College football picks: Michigan State outlasts Purdue, Tennessee wins and USC falls

Each week, Los Angeles Times' national college sports reporter J. Brady McCollough will pick the week's eight best games — that have a combination of big-brand intrigue and a spread within a touchdown — plus the USC and UCLA games. Through nine weeks, McCollough is 46-44.

No. 3 Michigan State at Purdue

This has emotional letdown game written all over it for the Spartans, who came back from a 16-point deficit to knock off rival Michigan last Saturday and fully inserted themselves into the playoff race. They might know that Purdue under Jeff Brohm