Week 4 Wrap Up

Good week. 64-56 in total for the 8 of us...not bad. 22-18 NFL, 42-38 NCAA.

Updated Standings
JG 33 27 55.0%
GR 33 27 55.0%
JR 33 27 55.0%
MR 31 29 51.7%
MH 28 32 46.7%
AW 28 32 46.7%
MC 27 33 45.0%
MK 26 34 43.3%

NCAA Picks
JG 25 20 55.6%
GR 25 20 55.6%
MR 24 21 53.3%
JR 22 23 48.9%
MH 21 24 46.7%
MK 20 25 44.4%
AW 20 25 44.4%
MC 17 28 37.8%

NFL Picks
JR 11 4 73.3%
MC 10 5 66.7%
GR 8 7 53.3%
JG 8 7 53.3%
AW 8 7 53.3%
MR 7 8 46.7%
MH 7 8 46.7%
MK 6 9 40.0%

NFL picks are ridiculous right now. 73%...insane.

My pick everything stats, because I know you care:
NCAA: 102-86 54%
NFL: 31-17 65%

Not bad...in the black numbers for both right now.

Overall, a 3 way tie at the top...between the 3 guys going to Vegas in 2 weeks and 3 days. Let's stay hot for 3 more weeks, what do you think guys?

Alright, on to the games....

We'll shake it up and start NFL first.

-CAR, WTF? Is Jake Delhomme that terrible. How do they have these clunker years about once every 2 or 3 season? Bad coach, I don't think so...bad QB, yep.

- Worst team in the league? CLE, TB, STL, KC - I have to vote CLE right now.

- TB had 86 yards on Sunday against NYG...86

- Is the real NE back? I think ATL is a little overrated, but NE will continue to build and get back to elite status within the next few weeks.

- WAS, how bad are the Skins? Can Dan Snyder spend the money to blow it all up and start over again? T.Jackson said it best on ESPN, "they have spent all this money rebuilding and they can't run or throw and they can't stop the run or the pass...what have they accomplished?"

- BUF - it looks like the TO experiment is about to blow up...again. Ticking time bomb - this team is going nowhere.

- Bungals are for real? Kind of. I still don't think they sniff the playoffs.

- Can someone tell me why I changed my mind on INDY and went with ARZ? I've been anti-AZ all year (SuperBowl loser syndrome) but for some reason I listened to too many other people and went with them on Sunday night.

- MIA - the season is done for you too. Henne will not get you in the playoffs.

- OAK - can Russell be any worse? Should the NFL prevent Al Davis from running this team any further into the ground than he already has. What a horrible looking operation, and it's only getting worse.

- DEN is 3-0, but I still think they suck.

- Vikes. Wow, that was our first #4 thriller. It's nice to be 3-0, but what a struggle. Big one coming up on Monday night...have to LOVE our chances in that one.

NCAA RECAP

- crazy week started with OLE going down in ugly fashion to SC...who is better than you think this year because they have an offense!

- FSU, nice work. USF is going with their patented early season push before failing miserably to end the season...it will happen.

- MICH - what was that? IND is still not a good team, but I have moved them up a couple of notches after that one. MICH is lucky to win and still be undefeated.

- How about the ILLINI?!? Is everyone still in love with the Zooker and Juice? What a joke, they might be the worst team in the B10...along w/NW.

- WIS cruised over MSU, 38-30 is misleading. So the question is, WIS for real or SPARTY really not good? I like the latter.

- LSU is not a very good club either. They should have lost to MISST, and will lose very shortly.

- MEM is one of the worst teams in D1, with the 2 NM schools

- Maryland sucks...it's official. Thought maybe they get up for a home game with RUT, but nope...flat as a pancake.

- NCST looks to be okay as well. A nice win over PITT to help their ACC push, and that SC loss to open the year doesn't look too bad.

- TCU is good. Not a lot of hype so far, but I love that team every year.

- Is there a Hurricane coming still? Nice effort against VT! I love it, ESPN hypes it up like Gino's Canes are back and talking very big things, then they get slaugthered 31-7. Never bet against Beamer at home in a big game, he always finds a way to win.

- ALA is the best team in the country right now (post-Tebow concussion)

- CMU shouldn't lose again all season, 11-1 isn't bad.

- IDAHO has gone from absolute disaster to a 3-1 team so far with 4 covers! Nice turnaround.

- CAL, WTF? I know it's a tough place to play, but 42-3! No matter what anyone tells you, never ever ever trust CAL over an entire season.

- ARKST lost at home to TROY, now they travel to Iowa City in what Hogeye fans are calling a major trap game...are you serious!?

- Even without TEBOW, FLA might win based on their D alone. 7 ppg this year, is that good?

- OREST pooped the bed. AZ is a little better than I thought, thanks again for making the right QB decision one week too late.

- ND should have lost to PUR. They are not that good this year either. Lots of injuries piling up and the D is still very suspect.

- I saw the WASH beat down coming a mile away, off a major emotional upset and going on the road = death.

- How about HOU? Beating OKST was nice, then beating TT when you're favored is even better. Maybe they are for real?

- PSU looked pathetic. Iowa's D is good, but how do you play that poorly...especially with the fast start? Pretty sad. But it gives me a lot of hope for the Vegas week showdown against the 5-1 Gophers!!

GOPHERS - NW
Watched the tape delay version since it was my anniversary on Saturday, which really is a nice way to watch a game. 3.5 hours down to about 2 hours in watch time...not bad.

Had to love the running game and the quick start. Bennett and especially Whaley looked really nice running the football. I can't get too excited though because NW's D is brutal, but so was SYR and AF and we couldn't run on them very well. And they stuck with it and picked up the hard yards when necessary on the ground...so overall it was very encouraging. AWEB threw it okay...still think he could be a lot better. One pick and about 3 others that could/should have been picked. Gray running the ball was amazing - I didn't realize he was such a hard runner! I think the final line was something like 5 carries for 30+ yards...nice. I've been calling for it for quite a while, and I think it will finally happen this week...a pass from #5! Even the moronic B10 announcers were picking up on the #5 in the game = #5 run play strategy. I think we've got them right where we want them for a long one over the top from #5...look out Becky.

On defense, this is the first game I wasn't really happy with the D. They went with the bend but don't break approach, "Mason-Ball" against NW. I kind of understood it because of all the bizarro 5 WR sets they run, but a team with NO running game at all should not be able to move the ball that easily against us. I was thrilled with the finish to the game. NW had the ball back and they were looking to drive for the game winner, and I had that feeling that all Gopher fans get in their stomach during occasions like this...I call it "Mason-Itis". Basically, I believed that the worst would happen and we'd find a crazy way to lose this game. But the 3rd play of the drive, McKinley strips the ball and falls on it for the W. If we were in the Mason era, Ced probably tries to pick it up and kicks it out of bounds and NW scores on the next play...but this is a different, better team. Then we score and do the same thing on the next drive...nice! That's how your defense goes out and wins a game.

Bottom line - nice win, on the road, in the conference. Great start going into the next biggest game of the season. The evil red team is coming to town, without their 30,000 fans this season for the first time in 28 years! It sounds like a cool, possibly wet day at TCF...it's going to be good. Gophs started as 1 point favs, and immediately jumped to -3...I think the experts are telling us something...we are better than Becky.

Just to continue on my week of crazy accurate predictions, I'll have to point out a couple of other calls I made this week:

-GOPHS 34-27...I was way off, GOPHS 35-24.

-VIKES/SF will be a FG game...Vikes 27-24.

-SC will beat OLE...they did.

-IOWA was a good bet against PSU...sadly they were.

-NMST/NM must take the 10 points because nobody can win by more than that...20-17

Okay. Enough. Time to do it all over again this week. I'll send out the games today -good luck everyone!

One more thing - how does College Gameday choose FSU at BC over the TCF B10 opener this week!!! I think MN and WIS both beat either of these bunk ACC teams. Lame.