Football expert Phil Steele is the owner and publisher of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, regarded as the college football bible. Get in-depth coverage of college and pro football 24/7/365 at PhilSteele.com and follow him on Twitter @philsteele042.
Ohio State (-7) over NORTHWESTERN: The Buckeyes gave me a winner here last week and I will go right back to them. The Northwestern campus will be electric with ESPN¹s “College Gameday” on hand for the first time since 1995, but that is part of the reason I side with Ohio State. Northwestern rarely plays on this type of stage with this being only the third ranked team they have hosted in three seasons, losing the first two by 14 and 16 points. The Buckeyes are off their battle versus Wisconsin and while many teams would be in a letdown mode, this prime-time game on national TV will keep Ohio State focused. The Buckeyes have dominated the series, going 28-1 and will move to 18-0 under head coach Urban Meyer.
STANFORD (-7) over Washington: Stanford has become an elite program, going 35-5 the last three seasons. Since head coach David Shaw took over in 2011, the Cardinal have lost only two Pac-12 games. The first was versus Oregon, which Stanford got revenge for last year by winning outright as a three-touchdown underdog. The other was to this same Washington squad. The Huskies are off to an exciting 4-0 start with a new fast-paced offense, but this is their first game this season at an opponent¹s stadium and they are facing my seventh-ranked defense. Last year, Washington was only 2-4 on the road and the wins were versus Colorado and California, two teams that combined for a 3-15 conference record. Revenge.
LAST WEEK (NCAA): 1-1
SEASON: 4-6