College football viewer's guide - Week 5

Gather 'round friends! Losing money is a group activity.

Editor's note: A new weekly feature on the must-see college games of the week.

Week 5 slate:

12 p.m. EDT - #3 Oklahoma (4-0) at #11 Texas (4-0) (game at Jerry World).

TV - ABC national broadcast

Line - Texas +9.5 - O/U 56.5

Preview - Texas and OU are both undefeated but are vastly different teams. The Longhorns are coming off their worst season in years and OU is coming off it's first BCS bowl victory in years. Texas has played no one in Iowa St, Rice, a terrible UCLA team and a mediocre BYU squad. The Sooners pounded FSU in Tallahassee, survived a scare from Mizzou at home, and beat up on Tulsa and Ball St. The Mizzou game effectively dropped them from #1 to #3. Texas is still trying out a two-QB system and we're all familiar with the pitfalls of such an operation.

The pick - OU 34 - Texas 21. Landry Jones and OU's passing attack is too much for the Longhorns. The Sooners cover and just miss the over.

3:30 p.m. EDT - Miami (Fl.) (2-2) at #21 Virginia Tech (4-1)

TV - ABC regional, reverse mirror on ESPN

Line - VT -8.5 - O/U 44

Preview - This is a gut-check game for two teams trying to stay in the Coastal Division race in the ACC. Perennial flopper Clemson gave VT a taste of its own medicine last week in Blacksburg, smothering the Hokies with defense and speed en route to a 23-3 victory that shocked the home crowd. It was VT's first test of the season and they failed miserably. Miami comes to town as a tough team to read. They lost at Maryland to a very mediocre Terps team. They dismantled the Buckeyes in South Beach, but that game looks less and less impressive with each passing week. Then they were unable to stop one-dimensional Kansas St. on their home field. K-state just upset Baylor, so it's not a terrible loss, but still. It's been a tough year for first-year coach Al Golden and the losing certainly doesn't help.

The pick - VT 30 - Miami 27. The Hurricanes are still too undisciplined for me to pick them outright in this game, but they'll cover. Also, neither defense is amazing, so I'm not sure what's going on with O/U. Pound the over.

7 p.m. EDT - #15 Auburn (4-1) at #10 Arkansas (4-1)

TV - ESPN

Line - Arkansas -10 - O/U 63

Preview - I have to admit, I think both of these teams are living off of the SEC hype. For the second straight week Texas A&M outplayed a team (Arkansas) only to give the game away. Auburn lost something like 96 dudes from their championship squad of a year ago and give up a lot of points. Both are coming off emotional, come-from-behind victories that saw them score the clinching touchdown with less than 3 minutes to play. Arkansas does it through the air with the SEC's #1 passing attack. Auburn features a balanced attack and averages just over 180 yards/game on the ground and through the air. The problem for the Tigers is they're giving up 440 yards/game, are slightly more vulnerable to the pass than the run, and have surrendered 16 touchdowns this season. Auburn should not be in the top 25 and as the meat of their season kicks into gear, that will come to fruition.

The pick - Arkansas 48 Auburn 23. I think the Razorbacks are ready for some revenge after losing at Auburn 65-43 last year in one of college football's most ridiculous, lack-of-defense games I've ever seen. The Hogs cover the spread and the over.