College Football Picks for Week 4: B/R Experts' Predictions for Top 5 Games – Bleacher Report
Week 4 should be the Pac 12 show. While there are meaningful games throughout the Saturday slate, it’s the prime-time showdowns between ranked Pac 12 teams that will dominate the headlines.
Will the Pac 12 make the most of it? Or will Week 4 be a night forgotten in the grand playoff picture?
The highlight of the night is No. 9 UCLA vs. No. 16 Arizona, where ESPN College GameDay will call home for the weekend. True freshman quarterback Josh Rosen has been living up to the hype, but now he faces a daunting road-game test against a Wildcats team that’s eager to prove its place in the college football world.
Will Rich Rodriguez and Arizona make its mark on the 2015 season, or can Jim Mora and the Bruins keep their win streak alive?
No. 13 Oregon will host No. 18 Utah in prime time, and it serves as an opportunity for the Utes to gain some national respect. With a win at Oregon, Utah would almost certainly crack the Top 15 next week and be labeled a legitimate contender in the Pac 12. Can Utah seal the deal, or will it fumble the chance away like last year?
To close out the night for the Pac 12, No. 19 USC gets a shot at redemption as it travels to Arizona State. Last week was a rough one for the Trojans, losing to Stanford at home. But now they get a chance to bounce back, though it won’t be easy facing a Sun Devils team that’s looking to show it’s way more than the team that lost to Texas A&M in Week 1.
Elsewhere in Week 4’s college football landscape, Michigan will host No. 22 BYU in a game that will set the tone for how the Wolverines will fair in conference play. The Cougars are a great test for all to see if Michigan’s improvements over the last few weeks were for real or just a product of playing weaker opponents. Will Jim Harbaugh have his team ready? We’ll see if they practiced how to defend the Hail Mary as well.
And wrapping up our top five games of the week, Florida will host Tennessee in a pivotal SEC East battle. Will the Vols prove the offseason hype was for real, or can the Gators seize the moment and take a big step forward in the perceived “weaker” SEC East?
B/R
The standings after Week 4 will still remain fairly close. Who will emerge as the week’s best performer, and whose picks do you disagree with? Be sure to sound off in the comments section below about who you think will win in Week 4.
*All picks made straight up. Spread is not a factor.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.