Did you miss the Picks? They are BACK for 2011

Ahhh, Labor Day weekend and I've already done a few laps I am so excited. And nervous too. Georgia is playing Boise State. While a bunch of people across the country will be rooting against the SEC (I don't know why other than jealousy by folks in the Big Ten +2 or the Pac12) or rooting FOR Cinderella (even though Boise is ranked #5! That's like calling Australia a Cinderella a the Summer Olympics), I would imagine there are a bunch of folks out there about to root FOR Georgia, only so maybe Boise State will stop bothering people. I cannot wait, or maybe I can. I dunno. I DO know the picks are HERE! Enjoy!

TONIGHT!
GT vs WCU. Paul Johnson isn’t in any hot water. Georgia Tech people that are calling for his head have been calling for his head for years. Last year was nothing new. Do I think Georgia Tech should have hired Randy Edsall instead of Johnson a few years back? Yes I do. I think Maryland got a GREAT coach in Edsall. However, Paul Johnson isn’t going anywhere and anyone calling for his head is an idiot. I mean the guy is a GENIUS! He’ll tell you himself. Tech rolls over the Catamounts.

20 Miss State @ Memphis. Miss State beat Georgia one year ago in a game that Georgia could have won with AJ Green. Hey NCAA, thanks a lot! I hate you guys some times. However thanks for not suspending Jarvis Jones. Bulldogs of the Mississippi variety win over Memphis.

UNLV @ 11 Wisco I cannot WAIT to see Russell Wilson in a Wisco uniform. Except that the offense will be kinda boring considering they will still run, run, run and every now and then pass with Wilson. I was talking to Chuck Oliver at the Georgia Dome and he mockingly said that Wilson went to Wisco because his girlfriend didn’t want him going to Auburn. Why, I asked. The WOMEN he responded. Ha. Wisco easily wins. Big 11+1 champs? MAY-BE!

Wake Forest @ Syracuse. Wake is bad. Syracuse is getting better. They went to a bowl last year. The game is AT Syracuse. Advantage ORANGE!

Kentucky vs WKU. This game is at a neutral site, I do believe. What neutral site are they playing at in KENTUCKY!? Churchill Downs? Of COURSE the Wildcats win. Cannot WAIT to see the Colonel Raymond Sanders run again. (Yeah, I called him that a few times on Score Atlanta’s The Official Visit and on the GPB webcasts, WANT TO FIGHT ABOUT IT?)

Friday
Youngstown State @ 17 Michigan State I heard that Youngstown State may erect a Jim Tressel statue. Cool. Will they also put one up for Pryor and put all of the tattoos on it that cost Tressel his job?

14 TCU @ Baylor. A really interesting matchup. For SOME reason TCU is #14 in the country, despite losing its QB and several other big players from the Rose Bowl win. Baylor meanwhile will be at home with RGIII under center. Hmmm, would this be an upset if a Big XII-II beat a MWC team at home?

Saturday
Akron @ 18 Ohio State “Ohio State STILL has a LOT of talent!” That is what SI is spouting in the preview issue. Yeah, and Luke Fickell is the coach, correct? It won’t matter vs. Akron. Buckeyes tattoo the zips. GET IT?

Utah State @ 23 Auburn The War Eagles (Plainsmen? Oh, right the Tigers!) open up its BCS title defense (until it is taken away in 2017) with Utah State. And did I see where Michael Dyer is no longer the #1 tailback? What? Auburn will lose 5 games but this won’t be one of them.

Northwestern @ BC The fighting Bob Houghton’s face off against the Matty Ices. While BC’s tailback is within breaking the ACC rushing record, I like Dan Persa more, even though he’s trying to come back a few months early from a leg injury. Mildkittens win!

Kent State @ 2 Bama. Seriously? Bama. They are going to take down Kent State like they are the trees on Toomer’s Corner….too soon?

App State @ 13 VaTech While I’d love for App State to relive 2007 and for VaTech to relive JMU 2010, it won’t happen. For ONCE Beamer isn’t scheduling a season-opening loss. Hopefully for Tech fans. I AM excited to see Logan Thomas pass for 600 yards and run for another 400 in this game though. Well that is the hype I am hearing about this guy…

SoFla @ 16 ND Notre Dame is supposed to go to a BCS Bowl game. Sure, then how come it took until last week for them to pick a quarterback? SoFla has Scott the RB transferring in from Colorado and Lou Holtz’s son coaching them up. PS the SoFla QB is pretty good and NO it isn’t Matt Grothe, who apparently had 19 years of eligibility FINALLY come to an end. I am seriously thinking of springing the upset…but the Officials won’t want to mess up Notre Dame to a BCS game in the VERY FIRST GAME of the year.

Minny @ 25 USC I saw where people are taking this game in their Upset of the Week game. I am not. I hate Lane Kiffin, but come on, NO WAY Matt Barkley loses this game.

Western Michigan @ Michigan . For my boy Hagadone, this one is all Big Blue. Did you know Denard Robinson’s nickname is Shoestring? That is funny.

JMU @ UNC. Out of respect for Everett Withers, I will take UNC in the “Fletcher could have gone to either one of these, but instead went to UGA and is SOOOO Glad he Did,” Bowl. And PS, UNC, GEORGIA was the first land grant university. Sorry. Stop lying on the tour.

Troy @ Clemson. I love me some Dabo. And against Troy? Are you kidding me? Dabo might actually outcoach someone. Well, probably not, but he definitely has better players.

BYU @ Ole Miss You’ve gotta love the Cougars and NO I am NOT talking about the football team. I am talking about the female fans of BYU because the student section is full of them. And most of them are all looking for the same man. And in Utah he can get away with it, at least according to Sister Wives. But seriously take BYU in this game. Jake Heaps.

W&M @ UVa. Mike London 1-0 in 2011! WaHoo Wa! That won’t last long, but he can say UNDEFEATED for at least 7 days.

FAU @ 22 Fla. The Gates (my boy Scotty calls them the Gates, so I will too) are facing a guy named Yourhighness Morgan. Nice name. Wait, does that guy play for FAU or FIU? I forget. No matter. You could take the FIU/FAU all-stars and STILL not beat Florida.

Tulsa @ 1 Oklahoma Tulsa is THE place for former High School coaches to go and later become OCs at BCS conferences (Malzahn, G; Morris, C). It is ALSO the place for coaches to then jump to the Big East, only to be fired in three seasons (Kragthorpe,S; oops, Sorry Graham,T. Did I jump the gun?) Go Boomer Sooner.

3 Oregon v 4 LSU will either team be able to field a team by the time this game kicks off? I want NOTHING MORE than for the SEC to sweep both Saturday night games, but with no Jefferson for LSU and the likelihood that Les Miles goes with Jarrett Lee over Zach Mettensexualassaulter makes me want to take Oregon. But you know, the O-Line is taking a hit for Oregon and LSU still has some hosses up front. Hmmmm. Oregon. Going with Oregon. They still have their QB and RB.

5 Boise State v 19 Georgia Keys to the game for Georgia: 1. use your size to your advantage. 2. Use the freak that is Orson Charles all game long. 3. Hit Kellen Moore every time he drops back (I’m looking at YOU Jarvis Jones!) 4. DBs, take advantage of the fact that they are breaking in new WRs that aren’t as good as Marlon Brown and Tavarres King. 5. Score more points. Do that and you will win.

Sunday
Marshall @ 24 WVa Should I be excited to see Dana Dana Dana as the new head coach of West Virginia? Geno Smith (no not that one) will be “under center” aka “in the shotgun” all game long and I guess they will score a bunch of points. Didn’t they do that with Pat White and Steve Slaton though? All that got them was a win over Georgia when they nearly blew a 28-point lead and an upset over OU that made you hire Bill Stewart. Sure you’ll beat Marshall, and probably win the Big East. Kudos. Then you’ll go lose to Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl. AWESOME.

Monday
Miami @ Maryland LOVE Edsall. Love him. GT should have hired him. But I also really like Al Golden. And PS, I wonder if Golden has one of those clocks in his office like Matt Albie did in Studio 60, but his is counting down until the end of the year when JoePa retires and Penn State calls him to come home. I would think that as soon as he sees caller ID saying it is Penn State, he probably immediately leaves the U to go packing. Make sure you turn the light out Al. One of The U’s colors is Green after all.