Friday, September 25, 2009

Weekly Friday Picks 9/25/09

Well Paul Mac was right again. Alabama will win the west because Ole Miss was incredibly overrated. I was high on the Ole Miss bandwagon entering the summer but slowly Paul broke me down and I became a Yellahammer convert. Now? Alabama may be the best team in the country. That SEC championship game is going to be huge when the Tide faces Georgia. (Ah, just seeing if anyone was paying attention.) Ole Miss lost last night and looked lost against South Carolina's D that Georgia rolled up 41 points on. After watching three of SoCar's games, I'm thinking that their defense is pretty good and Georgia's offense is just better than we all thought it would be. (Well, I knew we had the playmakers. Probably better receivers than Stafford ever had. Let's move on. I'm sick of patting myself on the back)
Ole Miss likely has the Bama loss, plus maybe even Arkansas and LSU on its schedule. The Rebels WILL make it to Atlanta in December....at the end of the month for the Chick-fil-A bowl....against GT.

Let's get to the picks!

#7LSU @ Miss State. I read where the Missstate fans are already talking about their stupid cowbells and how loud it is going to be for LSU. Hey Douchebags, leave the cowbells at home. You're going to lose. Save your eardrums in the process.

SoFla @ #18 FSU. Matt Groethe (or however you spell it) will miss the rest of the season, but that's OK since he's been at South Florida for 19 years. It is about time he moves on. Unless he somehow gets a 28th season of eligibility. Go with Christian Ponder and the Seminoles in this one. The Noles fans will probably be full of themselves for beating No.8 BYU but I think it is sad if they are. YOU GUYS USED TO BE FLORIDA STATE WHO WOULD CRUSH BYU WITHOUT BATTING AN EYE. YOU SHOULD HAVE WON THAT GAME!

Indiana @ #23 Michigan. This game is on ESPN2? Michigan will win but why is this game on ESPN2? Isn't this why the Big10 Network was invented?
Minnesota @ Northwestern. Oh. The Big10 Network was taken. I wonder, does Pam Ward moonlight with the Big10 network? She knows all of its teams. When her (his?) contract runs out with ESPN, she should look into moving to the Big10 network. Oh, go with Minnesota.

Michigan State @ Wisco. Wow, Sparty has lost two straight, both to crappy schools (CMU, Notre Dame) and now they face a third crappy team. Wisco might need this one to save Bret's job. MSU's coach isn't going anywhere. The fear of the Badgers wins it.

Wake @ BC. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard to go on the road in the ACC and win a gam...nevermind. Riley Skinner and the Deacs win this one no prob.

UTEP @ #2 Texas. Isn't UTEP where Mike Price ended up after never coaching a game at Alabama? Is he still there? Well if there are strip clubs in El Paso, you can bet he stuck around. Horns hook em!

Arkie @ #3 Bama. Paul Mac's Crimson Tide (he picked them, so I call them his boys. He didn't go there thank goodness. If he had, we couldn't be friends) should roll all over Arkansas, use them as a Tampon as if a Crisom Tide really was coming. Petrino pushed most, if not all of his chips in last week and he lost the bet. It is like on ESPN2 in the WSOP when the guy thinks he has the cards and bets big but his flush got beaten out by a straight flush. Poor guy. Now he's got barely enough chips to cover the small blind and he is going head-to-head against Johnny Chan from the mid-90s. Hey Petrino, if you can't spot the sucker, then you Are the sucker.

#6 Cal @ Oregon. Oregon got a BIG win last week over one of the cruddy mid-majors and that's all I really need from them. Cal and Jahvid Best run all over the Ducks because, come on. A Bear would beat a duck, HOWEVER PLUCKY, in a fight. Dominance scale wins EVERY TIME

#9 miami @ #11 VaTech. I love how after one big home win over Georgia Tech, suddenly that swagger is back with THE U. The de-coor was talking smack about the Tech offense and the QB is wearing designer sunglasses to do interviews. They'll win again in VaTech and you'll see Miami up in the top 7 by monday. VaTech, EXTREMELY overrated. I was wrong about them. I thought they'd lose to Bama then run the table in conference play. They lose here to prove me wrong. I still think VaTech beats GaTech in a few weeks, but they lose at home to the Canes. And John Michaels rejoices.

Illinois @ #13 Ohio State. Two years ago Juice and Co upset duh Ohio State in the Shoe but Ohio State still went to the BCS CG. Can Juice do it again? NO. The defense sees a Juice-like player everyday in practice in Pryor. They're ready for him. And Ron Zook never outcoached anyone, so I've got to give it to Tressel. And for the record, everyone saying that Pete Carroll is just like Tressel because CJT loses to the big guys and CPC loses to a Pac-10 every year....the comparison is not valid AT ALL. If CJT lost to Indiana it would be the same, but he doesn't. He just cannot be the BIG team. CPC CAN beat the big teams, he just cannot motivate his players against the little guy. I'd still want Carroll coaching my team in the Rose Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl or the BCSCG. Not Tressel, who chokes against Top 5 opponents outside of the Big11. (unless the game is rigged and handed to him.)

#15 TCU @ Clemson. I will count on the Tigers to do what the Wahoos could not: eliminate the Horny Toads from BCS consideration. I think the crew from Howard's Rock can do it. Kyle Parker and Co. should have beaten GT. They'll finish their drill against TCU, and another fly will leave the ointment.

Rutgers @ Maryland. WOW. Two teams that, if they fell off the face of the earth, I wouldn't mind and would actually be excited. Greg Shiano I bet wishes he could have a do-over with that miami offer to him. Hey, you're in New Jersey! You could be in South Beach, making more money. Way to blunder that one up. FOGLER! Take the Terps just to pile on.

UCF @ ECU. Remember when Skip and his Pirates made that run last season? Yeah, a LONG time ago. UCF wins this one. Where is East Carolina? In the Atlantic somewhere?

Pitt @ NCState. This is a game I wouldn't mind watching to be quite honest with you. Two middling teams in the two worst BCS conferences. Might be interesting though to see Russell Wilson go against Wanny's mustache. Wait, am I turning into The King? (Self-proclaimed btw. Tony Barnhart is way more King than you sir. But you were always kind to me, so I will not say anything more negative about you. But drop the King act, bro.) Take Pitt.

Grambling State @ #16 Okie State. Hey Pokes, how about you guys NOT LOSE THIS ONE EITHER. WAY TO MAKE GEORGIA'S LOSS TO YOU LOOK WORSE AND WORSE EVERY WEEK! YOU LOST TO HOUSTON! Pray that the Cowboys win this one. HOW DID WE LOSE TO YOU GUYS?

Ohio @ Tennessee. I must say, I loved Kiffin's response to Urban Cryer about using the "we're sick" excuse. LOVED IT. For the first time, I was a mini-fan of Lane Kiffin. It has passed, but I was a fan. Maybe the Vols suffer a bit of a letdown this week and Lane has to use the excuse this week. You never know. Vols win

Iowa @ #5 Penn State. Kate's boys will host Iowa and if the Jewel kid was healthy, I'd have this as my upset of the week, but Iowa cannot win it. My darkhorse pick was derailed before the season even began. Like Barbaro if you will. I will be watching this game with Paul and Cake, so I'd better pick Penn State.

Zona @ Oregon State. PAC-10 FOOTBALL! ONLY ON Fox Sports NET! (or is it Vs?) Who cares? Take the Beavers since Zona's TE is out.

Notre Dame @ Purdue. Will Jimmy Clausen go or will his toe keep him out? DOESN'T MATTER! THE IRISH ARE PLAYING PURDON'T! Not many games can the Irish go ahead and chalk up as a win, but this is one of them. Didn't you see Rudy? He was playing DE for THE Purdue on the scout team. That's about the resistance that Fupa's boys will face. A bunch of 5-foot nothin' 100-and-nothin' plays.

Wazzou @ USC. The men of Troy should have Matt Barkley back at QB and let's hope he doesn't go down with injury because I don't think Aaron Corp can go out there after sustaining injuries this week. What injuries you ask? Well I'm sure there are some broken bones after Pete Carroll threw him under the bus for the loss. USC would win this game with MITCH MUSTAIN playing QB. (How funny is it that he's the backup punter? I LMFAOd when I heard that.

Texas Tech @ #17Houston. Think much offense will be played in this game? Doubtful. Take the Cougars since the game is at Houston's stadium. Tech put up a bit of a fight last week but the real question is "why are the Red Raiders going to Houston?" In fact, why did UVA go to Southern Miss last week? Why did Oregon go to Boise State earlier this year? Why did FSU go to BYU? Why are the BCS schools going to these mid-major school's home stadium? You are ASKING to be upset. If you are Mike Leach, you say, "You want to play me? Fine, you're coming here. you want me to go to Houston?" Wait, if you live in Lubbuck, maybe you DO want to go to Houston. Nevermind.

Weekly Blue plate specials.
Lock of the week
#1 Florida @ UK. Tim Tebow is going TO Lexington and my cousin will surely be in attendance, drunk and yelling....but it won't matter. Why? Because you will never see anyone work harder than Mr. Tebow. Actually, I'm sure ditchdigger and people with GreenPeace work harder Tim. I've never done it, but I'm sure cleaning oil off baby otters is harder work than facing the Vanderbilt pass rush. JUST SAYING.

Upset of the week
#25 Washington @ Stanford. So just two weeks after owning a 15-game losing streak and just one week after knocking off USC at home, Washington is now the 25th best team in the country? I hate GT, but they would beat Washington. Just saying. Stanford puts the Huskies back in their place with a win in Palo Alto, home of Felicity. Just saying. She is from there.

Grown men playing a child's game for money.
Atlanta @ New England. There's the Falcons defense I was expecting. Right there against carolina. Now this week Atlanta gets to head to play a pissed off Tom Brady and the Pats, maybe without Wes Welker. Atlanta had better score some points if they want to beat New england, but the thing is, the team is playing with House Money. They are ALREADY 2-0 and will enter the bye week next week maybe 2-1 or possibly 3-0. Everyone thought they'd be 2-1 or maybe even 1-2 so they cannot lose this weekend. They can't. If they lose, well they were going to anyways. If they can continue to rattle Brady (his mind is making him freak out over that leg and likely will for the rest of the season) and actually WIN, then the team is 3-0 and can sit back and relax for a while. Good for Atlanta for taking care and winning two games that they SHOULD have won but still. Two games over defending division champs. Gotsta like that. Take New England, but root hard for Matty Ice.

Local rooting interest.
#22 UNC @ GT. This was one before the season started that I thought would be GT's first loss of the year. Butch Davis coaches defenses up, did it in Miami and did it last year at UNC. UNC lost a bunch of receivers, but that defense is fast and they'll play their assignments. I thought GT would be 3-1 after this game. Maybe they still will be, but I think they'll drop to 2-2 and I'll be happy again.

Arizona State @ #21 Georgia. The Dogs have fallen behind in all three games but rallied the last two weeks. Hopefully the defense can shock the ZonaState QB's shell early (in his first road start) and this can turn into a rout early in favor of Georgia. Look for both running backs to make an impact for Georgia and if AJ Green gets some space with the safeties having to help cover other receivers, look for him to have a repeat of last season when he exploded onto the national scene in front of Herbie and Muffburger. I say Georgia's defense CAN get pressure on the ZonaState offense and at least for one game, look good. CWM is safe for one afternoon, but I still think Jancek is going to be calling the defense after the bye week.

Have a great weekend of football and log on to gpb.org/football tonight as I'll be doing the Avondale @ Blessed Trinity game. I'll be watching golf tomorrow at East Lake so expect a blog about it Monday.

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