9-8-11 Week 2

My Weekly Picks

These are based on the choices given for the football pool I'm in. They sometimes don't include the most obvious games, but the goal is so each entrant must do some research/guessing themselves rather than relying on “expert” picks.

WASHINGTON   VS HAWAII

CALIFORNIA   VS   COLORADO

ALABAMA   VS   PENN STATE 

TCU   VS   AIR FORCE

N C STATE   VS   WAKE FOREST

PURDUE   VS   RICE

SOUTH CAROLINA   VS   GEORGIA

IOWA   VS   IOWA STATE

VIRGINIA   VS   INDIANA

TEXAS   VS   BYU

VANDERBILT   VS   U CONN

MISSISSIPPI ST   VS   AUBURN

CENTRAL FLORIDA   VS   BOSTON COLLEGE

NOTRE DAME   VS   MICHIGAN

NO ILLINOIS   VS   KANSAS

TENNESSEE   VS   CINCINNATI

**** SPREAD GAME****

OHIO STATE (-19)   VS   TOLEDO  


Air Force: They're playing at home and there's only a 1 1/2 point spread favoring TCU, so why not?

Wake Forest: Wake Forest lost in OT last week against Syracuse after a 7 point lead in the 4th quarter when QB Tanner Something-Or-Other had to leave due to an injury. Since Tanner is expected to start this week at home I think they have a chance.

Rice: Purdue only gets 1pt over Rice AT Rice. Purdue also had a ton of penalties last week. This is another game where you have to pick who sucks less.

Virginia: I just can't pick Indiana...unfortunately.

Vanderbilt: UConn has 3 QBs and can't decide. Two-QB systems are often precarious so a three-QB system must be completely unstable.

Michigan: Who do I pick??? I still don't know, but here's my reasoning: Michigan is at home at night and has just as much to prove as Notre Dame, but I really think they have more heart. I probably would've picked Notre Dame if they were at home under the semi-watchful eye of Touchdown Jesus, so the home advantage will likely be key...but this is truly a toss-up. It's like picking a line in the grocery store, it doesn't matter if the line is shorter and everything looks good...whichever line I choose will turn out to be the worst one. Anyway, both teams will be sporting new uniforms this week, for a sneak peek check them out at Paul Lukas' site Uni-watch.com.

No. Illinois: Here's the deal: Texas A&M wants to leave the Big 12 for another conference but Kansas is acting like a spurned woman stalking her ex-boyfriend who's trying to date the "other woman", who in this case is the SEC. Look, if he wants to leave he's just not into you and you just have to let go. So, I'm not sure I can pick a team that acts like that, it doesn't foster a manly football image. But in the end I picked NIU because they're favored by 6 1/2 points and Kansas' defense is suspect.

Tennessee: Cinci has never beaten an SEC team on the road, ever. Both team's offense can score a lot of points but both team's defense can give up a lot of points. Tennessee is at home and favored by 6 1/2, so I pick Tennessee.

Ohio State: Well, it's Toledo...who has never scored a single point against Ohio State. And after scoring 42 points against Akron last week Luke Fickell showed he won't hold back his 3rd and 4th stringers from playing their best…even if the opposing coach whines about it
.

Games I’m Most Likely to Watch If I Don’t Have Anything Better to Do

This section lists the games I’ll likely watch if I don’t get distracted by something else. I have A.D.D., so it’s not that I don’t want to watch these games but sometimes my brain has other ideas.  

TCU vs Air Force: It could be a close game with only a 1 1/2 point spread. But as I type this I'm even having second thoughts over my pick. Oh well.

Alabama vs Penn State: I want to see how Penn State looks this year since they're a Big 10 team. A very small part of me wonders if they could somehow pull off an upset. Stranger things have happened.

Notre Dame vs Michigan: Heck yes I will! This should be an awesome game since both have something to prove.

Ohio State vs Toledo: I'll watch for the same reasons as last week, to see how everyone performs in their positions...and to see if OSU beats the spread.

Games I Will Not Watch If I Have Anything To Say About It*

These are the games I have no interest in whatsoever and would find more torturous to watch than taking up stamp collecting.

Virginia vs Indiana: I rarely find watching Indiana interesting. It can't be helped.

*These are always subject to change because football can be as unpredictable as a herd of cats and any game could become unexpectedly interesting...also, I often do not have control of the remote.

Things That Annoy Me This Week

This is the section where I talk about the stuff annoying me this week related to college football...or not.

Not knowing who to pick between Michigan and Notre Dame: I just know I've picked the wrong one, and if I changed it right now it would somehow STILL be the wrong one!

Lower skilled teams knowingly playing much higher skilled teams for sweet moola: I feel badly for the guys seriously getting their asterisk's kicked so the school can rake in profits. As a coach I wouldn't demoralize my team that way. (Although, if there weren't such coaches I'd never have had the pleasure of watching The Best NCAA Football Game EVER™!)

Coaches knowingly scheduling a much higher skilled team for sweet moola then whining when their players get their asterisk's kicked: You get what you pay for...Zip!

Watching Ohio State play another lower skilled team again this week: I'm over it.

The End