Bob's Picks - How is conference realignment working out for the Big Boys from Los Angeles?

Dozens of teams have playoff aspirations, but only a single dozen will be taken

With the exception of Mighty Oregon, the football gods have not been kind to the vast majority of schools who left the 108-year old Pac-12 for supposedly greener end zones on the far ends of the earth.

Pigskin karma?

USC stole Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma for one reason and one reason only - to win national championships.

Makes you wonder how the Trojans' 1-3 record in Big Ten play makes those super boosters who engineered this move feel. Does the university president have egg on her face?

USC's crosstown partner in this dastardly deed, UCLA, is now 0-4 in the Big Ten, but does own a sizzling 16-13 win over Hawaii to keep the boosters happy.

Washington, which played in the national championship game last season, has Big Ten losses to Rutgers and Iowa, plus a loss to abandoned cross-state rival Wazzu.

After swapping one ocean for another, Cal now owns an 0-3 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while one-time Pac-12 power Stanford is 2-4 after consecutive losses of 31-7 to Virginia Tech, 40-14 to Clemson and - are you sitting down? - 49-7 to Notre Dame.

Meanwhile, new Pac-12 member-to-be Boise State is on track to reach the College Football Playoff, something that is likely to elude all those defectors mentioned above.

But hey, those disgruntled renegades who were too good for the Pac-12 did pick up a few million extra TV dollars by jumping ship, so I guess that's a heck of a lot more important than keeping the players and the fans happy.

And who can argue with those great new rivalries like Cal-North Carolina State or Stanford-Wake Forest or Washington-Rutgers or USC-Maryland or UCLA-Indiana?

Those are the sort of games that die-hard fans have been demanding for years so they can take a nap come game time.

It's time to hire a team of sheepdogs to herd all these wandering schools back into their proper geographic conferences as God intended.

This week's picks are as follows:

(All of last week’s picks are available here)

CAL over NORTH CAROLINA STATE ... The Golden Bears have been heartbreakingly close, but failed to produce in crunch time.

SMU over STANFORD ... You can get a ticket to this one for 11 bucks. And that includes a bucket of popcorn.

TEXAS over GEORGIA ... Can the Longhorns pass yet another big test?

USC over MARYLAND ... If the Trojans don't win this one over the Turtles, Lincoln Riley will not be on the return flight home.

NOTRE DAME over GEORGIA TECH ... The Irish find that the meat of the schedule is actually Spam.

ARMY over EAST CAROLINA ... Break up the Cadets.

NAVY over CHARLOTTE ... Just imagine, if the Midshipmen and Army both finish undefeated, they could play for the national championship on the flight deck of the USS Midway in San Diego Harbor.

UNLV over OREGON STATE ... How did the Rebels get so good so fast?

WASHINGTON STATE over HAWAII ... The Cougs still think they have a shot at the College Football Playoff. We shall see.

VANDERBILT over BALL STATE ... Sportswriters across the country are scrambling to learn the correct spelling of Commodores.

UPSET OF THE WEEK: UCLA over Rutgers ... The Bruins finally find an opponent their own size. (Upset record: 3-4).

ROUT OF THE WEEK: Oregon over Purdue ... This one will be called in the middle of the Star Spangled Banner. (Rout record: 7-0).

DON'T BET ON IT, BUT: Alabama over Tennessee ... The Tide desperately needs to roll. (Don't bet record: 4-3).

FIVE EASY PICKS: This week’s money-back guaranteed winners are Texas A&M (over Mississippi State), Clemson (over Virginia), Wisconsin (over Northwestern), Bowling Green (over Kent State) and Tulane (over Rice). (FEP record: 34-1).

AGGIES over EASTERN WASHINGTON ... The Eagles are 11-0 against UCD, but that streak will come to an end on the red turf in Cheney. Take the Ags by 10.

OTHER GAMES: Miami (Fla.) over Louisville, Indiana over Nebraska, Missouri over Auburn, Oklahoma over South Carolina, Michigan over Illinois, Texas State over Old Dominion, South Florida over UAB, Arizona over Colorado, James Madison over Georgia Southern, LSU over Arkansas, Iowa State over UCF, Kansas State over West Virginia, Iowa over Michigan State, Memphis over North Texas, South Dakota over Youngstown State, Montana State over Portland State, and South Dakota State over North Dakota State.

Last week: 26-8, season: 281-46, percentage: .859.

Reach me at bobdunning@thewaryone.com