Friday Picks....get em while they're hot!

"We just didn't play Georgia Tech football tonight." That was a quote from some Georgia Tech footballer last night following the Yellow Jackets' 33-17 loss to Miami. I find it quite funny when a player on a second or third tier team says this line. "That's just not Auburn Basketball." Heard that one last season.
How about you guys establish a tradition and then it can be ___ football or ___ basketball. I think last night Tech should have tried to play USC or Florida football. Then maybe they'd have won.
In fact sir, you DID play Georgia Tech football last night. You ran a gimmicky offense that against a skilled team where the players play their assignments, you will lose every time. JUST SAYING. That IS Georgia Tech Football.

And with that, let's move on to THE PICKS!

No.10 Boise State @ FrezNO State. I thought the Frez could pull off the upset against Wisco and they blew it. They HAD IT and they blew it. I am tempted to pick the Bulldogs again this week, but since that Hout guy is PLAYING (you know, the guy that instigated the LaGarrett Blount situation) I've got to go with the Broncos, ONLY because my crystal ball is showing me that BSU will make it to the Sugar Bowl where Georgia will beat them and get no credit for it.

Temple @ #5 Penn State. Hey JOEPA, no WONDER you are the winningest coach of all time (sorry Ed Robinson). You play Temple and Akron two weeks apart. How did Villanova avoid the schedule? Take the SpreadHD.

#8 Cal @ Minnesota. A finalist for the upset of the week, I decided to go ahead and take Jahvid Best and the Golden Bears. I wonder, Ryan Atwood said he played safety in PeeWee football during Season 3 of The OC. If you take into account the show went off the air in 2007, which would have been his freshman year, but he took the year off, and you KNOW he was lifting weights while training for Cage Fighting....He would have returned to Cal 2008 as a walk-on and you KNOW he'd have been hitting the crap out of the pansy 1st team offense (they play in the Pac-10 after all), so You'd think Tedford would have at least given him a look as a sophomore. It probably didn't help that he played soccer in high school instead of football, but hey, he has aggression. I say he would be starting on special teams right now. The Gophers return team wouldn't stand a chance against Atwood. A bit undersized though....

#11 Ohio State @ Toledo. Didn't the Rockets beat Michigan last season? And after losing to Purdon't the team rocked Colorado. If Ohio State is still in a miserable fog....., nah. Toledo won't win this one. Ohio State will rally on the road in the closing minutes, but it WILL be a nailbiter. Ohio State really isn't that strong if you think about it. Even in their national title year, they had to rally to be CINCINNATI back when the Bearcats weren't what they are today, that is CHAMPION OF THE BIG EAST! (but who COULDN'T win that? Oh wait, Rutgers. That's who!)

Duke @ #22 KU. WHAT A GREAT BASKETBALL MATCHUP! Cannot wait to see these two teams hit the hardwood for this....wait, this is a basketball game? Oh, then go with Todd Reesing and the Rock Chalk Jayhawks. Just like you would in basketball... Hey Cutcliff, bet you wished you had Greg Paulus on your team now? Wait, you don't? You don't care because you have a guy that was once busted for plagiarism running your show. Good move there Cutty! No wonder Ole Miss could never win with Eli running the show. HE only won a Super Bowl....

ECU @ #24 UNC. I know where North Carolina is. I know where South Carolina is. Where is East Carolina? In the Atlantic somewhere? The Non-state loses. Go with the Heels

Louisville @ UK. Steve Crap-thorpe needs this one to maybe save his job. He won't get it. But PLEASE I hope this isn't the game where UK realizes Randall Cobb is their best QB. I hope they discover it AFTER the Georgia game. If Joker Phillips is reading this blog, disregard EVERYTHING I just said. Randall Cobb should ONLY return pooch punts....

BC @ Clemson. WOW, two years ago, how big was this game? Now that BC decided to fire Coach Jags who just took them to back-to-back ACCCGs, and Klimpsen has Dabo in charge, this game doesn't even deserve the Raycom coverage it will likely get. Take the Tigers though because Dabo IS my favorite ACC coach.

Wofford @ Wisco. I don't think the Kickin' Jimmys have a chance, but I wanted to give a shoutout to Jimmy Miner, recent inductee to the Terrier HoF. Good work. Badgers burrow to a win.

North Texas @ #4 Bama. Was THIS the team that Kathy Ireland kicked for in that bad Sinbad movie? And PS how come whenever a girl wants to be on a football team she always tries out as kicker (At Colorado and Duke?) Why doesn't she try to be a punter? I kicker I would think would get hasseled more over missed kicks opposed to a punter. What ever happens to a punter? And think, she could TOTALLY take a dive when the rush is on and the refs would totally buy it. Just saying....Bama wins.

Furman @ Mizzou. I think the Tigers are vulnerable and if Furman still had White Lightning Josh Cole running routes for them, I'd say FU pulls off the upset. Alas the days of #80 roaming the field are finished. Go with the Tigers.

#3 USC @ U-Dub. Washington FINALLY WON A GAME LAST WEEK! YEA! They won't make it two in a row. Men of Troy behind Aaron Corp win. Might we see Mitch Mustain? Doubtful, unless they show a sideline shot of Mustain getting someone water. HA!

Tulsa @ #12 Oklahoma. Sam Bradford is OUT and Tulsa can pile up the points. Could Tulsa pull off the unthinkable? No. Otherwise this would be the upset of the week. Come on. Think guys!

#19 Nebraska @ #13 VaTech. Usually this game would be played at night, where the atmosphere at Lane Stadium is "electric" but it is a 3:30 day game. Might be an advantage for the Huskers. But I doubt it. VaTech's two RBs get the best of the blackshirt defense and Tyrod Taylor does his best HokieVick impression to get the win for Beamer.

Michigan State @ ND. Sparty has OWNED Notre Dame in South Bend. But they lost to CMU last week and ND barely lost to Michigan, only losing because of poor clock management by the Fupa-master. I say Fupa does a better job of clock management and gets ND back in the running for a BCS bowl game. ACTUALLY I hope ND plays UGA in the Sugar, then Georgia could whoop that arse! But my luck would have ND playing Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, a game NO ONE outside of Columbus, Chicago and New Jersey would watch.

uva @ Southern Miss. UVA deserves the lower case because of the loss to William and Mary. Now they go ON THE ROAD to play SoMiss? Groh must GO and he will after the season. After this game, he'll be 0-3.

Zona @ Iowa. The Hawkeyes were my darkhorse pick for the Big11 title until the Jewel guy was ruled out for the season. Enh, they still beat Zona and Mike Stoops who has NO QB and NO REASON to still be the Arizona coach. This guy is like Al Groh. Expect Brother Bob to rehire him however and OU might be a good defensive team again....

#17 Cincy @ Oregon State. I WANTED to take Quizz and the Beavers to dam up the Bearcats, but Tony Pike has impressed me. I haven't watched or anything, just seen stats from TSNdaily email. He has impressive numbers and we know the Pac-10 doesn't play defense. Take the Bearcats.

FSU @ #7 BYU. Dadgum it, take the Stormin' Mormons in this one. FSU barely beat Jax State last week and Max Hall is truly a Man amongst Boys. He is 38 I think. Just kidding. Hey, I've never watched Big Love, but my girl Ginnifer Goodwin is in it, so I might have to netflix it. Loved her in He's Just Not That Into You. I'm sure she's just as good. Right? Take the Cougars in their Den.

Northwestern @ Syracuse. It might not be a good game (heck, Greg Paulus is a QB for one of the teams) but BY GOOD the stories Sunday morning about it will be TERRIFIC! Ummm take Paulus at home.

Miss State @ Vandy. It is SO hard to go on the road in the SEC....unless you go to Vandy. I am tempted to say Dan Mullen gets his first SEC win, but I cannot go against Bobby Johnson. Take the Dores.

West Va @ Auburn. This was the game last season where Tommy Tuberville lost his mind. His team was destroyed by Pat White and he was so mad he refused to let them wear jackets or use the heaters. Who is this guy? Nathan R Jessup from A Few Good Men? Coach, no wonder you got Firet! [sic] Though I know uva would LOVE to have you and after last night, I don't think Miami will be looking for a new coach for a while. (The Bill Stewart syndrome) West Va is good, but Auburn wins with Gus calling the plays and with Bill Stewart on the other sideline.

Texas Tech @ 2 Texas. Perhaps only Florida has more motivation than the Longhorns do for a game this week. Texas had TWO shots to win this game last season and play for the national title, but a dropped interception (the ball was IN HIS HANDS) and a missed tackle led to the Red Raiders being elevated to No.1. Too bad they then promptly lost to OU by 900 points. TTU lost their weapons and though Mike Leach loves pirates, I don't think that is enough. The Horns HOOK the Red Raidahs.

K-State @ UCLA. Will Ricky Boy's team have a fall-off after knocking off the Vols in Rocky Top? Probably. But that will still put them on about 8 levels higher than K-State. Sorry Bill Snyder, you lost this one.

Pro-fess-ci-ahh-nal action.
Atlanta v Carolina. Turn-back-the-clock unis for the Falcons as Matt Ryan and Co will wear 1966 jerseys. Was Charlotte even a city back then or just a stop on the NASCAR circuit? Jewel of the south, GIVE ME A BREAK. Atlanta wins this NOT ONLY because they have a better team (and Paul Mac will be there) but because Charlotte is trying to steal "Capital of the South" from Atlanta. TAKE THAT! (Though I do like how their airport has rocking chairs.)

Weekly Bluelight specials...
Lock of the week.
Tennessee @ #1 Florida. Hey Lane, too late with all of the praise. Urban remembers and knows it is just a matter of time before you start slamming him again. Dude, this guy was mad at UGA for celebrating a touchdown. YOU CALLED HIM A CHEATER. Good luck. Florida couldn't score 70 against Troy or Charleston Southern, but look for them to break 90 against the Vols.

Upset special.
#18 Utah @ Oregon. I am giving the Ducks ONE MORE CHANCE at knocking off one of the flies in the Ointment. So far OU and Oregon have failed me with BYU and Boise State, but I think the Ducks rally around each other and take out the Utes. No Blount, no problem! Drugs are bad anyways. The QB wins it for Oregon.

Local rooting interest
Thoughts from Miami's 33-17 win over GT last night. I thought Paul Johnson would outcoach Randy Shannon, and he MAY have x&o-wise, CRS had emotion going for his team. I got the feeling watching this game that it was JUST like the UGA/Okie State game in that Miami pushed their chips in, taking a big gamble on this game and they won. NO WAY they were losing it. GT will live to play another day, but it is yet another game where we see what happens when this offense goes against pure talent that plays their assignments. LSU stomped them and now so did Miami. Clemson should have won, but the defense wasn't as talented. Georgia last season didn't play assignments (ellerbe and jones, I'm looking at BOTH OF YOU!). CPJ will soon realize that if he goes against a talented team that sticks to the plan, he'll lose 8 out of 10 times. But not everyone will stick and that's how he'll win 8 per season. Hey, he's Chan Gailey!

#23 Georgia travels to Arkansas. Georgia showed last week that if they are going to win, Rennie Curran must play his butt off on Defense (which he always does) and playmakers must make plays on offense. PS Georgia has a bunch of playmakers on offense so that shouldn't be a problem. At least ONE will make at least ONE play. AJ Green, Branden Smith, TKing, Orson Charles, Dick Samuel and now Caleb King. Throw in Prince Miller on PR and Brandon Boykin on KR and you have playmakers. Joe Cox played well against SoCar, save for his channeling Matt Stafford there in the 4th qtr and he just has to steady the ship. Justin Houston's return has me giddy and I think the playmakers are the difference in this one.

Enoy the weekend and if you are bored tonight, head over to www.gpb.org/football and check out ME doing the Carver-Columbus/Baldwin game tonight. OR tune to 790 The Zone Sunday from 1-4 for the Score Atlanta Scoreboard show. Good fun. We celebrate Roomie's Birthday tomorrow, as it was on Tuesday. Happy Belated, but I DID text you, so THERE!