Week 2 Preview

Well, still waiting on a couple of picks...but I have to throw this together now.

NCAA
JR: CMU, GT, HAW, CAL, ND, BYU, OKST, WASH, A&M, ALA
JG: SJST, KAN, SC, IDAHO, ISU, MICH, MIA, OKST, PSU, USC
MR: MISST, SC, FLA, NEB, OHIOST, BYU, WASH, TEX, TT, NEV
AW: AUB, MARSH, UTEP, GEO, HAW, CAL, MICH, BYU, PSU, UCF
GR: WV, GT, FLA, NEB, MICH, UTAH, OKST, WASH, TT, USC
MH: GEO, OK, IOWA, ND, OHIOST, UTAH, BYU, LSU, ALA, USC
MC: WAITING
SS: WAITING
RO: WV, SJST, GT, HAW, IOWA, ND, MIA, BYU, OHIO, ALA


CONSENSUS PICKS (2-1 LW)
BYU - 5

NFL 
JR: CIN, IND, PIT, MIA, SF
JG: MIN, TB, GB, SF, DAL
MR: NO, DET, GB, ARI, BAL
AW: MIN, MIA, GB, BAL, SD
GR: IND, NYG, SF, DAL, SD
MH: IND, MIA, GB, SF, BAL
MC: PENDING
SS: PENDING
RO: MIN, IND, CHI, SF, BAL


CONSENSUS PICKS
IND - 4
GB - 4
SF - 5
BAL - 4

When I get the final 2 sets of picks I will post those as well. 

$$$ PLAYS and ANGLES
CMU +8 at TEM
TEM needed a last second win to beat Nova last week, CMU is a bit of an unknown after replacing their coach who left to replace their old coach...follow that? Anywho, I think TEM was a fluke in 2009 and giving over a TD at home against a traditional MAC power is insane...CMU!

GT -12.5 at KAN
KAN looked worse than horrible last week and GT is about the most steady team you can find. I know my rebound rule plays into KAN here, but the exception to that rule is if you are a very bad team...which I think KAN might be this season. GT doubles the spread in this one.

HAW +2 at ARMY
HAW can score in the 50's on any given night, and they typically do. ARMY has trouble getting to 21 points, and they are favored at home as a bad team. The only HAW negative is the 80 hour trip to get to ARMY, but I think they've overcome that before so I'm expecting a beat down.

CAL -7 vs. COL
The Bears always roll this time of the year, and Hawk and company always suck...especially after a nice win over a rival. They will get rolled in Berkley.

ND -4.5 vs. MICH
Lots of action on this one, and it's split. I really like ND. First, their D isn't as atrocious as UCONN and their offense is light years ahead of UCONN. MICH has injuries at WR and lots of injury issues in the secondary not to mention the fact that their D isn't good to begin with. Plus, the whole world loves them after last week's win, and people are sleeping on ND. 1st year Irish coaches always pull off wins like this en route to a nice season...bet the Irish.

BYU -0 at AF
The Mormons ALWAYS beat AF. AF is forever the upstart team that's just below the top tier in the MWC, and this year is no different. Making this a pick'em is like giving away free money. 

OKST -9 vs. TROY
The Cowboys housed a terrible WASU team last week, now they welcome in a reeling TROY club that is 1-0 but had to struggle for that 1st home win. TROY is not good on the road and I think everyone overlooked OKST this year...OKST wins by 15.

OLE -20 at TULANE
Do you think this team wants to beat the hell out of someone? Losing to JAX ST. was bad, but this is still an SEC team and they can score a bundle. Tulane continues to be very bad, and OLE will win this one 55-10.

HEAD SCRATCHER OF THE WEEK 
This week, I'll give the honor to JG for his KAN pick. I kind of get the angle he's going with, but if they were playing a less predictable team than GT I might like it. However, GT will come out and kick you then spit on you when you're down...and KAN is very down right now. Bad team in rebuild mode that will get destroyed.

GOPHERS-USD PREVIEW    
USD got destroyed by UCF last week and allowed a ton of yards through the air. They are the dreaded 1-AA game that the Gophers always seem to struggle with, but this just doesn't look like a very good team. The Maroon and Gold come in at 1-0 after running the ball all night at MDTN. 

WHAT WILL HAPPEN? 
I fully expect the same kind of plan as last week early on in this one. We'll run the ball a lot early and force them to commit 8-9 in the box. Then the AWEB show will start throwing the ball a bit and make this a very vanilla cruise-control kind of win. I think the defense will look better, hopefully we'll see some pass rush, because you know that USD will be trying to throw it to catch up.

GOPHERS 38 USD 13

PURPLE at AINTS
Well, the Old Man is back for his 'final' year...as for now at least. I just hate this game for the Purple. The secondary issues couldn't come at a worse time than going into play the pass happy Aints. I'm not sure that Favre is 100% ready to go either and he will be shaking off rust for the 1st part of this game. I think the rest of the D should come to play and keep this one close, but in the end I just can't see it ending well.


PURPLE 23 AINTS 34


Good Luck!