using the transitive theory here, but nevertheless I do like the Wildcats to get it done: Kansas State 32, Colorado 24

#20 USC (3-1) @ #15 Washington State (4-1)

The Pac-10 is certain to be hotly contested, and every team wants to get a leg up. USC is coming off a big time 22-0 win over Oregon State, holding them to 131 total yards when they had come in averaging 47.5 points a game. The Cougars have a similarly high-powered offense (36.0 points a game) and are fresh off a come from behind win at Cal. I think Ohio State showed that their offense can be shut down, however, and the Trojans will use that blue print to do it again: USC 27, Washington State 22

UL-Lafayette (1-3) @ #19 LSU (3-1)

Unlike most of the major college teams, LSU is out of conference this week, and playing a soft opponent. The big test for them is next week at Florida on what I’d call “Judgment Saturday” in college football. This one is a walk in the park: LSU 38, UL-Lafayette 0

Texas Tech (3-2) @ #23 Texas A&M (3-1)

I went with the Red Raiders in an upset two weeks ago, and they almost came through for me. Now they bring an offense that has put up 46.3 points per game over their last three to an Aggies defense that has given up just 8.8 points per game this year. Does a good offense beat a good defense? I think this week it does, mostly because Texas A&M’s weak offense will put their defense in bad spots all day: Texas Tech 19, Texas A&M 16

Navy (1-3) @ #25 Air Force (4-0)

The armed forces battle figures to end with Navy throwing the white flag. The Midshipmen did after all lose 49-40 to a Northwestern team that Air Force spanked 52-3. Air Force is probably not a legit top 25 team, but games against #9 Notre Dame and #22 Colorado State (both at home) are the only remotely difficult games left on their schedule so they are locked into a 10-2 or better finish: Air Force 45, Navy 14