Pac-12 Picks: Week 7

Another poor week last week for our Rule of Tree picks, as our only unanimous choice (UCLA) lost by 26 in a game it was favored to win. Of course, few people saw that one coming. Luckily, we're not unanimous about any of this week's picks.

Here they are:

THURSDAY

Arizona State (-22.5) at Colorado

Jack: Arizona State. Why not?

Jacob: Colorado. This just feels like one of those random games where Colorado plays well. Why? I don't know. But a three-touchdown loss at home isn't too much to ask for, is it?

Scott: Colorado. The Buffs have had 12 days to prepare for Arizona State. (I'm just ignoring the fact that the Sun Devils are also coming off a bye week.) That's a lot of points to give on the road. I think Todd Graham is due for a letdown.

SATURDAY

Utah at UCLA (-9)

Jack: Utah. I'm going to pick Utah to cover again. They did me good last week against USC, and I think they can cause enough problems for the Bruins' run game to cover.

Jacob: Utah. UCLA was a mess last week, and I think we're finally realizing that this team really isn't close to a top-25 team. Bruins should still come out on top at home, but the Utes will keep it close.

Scott: UCLA. The Utes put up a decent fight against USC, but they've been bad in their two games away from home. I expect that trend to continue.

Oregon State at BYU (-5.5)

Jack: BYU. Without Sean Mannion, it's hard to pick the Beavers... but BYU has been extremely random, so I have low confidence value in this pick.

Jacob: BYU. I have yet to get an Oregon State game right. So I'm going to say that was all Sean Mannion's fault. With Mannion out of the game, the Beavers will be missing their biggest weapon and will finally lose in a tough road environment.

Scott: Oregon State. The Beavers' win over Washington State wasn't pretty, but they deserve a little more respect than they're getting here. Bonus score prediction: Oregon State 9, BYU 6.

Stanford at Notre Dame (-7)

Jack: Notre Dame. Stanford's injuries and unsettlingly bad defense last week do not give me a lot of confidence in the Cardinal. Score: Notre Dame 21, Stanford 13.

Jacob: Notre Dame. I keep guessing wrong on Stanford games, so I might as well hope the trend continues. But more realistically, the Cardinal is 2-3 against the spread and looked terrible in its only road game so far. Score: Notre Dame 27, Stanford 16.

Scott: Stanford. Which Josh Nunes will show up? Which Stanford defense will show up? I'm not sure, but here you go: Score: Stanford 16, Notre Dame 13.

USC (-13) at Washington

Jack: Washington. USC has a bad record ATS this year, so let's go with the Huskies.

Jacob: Washington. There are some things you can count on in USC games: Marqise Lee will catch a ton of balls, Lane Kiffin will make a dumb coaching decision, and USC won't cover.

Scott: USC. This is the week that USC puts it all together

Cal (-7) at Washington State

Jack: Cal. I'll finally admit it: Washington State is terrible, although Mike Leach's teams do play better after he chews them out.

Jacob: Washington State. One of these games, the Air Raid offense will actually show up. Why not this week against a Cal team that has won one game away from home in the past 13 months?

Scott: Cal. I won't be surprised in the least if Cal reverts to its old (two weeks ago) ways, but the Bears looked mighty impressive Saturday.

Lock of the Week

Jack: Washington. Gotta be the Huskies. Based on the way Stanford ran through the Trojans, I like Bishop Sankey to keep this one tight.

Jacob: Washington. USC is always over-hyped by the public and the Trojans never cover. Ok, fine, they've covered once in five games this year. I'll take those odds.

Scott: Colorado. For no good reason.