College Football Week 8

Usually I'll post the rankings earlier in the week and then my picks on Thursdays. NFL picks are Fridays, random posts whenever.
For my ranking system I believe in records. I hate seeing a 4-2 team ranked ahead of a 6-0 team no matter what team we are talking about. Also, pre-season polls irritate me, they cause unfair expectations (see Clemson). So I won't start until week 7.
I begin with the 30 teams ranked in the AP and USA Today polls, I rank based on record and settle ties by averaging the AP rank, the USA Today rank and the Strength of Schedule rank. Here are the week 7 rankings:

1. Penn State (7-0)
2. Utah (7-0)
3. Ball State (7-0)
4. Texas (6-0)
5. Alabama (6-0)
6. Texas Tech (6-0)
7. Oklahoma State (6-0)
8. Brigham Young (6-0)
9. Tulsa (6-0)
10. Boise State (5-0)
11. Ohio State (6-1)
12. Michigan State (6-1)
13. Texas Christian (6-1)
14. Minnesota (6-1)
15. Oklahoma (5-1)
16. Georgia (5-1)
17. Florida (5-1)
18. Missouri (5-1)
19. Kansas (5-1)
20. Virginia Tech (5-1)
21. Vanderbilt (5-1)
22. North Carolina (5-1)
23. South Florida (5-1)
24. Georgia Tech (5-1)
25. Southern California (4-1)
26. Louisiana State (4-1)
27. Wake Forest (4-1)
28. Pittsburgh (4-1)
29. California (4-1)
30. Florida State (4-1)
Honorable Mention (good record but outside the major polls' top 30): Western Michigan (6-1), Connecticut (5-1), Cincinnati (5-1), Northwestern (5-1), Boston College (4-1)

Game Picks:
- #13 TCU over #8 BYU... simple rules of football apply: home-field advantage, defense wins championships, and anything that can go wrong, will.
- #16 Georgia over #21 Vanderbilt... the inevitable decline of the Vanderbilt football season started last week.
- #12 Michigan State over #11 Ohio State... Javon Ringer makes a Heisman push.
- #15 Oklahoma over #19 Kansas... I'd hate to be Todd Reesing right now, having to face a pissed off OU team... plus I'd be like 4 inches shorter.
- #4 Texas over #18 Missouri... I'm torn between two logical forces here: (my favorite team - being on the road - last week's terrible performance) and (let-down game + weak pass defense + Texas' inability to be consistent since Vince Young left). I'll go with Texas.

Feel free to comment, just remember my requirements. Ranking shouldn't mean much until you settle it on the field.