And last week?s Pigskin Picks winner is (drum roll, please) ?

This is where I?m supposed to announce who amongst the student body picked the most winners from last week?s column.

But oh, the apathy is puzzling.

Not a single person sent in their picks for last week.
Nada.
Zero.
Zip.

Perhaps it?s because you guys didn?t understand how this works. Or perhaps everyone was still a bit dizzy from the first week of classes. Either way, no one played, meaning we have no champion for the week. But nevertheless, we?ll press on, and I will explain this process one more time.

Look at the games we?ve selected. Make your picks. E-mail them to us, or drop them by The Oracle office (located in the basement of the Student Services building). The winner gets a prize. The winner also gets to appear in this column the following week. The winner earns bragging rights amongst his/her friends. It?s that simple.

We here at The Oracle keep our own running tab, and as predicted, I?m currently in first place. Our guest this week will be staff writer Anthony Gagliano, who has delusions of grandeur in thinking he can unseat his boss as champ.

Laughable, man ? now on to the picks.

The first game is USF vs. Pittsburgh. On paper, this looks like a no-brainer. Pitt is a 211/2-point favorite against the Bulls, but then again, so was Northern Illinois last week. Pitt?s All-World receiver Antonio Bryant is likely to miss the game after spraining his ankle last week against East Tennessee State, but even his absence will not be enough to save the Bulls. Pitt is a Top-30 team and USF is just not ready for that yet. Pitt will win, 41-10.

The next game is Miami at home against Rutgers. I am a rabid Canes fan, so expect to see a UM game in this column each week, even against a patsy like Rutgers. Although I, like the Scarlet Knights, hail from Dirty Jersey, Rutgers has absolutely no chance. The spread is 44, but bet the house on the Canes, regardless.

For my upset of the week, I?m picking Fresno State against Wisconsin at home. Fresno State, you ask? If you haven?t seen them play, do so. The Bulldogs have already beaten Colorado and Oregon State and will come out of Badger country with a ?W.?

I like Central Florida?s chances against Syracuse, but I think the crowd at the Carrier Dome will be the difference. Nebraska, only a two-touchdown favorite against Notre Dame, will blow the Fighting Irish off the field. I?ll take the Huskers in a rout. Oregon vs. Utah is our final game of the week and I like the Ducks to manhandle the Utes after last week?s scare against Wisconsin.

So there you have it. We will be alternating columnists from now on in Pigskin Picks, so I bid you farewell for a few weeks. What I need from you, the student body, is to send in some picks. By now, everyone should be familiar with the whole e-mail process, so take five minutes out of your hectic day and send us your selections. Pick the score of the USF game and the closest to the final tally will serve as the tiebreaker. Just think, if you had sent in a set of picks and got every one wrong last week, you would have been the lone participant and declared the winner. And think of the glory: a T-shirt and your picture in The Oracle, to boot.

Does life get any better than that?