Week 11 Preview...most of it

Well, I've got 7 of 8 in so still waiting on ROE. Hoping to get his picks as I type this, but here we go before I run out of time.

NCAA
JR: MN, WF, MSU, COL, CAL, OHIOST, MIA, TT, UTAH, PITT
JG: WV, MN, FSU, PSU, MICH, COL, CAL, SC, OKST, ND
MR: ??????????
MK: RUT, MN, CLEM, HOU, MSU, UK, SC, ARK, MIA, UTAH
AW: RUT, MN, WF, MICH, MSU, MIZZ, IOWA, GEO, FIU, ARK
GR: MN, GT, WIS, MIZZ, OHIOST, NEB, SC, AUB, OKST, PITT
MH: CIN, MN, LOU, WIS, ILL, CAL, USC, OHIOST, FLA, PITT
MC: OHIO-W, CMU-W, RUT, MN, WMU, UTST, SMU, ARKST, MDTN, SDST

NFL
JR: SF, CIN, NO, DAL, NE
JG: ATL, TB, NYJ, STL, SEA
MR: ?,?,?,?,?
MK: SF, ATL, DEN!, GB, IND (MK wanted DEN,DEN,DEN,DEN,DEN this week)
AW: SF, NO, DEN, DAL, NE
GR: CIN, NO, ARI, DAL, NE
MH: ATL, NO, DAL, PHI, NE
MC: ATL, CIN, DEN, IND, CLE

Consensus Picks
MN
ATL

Only 2 this week - much more variety should be a good thing for us. Could be a big separation week to make a little room between the contenders and pretenders.

NCAA THOUGHTS
Tough calls on 3 games tonight. I was leaning USF all week, but I'm kind of thinking RUT at home even though home teams have been HORRIBLE on Thursdays this year. I think BGSU giving 3 at a bad MIAOH team is a good play, and I picked the Dog Cardinals from BALLST to cover 17 at NILL.

- WV at CIN -
JG vs. MH head 2 head on this one. It's a really tough call for me. I love CINCY, but 9.5 feels a little high. I marked CIN but with very little conviction.

- TN at OLE -
Nobody picked it, but I'm feeling a TN vibe. They have kind of overachieved in my opinion most of the year and OLE has been the complete opposite. Plus you have a GREAT D playing against one of the most overrated and overhyped QB's in recent memory (Snead) so I am loving the Vols in this one. And it looks like Crompton is actually competant and this team can score a bit! Bonus.

- GT at DUKE -
Looks like an obvious one, and GR went with GT in the obvious pick. I'm very hesitant on this one however. DUKE has been shockingly going the right direction under Cutcliffe (a guy who may have been a nice fit here?). 10.5 in an ACC game, no matter the teams, has been too much in recent history. GT is cruising to an ACC Championship showdown and they don't exactly play much of a defense (31 to VANDY, 27 to WF last 2 wks) so I'll take Dookies to cover.

- CLEM at NCST -
One team rolling into the ACC title game, the other finishing up a very disappointing year...and keep in mind this is CLEM we are talking about. This is almost a guarantee that they will show up flat and NCST for sure covers and probably wins outright.

- FSU at WF -
WF will win and cover. This is the first game I marked this week. AW is with me and JG continues to be a Bowden believer. I'm a huge Jim Grobe fan, and he'll have his team prepped for a W.

- IND at PSU -
22 is high. PSU was exposed again last week for having some serious issues and just playing a bad schedule this year. I hope they don't sneak into a BCS game and get embarassed by a team with a D. IND has been, well IND this year. 3 B10 losses by 3pts or less + losing 6 of the last 7 = about ready to quit. Now they are going on the road with one last hope of salvaging the season and pulling an upset to stay alive in the bowl quest...they don't win, but cover against an uninterested PSU club.

- MICH at WIS -
Speaking of packing it in...DickRod, 5-7 is where you are heading and 5-7 will get you fired. Especially if it includes a 38-7 loss against The OHIOST. Paging Jim Harbaugh, please come back! WIS is not even good, but they take care of games like this where the other team will just lose it on their own. Pound the ball with the big line and backs are roll to a win and cover 31-17.

- NW at ILL -
Tough call. I still don't think either of these clubs is any good at all. Juicy might be playing again this weekend, but I don't know if it matters. NW has a better coach and a team that isn't good at all (see L at SYR!) but will be bowl bound again and win their 7th game this week in an upset that will end the ILL bowl chances.

*Just got ROE's picks...I'll list them below*

- HOU at UCF -
Loved HOU early this week. Started reading into it a bit and backed off. I'll still pick HOU, but UCF might keep this one close.

- MSU at PUR -
Love Sparty here. They are a pretty good team, still not sure what the hell happened on Halloween, but they rebound and win to get bowl eligible.

- UK at VAN -
MK likes the Cats - I am going with lowly 2 win VANDY to spring an upset here.

- MIZZ at KST -
I am leaning MIZZ on this one. They are the better team, but KST continues to find a way. I'll take pts and the Tigers.

- COL at ISU -
The final addition to my 10 picks for the week. I was struggling to narrow down my list, then heading home yesterday one guy cuts me off in the parkng lot and another guy is driving a pimped out BMW with personalized plates...both have 1 thing in common...Cyclone stickers. I took it as a sign that I needed to love COL this weekend. This isn't rocket science guys, at this point in the year I'm taking any sign I can get.

- BYU at NM -
Nobody is on this one, but let me just say BYU against bad teams is always a good play and betting against NM is always a good play. Who do you think I picked?

- UTEP at SMU -
I have to keep including these guys because it just keeps getting more and more bizarre. They are a dog this week, which is a good thing. In 5 conference games they are 2-3, won 2 games as a dog and lost 3 games as a FAV...history will repeat and the Miners win! But everytime I have picked them to win it hasn't worked, so one of these trends will die this week!

- AZ at CAL -
AZ is actually still thinking Rose Bowl, but they haven't played CAL, ORE, USC, or ASU. So they could still actually go 6-6. I think the collapse starts this week with a DOG CAL team winning at home. JG and MH are with me.

- STAN at USC -
Started the week with USC, but have backed off. STAN is good...seriously, this is a nice team. But they haven't played great on the road and USC still has the potential on D to destroy people. Too risky to bet, but I'll take pts and the Cardinal simply because USC has no reason to be interested...season is pretty much over for them.

- IOWA at OHIOST -
Line has gone from 13.5 to 17+...how 'bout them Hogeyes?!? Backup Fr QB, who looked less than clueless last week against NW, playing against maybe the #1 D in the nation on their home field for he conferecne title. Advantage...Brutus. I don't think it's going to be anything even resembling close. I think Iowa's D is nice, but Van Helsing will give them at least 1-2 scoring opportunities by himself and TPRY might continue his solid play to make this one 28-0. Yep, ZERO. F*ck IOWA!

- NEB at KAN -
Picked NEB early, but have backed off. Love their D, but tough to be a road FAV without having any offense. KAN has decided to quit scoring, which hasn't helped them lately, but the potential is there to show up. I'll take HUSKERS, but I'm a little leary.

- FLA at SC -
Spurrier has gotten housed the last 2 years against similar Gator teams with similar Gamecock teams...it will happen again. GATORS 37-10.

- IDAHO at BOISE -
The battle for the Potatoe State. At -28 it probably won't be much of a battle, but I hope BOISE continues to struggle and I would love to see the Vandals get them. Now I give this a 1% chance of happening, but I think they cover. BOISE pissed me off way too much last week as they only won by 10 and ended their Nat'l Title hopes.

- FRES at NEV -
NEV has 2530 rushing yards...in their last 6 games! That's 2 years worth of Gophers running!! The pistol is working and FRES is in for a buzzsaw...pick NEVADA.

- AUB at GEO -
Face it folks, GEO is not good this year. AUB showed me something with the OLE MISS win, and I like them to cover and win as 4.5 pt DOG.

- A&M at OK -
I like A&M and points. OK hasn't been killing anyone, and A&M can score as I've been saying all year. I'll take 18 and see what happens.

- ALA at MISST -
I thought about it for quite a while, and I think this might end the perfect storm for the BCS. ALA might lose this weekend. MISST always plays well at home, and they can play some D. ALA has not been playing that well for quite a while, but their ridiculous D carrys them along with a couple of big plays on offense. MISST covers this one and might end the perfect season for Saban. Call me crazy.

- MIA at NC -
MIA can still go 10-2 and be "back" as ESPN was telling us 5 weeks ago. NC plays a lot fo D, which could make this tricky, but I like Harris and think they get it done and cover.

- TT at OKST -
Another upset call for me, Red Raiders win in Stillwater. Mark it down.

- UTAH at TCU -
This line is too high. It's a nice matchup, but I think TCU will be feeling immense pressure with the Gameday crew on hand and the whole world annointing them as the little guy in the BCS this year. This UTAH is always solid and this will be close. Easy pick.

- ND at PITT -
Loving PITT in this one. ND just doesn't seem to be able to put it all together, so they may as well finish 6-6 so Chuck can end the suspense!

GOPHERS vs. D1AA Team
This doesn't even really warrant a preview. Yep, last week's loss was bad and our 2007 loss to NDSU was bad...but that doesn't mean this one will even be close. SDSU has an anemic offense and lives on turnovers and their D. Well, we are the worst offense in the B10 and I bet we put up 500 yards of offense against these fellas on Saturday. Yes, the gap is that big between decent D1 teams and non-D1 teams. (note, we were not "decent" in 2007 and NDSU was much better than this SDSU in 2007)
AWEB does okay, MGRAY makes a couple of plays and hopefully sees a series or 2, and we run the ball well against undersized SDSU lineman. GOPHERS create a few turnovers against a Freshman QB and we win going away 44-10. Maybe this will make some of the haters shut up.

NFL PICKS
I love nearly every game this week in NFL, feeling a big week.

- SF is the play tonight, Bears still suck, the Bears still suck...
- ATL is pretty good. CAR is still not puttin it all together and Jake is still the QB. ATL wins.
- TB at MIA is tricky, but I like Fins to cover.
- DET at MIN I think we can get 14 out of the D, and then #4 puts up a couple in the first half and we win in an unwatchable snoozer...35-7.
- JAC at NYJ - I like the Jags. I think the NYJ have been exposed as more of a pretender than we thought and JAC plays better on the road...where they likely have more fans!
- CIN at +7.5! Yes, plese. This should not be over a TD. I love PITT, but 7.5 is crazy high.
- NO at STL - 14 is covered in the first 6 minutes. STL is that bad, and NO doesn't have any scoring or covering issues. This should have been about 20.
- I love TEN this week ay -6.5. They are finding it with MGRAY Sr. running the show, and BUF is absolutely hopeless.
- DEN at WAS, why is this 4.5 and not moving? Something is up here...the smart guys think WAS is better than they've shown and/or DEN is much worse. I'll take DEN, but I'm not really confident in this one at all.
- KC at OAK, wow fun stuff here. I'll take KC because I don't see how OAK could be anyone.
- SEA at ARI - when did SEA become this bad? The Lions handed them the win LW, but ARI shouldn't have a problem this week.
- DAL at GB - Love the Cowboys here. They look to be for real with a defense and a running game, hmmmm, maybe that's how you win games. GB is hopeless.
- PHI at SD - both crazy teams to bet on, I'll take pts and the better team in PHI.
- NE at IND - how about this for a Sunday nighter?!? I've bet on this matchup for the last 4-5 years and I always bet on Brady.
- BAL at CLE - zzzzzz....zzzzzz....zzzzzzz....BAL 38-3. Thanks ESPN, nice pick.

And finally the long awaited Mike Roe selections with heavy criticism for being late to the party:

USF - L
CIN - ?
OLE - L
GT - L
BOISE - L
ALA - L
LSU - L
TT - W
OHIOST - W
TEXAS - ?
Minimum 7 losses in NCAA.

MIA
NO
KC
GB!
NE

Like these except for the Pack. What have you seen from this club to make you pick them to cover 3 against a good DAL team? I guess we'll see.

Have a good one guys - hope to be reporting much better results next Monday!