By Dallas Jones

IOWA CITY, IOWA – The Iowa Hawkeyes may have the week off, but the bad knee is here and ready to attack week twelve. Similarly to how Kansas attacked the Iowa State defense in Arrowhead Saturday. After back to back positive weeks, a slight decline was not completely unexpected.

I have underestimated the UCLA Bruins for too long, but that stops today. Once again, thank you to BetRivers Sportsbooks for the lines and our partners over at Wildrose Casino & Hotel.

It’s been a fun journey with the bad knee and as the college football season approaches its end, we will continue to focus on the most important thing, having fun!

UCLA (+4.5) @ Washington: I said I would stop disrespecting UCLA and it’s time to put my money where my mouth is. After their 1-5 start, UCLA has now won three straight games to keep their bowl eligibility alive. Washington on the other hand, has lost three of their last four games including a 35-6 loss at Penn State last week (thank you Nittany Lions for covering 13.5 for us).

Washington is 5-1 at home this season with wins over Michigan and USC, so instead of taking UCLA straight up, we will take the points as this game should be tightly contested. For those brave ones bettors out there, UCLA is +155 on the moneyline.

#22 LSU (-4) @ Florida: To keep it simple, LSU needs a a big win this week for morale. They have been outscored 80-33 the last two weeks in possibly their two biggest games of the season. The 4-5 Florida Gators are exactly the type of matchup LSU could use right now.

The biggest mismatch on Saturday will be the LSU offense against the lackluster Florida defense. LSU brings in the 9th ranked passing offense (322.3 yards per game). The Gator defense ranked 188th in passing defense, allowing 234.2 yards per game.

I could very well see LSU winning this game by more than two possessions, it’s time to get back on track. Geaux Tigers.

Nebraska @ USC (U51): Speaking of teams that really need a win, the Nebraska Cornhuskers travel west this week to face USC! Nebraska has completely fallen on their face after their 5-1 start and have not eclipsed 20 points since September. Freshman Dylan Raiola has just one passing touchdown and six interceptions in the last four games, which is not ideal to say the least.

USC on the other hand will be starting Jayden Maiava for the first time in his career at USC. The sophomore has only thrown eleven passes in a USC jersey, but started 14 games last year at UNLV. He threw for 3,085 yards with 17 touchdowns and ten interceptions.

The young QBs will have a tall task to reach 52, I expect this to be a low scoring affair, with a possible upset looming as Nebraska is +7.5 on BetRivers and +220 on the moneyline.

Cincinnati @ Iowa State (O52.5): The city of Ames has taken two tough blows the last two weeks after losses to both Texas Tech and Kansas. While the College Football playoff hopes might be a little far fetched, the opportunity to play in the Big 12 championship is still very much in front of them. Cincinnati on the other hand is 5-4 with just three more opportunities to clinch a bowl appearance.

Both of these teams average over 28 points and over 440 yards in total offense per game. The receipt for victory in both of these programs is putting a lot of points on the board.

Good luck to everyone and as always, I just hope everyone has fun/

Season Record: 15-18-2 (2-3 last week)