After taking a break of a few weeks, it is time to go back to my good old PlayStation 2. It hasn’t yet proven itself to be a brilliant handicapper, but it has had its moments. Again, I will have NCAA Football 09 simulate three games to see how it sees them play out:

Michigan State (+14) at Penn State – The Nittany Lions can wrap up the Big Ten title and an automatic BCS bid with a win here. If my machine is right then the Land Grant Trophy is going to East Lansing. The Spartans won a snoozer of a game 14-7. Penn State didn’t score until the fourth quarter. They were driving again late, but ran out of time. Penn State’s offense was lethargic – they couldn’t move the ball through the air, and Evan Royster was useless on the ground. Michigan State jumped out to an early hot start, but the middle two quarters were a defensive seesaw. Easy cover for Michigan State, and a nice moneyline payout, too.

BYU (+7) at Utah – The Holy War is always tense with hatred, and the huge stakes won’t do anything to change that this year. Quite simply, Utah wins and they are going to the BCS. BYU has won the last two meetings, but that streak ends according to my machine. The total was high at 53.5, but the PS2 forsees a surprisingly defensive battle, and one that BYU forgot to show up for – the final score was 24-7. Utah had almost twice as much total yardage, and they dominated both on the ground and through the air. BYU just didn’t seem to be up for this one, so Utah took advntage and cruised. They got up early, deflating BYU, and never looked back.

Texas Tech (+7) at Oklahoma – This one is for all the marbles. The winner stands a very good chance of going to the BCS championship (a virtual certainty if it is Texas Tech), and the winning quarterback stands a good shot at taking down the Heisman. It’s really two playoffs in one. And according to my machine it isn’t going to be pretty. Oklahoma ended the Texas Tech dream, and they ended it badly – the final was 38-3. Needless to say, Oklahoma dominated, and Sam Bradford ended Graham Harrell’s Heisman dreams.

So there you go – the machine says Michigan State in an upset, and easy covers for Utah and Oklahoma. I’d be happy if it was right in two cases, but I must admit that I am cheering very strongly for Texas Tech.