The Only Bowl I Really Care About

Sitting in my San Antonio hotel room after a couple of days in New Orleans, I realized that it has been quite a few days and several bowl games since I posted. Sorry folks but today is the Bowl Game that I bleed for, the team that I will fly anywhere in the country to see, just because it is Northwestern where I went to undergrad for 4 marginal years of football in the early 90's. So on that note, I am hopeful that the Cats will be able to keep up or slow down and explosive Missouri Tigers in the Valero Alamo Bowl tonight. If not it will have been fun to see friends and there is always next season.

Hopeful prediction: Northwestern 34 - Missouri 31.

On the Rebound: Bowl Season.

Okay, after sputtering with a case of burnout to finish the college regular season, I am going to back with a vengence covering the bowls. In addition, I am excited to announce that I will be attending the Alamo Bowl in person as well.

So lets get down to it since we have 5 bowl games this weekend.

My favorite game of the weekend is:

Wake Forest -2.5 over Navy. Rematch. Wake was embarassed to lose this early season game to Navy and it seems to be that in college same season rematches most often are won by the loser of round one.

I also like. Memphis +12. Underdogs of 7 to 13.5 points are 52-24 ats since 2000.

Colorado St. +3.

BYU+3.

Sothern Miss +4.5.

Also over 61 in BYU/Arizona.

Good luck and have a nice weekend.

Tonight

Sorry about taking last saturday off but you did not miss much.

Take Rutgers -10 tonight and over 52. Rutgers is hot and have never lost to Louisville at home. Not much defense going on tonight either.

Tomorrow night take Ball St -14. Pride in going undefeated will lead Ball St. to dominate early as Buffalo is already guaranteed its first real bowl game.

Fridays plays

My favorites are west virginia -3 and central michigan -10. Also like the over in temple/akron, utep +6 and ole miss -18.

Good luck.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Week 13 - The rest of my picks

The games I really like this saturday and sunday are:

Vanderbilt -3. Favored against their instate rival for the first time since ??. Lame duck Fulmer will go out with a wimper as Vandy works to improve a Cinderella season.

Rice -9. Rice is rested coming off a bye and has too much offense to blow it this week against the Thundering Turds of Marshall.

Boise -6. Boise St plays before the Big Mountain West showdown so they will need to keep winning to keep their BCS hopes alive. A loss and it looks like they will be spending Bowl season at the Boise Bowl.

Connecticut +3. U Conn has a great running game and healthier situation at QB. Both HC's are subject to be getting new jobs next season, but Edsall of UConn is still on his way up while by the recent on field performance it looks like USF peaked last year.

Other games.

Rutgers -19.

NC State +10.5. Also upset alert!!

Arkansas -1.

Notre Dame -20.

Texas Tech +7. I think they will win straight up also.

Akron -2.

BYU +7.5.

Minnesota +6. I just hope they will win.

UNLV -10.

Mississippi +4.

Week 13 - The Last Real Week

Well after this week Big Ten Play is over for the season, at least one week before most teams in the country. I am not sure I agree with this tradition but it is what it is so I guess we have no choice. At least Northwestern is bowl eligible and pretty much guaranteed a bowl with 8 wins already. It is much better then sitting up til 2:30 in the AM to see NU lose to Hawaii in the last week of the season and lose their shot at a bowl, several years ago.

Tonight, take Georgia Tech -3 (buy the half). I think Miami might be too young to deal with this Tech triple option.

Also in the NFL take the Bengals +11. Pittsburgh is coming off a really tough win and looks a little banged up. They will not risk key players for their stretch run and the playoffs so I think Cincy keeps it somewhat close.

Week 12

Last night was another good start. I am very happy for the Jets too. Seeing New England be so good year after year gets so old.

The games I really like:

U Conn -10. Syracuse still sucks and U Conn has had their bye week to stew after their beat down the other week.

Vanderbilt +4. Maybe this year Vandy actually gets to a bowl game after a 5-0 start, this will be the game to get them over the hump.

Georgia -9. Aurburn sucks.

Boise St./ Idaho over 58. Boise State should put up close to 50 on their own and probably allow at least 10 points late to the home side in the Kibbie Dome.

Other pics.

Wake Forest -3.

Western Michigan -15.5

La Tech -14.

Oregon St. -3

South Carolina +22.

Nevada -14.

Marshall -7.

USC -24.

Rutgers +8.

Ohio St. -9.

U L Monroe +22.5.

Notre Dame/Navy over 52.

Texas/Kansas over 67.

Good Luck!! Go Cats!!

Week 12

Well the week did not end so bad last weekend with all those games. Although I also had several totals that I played and failed to post on the site.

Tonight I like Va Tech +5 and the Jets +3.5.

Miami has very little homefield advantage now that they are out of the Orange Bowl and Va Tech seems to have the solid ground game they have been looking for.

The Jets should be much better when they played a much healthier New England and Farve will put together a nice game tonight.

I know I have not posted an NFL pick yet, but since it coincides with college tonight I will. I also like Buffalo but can't pull the trigger.

Week 11: I must be on crack.

Well I got off to a good start last night and actually won both games on Wednesday night so I should be smart but for some reason I have a zillion games on the card for the weekend.

Rutgers -14.

Wisconsin -9.5.

Georgia Tech +4.

Western Michigan +7.5. (Possible upset here).

Virginia +3.5. (They have only won this season as a dog. Wierd huh.)

Duke -4.

Texas Tech -3. Luck to get another big home game. No chance for a let down here after last weeks battle.

Florida -23.

South Caroilina -13.

Georgia -12.

Bowling Green -3.

Boise St -35.

Oklahoma -27.

Kansas +1.5.

Alabama -3.

Arizona St. -14.

Arizona -41.

West Virginia -6.

SJSU -7.

New Mexico -5.

U La-Laffayette -10.

Nu/Ohio St. under 41.5.

Sorry for so much action.

I think my favorites are Texas Tech and Kansas.

Week 11

Ouch week 10 kind of hurt. It was not fun to give up all the winnings from the world series in one weekend. Oh well, we live to fight another day.

Tonight.

Take the home teams, Virginia Tech -3 and Utah +1. Both should be close games but Tech comes home after two tough road losses and Utah is not getting any respect here as the number 8 team in the land playing at home.

Friday.

Nevada (PK) coming off a bye against a Frenso team that keeps play to the level of their opponent.

Good Luck, more tomorrow.

Week 10

Well last was pretty profitable in the football picks and then with the phillies winning the world series. I can't believe that I got 6.5 to 1 on them to win the series at the beginning of the playoffs.

Big Games.

Iowa +3. Iowa is on a roll with one of the best ground games in the country.

Tulsa -7. Tulsa looks to stay undefeated against their first and only BCS opponent. They will have to win big to stay in the race for big bowl game.

Notre Dame -4. I hate calling for them to win, but ND seems to be on a roll and playing their best football in two years.

Other games.

Kent St. +7.
Army +7.5.
Louisville -13
Virginia -2.
Duke +8.
Oklahoma St. -30.
Texas A&M +3.
Hawaii -6.
South Carolina -6.
USC -46.
Kansas St +9.
Boise St -21.
LSU -26.5
Rice -2.
Oregon St. -14.
ECU -4.

Totals.

Duke/Wake Forest under 42.
Northwestern/Minnesota under 46.

Good luck.

Week 9

Sorry for the lack of contact lately but I have been traveling a ton and watch too much of the Phillies. I tried to post yesterday but it would not let me do it.

Big Picks for the weekend.

Minnesota -1. After watching Purdue play last weekend in person against Northwestern I am not impressed.

Penn St -2. Penn State's lines are just too dominant. OSU will need Prior to show off his arm to keep close and I am not sure he is really ready to execute.

Nevada -3. Another team ready to take out some frustration on a weak Hawaii after losses the last few years.

Tulsa -23.5. Unstoppable offense against a team whose offense has been weak all year.

Other plays

SJSU+7.

Army -2.5.

NC State +11.

Northwestern -8.

Illinois -2.

Pitt -9.

Iowa State -3.

Florida -26.

Vandy -10.

Rice +3.

Alabama -6.

Georgia Tech -13.

LSU -1.

Michigan St. -3.

Virginia Tech +5.

TCU -31.

Texas Tech (PK).

Notre Dame -10.

Arizona +16.

Also OK St./Texas OVER 70.5 and Tulsa/UCF over 71.5.

Good Luck and Go Phillies.

Plays for this weekend

Sorry that it has been some time since I have written but things just get busy. I has been a great week of sports for me, flying out to san fran for the eagles game and then seeing the phillies win the pennant. I am on my way to catch northwestern play purdue. Hopefully they will be bowl eligible after saturday.

Friday. Take boise. I am seeing a nice revenge play after last years loss.

Sat

Georgia tech

Virginia tech

Arkansas

Army

Iowa

Western mich

Mississippi

Virginia

Northwestern

Miss st.

New mexico

Kansas/Oklahoma over 60.5

Missouri/Texas over 68

Good luck to you all.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Week 7

I did have a bit of a recovery over the weekend after have some bad weeknight plays to start things off.

I don't have any time for a write up this second since I am heading to the Phillies playoff this afternoon. As always, good luck out there.

Tonight
Memphis +7.

Saturday

Indiana +5

Northwestern +1

South Carolina -3

Western Michigan +1

Vandy -2

Utah -23.5

Kansas St -3

Michigan -6

Nevada -20

Arizona -7

Texas Tech -20.5

Penn State -6

Florida -6

Tulsa -24

UL Laffayette -21

Week 6

Last night sucked. Oh well at least I got to see the Phillies win in person.

Tonight. I really like BYU -28. I bought the 1/2. Utah State is relatively hapless and BYU is rested.

Picks for Saturday.

Games I really like.

Michigan St -6.5. Iowa is beat up and Michigan St. looks like the real deal with Ringer.

Illinois +2.5. I know I am taking a big chance here with Illinois on the road for a second week in a row but I think Michigan might be a little over confident after a ridiculous win last week.

Texas -12.5. Texas will be out to show how good they are going into the Oklahoma game next weekend.

Florida -24. Bounce back big.

Bowling Green -20. Eastern is 0-4 ats so far.

Nevada -24. Idaho is 0-4 ats and has not been within 10 points of covering yet.

Akron -3. Kent St barely covered at Ball St last week for their first spread win of the year. Akron has played well every time out this season.

Fresno St. - 21. Revenge against a very weak Hawaii.


Other games I also took and over unders too.

Over 69 in Missou/Nebraska and Over 80 in Rice/Tulsa. Two games that will be all about the offense.

Penn St. -13

Minn -7

Maryland -13

UConn +7.5

Mississippi -2.5

Texas Tech -7

Duke +13.5

Vandy +3.5

Missou -10

Alabama -15

Arizona St +9

Air Force -4.5

Oklahoma St -25

Good luck and have good weekend. Go Phillies.

Week 5 Wrap up and Early Week 6

Hurray for the Phillies. I hope they can keep it up today against CC. I have to say that this continuing baseball season will keep me from watching as much football as I have planned.

Last saturday was a great one for the picks. After losing on Thursday and Friday I think I went 14-5 on Saturday.

Take South Florida -14 and Utah -11.5 tonight. Both teams look good. Pitt has lots of problems and Oregon State is very weak on the road.

NCAA Week 5

Damn, USC got spanked. Maybe Penn St. is better then we thought after killing Oregon St. Tune in next week for our second year in a row of "As The Number One Turns".

Tonight I actually like Louisville -3. Buy the half.

Games I love for saturday.

Western Mich -4.5. Temple has to be demoralized and they now have to start a virgin QB. Not the winning formula against an experience Bronco team.

Mississippi +22. Ole Miss just needs to stop the turnovers and they will keep it close. Could even maybe be an upset here.

Northwestern +8. Yeah I am such a homer but NU is a great dog. In addition, they are 4-0 without hitting their stride on offense. I think they might this week.

Bowling Green -3. Wyoming is terrible and Bowling Green has had a week to get regrouped.

Arkansas St. -2. Much better then Memphis.

Oklahoma St -17. Big revenge game here from the ESPN thursday night loss at Troy a couple of years back.

Other Picks.

Duke -7. I can't believe I picking them but it is more that Virginia is bad.

No. Ill. -6.

Purdue +1.5

Alabama +7.

Wisconsin -5.5.

Fresno St. -7

Oklahoma -18.5.

Illinois +15.

SJSU +3.

Toledo -19.5.

Louisiana-Lafayette +21.

Texas -27.

North Texas/Rice over 68.

Good luck.

Week 4 wrap and Early Week 5 plays

Well last week was the first trip to negative territory this season but those things happen.

For tonight I am just going to tease USC and the OVER. So USC +18.5 and Over 46.5.

More tomorrow.

Week 4

Wow can you believe it is week 4 already. Last week was an okay week, I believe going 8-7 with a push. Also no wins on the straight up dogs but I was close on a couple of them.

Penn St -28. I bought the half from 28.5. Temple has tried but not really had the luck of last season so far. Penn State is on a strong roll and this will not be the game that slows them down.

Vanderbilt +7. Both teams are looking better then expected. I look for a close game this week.

BYU -28. Wyoming is terrible and BYU had a strong awakening last weekend.

Auburn +3. Buy the half to 3 if you can. I like Auburn at home here. LSU's inexperience at QB might hurt them in their first big road game of the year.

Souothern Miss -7.5. This team will have an easier time against Marshall.

Houston -6.5. Colorado St. is terrible too.

Rutgers -5. Navy will be a good opportunity to stop the bleeding for the Scarlet Knights.

Utah -10

Tulsa -10

Purdue -10 bought the half.

Akron -10

ECU -7

Florida -7 bought the half

Arizona St +7

San Jose St. +8

Minnesota -6.5

The two straight up dogs of the week are San Jose St +285 and Miami Oh +400.

Good luck you all.

Wednesday night

Sorry for the lack of a weekend recap but I will have tomorrow. In the meantime, I like Kansas St.(-4) tonight.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Week 3: Another Week, Another Hurricaine.

Well Rutgers sure does suck. Glad I took the over last night, sorry for not announcing it to my followers but I will tell you what I do good or bad. I was a little worried at the half, but then the points just started coming from all over for UNC.

Lets add another game to tonight.

Take Baylor -3.5. Washington State is terrible and were probably more disrupted by the moving up of the game a day then the home team.

Saturday

Auburn -10. Huge revenge game after last year upset loss to Miss St. Auburn also looks to finally have a QB that can manage the passing game after a couple of lean years.

UCLA +8. They have covered 11 straight as a dog and this game has turned into a bit of a rivalry playing for the 3rd time in a little over 12 months. Also UCLA OC Chow has coveted the job at BYU and keeps getting passed over.

Georgia -7.

Oregon St -13. Hawaii is going to have a tough year on the mainland and Oregon St is hungry after an 0-2 start.

Fresno St. +2. A huge opportunity for Fresno to step up again the Cheese heads. This should be a low scoring defensive battle.

Penn State -27 (buy the half). Syracuse is terrible and Penn St should run all over them.

Iowa St +14 (buy the half) over Iowa. The Cyclones have had Iowa's number the last few years and this season the cross state rivals might be fielding one of their best team of the last 3 years.

Western Michigan -8. A MAC team against a WAC team. Top of the MAC kills the bottom of the WAC.

Washington +21. After tough loss to BYU, Washington will not fold the tent up yet on the season. I think they will keep to within 10 to 14 points.

Arizona -11. With his job on the line, Stoops has a solid team playing well with AZ so far.

Boise St/Bowling Green over 57.5. Bowling Green allowed a ton of points to Minnesota last week and both teams play more a score first ask questions later style.

San Jose St - 6. The Aztecs go back on the road again after snagging defeat out of the jaws of victory against Notre Dame. They will lose again to a San Jose St. team that plays tough at home.

Arkansas St -2.5. Ark St is not a pushover and Southern Miss is still adjusting to major changes in all their schemes under a new regime.

Middle Tenn St +18. They beat Maryland last week and they might do it again against a limited Kentucky team that might be over confident after their first two games.

I took Iowa St +425, Bowling Green +900, Middle Tennessee +800 and Florida Atlantic +900 as my straight up dogs of the week.

Good luck.

Week 2: Re Cap

Well it was a bit of a crazy weekend for me, having my travel plans down to Durham changed up because of Hurricane Hannah. On a side note, I can't say Amtrak is much better then the airlines since I somehow managed to get on a train that took about 50 % longer then it should have to down to DC. If they had told me there was engine trouble before I got on the train I would have paid the extra $80 to get on the slight faster but more luxurious Accella train that was leaving around the same time.

So after watching the 2nd halves of the much more exciting then expected OSU and Mich games against the MAC, I headed over to Duke for some pre-game fun. (By the way, it is kind of hard to get airbrushed purple I have to say although Wallace-Wade stadium is about as old as the Yale Bowl and Franklin Field it was a nice place to watch a game. Duke was not able to get their second consecutive sell out so the 1500 some NU fans were actually able to generate some noise times over the 20,000 Dukie's. Although I was a very weak win, I also have to admit that this might have been only the 2nd road or bowl game out of about 10 to 15 games I have seen them play away from Dyche Stadium (now Ryan Field). On the flip side with the Hurricane blowing by, the weather was great for watching football and I had no problem flying back to Philly to catch the Eagles stunning destruction of the Rams.

So it looks like we went 9 -7 on the week taking the season to 17-14. Also one of my straight up dogs won for the second week in a row. On those plays, with the Ark St. paying 12.5 to 1 and the MTSU paying 4.25 to 1, we are now up. 13.75 Units on those plays. Of course my unit for those plays are definitely lower then the units for my regular plays. So for now I will keep track of this stat as well.

More pics for this weekend later, but I love Kansas +3.5 at South Florida Friday night. The line is floating between 3.5 and 3 so look around if you have the option. I am leaning towards UNC tomorrow night but not ready to bet it yet. Give me a reason to if you are so inclined.

Thanks and good luck.

Week 2: Early Upset

Hooray for Vanderbilt. Two consecutive straight up wins as an underdog, and you have to love seeing Spurrier lose almost as much as Tommy Bowden last Saturday night. Spurrier is a great coach but still lacks the right players to fully implement his schemes. Bowden is over rated and will continue to lead teams with high expectations to underachievement. Enough proselytizing (is that really how that word is spelled) from me.

Northwestern -6. Revenge, better team, I will be there, etc.

Michigan St -21. Nice showing in a loss to Cal on the road. Home cooking against a weak EMU will result in a big win.

East Carolina +7.5. Ripe to win a second big game against a BCS conf team. We will truly see if WVa is still a contender with Rich Rod not running the show.

Southern Miss +17.5. New HC but the same tough Golden Eagles. Doubtful about an upset but anything is possible.

Nebraska -26.5. Lots of offense expected from the Huskers and this week they are playing a weaker opponent.

Wisconsin -20.5. Should have covered last week, this week they get the job done.

BYU -9. The Mormons are on a mission. (I did not even realize how funny that was until after I said it in my head.) UW keeps getting worse.

Notre Dame -21. Can I really be typing this? Believe, this year gets off to a much better start.

Buffalo +13.5. Look for Wanstadt to resign if they lose straight up. Buffalo will carry their excitement from last weeks win into this short road trip against a reeling Pitt.

Oklahoma St. -15.5.

South Florida -13.5. A tough instate rivalry game but they should be ready to step and lead off strong.

Utah -22. Revenge game from a last season embarrassment and they are the much better team. I am looking forward to Utah/BYU playing for a BCS spot later in the season.

Arizona -23. Arizona's engines fired on all cylinders, while Toledo had the week off. It could be ugly.

FAU -13. UAB might be the worst team in the nation after FIU. Easy win here for the Owls.

MTSU +12. Purely a play against Maryland, who did not look sharp against Delaware last week and who have been a terrible favorite over the years. Major conference teams have not always fared well.

Take the over 56 in the Minnesota/BGSU game. Seems low to me.

I think one of these three dogs could pull a straight up upset. Southern Miss, Buffalo, MTSU.

Good Luck.

Weekend Wrap Up

Looks like I went 8-7 on the posted plays for the week so I am quite satisfied. I also like the small straight up bets I placed on Ark St. 12.5 to 1 odds and FAU 20 to 1. That win are Ark St. left me ahead on all the parlays I lost.

I don't think Michigan is as bad as thought but will struggle in a Big Ten with a ton of teams that could go 7-5 or 8-4. Texas A&M is terrible. Va Tech is going to have a rough time moving the ball unless they get QB Tyron Taylor back on the field. Pitt was a huge huge huge disappointment. Wannstadt should not be coaching college ball.

Early bet for the week, Northwestern -6.5 at Duke. I will be sitting in the stands for this one with revenge on my mind. Hopefully the Wildcats will feel the same way.

First Full Weekend Is Here

Alright, so I am already down one.

Northwestern - 11.5. This should be the first 4 preconf wins for my boys the wildcats.

Mississippi -7. New HC Nutt is going to push hard for a strong win out of the box this weekend with his new team over an inferior Memphis.

Wisconsin -27. Another team looking for a fast start this season.

Oklahoma St. -7. This year there will be no QB controversy, although I will miss the great sound bites from HC Gundy.

Minnesota -8. If they only can play a little defense, it should be an easy win this weekend.

Pitt -13. Seems like they are everyone sweetheart team this season, I just hope they don't screw up and cost me some money. As of now I will believe the Hype.

Florida -34.5. I feel bad for Hawaii because this is not nearly close to the same team they had last season. I see a 50 point win.

Now for some doggies.

Michigan St. +4.5. Cal has peaked and I think seems to be lacking direction the last couple of seasons. Michigan St. should be able to keep focused in their first game before losing their minds as usual later in the season.

FAU +24. FAU is the class of the Sun Belt and will be excited for this trip to Texas. I don't see Texas being up for it. Maybe a 14 point win for them, maybe an outright upset.

Ark St +19. Another good Sun Belt team facing a Texas team. I think this is another shot at a big upset. It will take new HC Mike Sherman a while to get his feet wet with the Aggies.

A couple more I added.

Kansas St -26 and Kansas -35.

I also like East Carolina as a dog against Va. Tech but did not lay any money down yet.

Good luck this weekend.

New Season is Here

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in posting anything previewing the season. Anyway a preview is worth nothing once the season starts, so I have been spending my time reading and researching instead of writing.

I am looking forward to see App State head to LSU this weekend. There will not be an upset but it will again be a test.

For tonight, I like UNDER 41 in the Vandy/Miami-OH game.

Tomorrow, I like Temple -7 at Army. Temple might surprise some teams this season after playing much better then expected last year. This team only has 8 seniors and returns most of their significant contributors from last season. Temple even played defense last season and they should only get better on both sides of ball this year as even some new recruits work they way into the on field rotation.

So far, I have only played Utah +3 at Michigan for sat but there will be many more plays coming up later today or tomorrow. This will be a tough opener for Rich Rod era and the first of many losses this season. I am not sure Michigan will hit 6 wins this season.

Back to Life

Well it has been a while since I have posted. Things got a little crazy over the football season and generally I was still hurting badly for the balance of the season that I did not post. Back to the drawing board, since this was my worst year betting since 1999.

In the meantime, I am not going to let the blog languish I have in past years after the football season.

Tonight I am making an appearance on my first podcast ever. I am looking forward to the experience and I will post a link to downloading it tomorrow.