First - here are the picks for the weekend (minus 2 guys...MH and MS, who still haven't turned them in). I need your picks today if possible, if not you obviously won't be allowed to pick the THU games and FRI games will be in question. It's not fair to everyone else to give you 1-2 extra days to pick the rest of the games either in case things change...so with no picks the rule will be that you won't win this week obviously, and for the total record you will be given a mark 1 game lower than the worst record for the week. I know this was a short week - but I still need them in on Thursday so this can be compiled and everyone can know what to watch for.
Here are the picks:
JR: ASU CAL MN ECU PSU PUR WF SC ND HOU CLE PIT WAS ARI DEN
JG: MN IOWA OHIOST OREST ALA FRES USC MICH GB ATL TEN PHI MIN NYG NE
MR: MN MICH CAL PSU WIS WASH STAN ORE ARK FLA NE CLE ARI DEN DET
AW: MICH WASH STAN SC TCU HOU UCONN ARI DET ATL PHI MIN HOU NO SEA
GR: MICH SC TCU HOU MN WIS OKST NEB UCLA ATL MIN HOU NO NE OAK
MH: x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
MC: TCU CAL PUR MARSH TULANE TEM ARKST NILL WKY VAN ATL HOU ARI CLE DEN
SS: CAL MN WIS WASH STAN ASU LOU ATL HOU ARI CLE DEN NO NE DET
RO: MN TCU MICH NEB ORE FLA OHIOST TEX HOU CLE NE MIN PHI PIT SF
TN: OHIOST WIS STAN ASU NILL SC HOU IOWA FIU HOU CLE NE MIN ARI NO
MT: OHIOST STAN IOWA PUR OKST ECU FAU UTAH HOU CLE NE NO ATL DEN SEA
GT: IOWA WIS NEB TEX ALA HOU CLE NE ATL DEN PHI DET NYG SD NYJ
MS: x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
CP: IOWA WIS STAN ASU CAL AZ TOL MISST UNLV SJST NE ATL NO MIN STL
LW: IOWA WIS TEX PUR OKST SC MN NE MIN PHI ARI PIT OAK GB KC
JH: WIS OKST MN STAN OHIOST ORE FLA UCLA VT USF NE PHI ARI KC CLE
MO: WIS OHIOST ORE USF PUR HOU TEM MIZZ MSU NE PHI MIN ATL NYG TEN
DRAIN THE SAVINGS
My lock of the century...of the week for week #2 is...........Notre Dame. Partially because I'm the only one picking them, but I feel like the reasoning is very good. First, they outplayed USF last week but turned it over 5 times, so they lost. MICH played WMU pretty even but benefitted from a couple of bad WMU turnovers and turned them into TD's. So I think last week's performances were a little skewed in the public eye. I also think ND is a far superior team overall and Hoke's system at MICH will not be real effective this season. This game was around a TD spread for the last 6-8 weeks and after last week it has dropped in half. I feel like with ND I'm getting the better team, off a bad loss (motivation), and at a better number than it should have been. I'll take IRISH 27-14.
HEAD SCRATCHER OF THE WEEK
See if I can stay hot on these...this week I'll be a homer and pick on George Thomas for his SD Charger pick at -9 vs. the Vikes. I think the Purple have been underestimated this season, and the Chargers are notorious for their struggles in September to crush the hype the get going into every season (only to see them gain it all back by going 11-1 the rest of the way!). Team Purple as the biggest dog of the week is ridiculous. They have a lot of weapons on offense and should be able to put some points on the board. No KWill on D will hurt them, but I'm taking the 9.
GOOD LUCK ON THAT ACE!
Once again, we have a bunch of loners on some of these games - here's the list:
CP-AZ
SS-LOU
TN-FIU
MO-MIZZ
MT-FAU
MO-MSU
CP-TOL
JG-OREST (love the Becky hate!)
CP-MISST
JH-VT
MC-MARSH
JR-WF (can't screw me 2 wks in a row!)
MC-TULANE
CP-UNLV
MR-ARK
JG-FRES (new for 2011...NEB hate from JG!)
MC-ARKST
MC-WKY
AW-UCONN
MC-VAN
JG-USC
MT-UTAH
JR-ND
CP-SJST
CP-STL
GT-SD
JR-WAS
RO-SF
GT-NYJ
A few names on that list a lot this week - could be really good or really bad for their records.
GOPHERS - NMST
Last week was about as good as we could have hoped for a start without actually getting a win. The QB "controversy" is something from the land of make-believe and is not an issue. Shortell looked great as a sub, but that is where he'll continue. I'm fine with him getting a couple of series each game, in fact I think it would be great to make sure he stays sharp because he'll likely be needed again as much as Q will be getting beat up this year running the ball. Defensively I thought we were aggressive and played really well. We shut down the run game for the most part, and made the adjustments to fix the flaws in the passing defense.
This week we welcome in a team that is maybe the worst in the FCS. The got housed at home last week by a below average Ohio team. They ran the ball for 6 yards. I know, we've seen cupcakes like this come to town and play with us or even beat us over the last 4 years, but that time is over. The way that we'll run the ball will have the Aggies begging for mercy and the D will go on lock down and make this one a laugher.
CALL: GOPHERS win and cover 44-10.
PURPLE at BOLTS
As I mentioned earlier, I think the Purple are definitely being undervalued this season. An o/u of 6 for season wins is ridiculous. The team will improve their turnover ratio from the abysmal -11 from last year and is playing a last place schedule vs. a NFC Championship game schedule. That alone should give them an extra 2-3 wins. The chaos that went on in 2010 cannot be ignored. The defense looks fine, the offense looks better and has the potential to be explosive with 2 of the better playmakers in the league on their squad. Basically Vegas is saying the Chargers are a full TD better on a neutral field than the Vikes, which just isn't true. I like Rivers and what the Chargers have, but 9 points is ridiculous - and knowing the early season let down the Chargers usually have, I think the Purple might even have a shot to win this thing.
CALL: BOLTS 23 VIKES 20
**UPSET ALERT**
Here are some games that I like for possible money line plays to cash in this week:
WAS +3 vs. NYG
MIA +4 vs. NE - don't laugh
PIT +2.5 at BAL - automatic on this one, PIT hasn't lost as a road dog in 5 years!
UTAH +10.5 at USC
BYU +7 at TEX
We'll close with some good comedy, even for an Iowa site. The controversial Cy-Hawk will be played this weekend, and the hatred there is pretty thick. First of all, you should know that the Clones made their intro for the "big" game with UNI last week using a Nickelback song...that's so ridiculous and fitting. But beyond that, this article from a big-time Iowa site will make you understand a lot about the Cyclones.
Good Luck this weekend! I'll try and send out a Sunday morning update once I have all the Saturday results filled in so we have some ideas of what to look for in the NFL opening Sunday.
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