Most Intriguing Matchups For Week Four

Despite already being a month into the 2015 College Football season, Week Four offers very little in terms of high-profile matchups. Conveniently, the five most enthralling games all come out of the Conference of Champions. As sexy as Western Michigan may appear on paper, it wasn’t worthy of making the cut. Here are the five most intriguing games of Week 4:

#21 Stanford vs. Oregon State

Only Kevin Hogan possesses the ability to brush off an atrocious outing against Northwestern in Week 1 to beat the #6 team in the nation two weeks later. This is how Kevin Hogan functions, and Stanford for that matter. Expect them to win, and they will lose in a way that makes you ashamed of believing in them in the first place. That’s why I’m picking Stanford to lose. Combine all that with the fact that Oregon State always manages to surpass its potential at Reser Stadium. Also, David Shaw loves punting. A lot. The Cardinal are going to need to put up points on the road. And when you have a coach whose chief strategy is to punt anytime his team isn’t in the red zone, upsets happen.

California vs. Washington

Cal is 3-0! This is unchartered territory for any current Cal Bear. Therefore, I’m not sure how this team will respond to such unforeseen success. Washington is bad, but not Colorado bad (unfortunately). The Huskies are also at home. My heart says to go with the Golden Bears, but my mind says woof. Washington prevails in a close one.

#19 USC vs. Arizona State

Thanks to Kevin Hogan spoiling USC’s season, this game has lost most of its luster. USC was supposed to be “back.” And once again this was supposed to be the Sun Devil’s breakout year. After USC laid an egg against Stanford at home and ASU’s rout at the hands of Texas A&M, neither side looks the part. The winner’s National Championship hopes will remain alive, at least for one more week. The loser will have two losses and only a middling Bowl game at season’s end. I’m picking the Trojans because I want Oregon and USC to meet on November 21st with only one loss apiece.

#9 UCLA vs. #16 Arizona

Unfortunately for UCLA, they just lost arguably their best player for the season. The Bruins will also trot out a true freshman quarterback at the oh-so hostile Zona Zoo. The Rosen One didn’t exactly look stellar last week against BYU. The Wildcats are home and just dropped 77 in their last game, which is why I pick Arizona to improve to 4-0.

#18 Utah vs. #13 Oregon

Utah’s vaunted defensive front is enough to keep Oregon fans up at night. The Utes will also have their quarterback healthy enough when the two teams take the field Saturday night. It’s no mistake the Utah Utes are 3-0, and could end up being the team to come out of the rigorous Pac-12 South. Oregon has looked less than imposing through their first three games. Its best option at quarterback is still nursing a broken index finger, and the defense managed to make the likes of Eastern Washington and Georgia State look like Baylor. Despite their obvious flaws, the home Autzen Stadium crowd will help carry the Oregon Ducks to victory on Saturday Night.