Week 2 Update

Here are the standings with 2 Monday Night games to go:

W L %
AW 11 4 73.3%
MR 9 4 69.2%
TN 9 5 64.3%
GR 8 5 61.5%
MH 8 6 57.1%
RO 8 6 57.1%
MO 8 6 57.1%
JH 8 6 57.1%
SS 7 6 53.8%
LW 7 6 53.8%
MS 7 6 53.8%
JR 7 7 50.0%
MC 7 7 50.0%
JG 6 8 42.9%
CP 6 8 42.9%
MT 5 8 38.5%
GT 5 8 38.5%

Bomb is in the driver's seat right now - Roe can still tie him with a NE -4 cover and a DEN -1 cover. If that happens we'll have a push and next week will be worth $100.

Full recap and Week 3 lines will be coming tomorrow.

Enjoy the drama tonight.

Week 2 Preview

The Football Challenge for 2011 is now officially in full swing as the NFL will kick off tonight. Sadly, it might be vomit inducing trying to listen to everyone gush over the Champs from last year. The good news is there is a nice NCAA game on as well, so you won't be forced to watch it in its entirety...but make sure to tune in for Brees 4th TD pass, or A-Rodge's concussion...those are sure to be fun.

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.

http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/2011/9/7/2405825/are-you-there-cyclone-fan-its-me-again

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.

Need Week 2 Picks from...

GREG
HEINERT
CORCORAN
OLSON
NELSON
SETNICKER
PEYTON
L.WENDLANDT


Remember - I need 5 NCAA/5 NFL/ 5 more of your choosing from either league for a total of 15 games.

Picks are due by NOON today.

Thanks.

Week 2 Lines

Here are the lines for week 2. With the NFL starting, here's what I need from you:

- Pick at least 5 NCAA games and 5 NFL games
- The remaining 5 games can be from either, so whatever combo you want

Get me your PICKS BY NOON THURSDAY.

AZ
OKST -15

FIU
LOU -4.5

MIZZ
ASU -6.5

IOWA
ISU 7

CMU
UK -13

FAU
MSU -33.5

TOL
OHIOST -20

OREST
WIS -17.5

SDST
ARMY 10

MISST
AUB 6

RUT
NC -9.5

CAL
COL 3.5

NMST
MN -18.5

VT
ECU 19.5

ALA
PSU 10.5

PUR
RICE -1.5

HAW
WASH -3.5

SOMISS
MARSH 8.5

STAN
DUKE 18.5

NCST
WF 1.5

TCU
AF 2.5

NEV
ORE -25

CIN
TN -6.5

TULSA
TULANE 14.5

SC
GEO 2.5

UNLV
WASU -14.5

TEM
AKR 13.5

NM
ARK -35

UAB
FLA -21

BALLST
USF -22

FRES
NEB -27.5

HOU
NTEX 22

MEM
ARKST -13.5

NILL
KAN 5.5

ULL
KENT -10

GT
MDTN 11

UTEP
SMU -17.5

VIR
IND 7

NAVY
WKY 12.5

BYU
TEX -7

UCONN
VAN 0

UTAH
USC -10.5

ND
MICH 3.5

BC
UCF -6.5

SJST
UCLA -21.5


NFL

NO
GB -5.5

ATL
CHI -1

IND
HOU 0

BUF
KC -7

TEN
JAC -2

CIN
CLE -2.5

PHI
STL 4

PIT
BAL -2.5

DET
TB -3

MIN
SD -9

NYG
WAS 3

CAR
ARI -3

SEA
SF -5.5

DAL
NYJ -4

NE
MIA 4

OAK
DEN -1

Week 1 Review

One week in the books, and we're setting records already.

TAIT NELSON is this week's winner at 13-2...yeah, not cool Tait.

Here are the official results from week 1:

W L %
TN 13 2 86.7%
MH 10 5 66.7%
MR 10 5 66.7%
SS 10 5 66.7%
CP 10 5 66.7%
MC 10 5 66.7%
GR 10 5 66.7%
RO 9 6 60.0%
MS 9 6 60.0%
MO 8 7 53.3%
MT 8 7 53.3%
AW 8 7 53.3%
LW 7 8 46.7%
JR 7 8 46.7%
GT 7 8 46.7%
JH 7 8 46.7%
JG 6 9 40.0%

For the week we hit 58.4% for the week - not bad at all.

Last place call-out for my guy JG - he was too busy worrying about which 5-6 song gap he was going to sleep through at PJ on Sunday!! Even so, 6-9 is not a disasterous start.

Tait only lost on his ORE pick and his MIZZOU pick - the rest were money in the bank. Congrats.

I will be sending out the slate for Week 2 in a moment.

Thursday Night Results

Day 1 of the season is over, I hope you all got a chance to watch some of these games last night...here's a quick recap.

First, the leaders in the clubhouse after 1 night:
MC = 4-0
AW = 3-0
MR = 2-0
TN = 2-0
MS = 2-0

I took a brutally bad beat last night in the WF-SYR game. WF up 26-14 with a 1st and goal at the 3, and their QB gets hurt. So they can't punch it in and get a FG for a 29-14 lead. Still feeling safe, but I was wrong...SYR scores twice and gets the 2 to tie the game. So I'm sitting with +6 and about 3 minutes left and the WF backup throws a pick in his own territory so SYR sets up for a GW FG. Of course WF can't just let the 3 pt loss happen and they block it! So we head to OT...all WF needs to do is lose the toss and score first at +6 to give me almost a guarantee. Nope, win the toss, play D, give up 7, and then not score on their possession. 7 pt loss...that hurts. Probably the only bad beat I'll have all year...

UNLV looked tough against Becky...I thought we were going to see an all-timer of a back door with UNLV scoring late, but Becky held on for a narrow 1.5 pt cover. My daughter, not quite 5 yet, has already figured out how we treat Becky. She says, "let's cheer against them, then we'll show them our butt and throw fire at them." It was a proud moment.

Other than that I watched a beauty of a game to close off the night between WKY-UK. 15 punts for nearly 700 yards and 7 combined turnovers...fun stuff.

A few more games on tap for tonight...good luck!

Week 1 Preview

17 men are entered, only one will leave with the cash for Week 1:


PICK SUMMARY
JR: FIU WF UTST NW WMU HOU ND BYU ARMY NMST BOISE ORE HAW WV MARY
JG: ND MARY UNLV IDAHO TCU KENT MICH ARKST MN FSU CLEM SJST RICE OK GEO
MR: OK GEO MISST WIS AUB OHIOST ALA USC STAN PITT FLA OKST TEX SC LSU
AW: WIS TEX ND TCU MICH MN FSU FIU HOU BYU ORE SYR MIZZ FRES A&M
GR: WIS ORE OK GEO MISST ALA USC OKST SC MARY NW BAY PUR ILL USF
MH: WIS ORE ALA SC MARY NW ND TCU MN AUB BOISE HAW UCLA OLE CAL
MC: WIS ORE ALA MARY NW UCLA MISST FIU BYU UTST NMST BGU COLST SOMISS COL
SS: WIS ORE ALA NW BYU COLST SC ND CAL OK USC TEX STAN PITT WV
RO: ALA ND CAL TEX WV UCLA SOMISS TCU MN AUB OLE GEO ILL MICH A&M
TN: WV MN WIS ORE NW SC OK MARY MISST BOISE BAY FSU MIZZ OHIOST BALLST
MT: OK ALA ND CAL TCU MICH USC STAN HAW PUR SYR LSU BC IND MIA
GT: ALA TCU USC STAN SYR ORE FSU TEX BGU OKST HOU WMU UK ECU LT
MS: TCU SYR OKST CAL MICH LSU MIA MN WIS BOISE MIZZ UCLA BYU FLA AKR
CP: CAL WIS UCLA BYU AKR USC STAN ORE BC WV BAY A&M UTST USF MIAOH
LW: USC STAN OKST MICH FLA ALA FSU ECU OK ND PUR OHIOST NMST ARKST RICE
JH: USC MICH ND UCLA BYU AKR A&M TCU SYR LSU MIA IND COLST CLEM MEM
MO: UNLV TCU NW OHIOST PUR KENT MICH ILL MN OLE STAN ECU ORE HAW MARY

Besides this each preview week, I like to throw in a few opinions and fun facts to keep it interesting.

CLEAN OUT THE SAVINGS
This is my guarantee lock of the century of the week pick for Week 1....

Week 1 is tricky for this, but I'm going with OREGON +3 over LSU. I still think the Duck offense is too much for most everyone to handle, even if you have 10 future NFL guys on your defense. Early in the season on a neutral field...I really don't like the Tigers chances Saturday night. The Jefferson suspension doesn't help them, but I don't think it necessarily hurts them either. The guy does just as much harm as he does good for the Grass Eater. Prediction...DUCKS 31 GRASS EATER 17.

HEAD SCRATCHER OF THE WEEK
I started calling these out last year, and pretty much every time I called you out for making what appears to be a questionable pick in my mind, it would work well for you. So despite me calling out a questionable pick in this section - it tends to work in your advantage and you will likely win. Let's see if the trend continues this year...

This week the lucky winner is HAMMER and his pick of MEM over MISST (-24). 4 other guys are on MISST, and Hammer is alone on his Tiger love. MEM has been worse than bad the last couple of years, and MISST beat them last year in the opener 49-7. MISST has basically the same team back from last year and I don't see any reason that they won't house MEM again.

GOOD LUCK ON THAT ACE...
With 17 guys each picking 15 games this week it's a rare occasion that only 1 guy would be on a team by himself...but we have a few. These could actually make or break the week for these guys, it's a win that you can add that nobody else will have, but it could also work against you...time will tell.

JH - MEM
JR - WF
JG - IDAHO
GT- UK
CP - MIAOH
JG - SJST
AW - FRES
TN - BALLST
JR - ARMY
GT - LT
MC - COL

GOPHERS at USC
I have a Gopher addiction, so each week I will throw out my opinion on their game, the Purple game, and anything else that might be relevant that week. For this week, I have an opinion on every game but I've only got the time to tell you about this one. The Jerry Kill era kicks off at USC at 2:30 Saturday and the line has grown from 18 to 23.5. Not a lot of love from the public for the Maroon and Gold. However, Colin Cowherd has MN +23.5 as one of his top 2 best bets for the week, and Pat Forde straight up called for the upset W for Kill and company on Saturday. I think a line right around 3 TD's is accurate, but I have a hard time putting a team with a coach in his first game on my list this week. I think the offense will be working the kinks out, the D will look okay but it's still USC and they'll score some points. I like a cover on the 23.5 number so I'll say USC wins 28-10.

My official season call on the Gophs is 6-6 with wins coming in the next 3 non-conf games, and then going 3-5 in the B10 with wins over PUR, ILL, and IOWA. I also don't hate our odds against MICH, NW, and Sparty. NEB and WIS are the "class" of the conference...or at least that's what all the experts keep telling me. NEB I agree with, even though they might have the toughest B10 schedule of them all. WIS looks to be in-line to be elite again, but I'm not 100% sold on Wilson as their QB. He's was solid at NCST, but this is a totally different animal. He's not exactly accurate and he has had INT issues in his past...let's hope both of those show up once again and he bombs for the Beckys. I'll call NEB over PENNST in the innaugural B10 Title game.

I'll send out a recap of the action on Monday (maybe Tuesday this week because of the Holiday).

Enjoy the games!! Good Luck!!

Still need picks from...

Every THUR morning I'll send out this reminder in case you have not turned in your picks yet. The deadline is NOON TODAY, so I still need picks from the following guys:

ROE
HEINERT
CORCORAN
SETNICKER
L.WENDLANDT

Everyone else is in already - thanks.

I also still need some cash from the following guys - please get it in the mail as soon as you can so we can be done with the collections and start the payouts:

HEINERT
ROE
L.WENDLANDT
OG
CORCORAN

Everyone else is all paid up and ready to go.

I'll send out the Week 1 Preview once I have collected all the picks.