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Pac-12 Football Picks: Week Seven

A five game slate is in store for the teams of the Pac-12 in Week Seven.

By The_Coach
NCAA Football: Pac-12 Media Day Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

A less than stellar week across the board in Week Six didn’t necessarily doom anyone’s chances of winning the Pac-12 Football Picks for the season, and actually, the widespread mediocrity brought the top of the pack together, where three contributors are now tied for the lead. Our two newest addition to Pac-12 Football Picks, Addz and Donald B. Jordan, got off to slow starts but we’re all optimists here at BTD and we know that Week Seven can only be better. Let’s now take a look at our staff’s Pac-12 Football Picks for this upcoming week.

Saturday, October 15th

Arizona (2-4) v. USC (3-3) [3:30 PM ET, FOX]

Ingle Win Probability Calculator: USC (62%)

Fighting injuries across the board, Arizona will be hoping that a home match-up with USC is just the right remedy to snap the team’s three-game losing skid. The Wildcats haven't won since beating Hawaii back on September 17th and things could get interesting with a surging USC team entering the fold, considering Wildcats quarterback Brandon Dawkins is listed as questionable for the game. The feeling that Arizona is due for a breakout performance keeps lingering but it may not come in the week where the Wildcats need to plug holes at many different spots. The Trojans currently look like a different team than the one that stumbled out of the gate this season. Head coach Clay Helton has back-to-back wins for his program at the moment but USC has yet to win a game away from home this season.

Marcus Russell: USC

The_Coach: USC

DavidMays: USC

Robert Ingle: USC

Brian J. Moore: USC

Addz: USC

Donald B. Jordan: USC

Saturday, October 15th

Oregon State (2-3) v. #21 Utah (5-1) [4:00 PM ET, PAC12]

Ingle Win Probability Calculator: Utah (64%)

The Beavers stunned the conference a week ago with their overtime win over California and with Utah coming to town, there’s a chance for consecutive weeks of surprise wins for Oregon State. As usual, we have you completely covered here with a wide range of articles leading up to this match-up with Utah.

Marcus Russell: Utah

The_Coach: Utah

DavidMays: Oregon State

Robert Ingle: Utah

Brian J. Moore: Oregon State

Addz: Oregon State

Donald B. Jordan: Oregon State

Saturday, October 15th

Notre Dame (2-4) v. Stanford (3-2) [7:30 PM ET, NBC]

Ingle Win Probability Calculator: Stanford (52%)

After back-to-back losses to the Pac 12’s representatives from the state of Washington, Stanford will hope to snap their own two-game losing streak when they travel to meet up with Notre Dame on Saturday night. The Cardinal’s main playmaker in running back Christian McCaffrey is listed as questionable for this one, which could cause a problem if he’s not able to give Stanford all he’s got. Without McCaffrey on the field, head coach David Shaw will have to resort to a main pass-oriented offense, a juncture where they’ve found little success so far this season. The Cardinal average just 166.2 passing yards a game for the nation’s 119th best scoring offense. The Fighting Irish have their own severe issues across the board and coming off a 10-3 loss to North Carolina State (albeit in an awful weather condition game), more will be expected from Notre Dame in this one. Expect the Fighting Irish to come out with something to prove.

Marcus Russell: Stanford

The_Coach: Notre Dame

DavidMays: Stanford

Robert Ingle: Stanford

Brian J. Moore: Notre Dame

Addz: Stanford

Donald B. Jordan: Notre Dame

Saturday, October 15th

Colorado (4-2) v. Arizona State (5-1) [8:00 PM ET, PAC12]

Ingle Win Probability Calculator: Colorado (55%)

A game that’s probably flying under the radar as one of the best contests in all of college football on Saturday, it will be very intriguing to watch and see just how the Sun Devils manage a road trip to Boulder and if they have enough in the tank to knock off a Colorado team coming off their second loss of the season. For Arizona State, besides a road trip to USC where the Sun Devils were caught in the midst of a Trojans-turnaround point in the season, they’ve looked to be one of the more solid units in the league, especially on the offensive side of things. Welcoming quarterback Manny Wilkins back to the fold won’t hurt either. Wilkins’ absence was noticeable in Arizona State’s three-point win over UCLA, where the offense never seemed to settle into rhythm. For the Buffs, the balance of this roster has kept things mostly easy for head coach Mike MacIntyre but Colorado just looked a bit off-kilter in their road letdown against USC. Keep an eye on the match-up between the Arizona State offensive line and the Colorado front-seven to give a strong gauge on how this one might go.

Marcus Russell: Colorado

The_Coach: Colorado

DavidMays: Arizona State

Robert Ingle: Colorado

Brian J. Moore: Colorado

Addz: Colorado

Donald B. Jordan: Colorado

Saturday, October 15th

Washington State (3-2) v. UCLA (3-3) [10:30 PM ET, ESPN]

Ingle Win Probability Calculator: Washington State (53%)

Head coach Mike Leach’s offense have come alive in the past three games, where the Cougars have posted 49.7 points per contest in three impressive wins, including their most recent dismantling of then-ranked Stanford, 42-16. If Washington State can continue to produce offensively, which is an achievable task in Leach’s air-raid offense, and the defense of the Cougars can steadily improve, there is a chance for this Washington State team to be one of the surprises of the conference field. For now though, they must focus on UCLA. The up-and-down parade of UCLA’s season has been an uncomfortable one to watch, as there’s literally no telling every week just what Bruins team might take the field. However, if UCLA can come out in this one and slow the pace of the game down early, even the hit-or-miss Bruins can have a shot to keep Washington State’s prolific attack in check. Although, if they let this one open up into a shoot-out, it’ll be interesting to see if the Bruins have the firepower to hang with the Cougars for four full quarters.

Marcus Russell: Washington State

The_Coach: Washington State

DavidMays: UCLA

Robert Ingle: Washington State

Brian J. Moore: Washington State

Addz: Washington State

Donald B. Jordan: Washington State