Week 3: Weekend Action

I hope I am not being sacrilegious thinking about betting on a holy day. Oh well.

There are two interesting things that I forgot to share yesterday in my post. Did you know that Michigan and Notre Dame have never both started off a season 0-2? The more interesting fact is: Michigan is 0-4 since the death of former Head Coach and Athletic Director Bo Schembeckler.

Saturday's Games:

North Carolina -3 over Virginia. I have not confidence in this Virginia team that has a totally inept offense. HC Davis has UNC improving already.

Auburn -13 over Mississippi St. I smell a strong bounce back by Auburn. They have had their heads up their asses the first two games and are lucky to be 1-1. Miss State did beat Auburn last week but they still suck.

Central Michigan/Purdue over 66. Purdue should score in the high 40's and CMU does have a decent offense.

Ohio U. +21 at Va. Tech. Ohio U is 2-0 with some confidence while Va. Tech is starting a new QB. They will win but it will not be decisive.

Cincinnati -7 at Miami-OH. I am going against some conventional wisdom here but Cincinnati is confident and will force turnovers again this week.

Toledo/Kansas over 65. Same argument as above for the Purdue game but just change the names.

Wake Forest -19 over Army. This is a nice get healthy and running again game for Wake. Army is as bad as usual.

Tennessee/Florida over 55. I would not be surprised to see 70 points here without any trouble. Both teams have shown impressive offenses and so-so defenses.

Michigan -7 (bought down from 7.5) over Notre Dame. Experience will get Michigan the win this week even with a young QB.

Ohio St. -3 (bought down from 3.5) at Washington. I think Washington is the trendy upset pick this week and I don't see it. Ohio State had a let down last week and the Buckeyes don't snooze through two games in a row.

UCF +17.5 over Texas. Texas has played uninspired football. UCF is coming off an upset win on the road over NC State and now hosts Texas to open their brand new stadium. I think they will be up for this game while Texas will still be sleep walking.

Indiana -13 over Akron. The Zips are more the like the slugs on offense. Indiana has a speedy offense that I like playing at home this week.

Houston -14 at Tulane. My error with Tulane last week. Houston is eager to get back on the field after giving Oregon a tough battle in their opener two weeks ago.

Louisville/Kentucky under 77. I think Louisville's defense will appear this week in a tough in-state rivalry game against an improving Kentucky.

Texas Tech -28 at Rice. Again another nutty pick last week, Rice sucks too. Last year was a miracle for them that will not be repeated. Texas Tech looks even stronger this season and could be a Big 12 South contender.

Nebraska +10 (bought a half from 9.5) over USC. The Trojans are a mess, but they are a damn talented mess. Players transferring and getting injured has weakened their depth. They are playing a QB, Sam Keller, who has experience against this great Trojan D. It will be close.

Wyoming +12.5 at Boise St. The Coyboys have a tough defense and I think Boise may be a little rattled from last week's loss. There could be an upset on the blue turf.

UNLV +17.5 over Hawaii. Hawaii spent the week on the mainland after a crazy game against La Tech where they barely escaped with an OT win because La Tech went to 2 in the first overtime. UNLV played Wisconsin very tough last week and their young QB is playing very well. Hawaii needs to play much better and I think they will but UNLV is a better team as well.

Arizona State -28 over SDSU. SDSU sucks and Arizona State is playing really tough defense. ASU by 40 in a run away.

Week 3: Actually Week 2 Recap and Picks for Thursday

So we did not have a great week at 9-8-1 (I am not going to track the ties this year since it is irrelevant, especially since most of you got the win on that Rutgers game when the line went back down,) but it was a winning week again in college anyway.

The Pac-10 and Big East conferences helped themselves with strong performances mostly from top to bottom with a few exceptions. Cincinnati and South Florida had big wins over BCS conference teams that were unexpected. Louisville and West Virginia showed a lack of defense but still won their games with strong offenses. Syracuse still sucks but ever conference needs a bottom. Oregon St. was the one disappointment for the Pac-10 but Washington and Oregon had stellar performances. The rest of conference looks pretty decent as well but for Stanford at the bottom. I love hearing east coasters whine that west coast football getting too much press but I think it is the opposite right now.

The Big Ten looks really weak right now. Ohio State and Wisconsin did not look good in wins over the weekend that were much less dominant then expected. Penn State looks good but it all hangs on Morelli's shoulders right now. Michigan St. and Minnesota struggled against the MAC. Northwestern barely beat the WAC. So far the Big Ten looks like they could be carrying up the rear for the major conferences this season.

For you tribe members out there, Happy New Year.

Picks for Thursday:

West Virginia -16.5 over Maryland and Over 65. West Virginia is the ultimate scoring machine and they can't play more then a half of defense. I don't see Maryland's defense keeping up.

Good luck.

Week 2: Saturday's Plays

Well last night there were two surprising results to me. First, Oregon St. has some QB problems and is looking to be overrated right now despite their offensive weapons. Second, has there ever been a game where there 5 offensive touchdowns score within the first 5 minutes of the game. I am, of course, speaking about the Louisville-MTSU offensive spectacle last night. Louisville needs to step up otherwise Kentucky is going to beat them next week. If I were a head coach, I would have locked the defense out of the locker room at halftime and praised the offense inside for a solid start. I will be interested to see if Louisville drops a position or two in the rankings. (By the way, I right that Louisville likes to score in the mid 50's in these kind of games, just I was not expecting the performance from MTSU.)

I read two interesting statistics this morning on philsteele.com.

"Michigan entered the year #5 in the polls and did not even make the top 25 this week. That was the largest fall EVER in the AP poll after one week. The next closest was when Notre Dame entered the year at #8 in 1995 and fell out of the rankings after a loss to Northwestern. . . .Since the start of 2000 Michigan is the 50th team to lose to a 1AA foe and the previous 49 combined to finish just 160-408 that same season with only FOUR of the 49 finishing with a winning record!"

Yes I had to put in the Northwestern plug.

Also note I have a game that I am considering my key play that I bet double on. I may or may not have games like these going forward but I will tell you when I do.

West Virginia -24 at Marshall. Yeah, it is a road game in a rivalry but these two teams are at different levels right now. With HC Rodriguez now signed on long term, I see a 51-14 blowout.

Nebraska/Wake Forest over 49.5. Nebraska armed with a good passing qb and a running game looks dangerous to me and should put up lots of points again for the 2nd straight week. I was also impressed with Wake scoring 28 up at BC last week. The total goes over 60.

Oklahoma -10 (bought down from -10.5) over Miami. This is not 15 or 20 years ago. Miami needs some time to get back to being a team that can compete in a game like this. Maybe Miami can get a QB too since it has been too long since they have had a competent one.

Rice +6.5 at Baylor. If a college football game is played and no one attends nor anyone cares, did it actually get played? OF Course it did, because I bet on it! Rice got knocked off by a 1-AA team last week in a game played in freakish weather. Baylor valiantly tried against TCU but did not score. Just too many points to give a team that played in a bowl last year (although does that real matter anymore since there are so many bowls).

Cal/Colorado St over 61. I am not really comfortable with the spread in this game but I know both teams will be prolific offensively.

Missouri -6 at Mississippi. Missouri as always seemed to keep a game closer then it really needed be but I will stick with them again this week since they are superior team. It should not be this close.

Boston College -14 at NC State. Here is a chance for the BC player to give their old coach the big F.U. NC State lost to UCF last week in a pathetic showing. They will be better in future years but it will take HC O'Brien time to get the team in order.

Boise St. -3 at Washington. No respect for Boise. This is a joke, Washington beats Syracuse easily last week and now the odds makers think this will be a close game. (Who hasn't beaten Syracuse easily the last few years?) Boise wins by 14 or more.

Penn St. -17 over Notre Dame. Big revenge game for PSU after getting stomped in South Bend last season, I see very little mercy in this one. More growing pains for ND but they should score a touchdown this week if Claussen can survive. 41 -7 Penn State.

Tulane +6 over Miss St. I think Tulane has an advantage since they have not played yet instead of just playing terribly like MSU did against LSU. This is an even series over the last four years and I don't see the home team as the dog.

Kent St. +13 at Kentucky. Kent State played well against Iowa State last week and pulled off an upset win. I see they keeping this game close while Kentucky looks ahead to playing interstate rival Louisville next week.

Washington St. -14 over SDSU. After playing well against Wisconsin for the first half, the Cougars will take out their frustrations on the weak Aztecs.

Hawaii -27.5 at La. Tech. (Key Play) (I put double on this one) For once, I think Hawaii will have no trouble covering on the road. La. Tech is terrible getting out gained and barely being whatever crappy team they played last week. (They were so bad I am just too lazy to look it up.)

New Mexico St +7 at New Mexico. New Mexico St. has the better offense and a few days extra rest and they are getting 7 points. NMSt should win straight up again a team that lost to UTEP 10-6. It should be a high scoring game here too.

UL Monroe +27 at Clemson. Clemson has never been a consistent team under little Bowden. I think they will be over confident this week and just cruise to a victory of less then 20 points.

Well that's all for now. I may have a few more up later today or tonight.

Good luck.

Oh yeah and I have one NFL play for the weekend.

Eagles -3 at Green Bay.

Week 2: Thurs-Fri Night Action and some discussion

Week 2:

I am still not sure if I am over last week yet. I think the Big Ten needs a big weekend to work on restoring its weakened reputation. Minnesota can't lose a 2nd straight game to a MAC team, Michigan needs to win at home over Oregon, and the rest of the conference needs to win their games.

Another thought, I did not realize until the middle of last season that the Pac 10 started to play 9 conference games in seasons with 12 games. On the surface for creating a true conference champion I believe this makes sense, but I think it also will increase the "bias" against West Coast teams. If they played only 8 conference games it would be another opportunity for them to get exposure in the East and Midwest. Just a thought.

On to some games:

Thursday Night:

Oregon St. -3.5 at Cincinnati. I think Cincinnati is getting too much respect in this match up. They blew out a 1-AA team last week but yet missed 3 extra points between to kickers and also missed their only field goal attempt. Oregon St is very experienced at kicker with a 4 year starter at the position who is one of the best right now and will not be playing on short week since they played last Thursday also.

Middle Tennessee St./Louisville over 59.5. Louisville likes to score at least in the high 50's without any help from their cream puff opponents.

Friday Night:

Rutgers -17 over Navy. Either Temple is a little better then in the past or Navy is much worse then last season. Anyway, Rutgers has no reason to look past Navy with a patsy on deck.

Saturday's Games will be posted tomorrow and Friday.

Week 1 Recap: What great fun!

First of all, I really do want to send out a heartfelt consolation to the fans of Michigan since they are still all feeling quite Blue. Now I want to say to the Athletic Director and HC Lloyd Carr, "What were you thinking and get your damn heads out of the sand. Did you see how many other Big Ten teams lost to 1-AA opponents last season? I believe it was three! And then you decide to get the best 1-AA team out there, the team that was rated #70 in the Sagarin ratings which includes all the 1-A teams. Maybe you should start paying attention to the outside world, and not just talk about getting younger players some experience in the opening game and escaping without any injuries. (I am not a Michigan fan, but I will share their sentiment.) YOU SUCK!!"

Sorry for that rant but after going through it with Northwestern last season when we lost to the #1 1-AA offense and top 10 ranked team New Hampshire, I just think it is really stupid to even try to play one of these teams that might be good. This is not like one of those games that are scheduled years in advance. There are plenty of Sunbelt, MAC, and WAC teams willing to do a lopsided deal to play. In addition there are about 90 teams in 1-AA, why pick one of the better ones? There is no upside to it. Now for Appalachian State, congrats for going in with a positive attitude and winning.

Well I can't say I was surprised about Notre Dame, depending on how the lines are I will be against them all season. They should be better in the future but this is just going to be a bad year.

I listened to most of the Oklahoma St - Georgia and K St - Auburn games while driving back home from Myrtle Beach and came out with the overall impression that the Big XII is a little behind the SEC. I think Kansas State will be good but they are throwing the ball way too much. I am less confident in Oklahoma St. playing on the tougher side of the Big XII. Georgia earned some respect from me while Auburn is team I need to see play more to see if they just got lucky to win and were having an off day or otherwise.

So on the week we finished 10-7 with an 8-3 on Saturday.

On other notes, gotta love Miss Teen USA for raising the IQ of all Americans who watch and participate. Oh yeah and she announced she is going to attend Appalachian State in the fall. Any other week that would be a welcomed statement but now we understand how they beat Michigan, supposedly App St. is a good college for educating future teachers. (I hope she sticks with Elementary School.) HC Carr can complain about the high academic standards of Michigan and how it hampers his recruiting.

See you tomorrow or Thursday.

Saturday's Games and a Monday Special too

I am posting a bit early this week since I am heading to Myrtle Beach to play golf for the next three days.

By the way, if you are looking for another great site with interesting commentary on sports and some additional selections, check out http://dilsmusings.blogspot.com/. The articles are great and he also runs some interesting pools.

Saturday

Duke +4 over U Conn. I think Duke will get off the schide early this season and former HC Spurrier will keep giving them their one vote in polls. (Just another reason why the coaches polls are so stupid. He gives them a vote each season until they lose.)

Wyoming +3.5 over Virginia. Going to Wyoming is a long trip for a major conference school, unfortunately it will be the beginning of the end for the over hyped Al Groh.

Nebraska -21 (bought the half) over Nevada. With a real QB at helm this season, I am looking for the Huskers to be very dangerous.

Georgia Tech +2 at Notre Dame. The wrong team is favored here. Georgia Tech will be much better then last year and Notre Dame is going to struggle to hit 6-6 on the year. (Just like Florida and few other teams I will try to point out, ND is way overrated right now.)


Missouri -4 over Illinois. The Illini are getting better but this game means more to Missou team that is expected to do big things this season.

UCLA -17 at Stanford. Stanford has a new head coach, now they just need new players. So far UCLA is healthy and unlike last season they will hopefully stay that way.

TCU -20.5 over Baylor. Unfortunately Baylor missed the boat last season and their chance at respectability has sailed. TCU is one of the top teams in the nation.

(The analysis may get a little short since my laptop is running out of juice, sorry.)

Oklahoma St. +6.5 at Georgia. I just don't think Georgia is as good as the hype either.

Central Michigan +7.5 at Kansas. CMU is the class of the MAC and might catch Kansas off guard.

Purdue -6.5 at Toledo. Purdue has a strong offense and their defense has to be slightly improved enough to an inconsistent Toledo a few times in the Glass Bowl.

Oklahoma -40 over North Texas. An Oklahoma high school team might be able to win this game. I think Oklahoma puts up 60.

Monday

SMU +8.5 over Texas Tech. Finally some expectations for the Mustangs, they will be able to keep up with Texas Tech and possibly win.

Good luck this week!

Finally Some Picks - Plays for Thursday and Friday

The NCAA really has it right with a 5 days of college football on the schedule from Thursday through Monday.

Thursday

Ball St. -6 over Miami-Oh. Another year and another dead ex-Miami head coach. Okay that was not really nice but Ball State has the team this season to keep Miami from having a strong opening performance. Ball State should win by 14 against a weak Miami team.

UNLV -6.5 at Utah St. UNLV has been awful the last two seasons but we beset with a bevy of injuries that they will hopefully avoid this season. They should get off to good start with this game.

LSU -17 (buy down from -17.5 to make it -120) at Miss St. LSU is just a great team and even the scrubs who will play in the second half will increase the lead.

Friday

Navy -21 over Temple. Navy will just run over Temple playing in front of more of their own fans then the Owls own faithful up in the cavernous Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Syracuse/Washington Under 46. How the mighty have fallen, this would have been an interesting game in the 80's and early 90's but now they the worst teams in two major conferences. Both teams had bad offenses last season and are breaking in new Qbs. It will take a few weeks to see if either offense is any better this season.

More to come!!!!

Moss Report's Best and Worst

I am going to a monthly update of who I think are the best and worst teams in NCAA Football. I will mention the number of teams I feel worth mentioning.


The Worst.

I always enjoy checking out the Sagarin ratings once in a while since they rate all the Division 1 teams in one table. There are 242 1-A and 1-AA teams out there. The highest ranked 1-AA team at this point is Appalachian St at 80 and 7 1-AA teams in the top 100. Amazingly enough there are 4 teams in 1-A ranked below 150: Temple (151), Utah State (152), Buffalo (166), and Florida International FIU (174). Only one of these teams will win a game this year and that will actually happen early with an exciting Buffalo - Temple face off in Philadelphia on September 8th. Actually last season when these two teams battled in Buffalo, it was the first game that Buffalo was ever a favorite in. Buffalo won the game but it was actually a push against the spread. Utah State and FIU also have conference rivals who are close to as inept as they are Idaho at 146 and Florida Atlantic at 149, so in the end 3 of these 6 teams will end up with a win on the season but I would be very surprised to see any of the 6 beat any other team.

The Best

Lets just run down the teams the should win their conferences. USC, Texas, LSU, Michigan, BC, West Virginia, and TCU. Yes I am including TCU because if they beat Texas on September 8th they will be the BCS picture. Other teams with BCS potential, UCLA, Cal, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, Auburn, Florida, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Louisville, and possibly Hawaii or Boise State. This is just a quick run and we will revisit this after the first several weeks of the season.

Big Ten Network: Good or Bad

As an alumnus of a Big Ten University, I am thoroughly upset with the Big Ten Conference and its decision to align themselves with their own television network. The Big Ten was featured on the ESPN family of networks including ABC as well and was nations most nationally exposed collegiate athletic conference for football. Between ABC and the ESPNs, there were at least 4 to 5 conference games on national TV each week, and the remaining game or two was available on regional coverage through ESPN Gameplan or on a local station. Now, with the Big Ten Network, fewer Big Ten Football games will be available nationally to the fans that want to watch. In addition, the Big Ten Network is having difficulty getting cable operators to sign on for it. I understand that the schools in the conference may have been upset with ESPN relegating a few games last year that would have been part of regional coverage to ESPN 360 with a web only broadcast but this is not the solution. The Big Ten Network is being offered in Cable Companies in the immediate region at $1.10 per subscriber to be on a optional sports tier of programing and it is being offered to the rest of the country at $.10 per subscriber. The NFL has not even gotten full national distribution of its signature network but all games the NFL Network are required to be made available for broadcast on free television channels in the local markets. There is no such requirement for the Big Ten and not the national appeal of the NFL. It will be interesting to see if the Big Ten network can expand overtime to get more national distribution or struggle and weaken this once most powerful athletic conference.

Moss Report ACC Preview

Hey Everyone, I am back again but this year for the whole season. So lets get started with some conference previews.

ACC

Well the ACC is one of those annoying two division conferences but it seems that unlike the Big XII they are pretty balanced here.

Atlantic Division

1. Boston College - Interestingly enough after a 10 Win season long time successful HC O'Brian (actually to conference rival NC State), BC might even be a better team then they were last season. There are a few players that need to have a full recovery from injuries last season and off season surgeries but this team looks like the class of Atlantic Division.

2. Florida State - Some new coaches should have them improved but they need a QB desperately.

3. Wake Forest - The offense should be better, but the defense suffered some big losses to graduation.

4. Clemson - It is very interesting how Tommy Bowden's teams are very much like his father's great speed but never any true breakout offensive stars and a quick defense. The top 4 teams in this division are quite close.

5. Maryland - Totally new special teams and a young QB will leave the Terps looking to the future this season.

6. N. C. State - O'Brien inherits a huge mess. Give him a few years.

Coastal

1. Georgia Tech - Thank god Reggie Ball is gone. He did have the best receiver in the country last season and still could not complete 50% of his passes. This team needs to set the tone early in the season with a solid beating of the Irish up in South Bend.

2. Virginia Tech - Another year and another solid yet uninspiring team in Hokieland.

3. Miami - New Head Coach Shannon will try to restore the swagger in Miami but it will take a while for his tough love to work. I expect several players to get thrown off the team during the season while he works through the undisciplined Coker leftovers.

4. North Carolina - I think Butch Davis will make a difference in Carolina and I also think Mike Paulus will see significant time playing QB. Miami should watch out.

5. Virginia - Time to stop touting HC Al Groh, his teams have not done anything special and I am looking for another weak performance. Sorry Cav fans, but hit the bricks Al.

6. Duke - Duke might be able to win their home opener this season and it would give them their first win against a 1-A program in over 2 full seasons. HC Ted Roof is under no pressure to win at Duke and I have to say that is quite fair since I am not sure he ever will but his team played several close games in conference last year and they might break through and win one this season.

BC finally makes the BCS after beating Georgia Tech in the Conference Title game.

NFL Playoff Picks

College recap next week. I am still trying to digest the Ohio State loss.

Saturday

Baltimore -4 over Indy. This should be an interesting game but I think Baltimore will be ready and motivated to send the old Colts away from Baltimore again in disgrace.

Eagles +6 over Saints. I was planning on being at this game but actally teams I root for don't seem to play well when they see me on the road cheering for them. In the NFL playoff experience seems to carry ton of weight and if Sean Payton were not the HC of the Saints I would say take the Eagles straight up. This will be a close high scoring game between two explosive offenses and I have no idea who will come up the winner.

Also Saints/Eagles over 48.5

Sunday

San Diego -4.5 over New England. It will be close game but San Diego will win down the stretch by 10.

New Year

Well I am still recovering from some of the beatdowns I received prior to New Years so I have been a little quite.

Here are my weekend and BCS Championship game pics.

Other bowl games. Shouldn't these crappy games be before Christmas?

BCS Game.

Ohio St -7 over Florida. Tressell is a great coach with great talent on his team. He has always been inovative in trying to get the best people on the field at anyone time. Florida does not have the offense to keep up.

Over 46. I think Ohio State will have a huge game offensively putting up over 31 so 17 for Florida would be put us over.

NFL

KC +7. Indy can't stop the run and the game will be close.

Seattle -3. Dallas is in total dissaray. TO will be a distraction and the division was so bad that they never needed to win down the stretch.

Philly -7. Who is going to play for the Giants this week and any Eli Manning is a big pussy.

Peace out!

Lots of plays covering the entire weekend of action

Well 12-12 on the NFL for the season I believe and now 9-8 in the college post season.

Friday

Already spoke about Houston in my last posting.

Clemson -9. They are just too much for Kentucky.

Oregon St. -3.5.

Purdue -1.

Minnesota/Texas Tech over 65 and for some reason I like Minnesota +8.

Saturday.

Navy +6. BC has a great bowl record but their head coach has left for greener pastures down South and I think this will cause problems.

Texas -9.

Virginia Tech -2.5. Okay offense and strong defense beats inconsistent offense and okay defense.

Virginia Tech/Georgia Under 37.5. Supposedly the low totals in bowl game always go under.

Sunday.

Nevada +3.5. I really don't buy into to this game being a tryout for the players with new HC Shannon. I just think it is long trip to a crappy bowl where the Boise State fans will all be rooting for Nevada.

Monday

Tennessee -4 over Penn St. I think Penn State blows.

Wisconsin +2.5 over Arkansas. Wisconsin has been overlooked all season. They will take that out on an overrated Arkansas.

Georgia Tech +11 over West Virginia. Better off without Reggie Ball.

Michigan +1 over USC. Michigan seems to have all the stars lined up to make another run next season and look for the road to redemption to start with romp over USC.

Michigan/USC over 46.5.

NFL

Houston -4 over Cleveland.

Pittsburgh +6 at Cincinnati. Cowher chance to go out a winner and give Cincinnati a bit FU.

Tennessee -3 over New England. New England has nothing to play for Tennessee can still get in with a win and a miracle.

I also recomend looking at the Eagles at around 4 PM and see if they need to win the game or not and if Atlanta still has a chance of making the playoffs. If the Eagles need the game to win the Division and Atlanta is out of it, look out. The Eagles will win big.

Picks for Wednesday and Thursday

Down to 6-5 for the college post season after last night.

Wednesday night.

UCLA -3 over Florida St. This is a case of going with the hot team instead of the not team. I don't see FSU being psyched for this game.

Thursday

Oklahoma St -2 over Alabama. Also Under 51. The Tide will slow down the sometimes potent Cowboy offense but even under an interim coach they will fail to generate significant offense.

Rutgers -7 (buy it down if you can) over Kansas St. Over 44. Rutgers moved into a different league this season and will be happy to win any bowl since they have never won one.

Texas A&M +4 over Cal. Cal has been a hard read all season but I don't think they will show up after a very dissapointing season. Texas A&M has lost 3 games by only a total of 6 points. They will be fired up to bring home a big win probably straight up.

Early Call for Friday.

Houston +6 over South Carolina. A real offense comes to face Spurrier and South Carolina will not be able to keep up.

Post Christmas

Well I had an okay weekend raising the college post-season total to 6-4 and splitting on the NFL because of a stupid Redskins team. Sorry had to whine about that terrible game.

Tonight

Middle Tenn St +8 over Central Michigan. I think that is too many points to lay in a game the MTSU should keep close or win outright.

More Tomorrow

So far I am 3-1 in the college post season and am loving being about to watch bowls. The NIU/TCU loss on the total was a little frustrating because it was so close but oh well.

Bowls.

Tonight

Rice -4 over Troy. Neither team is so great but Rice finished strong against tougher opponents then Troy. And yeah they both got their asses kicked by FSU.

Three Big Games for Saturday

South Florida - 4.5 over ECU. Two weak offensive teams in action here, but USF finally has a QB and should win easily.

SJSU +3.5 over New Mexico. This is going against logic with New Mexico as the home team in the inaugural New Mexico Bowl but they are a weak team and should lose straight up against a resurgent San Jose St.

Tulsa +1 over Utah.

Sunday

Hawaii -6.5 over ASU and OVER 73. I am still in the Rainbow Warrior coalition and I think they will rally to win this last game in a great season. I also think the ASU offense will get back on track and score into the 30's but I don't see Hawaii under 40 for a second game in row.

NFL

Sunday.

Washington +2 at St. Louis. Two god awful teams here but Washington is playing better especially strong on the ground where St. Louis has been very very weak.

Monday

Philadelphia +7 as I mentioned before. The Eagles may lose but I also think they may win outright. Their defense has been giving up yard and points but also making game changing plays. Westbrook and Garcia have stepped up big the last few weeks and I see another strong game this week.

Thursday Night NFL

I love the Packers tonight -3.5 at home. Bowl Picks through Christmas and the weekend of NFL action tomorrow.

I also love the Eagles +7 at the Cowboys. Will explain more tomorrow.

Early Bowl Picks

We had a nice weekend winning the first game of the college post season and winning both NFL games to get me to 13-10 on the NFL season as well.

Tonight's Game Poinsettia Bowl

TCU -11.5 over Northern Illinois. TCU has gone 22-3 over the past two season and will not lose to a weak NIU team that probably should not even be here if this were not TB Garrett Wolfe's last game.

Over 46.5. TCU's games have been high scoring to close the season and I see a score of 35 -17.

Thursday Night
Las Vegas Bowl

BYU -3 over Oregon. This game will have lots of scoring but Oregon has lost 3 straight. BYU run of covers ended in their last two games but in one game against New Mexico they won by 25 as a 27 point favorite and the other was a rivalry at Utah where they still won straight up. At 3 points, this is one of the bargains of bowl season.

Back with more games on Thursday or Friday.

NFL and finally College Game tonight

Last week was 2 and 2 in the NFL bringing the talley up to 11-10 for the year. So basically I have covered my juice.

You will how much I am Jonesing for college football since I have a pick for tonight.

App St -3 over U Mass. Just a hunch and I am desparate for some action.

NFL

Philadelphia +5.5 at Giants. The Eagles seem to be getting some offense from Garcia. Lets just hope they play a whole game unlike last week when the Eagles backed into victory again.

Denver -3 at Arizona. This is only because I like my friend Dils' rationale about going with the Rookie QB who has the better defense.

Bowls are comming up on Tuesday. YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Recovery and a Break from college

Well I still trying to recover from my worst week of college football prognosticating, but now I have sometime to focus on the NFL where I have gotten back over .500 at 9-8. In college I went 7-9 and did a few stupid plays on my own that I failed to post, so now my record for posted plays in College is 158 -125.

I will have some bowl previews next week and some discussion of the BCS and how it has failed in someways but also suceeded this season.

NFL

Jacksonville +1 over Indy. Indy has not played well on the road and Jacksonville is great at home.

Eagles (Even) at Washington.

Oakland/Cincinnati over 38.5 Not much defense in this game. I think the Bengals will allow some points after opening up a big league and having their shutout streak ended in the last minutes of the game last week.

Seattle -3 at Arizona. Seattle is playing very well right now.

Added Action

UConn/Louisville over 54. Again Louisville should score a ton in this game but stil give up 14 to 20 points.

West Virginia -10 over Rutgers. I think West Virginia will rebound after last weeks debacle.

NFL Sunday

Seattle +4 at Denver. I like Seattle healthy and again a virgin pro QB.

Last College Weekend

I was working on picking my games for tonight and the weekend, and was sad to realize that the season is basically over. Bowl season is fun but it is one or two games a night spread between the 19th of December and January 8th. So here we are with my last full slate of action in the Regular Season. In addition I have to say that the CUSA and MAC Championship games should be abolished since they have no meaning at all. At least the large conference title games determine who goes to the BCS.

Friday

Houston -4.5 over Southern Miss. I booked this game this morning and have since seen the line run to 5.5 so I guess that is good for me. Houston just seems to be the solid team here especially playing home. It is also hard to beat the same team twice in a season and I see Houston atoning for an earlier loss.

Saturday

West Virginia/Rutgers over 49. West Virginia does not play defense.

Navy -20 over Army. Navy has kicked their offense into high gear the last 4 weeks while Army has failed to cover their last 6 games.

Army/Navy over 49. Sloppy weather, lots of scoring.


New Mexico St -11.5 over La Tech. This is a ton of points for NMSt to be favored but they are confident after a killing of Utah St last week.

USC -12.5 at UCLA. I don't think it will be close again.

TCU -17 over Air Force.

San Jose St -4 over Fresno St. Capping off a great season with a big win against a team that killed them in past seasons.

Colorado St. -1 at San Diego St. Two really bad teams but Colorado St. is still far better.

Arkansas +2.5 over Florida. Arkansas has more heart and will win in a "nail biter", and Chris Leak will be firmly established as a "pillow biter" after he is replaced again by Tim Tebow.

Oregon St./Hawaii over 70. Score score score.

Oklahoma -3.5 over Nebraska. Nebraska is not playing at home so therefore that is a problem, Sooners roll.

Ok/Neb over 45. The total will easily hit 50.

Sunday

Tennessee/Indy over 46.5. Just a hunch.

Thursdays Games

Last week was a winner in college going 14-11-1 for the entire week putting the season total to 151-116. We got the NFL squared back up to 7-7 for the year.

Tonight.

Ohio +3 over Central Michigan. Ohio plays solid defense and we will have a close game. They may not win but I don't see them loosing by more then 3.

Cincinnati -3 over Baltimore. Baltimore is a hot team but I think Cincy will come through with the must win on the home turf. The weather may be help to Bengals passing game against a tough defense.

Good Luck

Gobble Gobble

Well Bowling Green sucks. Sorry about that one. Hopefully I can make up for it starting tomorrow with a huge long weekend of games.

Thursday NFL

Yeah actually an NFL play. Surprise.

KC -1 over Denver. Rivalry game and KC should be back healthy this week.

Thursday College

BC -3.5 at Miami. Come on. Miami has nothing left.

Friday College

Ohio U -3 at Miami Ohio.

Texas A&M +13 at Texas. Too many points for Texas to cover.

Western Mich +2 at Akron.

Oregon St -3 at Oregon. Teams going in two different directions.

Air Force -10 @ UNLV. The Rebels are terrible.

I am still debating taking Colorado at Nebraska but will probably lay off.

Saturday.

West Virginia -20.5 over South Florida. Too much on the ground at home for the Mountaineers.

Tennessee/Kentucky over 60. Kentucky does not have a defense and Tennessee can score with Ainge back.

East Carolina +2.5 at NC State. Meaningless for both teams but it makes ECU a better bowl team and NC State has lost 6 straight.

Rutgers -14 over Syracuse. Please Rutgers get it back together.

North Carolina -6.5 at Duke. The Tar Heels have played better as of late while Duke has not improved at all.

Oklahoma -5.5 at OK St. Ok State plays well at home but they will not able to stop the ground attack.

BYU/UTAH over 54.

New Mexico St -6.5 at Utah St and OVER 54. Utah State is up there with Temple at the worst team in college football and New Mexico State will score 50 on them with no problem.

Kansas +7 at Missouri. Missouri got screwed last week and Kansas looked great beating their rival.

San Jose St. -7 at Idaho.

Arizona -3.5 over ASU. Maybe ASU picked the wrong QB this season, I don't know what happened but Arizona has been a great surprise winning three straight at Double Digit dogs.

Cincinnati -3.5 at UConn. The Bearcat defense should stifle the Huskies.

Louisville/Pitt over 58. Another shootout. Palko will put on a good show in his last home game.

Georgia Tech +2 at Georgia. This is Tech's year.

Virginia Tech -17 over Virginia. Beating Miami does not mean much at this point.

Notre Dame/USC over 57.

Purdue +17 at Hawaii. Also OVER 74. Come on now, giving 17 points to a bowl eligible Big Ten team. Both teams will score into the 40s.

Maybe more football on Sunday check back late Friday or sat.

Recap and Tonight

Last weekend worked out well with a 14-10-2 total for the week. Two ties pulled from wins but it beats losing. NCAA 137-105 on the season. NFL has not posted for a bit and is still at 6-7.

Tuesday Night

Bowling Green +6.5 at Toledo. Well Toledo is not good enough to be a favorite by this much here.

Some weekend college fun

I love a nice 3-0 start to kick off the week. West Virginia looked amazing last night. Their game against Rutgers to end the season should be quite a battle. Let's hope Rutgers does not have an setbacks on the way to that game.

Friday Night

Central Michigan -4 at Northern Illinois. There is not much logic to this but in Central Michigan has been solid this season and would love to beat an under achieving NIU team that they have lost to 8 straight times.

Saturday

U Conn +1.5 at Syracuse. Wait is this basketball, well it is played in the same place in Syracuse anyway. Syracuse has just folded the last few weeks of the season while UConn is still alive for bowl bid.

Rutgers -6.5 at Cincinnati. Rutgers had one lapse in a sandwich game (failing to cover) between Pitt and Louisville, but this team is too solid to let it happen again and this line is very light.

Northwestern +2.5 over Illinois. Yes, I am finally playing Northwestern again. Although the scoreboard did not show it, NU played a decent first half against Ohio State and have been significantly more competitive on the field the last 4 weeks. They will win outright and stay out of the conference cellar.

Missouri -13 at Iowa St. McCartney is done and so are the Cyclones this season.

Minnesota -2.5 over Iowa. Gophers need the win to get to the post season.

Navy -31.5 over Temple. Possibly 500 or 600 yards on the ground for Navy this week.

Houston -17.5 at Memphis. Houston is hot and Memphis is not. The Memphis cover last week was against a team in the midst of failing to cover 5 in a row.

Texas Tech -6 over Oklahoma St. The Tech passing attack is on fire and they should be able to light up the soft Cowboy defense.

Rice +2.5 over East Carolina and OVER 55.5. Rice has been having some crazy high scoring games lately and are getting no respect at home as a dog.

Oklahoma -20.5 at Baylor. Shockingly the Sooners have been great since losing their star tailback Peterson, and Baylor has faltered since losing their QB to season ending injury 3 weeks ago.

Michigan +7 at Ohio St. Here it is. The Big Game. I think Michigan might get motivated to play for the memory of Bo Schembeckler who passed away today. I am not sure about who wins but I know it will be close.

Oregon St. -14 at Stanford.

Auburn -3 at Alabama. There seems to be alot of sentiment on Bama's side in this game but I just don't. I will enjoy my bargain line.

BYU -26.5 over New Mexico. BYU can't be stopped right now.

Wyoming -8 at UNLV. The perfect remember for playing badly is a matchup against UNLV.

Idaho +12 at Fresno St. Maybe Temple should be a 12 point dog to Fresno but Idaho has proved to be much better then they are getting credit for. This would be a nice upset to cap off Dennis Ericson's return trip to Idaho as a head coach this season.

Maryland +8 at Boston College. Maryland is getting no respect and BC plays every game close.

Utah Even at Air Force.

Nevada -17 at La Tech. Nevada is not going to slow down before their battle against Boise St.

San Jose St/Hawaii under 74. This might be the best defense Hawaii will face this season. Hawaii may get to 40 points in a win by at least 2 touchdowns.

Middle Tennessee State +15.5 at South Carolina. Three weeks in a row of tough games for the Cocks and now comes in a patsy. Oops MTSU is not a walkover having played great football for the last 6 weeks and might be ready to post their second win against an SEC team in two years.

Thursday's Game

Well I had a nice win last night to kick off what seems like MAC week on ESPN2.

Here is a play on the one non-MAC weeknight game this week

West Virginia -11 at Pitt. Also OVER 52.5. There will not be much brawl this year in this rivalry game, but there should be lots of running by West Virginia. Pitt will put up some points but will lose the game by 20 ish and Pitt will be hard pressed to keep the Mountaineers under 40.

Tuesday night

Well it was not a bad weekend in college football for me or for the BCS since as of right now it is a pretty open race to see who will get the other spot Louisville or Auburn or Texas almost had locked in. I went 12-9-1 to get to 123 -95 for the season and did not post an NFL play. I did decide at the last minute to take the Bears and went to bed Sunday night with a smile.

Tonight

Time for a MAC Attack. You know they should be called MWAC (Mid-Week Athletic Conference) since all their in conference games are during the week this week but everyone sells out for TV now anyway.

Ball St +5 at Toledo. Ball St. played an amazing game against Michigan last week and the road dog seems to always cover these midweek games.

Thursday through Saturday's College Action

By the way not sure why it says Tuesday since this was published around 3:30 on Thursday.

NCAA Record 111-86. So far I seem to be stuck a just hitting 50% for the last three weeks and I am getting frustrated but at lead I am still strongly on the plus side.

By the way, I saw a great stat that Temple is giving up double the yards they gain on offense per game. Quite impressive. At least they won a game this season but I think Villanova would have a better chance competing at a Div 1 level then then Temple. Villanova had the chance several years ago when UConn came up to expand their stadium and become a Big East football member as well.

Tonight.

Well the line for this game has been all over the place today and I was lucky to book it right before lunch at Louisville -5 at Rutgers. I was quite torn in this game but I think Rutgers does not have the passing game to keep up with Louisville in what could be a high scoring affair. Again the Rutgers defense has not really been tested this season, so I am not sure I have faith in their strong statistical pedigree.

BYU -17 over Wyoming. The Mormons have dominated all of their conference foes this season and Wyoming has settled back in mediocrity after a nice mid-season run.

Friday

Central Michigan -5.5 over Western Michigan. CMU just seems to be covering every game this season (discounting a 16 point win but not a cover against Temple last week) and I like them again in this rivalry game among the directional Michigans.

Saturday

Maryland -3.5 over Miami. How the mighty have fallen into the abyss. I was in Miami last weekend and saw tons of Hokie fans walking around South Beach and on Sunday morning in the Miami Herald (by the way, great sports section, a whole section on college football every Sunday) that only 41,000 attended the game. With the additional injuries and a dead starter for Miami this week, Maryland should cruise and Coker should be released and at this point maybe school President Donna Shalayala too.

USF -9.5 over Syracuse. Syracuse has folded against teams with solid defenses and South Florida has been solid at home, especially off an upset of Pitt in Tampa last week.

Wisconsin (Even) at Iowa. Iowa is terrible. Did they really lose to Northwestern? I am a Northwestern fan and am totally in shock. Who plays QB for the Badgers will not matter, it will be an easy win in a low scoring game.

Georgia Tech -13.5 at UNC. I was told by a source that UNC will not name Butch Davis as head coach until after this weekends homecoming game so to not disrespect Jim Bunting. Who cares! It will not help Georgia Tech will swallow them up.

Cincinnati +18.5 at West Virginia. The dream is over and West Virginia might be a little hung over. This is also a sandwich game between two big Thursday night road games, last weeks loss at Louisville and next week at Pitt. Also Cincinnati is on a bit of a roll covering 5 of 6 and playing tough defense.

Florida St -8 over Wake Forest. Well FSU seems to have the QB position set again and I think they will thrive this Saturday being able to focus on the run.

Navy -15 v. Eastern Michigan in Detroit. EMU is not very good and Navy should have the fan advantage with their national fan base.

Texas A&M +1 over Nebraska. I think the Aggies will rebound after last weeks tough 1 point loss to Oklahoma at home.

Texas A&M/Nebraska over 52.5.

Rice/Tulsa over 55.5 Games involving Rice this season have been really high scoring.

LSU -18 over Alabama. LSU has been killing teams at home and Bama is coming off a nightmare loss last week.

Boise St/San Jose St over 58. Boise puts up some big points this week and gives up a couple of TDs too.

Nevada -29.5 over Utah St. Nevada has been on a tear covering their last seven and with two competent QBs to run the offense look for a big cover here.

Baylor/Oklahoma St over 59.

Clemson -17 over NC St. Clemson should have a nice rebound this week. At least they have not lost to bad teams this season like Clemson has in the past. NC State's coach is on his way out the door, it might hit him in the ass.

Oregon St. -2 at UCLA. Oregon St is on a roll and UCLA has fallen apart. Oh wait I mean their coach is on crack since he is not starting Olsen again now that he is healthy.

Oregon +8 at USC. The Trojans are just not that good.

Hawaii -37.5 over La Tech. Hawaii is that good. They should get their fourth 60 point game out of their last 5 contests.

Middle Tennessee St -3.5 at Arkansas St. The Blue Raiders have won and covered 4 straight in conference and is playing a slumping Arkansas St.

Well That's All Folks! (for now at least)

Saturday and Sunday (Let's Call It Road Trip Weekend)

Well Louisville got its win but the first couple minutes was a nightmare if you are a West Virginia fan. They showed character in the end but played no defense in the second half.

Saturday's Games

Boston College -3.5 at Wake Forest. Wake is having a great season but they are not up to BC's level yet.

Pitt -4.5 at USF. Pitt will wake up after the Rutgers loss in sunny Florida.

Indiana +6 at Minnesota. I just think the wrong team is favored or at least by way too much. Indiana was at least able to get a field goal against Ohio St.

Georgia Tech -4 at NC St.

Vandy +17 over Florida. Florida will win but the game will be close as Florida can't hold big leads this season.

Ohio St -23.5 at Illinios. Another week another Big Ten killing.

North Carolina +25 at Notre Dame. I just don't think Notre Dame can beat a team by this many points.

TCU -20 at UNLV. A healthy TCU off a big win against a weak injured sucky Rebel team.

Hawaii -26 at Utah St. Offense offense offense.

Wyoming -14 over SDSU. SDSU just lost to a non-Division 1-A team. That is all I need to say.

Arkansas -2.5 at South Carolina. The Arkansas run game has not been stopped the last 7 weeks.

Tulsa -3.5 at Houston.

East Carolina -5.5 at UCF.

Nevada -10 at Idaho.

BYU -15 at Colorado St. BYU has not been stopped yet.

Oklahoma St +18 at Texas and OVER 62.5. Lots of points and Oklahoma St is off a big win and is throwing the ball with great success.

Virginia Tech -2.5 at Miami. This is a lost season for Miami. They might as well announce that the Head Coach is fired already.

Sunday NCAA

Southern Miss -6.5 at Memphis. Memphis still sucks.

NFL

Atlanta -5 at Detroit. Well no climate issues for the new throwing Vick here. I think he will have another 3 touchdown week.

Chicago -13.5 over Miami. Miami is a total train wreck and their QB has past experience geting beat up by the Bears.

Indianapolis +3 at New England. Well I see Vinaterri kicking a game winner but now he plays for Indy. This is statement time for Indy undefeated and an underdog for 2nd week in a row on the road.

Recap and the next two nights and College Replay

Well it was another basically "Treading Water" week followed by more of the same last night. I am now at 100- 76, nicely on the plus side but falling short of the early season promise with a 30-15 start.

By the way, has anyone noticed that the officials in college seem to be getting worse this season and the officials in the replay boothes have lost their buzzers. Replay is not really helping the game and I don't understand why a guy in his own private booth takes so long to make some of the rulings that are being made. ESPN has most of them figured out minutes before we see action on the field. Also. . . you know the NFL has not been much better either so I will shut up.

Tonight

Boise St -21 over Fresno. This line has been dropping like a lead balloon and I bought the line down to 21 just to be safe. I think you will be okay at 22 or 23 but that was just my move. Boise St. is on national TV and they love the spotlight especially when at home. In addition, Fresno St crushed Boise St last season so there will be a little revenge on the Broncos minds.

Thursday Night

W Virginia +1.5 at Louisville. Too much strength on the ground for the Mountaineers here.

Fridays action and the weekend will be up Thursday night or Friday.

Tuesday night action

I will recap the weekend tomorrow but I want to get this week started off hot tonight.

SMU -5 over UAB. SMU has been solid at home while UAB has fallen short on the road. In addition SMU has improved in each of the past three seasons and is on pace to do it again. Tonight with a win, they will equal last seasons win total with a few games to go.

SMU/UAB over 49. Both teams offenses have started click in recent games and neither defense has been dominant. Look for the winner of this game (SMU) to score in the mid 30's.

Saturday and Sunday's Fun and Games

Alright lets get right down to the action. Don't forget the 4 Saturday games posted in Wednesday's posting.

Wake Forest -8 at UNC. Bunting got canned the season is over, blah blah blah.

Wisconsin -21 over Illinois. Wisconsin has been dominant the last 4 weeks and no reason it should stop this week at home.

Vanderbilt -8.5 at Duke. Duke blew their load for the season in an upset bid over Miami last week and still could not do it against a depleted Miami lineup. Let down week against lowly Vanderbilt who again looks destined to fall one game short of bowl bid.

BYU -8.5 at Air Force. Air Force has given up big points to passing teams and BYU has been a juggernaut this season.

Baylor +5 over Texas A&M. I am sticking with Baylor since this is a key home game where they would be in a position for a bowl. Baylor's passing offense is clicking and the Aggie Pass D is giving up tones of yards over the last few weeks as well. Upset win for the Bear at home but I would take the points.

Purdue +3 over Penn State. Purdue's offensive power will hide their defensive weakness.

Ohio St. -27 over Minnesota. By the way, has anyone noticed how pathetic the Big Ten has been this year against 1-AA teams. Minnesota beat North Dakota St. 10-9. Ugh, do I need to say more. Well I will, it is homecoming at Ohio State so that will even have the scrubs playing well to show off for their friends in a 40 point rout.

USC -10.5 at Oregon St. Will the real So Cal please wake up? Hopefully with a week off and a healthy Jarrett they will be back to their old selves.

Nevada/New Mexico St. over 64. Nevada has become more of a ball control team season but unless their players intentionally fall down they will not slow down the game enough to keep this game under.

Marshall -9.5 at Memphis. This play is all about Memphis sucking and Marshall coming home off a big upset win on the road.

Mississippi St. +1 over Kentucky. I like the Miss St defense to hold firm and scrape out a big win.

I was going to take Kansas and the Fighting Mangino's but they have been playing like the Dripping Manginas in conference so forget it.

Wyoming +6 at TCU. The Cowboys are red-hot and they will corral themselves a bunch of frogs this weekend. I appreciate that TCU finally has a healthy backfield but Wyoming seems like they are finally turning a corner this season where they have not lost by more then one score all year.

East Carolina +6 at Southern Miss.

Idaho +26 at Hawaii. Hawaii is a scoring machine but then the Vandals have shown they too can put up point this especially when playing an unimpressive Rainbow Defense.

Idaho/Hawaii over 71. Hawaii's last 4 Div 1 games have been cleared 71 and it should continue.

Sunday NCAA

Rutgers -19 over Conn. Rutgers has some extra days until a Thursday night showdown against Louisville so there should not be a letdown here. And as I said last week, UConn can't stop the run for the whole game.

Sunday NFL

Two doggies this week.

Jets +2 at Cleveland. Is this a misprint? Cleveland at 1-5 as a favorite here.

Indy +3 at Denver. Denver stumbled against the Rams early in the season and I think you might see a similar game this week. Lots of field goals from Indy and Denver has not shown they can score.

Have a good weekend and let's hope Northwestern does not lose too badly to Michigan.

To be a Cats fan and Early Picks for College

Well I was glad to be in Charleston, SC on a beautiful 80 degree Saturday while Northwestern was playing their Homecoming game against Michigan St. Unable to find the game on in any bars during the breaks in my meetings I was relying on my friend's phone calls and text messages. Eventually the Cats were up 38-3 in the 3rd Quarter and cruising to a surprise victory, but then the inevitable started to occur Michigan St started to score and score quickly. Late in the game after it was tied, NU threw an interception and Michigan St. drove to score a game winning field goal. I have the game on my TIVO and am just in no hurry to experience the pain that my friends who out at the game felt in person. It was also just a warm up for the Eagles game. Another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Why do the Eagles play so badly when they have the ball to end a half? It seems like throughout the Andy Reid coaching tenure the Eagles have failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities going into halftime. This week you could say it cost them the game. Andy Reid does not seem to change so I guess we have to take the good with the bad. Enough rambling, if you want to read about a fan's experience at the Eagles game in Tampa click on Dils' link in my links and check out his story.

By the way, I went 14-13 last weekend and sorry if that was too many games for all of you but I am not going to post top picks, etc. so take it or leave it. If you were paying for the picks like I had done in year past then you could have a legit gripe, but they are free from me so just deal.

For the season I am 88-63 in NCAA action and 4-4 in the NFL.

Thursday

Clemson -4 at Va. Tech. Finally it looks like the Tigers are getting the respect they deserve as a top team in the ACC. Virginia Tech is a tough team at home but Clemson has been winning everywhere since the first week of the season and I think they will win this one by 7 or more.

Friday

Tulsa -14 over UTEP. Tulsa has dominated their last 5 games and now they face the explosive but sloppy UTEP. UTEP unfortunately has failed to impress this season and Tulsa should cruise to another win.

Also take the Under in this game too. Tulsa's defense has dominated all season and I would not rate UTEP's offense up there with BYU.

Early Calls for Saturday

Virginia +1 over NC St. Please Virginia is much improved since their weak start and have been generating some consistant offense. NC St is a terrible team whose coach will not last the season. This might be the last straw.

BYU/Air Force over 54.5. This game should feature lots of scoring with BYU's high powered offense.

Oklahoma St. +5.5 over Nebraska. Classic letdown and trap game for Nebraska after a tough loss and a game against division co-leader Mizzou on tap for next week.

ASU +1 at Washington. Did anyone notice all of the interceptions that this backup QB for the Huskies likes to throw? 5 last week and 4 in his last start in the 2004 season.

More in the next few days.

Sunday's Plays

Sorry about the lack descriptions in my college postings. There were lots of reason why I picked so many games this week. Oh well, let us just see what happens.

I have two NFL plays for tomorrow.

Cincinnati -3 over Carolina. I think Rudi Johnson will come out of his funk and get the Bengals back on track.

Philadelphia -5.5 over Tampa Bay. I look for the Eagles defense to pressure the inexperienced Gradkowski at QB and record at least a half-dozen sacks.

Saturday

Sorry to be brief but traveling. Will edit later.

Rutgers +6.5 at Pitt.

Syracuse +17.5 over Louisville.

Maryland -1.5 over NC State.

Ole Miss +21 at Arkansas.

Notre Dame -13 over UCLA.

Notre Dame/UCLA over 51.

Baylor -3.5 over Kansas.

Texas -4.5 at Nebraska.

Wisconsin -6.5 at Purdue.

Miss st +18 at Georgia.

Tennessee -11 over Alabama.

California -23.5 over Washington.

Wyoming -4 over Colorado St.

San Jose State +13 at Nevada.

Colorado +14 at Oklahoma.

UAB -5.5 over Marshall.

Clemson -7 over Georgia Tech

Boston College +6.5 at FSU.

Hawaii/NMSt over 75.

Tulsa -13.5 at Memphis.

Idaho +21 over Boise St.

Air Force -13.5 at SDSU.

Early Action This Week

Well with Sunday's nights cover, the week went 13-6 in college and 1-1 in the pros. I am heading out town tonight until Saturday night but I will post the weekend action sometime on Friday, so do not worry.

By the way, did anyone know Hockey season started? I did not really notice until I heard the Flyers lost 9-1. Will someone fire Bobby Clarke and Billy King? It is amazing what a competent GM can do for a team, Pat Gillick. Please save us, but alas the basketball season is about to begin as well with no changes made. Also you should notice that the Phillies have three new bench coaches for next season all with tons of Major League managerial experience: Art Howe, Jimy Williams or Davey Lopes. Note to Charlie: You are on a very short leash.

Tonight:

ULL (Louisiana-Lafayette) -8 at FAU. The Ragin Cajuns have been playing quite well especially coming off an upset of Houston on the road and will be too strong against the anemic offense of FAU.

Thursday

Virginia -6 over UNC. The battle two teams that really suck, but Virginia has shown some life the last few weeks even though they blew a big lead against Maryland. UNC has shown no improvement and thus will lose.

Central Michigan -7 over Bowling Green. Central Michigan has covered every game so lets hope the trend continues.

Utah -6 at New Mexico. Well the Utes slipped up last week committing too many turnovers and inversely New Mexico got a win while being severely outgained. I think the stars will be back aligned this week.

Friday.

West Virginia -22 at UConn. While I am hesitant to give so many points with WVA on the road, I noticed that UConn has been demolished in their games against predominantly running teams. Therefore, I look for that trend to continue since in the tradition of the many residents of West Virginia that don't have electricity or running water they will continue to eschew the modern convenience of the forward pass.

Good day and good luck.

Sunday's Selections and Saturday's Wrap

10-5 is not so bad especially when I got his with some bad coaching by Missouri and bad officiating in the PAC 10 involving Oregon. Did Oregon pay off the officials this season? Why has officiating gotten worse this season with the new challenge system? Something is not working but maybe we can just call this the experimental year for college football with the new timing rules as well. So do you think Rutger's Head Coach Schiano will be in Miami next year? I do, especially after today's events with Rutger's big road win and the terrible fight in the game between Miama and FAU.

Well there is my attempt at trying to actually write more and do it without resorting to vulgar language that would cause my former high school English to cringe. Hopefully I will write more often.

Props to the Detroit Tigers with their sweep of the A's. I don't know what to say about Adrian Peterson but except that his dad finally got to see him have a great game in person.

For Sunday.

Carolina +3 at Baltimore. Reality will bite the Ravens for the 2nd week in row.

Philadelphia -3 (at -105, finally down from -120 or -125 as it had been all week) at New Orleans. The Eagles are just so hot on offense.

The Weekend Fun

The Picks for Saturday.

Wisconsin -7.5 over Minnesota. Minnesota is going to get cold feet playing outside the dome.

Wake Forest +3 at NC State. NC State had a big win over FSU, but now they will revert back to form.

South Florida (USF) -3 (buy the 1/2 point) at UNC. UNC is DOA.

Missouri -1.5 at Texas A&M. Who knows which A&M team will show up? Who cares?

Nebraska -8.5 at KSU. Nebraska has emerged from being a patsy against KSU to being the patsy.

Mississippi +16 at Alabama. Mississippi has played solid defense most of the year and I think they will score.

Wyoming +3 over Utah. Both teams lost to Boise St at home but Wyoming played them in a closer game. I like the home team getting points. Wyoming does not have the better record but has played every game very very close.

SMU -4.5 over Marshall. The Thundering Turd drops another stinkbomb on the road.

Florida -1.5 at Auburn. Since a short jump shot scores you 2 points in hoops, I think Florida sinks another late jumper over the goal line to win.

Washington -9 over Oregon St.

UCLA +9 at Oregon. How can Oregon's uniforms continue to get uglier year after year? I mean they wear Nike and are in their backyard. Is this another Phil Knight joke or just their excuse for losing?

Hawaii -4 at Fresno St. Two teams going in different directions. Fresno could not even get by Utah St.

Kansas -2 over Oklahoma St. Third straight on the road for OSU should be a nice gift for Kansas.

Idaho +3 at La Tech.

Michigan -5.5 at Penn St. Penn St. will be out classed at home.

I might have some more totals in the morning tomorrow.

Damn Government

More legislation against online gamblers is being passed this week by our wonderful American democracy. Why are they dealing with this when they could be out campaigning for re-election or figuring out how to end a war the President declared finished a couple of years ago? Can't we just be left alone? Can you believe that the NFL actually contributed $700,000 to a lobbying group to aide in pushing this legislation through Congress? W T F!!! Aren't they the same league that mandates injury reports that if not basically accurate they will fine the team. The No Fun League. These injury reports have been around for years, well before the advent of Fantasy Football. Whatever, I like college sports more anyway.

Speaking of the NFL, they might need to call it the NUL, No Upset League. Survivor Pools are still running with 50 to 75% of the teams still alive. It is absurd for this to be so late into the season, but you never know what will happen week to week.

Some early picks for the week.

Boston College +2.5 over Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech exposed VA Tech and BC has played everyone tight this season. I see a close game won by BC here.

Air Force -5.5 over Colorado St. Colorado St is 4-1 but have a played a patsy schedule. Air Force has been tested and has two tough losses to Tennessee and Navy. Air Force is the solid play.

Pitt -9.5 at Central Florida. Pitt has been lights out this season except for a small hiccup against Michigan St. Central Florida just got their 2nd win against lowly Marshall. Panthers win big.

One more pick. This is a Sunday Night College game.

Boise St/New Mexico St. over 64. A monster offense in Boise and huge passing game with a terrible defense for NMSt. is a recipe for lots of points and a late night on ESPN.

Season Totals
NCAA 61-44 (I am not including the ties any more).
NFL 3-2

Monday

Finally back on the winning side with a nice weekend of football going 12-6 in college and 1-0 in the NFL.

A little birdie flew in my open window in my office this afternoon so I figured that is a sign to pick the Ravens +5.5 tonight. Good Luck. May the Ravens manage the clock better then the University of Washington against USC!

Sunday

Alright I am going to be a homer and take the Eagles -1.5.

Saturday's NCAA Picks

Well I am back off to a better start this week with a 2-0 last night but I am concerned about the line moving down in tonight's Louisville game. (Actually I really think you are just getting a bigger bargain.)

Saturday's Games

Clemson -16.5 at Wake Forest. Wake Forest is 5-0 but this will be a hard trip back to reality this weekend.

Miami -18.5 over UNC. Time for Miami to get healthy, they are weak but not that weak. I think i am going to get in line for tickets to that Duke - UNC football game at the end of the season to see who does not finish winless in conference.

LSU +1.5 at Florida. Chris Leak is not showing senior leadership and it will show again this week agianst a strong LSU Squad.

Washington St -3 at Oregon St. The battle tested Cougars will feast on some tasty Beaver on Saturday.

UCLA -11.5 over Arizona. Defense wins football games but in Arizona's case probably only if you shutout your opponent since their own offense is so weak.

Texas -3.5 over Oklahoma. I can't say why but I like Texas by 10 to 17 points. I just don't think there is a place for crying in football.

Penn St -3 at Minnesota. Penn St. had a solid win at home last weekend and Minnesota is in the midst of a slide that will continue against a stifling Penn St. defense.

East Carolina -6.5 over Virginia. Just because you kill Duke does not mean your team has gotten any better.

Baylor +5 at Colorado. How the mighty have fallen! Baylor comes in off a win against another Big XII team (K St.) that had also fallen on hard luck.

Nebraska -6.5 at Iowa St. Nebraska's offense is fine, just remind the defense to show up.

UAB -5 over Memphis. Ouch, Memphis is still hung over after last weeks home demolishment by Tennessee.

Missouri +5 at Texas Tech. Missou finally faces a challenge this season and they will show their strength.

Oregon +5 at Cal. Oregon will continue to reap the benefits of their gift of conference officiating and win again.

Fresno St. -26 at Utah St. Words really can't explain the futility of USU except maybe unless I say "Temple".

Nevada/Hawaii over 61.5. Two strong teams face off on the big island in a late night scoring orgy.

Recap and Some Weeknight Action

Well last saturday going 12-8 was much better then my 0-4 during the week run in college football. So I am now 49 -38-3 in college. The two NFL plays were 1-1 running the NFL talley to 2-1.

I was going to discuss the issues that I am having with being a support of my alma mater. As a bettor I sometimes get temped to bet against my school and once I did succumb and of course that year in the last game of the season Northwestern wins as a 15 point dog on the road. So as a rule, I will never bet against Northwestern and will only bet for them when it makes sense.

Thursday Night

NC State +10.5 over Florida St. This might be the game that NC State can win to keep HC Amato's job for next season and I think they will keep close in a low scoring game.

Utah -2.5 over TCU. Both teams are comming off big losses to decent teams and I think the home field will help get Utah over the hump.

Friday Night

Louisville -32.5 at Middle Tennessee St (playing in Nashville). Louisville has covered every game and MTSU even after a crushing of North Texas will not stay close.

Will post the weekend on friday.

Saturday's Fun and A couple of NFL Games

Slump. What causes a slump? Tons of psychological and statistical research has gone into trying to answer this age old question. Well the Phillies and me are mired in them right now. My season will go on while theirs will likely end this weekend. I would like to give the Phillies credit for playing themselves back into contention after the management started building for next season. I also give the management credit for scraping up some solid veterans like Moyer and Connine to help out and maybe even contribute next year. No more Turk Wendells under this administration.

Back to college football, I am heading up to Penn State and hosting the NU Alumni Club of Philadelphia's tailgate in the fields around Beaver Stadium. Hopefully the Cats don't embarrass themselves. Actually the Nevada game kind of marked the beginning of the slump when Nevada scores a late defensive TD to make the over and to cover up NU.

Here at the picks.

Wisconsin -11 at Indiana.

Illinois/Michigan State over 55.5.

Houston +16 at Miami. After a disappointing last season and a rocky start, Houston has emerged as a real contender in their conference this season and maybe ready to make some national noise this week. Miami had two weeks to stew over a bad loss to Louisville and I am not expecting improvement to come from that time off.

Virginia/Duke under 35.5. Two inept teams. Will anyone score points?

Syracuse -5 over Wyoming.

Clemson -33 over La. Tech.

Purdue/Notre Dame over 61. Scorefest for the third week in a row for Notre Dame and Purdue since neither team plays Defense.

Baylor +1.5 over Kansas St.

Washington St. +17 over USC.
USC/Washington St. over 49.5. USC is not playing that well on offense so far and their defense has not been challenged by their opponents. Look for a 35-24 game or something like that.

Alabama +15.5 at Florida.
Alabama/Florida under 39.5. Florida's high powered offense has struggled lately as their senior QB has not always played like the leader he needs to be. Both teams are strong on the defensive side of the ball and look for a game within 10 points that low scoring.

LSU -33.5 over Mississippi St. Mississippi State might have gained a little confidence out of conference but they may still be scoreless in conference after this game.

Texas A&M -2.5 over Texas Tech. A&M has ridden an easy schedule for a 4-0 start but this week they will show they are vastly improved and a contender to win 9 or 10 games this season.

Georgia Tech +10.5 at Virginia Tech. Look for this to be defensive struggle and maybe an upset opportunity against a Hokie team that was unimpressive last week and had a key play suspended for this week's game.

Iowa +7 over Ohio St.

Michigan -9.5 at Minnesota. Michigan's speed on the dome turf will give them the advantage on the road.

Memphis +14 over Tennessee. Tennessee is 0-6 ATS against Memphis. This is always a huge game on the Tigers schedule where it is just another week out of the conference for an inconsistent Tennessee.

Nevada -3.5 at UNLV. Rocky Hinds is off to a Rocky start at UNLV (ha ha). Nevada should easily win this intra-state battle.

Washington +3.5 at Arizona. Washington is a little underated comming of a big win over UCLA.


NFL

New Orleans +7 at Carolina. Carolina is struggling and New Orleans has strong momentum.

Jacksonville -3 at Washington. Time for Jacksonville to rebound after a tough loss to Indy.

Tonight and Tomorrow night's action

I wanted to get these posted before the lines move too much.

Auburn -13.5 at South Carolina. Aurburn is well rested after an easy game last saturday. They will not be caught napping in Spurrier's den.

TCU -5.5 over BYU. Horny Frogs demoralize the Mormons.

And for Friday.

Rutgers -4 at USF. Rutgers enters the TOP 25 for the first time in 30 years. I think they will wait for a bigger game to choke.

More to come later. Will edit this post.

A losing weekend, BOO FUCKING HOO

So my hot start cooled off a bit. Finally those close games that I was winning came back to end up losing on a late touchdown instead of winning. You know what I don't care, I am just ecstatic that Miami pulled though since they were my pick in the two suicide pools I am in.

For the season I am now. 38 - 26 - 3. Still almost 60%.

Play Southern Miss tonight -6 at UCF. Central Florida has lost their mojo from last season and Southern Miss plays solid Defense and finally has the running game they have missed the last few seasons.

Saturday

Conference play starts to kick in this weekend in the Big Ten for some teams and it will definitely show who are the pretenders in addition ND will seek to end up 2-1 on its 3 game gauntlet run of the Big Ten. All I know is that I think the ND/Mich St game with be high scoring.

Michigan -13 over Wisconsin. After a big win, I don't see a letdown especially against an uninspired Wisconsin venturing out on the road. Wisconsin is still an important game for Michigan.

Minnesota -3 at Purdue. Purdue has no defense and I would not even give their offense any credit for the points they have put up against weaker opponents. They could be the weakest 3-0 team in the nation. Another note, this game has one of the highest posted totals of the week but I am not sure I like it in either direction it really will just depend on whether Purdue scores.

Clemson -16 over UNC. Normally I would say that this could a typical trap where UNC has sucked all season and will pull one out but not this week or season.

Iowa -20.5 at Illinois. This is nice three game run of Iowa/Syr (13-20), Syr/Illinois (31-21), and then this game. Now if you look at just the game scores that would have Iowa by 17 and you have to add a few points for having Drew Tate back. I hope you follow my logic, but Iowa should be back at full steam this week.

Buffalo +42 at Auburn. Auburn has another game on Thursday night against South Carolina so I don't see the starters being left in too long after the game is under control. Buffalo has also looked much less inept under New HC Turner Gill.

Navy -4.5 over Tulsa. The Midshipmen have new confidence after a big road win. Should be a lower scoring game too.

Virginia Tech -26.5 over Cincinnati. Well after Ohio St. bailed me out with a last minute field goal, I will have to stick with going against Cincy especially with a Virginia Tech coach who tends to cover big spreads.

Texas -24.5 over Iowa St. Look for lots of turnovers from Iowa State's talented QB in Texas rout. Texas is like Virginia Tech with covering the larger number.

Arizona St. at California. Which Cal team will show up now that they have to play another big game. I just think that this might be ASU's year.

UCLA -3 at Washington. I am not sure why UCLA is so underrated this season and I don't think Washington is over the hump yet (but they are on their way back to being decent program).

West Virginia -21 at East Carolina. Let The Good Times RUN! That should be the theme for West Virginia this season. Unless there is a hurricane that floods the field (it has happened before in Greenville, NC), the Mountaineers will not be slowed this week.

Army +11.5 at Baylor. Sorry Air Force, I did not pick you too this week, but this Army team is better then last season and should put up a fight against Baylor in close game.

Western Michigan -28 over Temple. I think I would even have to pick a few high school teams to beat Temple this season and Western Michigan should be a MAC contender so they can handle Temple although it is possible that the Owls might finally talley a TD.

Wake Forest +2.5 at Mississippi. We could witness history this week with both Wake and Rutgers having good chance to go 4-0 and for the first times ever(not exactly sure)? Mississippi is bad and I am looking forward to watching an Egg Bowl later on between Miss and Miss St to see which team can score and get off the Goose Egg.

Utah -8 at SDSU. Utah seems to have righted the ship and got the offense scoring again after a rough opener. With two inspired efforts, SDSU has come up empty and I am not sure if they have more gas in the tank.

Boise St. -14.5 over Hawaii. Boise wins and covers at home. That just seems to be one of the rules of college football.

Notre Dame/Michigan St. over 59. Both teams have offenses that will overpower the opposing Defense. I look for both teams to hit over 30 and the team with the ball last winning (most likely ND).

USC -21 (i bought the line down) at Arizona. I think USC will play better on the road this season since they will feel less pressure there at least through this first half of the season. Arizona still is not good enough to cause a hiccup especially at this number.

Hope you all have a good weekend and Happy New Year.

Three Weeks Down; Two Early Picks this week

Well it was another good week with just college plays going 8-4-1. So far on the season I am 30-15-2, not bad for a mere amateur. I also want to tell you about another site I use for wagering and their contest which paid me $500 into my account two weeks ago. www.betjamaica.com. They have a Free Pick 2 and Free Pick 12 contest that gives out tons of prizes each week. I was shocked to actually win something from one of these sites.

Thursday and Friday Picks

Georgia Tech -17 over Virginia. Virginia has dissapointed all season long. Al Groh has not been able to control the great players he has recruited over past few years. Is there not enough for gang members to do in lilly white Charlottesville?

Northwestern/Nevada Under 48.5. The NU defense should be able to control Nevada but their offense may not score.

Saturday's Action

Well I have to say that I am sad that my cautiousness about the NU-UNH battle last weekend was prophetically since NU laid an egg. Since I am in Chicago I am going to stay out for the game this Saturday against Eastern Michigan, where NU is a 17 point favorite. That seems a little high, but actually after seeing the Sagarin ratings that have UNH as a top 30 team it all makes sense.

So I will be missing some great games on tv this Saturday while I am flying back hopefully I will catch some of the evening games back in Philly.

BC -6 over BYU. I am not sold on BYU after burning me last weekend and I think BC should thrive after the tough conference test last Saturday.

Temple/Minnesota over 53. This is just a gift, Minnesota will score 53 all by themselves. Temple is the worst team in Div 1-A.

Ohio St. -29 over Cincinnati. I am still not sure Cincy has chosen a single QB and again against Ohio St. who cares.

Rutgers -16.5 over Ohio. Ohio surprised me last week in a conference matchup, I don't think they will be as motivated against a hot Rutgers.

Wisconsin -13.5 over SDSU. San Diego does not travel east very well and I think Wisconsin will beat up on them while they have an easy game on the schedule.

Boise St. -7 at Wyoming. Boise St. is just the class of the conference.

Pitt -3 over Michigan St. Amazingly enough Mich St. still seems to be underachievers again this year. Pitt is having the season everyone thought they would have last year.

Florida -3.5 at Tennessee. I guess I can't get a consistent read on what Tennessee is doing this season. Florida just has too much talent this year to drop this tough game.

Michigan/Notre Dame over 50. This game will be a shootout.

Oregon -4.5 over Oklahoma. Well I am not sure what fashion decision the Beavers will make with their new uniforms this week but I do know they should be able to contain the one dimensional Oklahoma.

Miami +4.5 at Louisville. Louisville will not be able to handle a Miami team that has more of its players back in the stable.

Vanderbilt +6 over Arkansas. This Vandy team is playing some good football but just not getting over the hump. Look for them to bet the Hogs for the second year in a row.

Thursday

Well Saturday was not as good as we had started but we were 8-7 and 11-7 on the week. I am traveling in the Midwest right now so I will just give you my Thursday play for now.

West Virginia -16.5 over Maryland. West Virginia is a true juggernaut and should have no problem against Maryland who has not been able to dominate weaker teams.

In addition, I would like to ad a plug for a friend, Brian Dilsheimer and his blog. He posts some selections and analysis every week and is just witty writer. Here is his site. http://www.dilsmusings.blogspot.com/

Saturday's Card

I gave in and made a last minute NFL bet online at BetCRIS using my new Motorola Q phone. I could have just called it in but I love the online access. Of course, I walked into my poker game and found out most had put money on Miami, too bad, and in addition someone started to give me grief that Boise St. was loosing 14-0. Well F-them too all the way to 2-0 for me on the night. But in the meantime, Culpooper (intentional misspelling) was my starting QB in a fantasy league.

Sorry for the babbling BS today. One more thing, you can subscribe to my blog so you will get an email everytime I post something (just incase someone cared).

Va. Tech -12.5 at NC. Heels reeling after getting run over by Rutgers.

Rutgers -10 over Illinois. Rutgers had a big road win and should cover this easily against an inferior team.

Auburn -20.5 at Miss St. Does Miss St. have an offense, could be shutout for the second straight week.

NIU -15 over Ohio U. Wolfe went to town against Ohio St, this should be an easy win.

BC +2.5 over Clemson. BC should rebound after a terrible first game on the road. Clemson is untested.

Notre Dame -7 (bought it down from 7.5) over Penn St. Possibly the most anticipated Penn State regular season game since they joined the Big Ten, will see them falter on the road in the shadow of TJ (Touchdown Jesus, of course).

Bowling Green -27.5 over Buffalo. After playing the cheeseheads touch, BGSU should take care of business against the over confident Bison. (Well yes an win would make Buffalo overconfident since they will not win another this season.)

LSU -15 over Arizona. Stoops still has no offense in the desert.

Indiana -3.5 at Ball St. IU should romp in this intra-state clash.

Iowa -19 at Syracuse. Do I really have to explain this?

Tulsa +4 at BYU. Upset of the week here. BYU was weak against Arizona and will not be able to contain the Tulsa offense.

Florida -23 over Central Florida. Florida has too much firepower.

Oregon -3.5 at Fresno St. Oregon is a top 15 team; Fresno is just riding the coattails of their trackrecord.

Tennessee -19.5 over Air Force. I have Volunteered.

Toledo -10.5 at Western Mich. After a solid show in their opener, Toledo will notch a conference win.

That's it for now. Not sure about the pro's yet this weekend.

NFL Thursday

Alright i gave in. Pittsburgh -1.5.

The weekend and Monday night football and the college weeknight games

Well I have to say that the tradition of moving college football games to throughout labor weekend is slightly better then the Monday Football Doubleheader next Monday. I think the fan would have been better served by having the Doubleheader Thursday night when the season opening game is now played. Do we really need Rascal Flatts and Diddy (what happened to P) performing on TV before the game starts or do the people on the east coast need to stay up until two in the morning to catch the end of the second Monday Night Game? Oh well I guess we can do something for the west coasters once in a while.

Well one thing we saw this weekend was that the road teams did very well against this weekend and the ones from the larger conferences dominated when they were supposed to. The MAC is not as strong as it has been over the last few years but will still play entertaining football against themselves. By the way did you notice that three Div 1-A teams (Colorado, Duke, New Mexico) lost to 1-AA teams? In addition, Kansas State only won by a point. Does this mean that the talent gap is shrinking further? Nope, just a few teams decided not to show up. As a Northwestern fan, I hope that the Wildcats don't make the same misstep against offensive powerhouse UNH. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I was a little surprised at how good the week started enroute to an 11-4-1 record. Well with week 1 done now, we have a week that includes the NFL as well and more of my life will be spent in front of the TV and sitting in bars drinking beer.

Boise St. -8 over Oregon St. The Broncos finally get a big conference team to come and play them. Former Coach Hawkins has a worse team in Colorado then he left in Boise and Oregon St. is a terrible early season road dog.

Pitt -7.5 at Cincinnati. Hmmm. Dave Wanstadt has one solid QB in veteran Tyler Palko and Cincinnati is taking turns with different QB's in different quarters. Cincinnati also averaged under 4 yards per carry in their opener against a 1-AA opponent.

Saturday's Action and a Monday Play too

Akron +17 at Penn St. I am not as sold as every other homer in PA that this PSU team will be any good. Akron returns a solid QB who leads a powerful offense. The Nittany Lions cannot turn the ball over or they could be looking at a very close game.

Rutgers +5.5 at UNC. The Tar Heels are very inconsistent and should be pretty flat for this opener against the surging Scarlet Knights.

Alabama -16 over Hawaii. Roll Tide.

Cal +1.5 at Tennessee. Cal shows that they are a top 10 program as Tennessee shows that last season may not have been an aberration.

Nebraska -21 (bought the line down) over La Tech. La Tech takes the money and lays an egg here.

Florida -19.5 over Southern Miss. This is not the same Southern Miss that used to be feared by the big conference teams. As some might say, this program has "jumped the shark and needs some new blood". Florida takes a strong first step this season on the way to a big season.

Houston -14 at Rice. Both teams are in Houston so no real home field advantage. Rice is scrapping its Flexbone offense for a more conventional way of losing this season.

Texas -41 over North Texas. Also Play the Over 54.5 if you can. (I did). Texas has killed its creampuff opponents to start the season the last three years and this year looks no different with new players trying to prove themselves for the Longhorns.

Alright this is all I have so far and I might edit this to ad a few more plays before the end of today.

Last night and the weekend

What a great way to start off the season last night. I am not just talking about my 4-0-1 record on the night but just the fact that college football is back on the airwaves and a ton of games were on TV. I spent the first part of the evening out at Fox and Hound with the Northwestern crew watching the Wildcats burst out to 21 2nd half points en-route to an easy victory. I was also impressed with the more then 35 alums and friends who showed to watch.

I also caught bits and pieces of some other games. BC was totally unimpressive last night and better play some defense before they play some conference games. Arizona State was also totally flat until the 4th quarter and saved embarrassment against against a 1-AA opponent. It is quite funny that line was perfect for the Temple - Buffalo game (the other game of the night that was nil-nil at the halftime). I also saw some of the UTEP-SDSU game. Yes UTEP won but Jordan Palmer is not very good throwing 4 picks (2 to 3 of them were totally his fault).

Did anyone notice how the NCAA has tried to make the college game more like the NFL by shortening the game? I think they over did it. The starting of the clock after they set the ball on a change of possession is ridiculous. I agree about the clock running when the ball is in the air on kickoff but this is going too far. They should maybe start the play clock quicker but that is all. I love that college football games used to take 3:30 to 4 hours to play and that teams could come back from huge deficits in the 4th quarter. Let's hope that these new rules don't ruin the game, but so far I am not so happy.

Also congrats to Andre Agassi for prolonging his career again last night in another tough match. He is a true class act and shows how someone can evolve during their career as a top athlete in the spotlight. I guess T.O. is not a tennis fan.

Tonight:
Nevada (+12.5) at Fresno St. Fresno normally has bigger fish to try to start off a season but after loosing their long time QB and running back tandem in the offseason Nevada could be a stumbling block.