COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS

THURSDAY

Wake Forest (plus 17) at No. 22 North Carolina State: Wolfpack QB Ryan Finley and his talented receivers should find Wake’s pass defense

(20 TD passes allowed and only three interceptions) accommodating ... N.C. STATE 42-20. FRIDAY

Louisville (plus 21) at No. 13 Syracuse: Two seasons ago, Lamar Jackson announced himself to the college football world with a spectacular Friday night performance at Syracuse. Now Louisville is the worst team in the ACC ... SYRACUSE 45-21.

No. 16 Fresno State (minus 3) at Boise State: Bulldogs have never won on the Broncos’ blue turf, going

0-9 ... FRESNO STATE 24-17. SATURDAY

No. 18 Mississippi State (plus

24½) at No. 1 Alabama: Crimson Tide have won 10 straight meetings and only twice have the Bulldogs scored more than 10 points ... ALABAMA 35-7.

No. 2 Clemson (minus 20) at No.

17 Boston College: Eagles have a solid defense (25th nationally in yards per play at 4.83), led by DE Zach Allen, but the better offenses it has faced have had success ... CLEMSON 35-17.

Florida State (plus 17½) at No.

3 Notre Dame: It was 25 years ago when the second-ranked Fighting Irish beat No. 1 FSU in the Game of the Century ... NOTRE DAME

34-14.

No. 4 Michigan (minus 39) at Rutgers: Graphic content: View discretion advised ... MICHIGAN 56-7. Auburn (plus 14) at No. 5 Georgia: Still searching for a pass rush, the Bulldogs rank last in the SEC with 14 sacks ... GEORGIA 27-14. Oklahoma State (plus 18½) at No. 6 Oklahoma: Week to week the Cowboys’ performance has been all over the place ... OKLAHOMA

45-24.

TCU (plus 13) at No. 7 West Virginia: Horned Frogs are a shell of the team that looked like a Big

12 contender earlier this season ... WEST VIRGINIA 35-17.

No. 8 Ohio State (minus 3½) at No. 24 Michigan State: Sure, the Buckeyes’ defense has been a mess, but have you seen the Spartans’ dysfunctional offense? ... OHIO STATE 27-21.

No. 9 LSU (minus 13½) at Arkansas: How do the Tigers bounce back from ‘Bama? ... LSU 31-16.

No. 10 Washington State (minus

6½) at Colorado: Buffaloes could finally get star WR Laviska Shenault Jr. back this week — and boy could they use him to break a four-game losing streak ... COLORADO 31-28. Navy (plus 25½) at No. 11 UCF: Midshipmen are on the way to the program’s worst season since going

2-10 in 2002 ... UCF 49-17.

No. 12 Kentucky (minus 6) at Tennessee: SEC’s worst passing offense (Kentucky) against its worst rushing offense (Tennessee) ... TENNESSEE, 20-16, UPSET SPECIAL. San Jose State (plus 31) at No. 14 Utah State: Aggies have five games of at least 50 points, only Alabama has more (six) ... UTAH STATE

52-17.

No. 15 Texas (minus 1½) at Texas Tech: Longhorns looking at sliding from Big 12 contention to a 7-5 regular season in a big hurry ... TEXAS

28-27.

South Carolina (plus 6½) at No.

19 Florida: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Gators are searching for answers at quarterback ... FLORIDA 24-21. Wisconsin (plus 8) at No. 21 Penn State: Badgers could be without QB Alex Hornibrook in a game between teams trying to position themselves for warm-weather bowls ... PENN STATE 28-21.

Baylor (plus 14½) at No. 23 Iowa State: Cyclones looking for their first five-game winning streak since

2002 ... IOWA STATE 38-21. South Florida (plus 12) at No.

25 Cincinnati: Bearcats have put together a feisty defense (fourth in the country in yards per play at

4.28), led by DT Cortez Broughton and S James Wiggins ... CINCINNATI 24-17.

TWITTER REQUESTS California (plus 5½) at Southern California — @dcjames5: Trojans have won 14 straight in the series ... USC 28-20. Northwestern (plus 10) at Iowa —

@OC8653: Wildcats can lose this and still win the Big Ten West by finishing with victories against Minnesota and Illinois ... IOWA 28-14. Troy (pick’em) at Georgia Southern — @MDWDFW: First-place in the Sun Belt East on the line ... GEORGIA SOUTHERN 27-24. Virginia Tech (plus 3) at Pittsburgh — @cpugliesi: Panthers do one thing really well, rushing for 231 yards per game ... PITT 30-24. Mississippi (plus 11½) at Texas A&M — @DarrylKerr: Chance for Aggies RB Trayveon Williams (103.4 yards per game) to make a run at the SEC rushing lead against the worst run defense in the conference ... TEXAS A&M 35-28.

Last week: 16-8 straight; 12-12-1 against the spread.

Season: 159-61 straight; 114-104-1 against the spread.

Upset specials: 5-5 (straight up). Best bets: 3-6 (against the spread). — Ralph D. Russo, Associated Press Follow him on Twitter

@ralphDrussoAP