This weekend is Halloween. I have been VERY disappointed the last few years with my old Sandy Springs neighborhood in the fact that ZERO trick-or-treaters came up for candy. WHAT THE HECK? I was wearing my cow costume and the dogs were dressed up and for NOTHING. I had to eat ALL that candy by myself...Terrible. And the year before, Halloween was on a Wednesday, if I am remembering correctly. I remember getting a newsletter saying that the kids were going to go that Friday night, after halloween. NO. I'm sorry. When I was a kid, I went trick-or-treating ON HALLOWEEN, aka October 31. NOT the Friday/Saturday before or after. ON THE ACTUAL DAY. If a kid HAD come to my door three days after halloween, I would have thrown water in his face. If she/he had come early, I'd have said, "oops, sorry, I haven't bought my candy yet." Give me a break, NOT going on the Actual day? That is just stoopid. Sorry, but whatevs.
Let's get down to the picks. And we'll start with tonight's contest.
#21 West Va @ SoFla. West Va won last week over UConn in a very emotional game for the Huskies and really for the rednecks-er-Mountaineers. Will there be any sort of letdown against the free-falling SoFla Bulls? Doubtful. Hey, I wonder if West Va fired its head coach and got a Chinese Communist leader to become head coach, would they be called the Mao-untaineers? Sorry, I've been waiting to use that one.
#8 Cincy @ Da Cuse. Well, I'm now over the whole Greg Paulus as QB for Syracuse thing. It was fun for a while, but other things have captured that little space of my attention that Paulus as QB was holding hostage. For example...Why are the Slumdog millionaire kids jeopardizing their trust fund by not going to school? Why is a guy so stupid to think that he could drive his car into a sinkhole and then destroy/change evidence and this he would get away with it? Why do people CONTINUE to drive with hazards on in the rain? Those are just THREE things that I think about more these days than Greg Paulus as QB of the Orange. Cincy rolls.
NCSU @ FSU. I'm sure the Noles would LOVE to bust out their black unis for Halloween, but since they started stinking, they are now getting the crappy start times. I doubt they will bust out the black jerseys for a noon kickoff. And even if they did, the fans won't care. Why? Because FSU isn't that good this season....But NCState lost to Duke, so I'll go with the Noles in this one.
Purdue @ Wisconsin. This game is at noon on ESPN2....which means ONE THING. THE PAM WARD DANCE PARTY HITS MADISON THIS WEEKEND! The thing that makes this great is that Wiscon students already have a Burrow dance that they can do in unison. AWESOME. They will celebrate the Badgers win by doing the Burrow all night long. I am betting that Pam Ward might even bust out the cobra!
#25 Ole Miss @ Auburn. After this weekend all of the fools that said Chizik couldn't coach and was the wrong man for the job will come back out of the woodwork. You know, the same fools who yelled at him when he got off the airplane to accept the job...then who were singing his praises the first few weeks of the season. yep, they'll turn back. Take the Rebs.
San Jose State @ No.7 Boise State. And Bronco fans wonder why they aren't getting more respect about potentially playing in the national title game. Ummmm because you are playing SAN JOSE STATE! Listen, your conference is what your conference is. Yes, it sucks. However, when your conference schedule sucks, you MUST go out and play the hardest Non-conference known to man. Oh, you have to go on the road, DO IT. whatever money you lose this season, you'll make back in three or four years when you suddenly are recognized as a legit non-BCS power. Maybe even you get annexed into the Pac10 if/when they decide to expand. But UC Davis, Bowling Green....Crap Crap Schedule. Broncos will win. Why? Because they are playing SJSU!
19 Miami @ Wake. Did I really just read in Sporting News where they thought Riley Skinner was going to BUST OUT in this game? Rrrrrrrrrrrrrright, against Army, the guy loses, but against the No.19 team in the country, Riley Skinner is going to have a HUGE GAME? Against the ONLY team to shut down GT, Riley Skinner is going to go crazy? Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright. I'll still go with the Canes. Hey Randy Shannon? What is the status of THE U? is it back?
#24 Cal @ Arizona State. This is what pac-10 teams do, I swear. They get into the top 10, lose two or three straight and drop out of sight, then beat up on the other crappy teams in the conference and suddenly, Cal is back ranked again, despite the fact that they'd lose to several teams not ranked and not even receiving votes in the AP Poll (I'm talking about Georgia.) But Cal will win and likely move into the top 20. Because it is SOOOO tough to go on the road in the Pac-10 that they'll get that bump.
Michigan @ Illinios. Could this be the final nail in Ron Zook's coffin? Possibly. Michigan will win (they owe me after last week) but I don't think the Illini fire Zook. Who is going to replace him? Who will be better than Zook? Think about it. The Illinois job isn't anything to write home about. Would Brian Kelly take it? NO. Would Chris Petersen take it? No. So you're going to hire the guy from Akron (for example) who will leave in two years for the Arkansas job? No. Illinois NEEDS Ron Zook.
KU @ Texas Tech. Wait, what happened to KU's ranking? Oh, that's right. They aren't good and don't deserve one. But I did hear that TTU will be starting a redshirt frosh at QB. Won't matter. they'll just pass and pass and pass and Todd Reesing won't be able to keep up. And can The KU QB change his name for the Halloween holiday to Todd Reese's? Just wondering. And PS, this HAS to be Mangino's favorite Holiday, right? I mean, he gets to eat candy all night long. How much candy do you think he buys, because you know he plows through a bag just standing in line a Kroger. "One for you, two for me...."
#12 Penn State @ Northwestern. I am too afraid of getting another phone call from Kate telling me I was wrong, so Kate, here you go. Penn State DESTROYS NU. Penn Kate!
Miss State @ UK. Hey Miss State, how come you couldn't nail Tebow a few more times? I know you just Pick-6'ed him twice, so now he won't throw when close to the endzone, instead he'll just bulldoze in there. Thanks. And hey Rich Brooks, way to pull the CMR and say, leading up to your blackout, "Um, last time I checked, our colors are blue and white..." when asked if you were going with black unis. You didn't answer the question, just like Richt didn't in 2007. We KNOW you are going with Black unis. As long as Randall Cobb is your QB, you'll beat Miss State.
Wazzou @ #23 Notre Dame. I read where ND's AD was catching some heat because the next few seasons, Notre Dame was shying away from some traditional rivalry games to play some new blood. Is Wazzou a traditional one for you? Didn't think so. I have a better idea....join the Big East and give that conference some cred (you are ALREADY in there in B-Ball) and you can play those 8 games Plus Still Michigan State, Michigan, Navy and USC as your non-conference. Done. You are welcome. Notre Dame beats Wazzou and IMMEDIATELY jumps to No.7 in the country. Hey, BC, you could have ended this. But you failed...
No.22 SoCar @ Tennessee. Steve Spurrier should challenge Kiffin to say that the loser has to pump gas for two hours. For Kiffin, he'd eat up the free ESPN press and if Tennessee wins, he can tell all of the recruits from SoCar, "See, I told you..." After Kiffin said the whole "if you go there, you'll end up pumping gas" comment, you'd have thought that the kid would have responded, "I bet you'd do it if it got you a free pop on ESPN." Take SoCar because Kiffin gets what is coming to him and I think Stevie believes he can make Atlanta. Not sure how, but he can hold out hope. (If UGA beats Florida, SoCar beats Florida and Vandy beats Florida, then UGA loses to either Aubie or UK....Steve can dream)
No.3 Texas @ #14 Okie State. So Dez Bryant has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Hey NCAA, thanks for dragging your feet on that one. But somehow, someway (thanks Snoop) they've kept winning, even without Kendall Hunter. That all stops in Stillwater when Tey-haas comes acallin'. Wifey's Boy Colt McCoy asserts himself as the Heisman frontrunner with a big game because, well, he's better than Joe Cox and Cox was able to slice this defense up (at least on the first drive).
#5 USC @ #10 Oregon. I've read the SI piece about how Oregon is doing it with Defense. I've read that Oregon is AT HOME, ready to take down USC, who is seemingly down this season, in a transition year. I really don't think it happens. Even if LeGarrett Blout is out there, I don't think it matters. USC's stable of RBs helps out the freshman QB, because it can be SOOOOOOOOOOOOO scary going ON THE ROAD in the Pac-10....Take the men of troy because I don't believe in the Ducks.
Michigan State @ Minnesota. After the beatdown last week at the hands of the Buckeyes, why would anyone with kids go to the Gophers game and miss trick-or-treating? Oh wait....because it is, what, -18 degrees in Minnesota right now? Ahhh. but wait, they now have an outdoor stadium. Seriously, and you guys want to have this at night? Sparty wins this one because I choose to punish the Gophers (and the Twins) for going from indoors to outdoors. Why do you hate your fans?
Special Treats...(Make sure the candy is factory-wrapped)
Lock of the week. Indiana @ No.4 Iowa. I know Iowa just lost another RB, but they are facing Indiana. Not good for the Hoosiers in that this isn't basketball. I am not certain I buy the idea that Fulmer heads to Indiana though. Just not certain that is going to happen. He'd be a more logical choice at Louisville. (keep dreaming if you think you Cards are getting Gruden). As for Iowa, they'll win this one and not look ahead because CKF is that good, that he can keep his players from looking ahead.
Upset of the week. Duke @ UVa. Daddio isn't going to be happy with me. UVa refused to run last week against GT and that is their strong suit. Duke can get to a bowl and I like Cutcliff as a coach WAY more than I do Groh. I say Groh loses this one (hey, the guy lost to William and Mary at home) and Groh really, finally goes at the end of the season. Duke is motivated, with two straight ACC wins. They are close to a bowl. I'd love to see Duke become eligible against GT, but that isn't likely to happen. This game IS likely however. If Simpson is healthy, UVA waltzes, but he didn't look healthy last week.
Local teams going at it.
No.11 GT @ Vandy. Hey, GT, stop trying to say that you could do well in the SEC. You've played Miss State (the worst team in the SEC West) and you will have played and beated Vandy (the worst team in the SEC East). Then you'll beat UGA (the worst team overall in the SEC, according to JCole) and you'll brag. Play LSU, wait you did and lost. Play Alabama. Play Florida. Play a real team (and UGA doesn't count. As long as CWM is there....) But you'll beat Vandy. I say next year, Georgia should play NC State and UVa and then claim it would OWN the ACC. That's the SAME THING YOU GUYS ARE DOING!
Georgia @ No.1 Florida in Jax. It IS a road game, but CMR doesn't have to count it in his "amazing road record." IF Georgia can get after Tebow, find a special play on special teams and hit AJ Green for AT LEAST two big plays....then Georgia has a chance. So much needs to go right for Georgia as well as several things need to go wrong for Florida for the Dawgs to have a chance. Come on bye-week majik! I refuse to pick a winner here because I love my alma mater.
If you have time tonight, log on to gpb.org/football to see ME (and Charles Ward) calling the SWD/Tucker game. Should be a great one!
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