Week 8 Pick Summary

Week 8 is off and running, JR GR MC are already 0-1...nice start.

NCAA
JR: TULSA, CMU, PITT, GT, OKST, OK, MIA, TOL, LSU, BOISE
JG: FSU, NW, MN, ILL, NEB, PSU, BC, MSU, BYU, LSU
MR: NC, NW, GT, OLE, KST, ORE, OK, NEV, MISST, AUB
MK: FSU, NW, PITT, GT, SYR, KAN, BC, MSU, MISST, MIZZ
AW: FSU, NW, MN, GT, DUKE, KAN, BC, WF, IOWA, FLA
GR: TULSA, NC, GT, ARK, MICH, TN, BC, SC, IOWA, TEX
MH: IND, OHIOST, PUR, MICH, WASH, MIA, BC, IOWA, STAN, BOISE
MC: TULSA, CMU, KST, EMU, OHIO, UTST, TOL, ARKST, TCU, NM

NFL
JR: KC, IND, GB, DAL, PHI
JG: TB, MIN, CLE, NYG, PHI
MR: SD, IND, DAL, ARI, PHI
MK: HOU, OAK, CHI, ATL, PHI
AW: SD, IND, MIN, DAL, NO
GR: IND, NE, PIT, NO, PHI
MH: IND, NE, ATL, NO, PHI
MC: HOU, SD, CHI, NO, PHI

CONSENSUS PICKS:
GT, BC
IND, NO, PHI
Sounds like a can't miss 5 game parlay!

So an ugly start to the week already for 3 of us with the brutal performance of Tulsa last night. I think I've bet on UTEP games 5 times this year, and I've been on the wrong side for every one! Stop it!!

Tonight is an interesting game...FSU at NC. The Noles have talent but are obviously a trainwreck right now. Where has the D gone? For Butch Davis and NC, there are a ton of issues as well...except on the other side of the ball. The defense is outstanding, but the offense can't score on anyone. Basically a pick'em line, I like NC at home.

- Lots of NW love this week...they still suck and IND might actually come out and play well again this week. How bad are the Zookers when IND crushes you?

- I'm jumping on PITT again this week, I guess GR is not on the band wagon anymore.

- GT at the ACC leader VIR...GT is hitting its stride, look out Cavs, it should be a blowout!

- ARK at OLE (-5.5) is a tough one. OLE has shown some major lapses on offense, ARK hasn't really played much defense all year...take points in this scenario.

- Clones coming off another win head to angry Lincoln. We almost have to expect a big rebound, right?

- BAY is bad...give me OKST, who is surprisingly scoring without a lot of their weapons...Gophers need to learn how to score like this.

- I knew someone would take it...MARY at DUKE (-6)...can you believe we have started betting on DUKE to win as a favorite in the ACC?!? Bomb loves the Dookies this week, and I almost picked them.

- PSU at MICH (+4) should be a good one. PSU is solid on defense, so I have to think they can shut down the MICH offense a little bit. But MICH plays some nice D as well, and it is in the Big House...I'll take the points.

- ORE at WASH has the feeling of a trap game. But after Vegas WASH is one of my least favorite teams because of d-bag fan yelling at me after I made the comment "nice loss WASH" after they gave up a hail mary on the last second to lose to an offensively challenged ASU team. D-bag WASH t-shirt guy stands up and says, "F*ck you, I've been shut out all day!" Like that's my problem...pick better moron. So I'm officially on the anti-WASH bandwagon. Quack...Quack...Quack....go Ducks!

- TN at ALA is another big line for an SEC game. Smart play is taking the points for the Vols.

- OK might be ready to pounce on KAN. The Ressing offense will not be able to throw it all over the place against this OK squad...Sooners cover 7 in the first 10 minutes.

- CLEM = awful road team, MIA = great home team...this is a gimme.

- BC at ND - everyone loves BC in this one. They have been a huge surprise this year, and ND might be emotionally spent after last week...BC might win this one outright, let's hope they do!

- WF at NAVY - 2 teams that burned me last week, I did learn to never pick WF on the road...so pick NAVY.

- IOWA at MSU - really going to be a HUGE Sparty fan this weekend. Finally a worthwhile BTN night game...woo-hoo! Iowa still isn't that good, I've said it every week and they keep finding a way to win. Sparty - don't turn it over, make Ricardo throw the ball, and win the damn game!! End this madness!

Sadly, we have 3 guys that have caved and starting believing in the Hogeyes...so it's definitely time for the football gods to stop this little run before it goes any further and more people move to the dark side.

- TCU at BYU is a huge game on the network that I used to get (Vs.) but apparently pissed off the wrong people at DTV and has been pulled. So I'm going to be phone/cpu following this one on Saturday night. I really am a huge Gary Patterson and TCU fan, so that's my pick. Plus I'm anti-BYU...so it's an easy one.

- AUB at LSU (-8): AUB defense is not up to par, LSU has a great D. Offensively, AUB blows them away, but I can't see them doing a lot of greatb things in Baton Rouge on ESPN at a night game...always pick the Tigers in a situation like this, unless FLA is coming to town!

- TEX at MIZZ - MIZZ looks a lot more like a mirage than anything else to me. TEX needs a statement game after juts sneaking by OK...Horns roll.

- OREST at USC - revenge game from LY for USC, but 21 pts is too much. I think OREST keeps it closer than that. USC is going on their annual roll to finish 11-1...mark it down.

- BOISE at HAW - House! Can't make a number high enough for me to not pick Boise in this one!


NFL
The oddsmakers finally made some cash back last week with some big dogs covering and even winning a couple of games. Will the trend continue?

- upset of the week...KC beats SD
- How am I the only one picking the Pack at -7.5 at CLE? This should be ugly.
- DAL gets it together this week off the bye at home against an ATL team that was anything but impressive on SUN Night last week
- MIA will cover against NO...I know NO looks like the '98 Vikes or the Warner lead Rams...but they have to have a hiccup along the way sometime soon. MIA might be the one with their decent D and wildcat Offense.
- Bungals going back to the pack...BEARS win this week on the road
- How is PHI only -6.5 at WAS? PHI is coming off an all-timer of a clunker at OAK and WAS can't score more than 7 points in practice against no defense. This will be the final nail in Zorn's coffin...PHILLY 35-0 crush.

PURPLE at PITT -3.5
I think the dream ends here for the Purple team. PITT has a lot of flaws and isn't close to the level they were in JAN of 2009...but they will win. Chilly vs. Tomlin...yikes. Big Ben and the WR's vs. Purple w/out Winfield...yikes. We should be able to score on them, but the scariest thing for me coming out of this week is keeping #4 healthy. Lebeau runs a lot of crazy blitz attacks, and I could see #4 taking a big shot and having a hard time coming back. I hate to be negative, but that really scares me. Too much positivity right now for the Purple, so I just feel like it's time to throw a wrench into things. The call...STEELERS 27-23

GOPHERS at The OHIO STATE University (-18)
So who's ready to give up on this club? Zero offense, pretty much all year. Going on the road for a second straight week, playing a top national defense for a 2nd consecutive week, Bucks are coming off a loss to a horrible PUR team in which they weren't even close. This is the time of the year when we started are huge slide into mediocrity last season, so that's exactly what most of experts are predicting again this year.

In my memory, this is when we totally surpirse everyone, including me, and play well this week. Pressure Pryor and he should be able to give us some opportunities. We really need to focus on stopping the run game - bring as many people as possible up front to make them throw. What can we do on offense? Well, praying might help...Goldy can lead that for us. Take chances, play without a care in the world like we did against Cal - this is the attitude you HAVE to take when you are completely outmanned everywhere and you are unable to move the ball in traditional fashion. I'm talking about running down field patterns and throwing it all over the place in unpredictable times in the game. The running game needs to be a threat, but that might work best if we roll with more Marqueis and/or wildcat type formation. It needs to be something different that off tackle left and dive right...we don't block anyone and we will not be able to traditionally run the ball on OSU. Weber has to be better - stop throwing horrible INT's, stop throwing behind people, stop throwing to shoelaces! Seriously, do we have any patterns and plays in the book that don't require us to throw the ball to a WR/TE/RB and have him fall down immediately? Or run out of bounds without any chance at YAC! With the athletes we have, and we do have some athletes that need the ball, how can we not figure out a way to get it to them.

Clearly, this is not a great OHIOST team, so for that reason alone I will give us a slight chance this week.

Call...OHIOST wins but barely...24-17...don't ask me where the 17 points come from, because I don't know.