NFL Week 4

Bills (-3.5) over Bengals – might as well not pick against them anymore
Panthers (+6.5) over Bears – after last week’s performances, which team do you think is better?
Titans (+1.5) over Browns – both teams are too tough to pick, hence the spread
Lions (+3.5) over Cowboys – how about the respect for the Lions?
Chiefs (+1.5) over Vikings – beware of the home dogs
Redskins (+0.5) over Rams – I’d hate to be playing a team that didn’t give up a touchdown but still lost
Saints (-7.5) over Jaguars – welcome to the NFL Blaine Gabbert
Eagles (-6.5) over 49ers – quit bitching Vick, I think you hit those dogs too much, this is Karma
Texans (-3.5) over Steelers – sneaky good Texans team here, this is their year to make the playoffs
Falcons (-4.5) over Seahawks – eventually the Falcons will get going, probably in time for the playoff run
Giants (-1.5) over Cardinals – the Giants turned a corner last week, the NFC East should be very tough
Packers (-13.5) over Broncos – you know it’s time for Tim Tebow when you are two-touchdown dogs
Patriots (-4.5) over Raiders – before last week, I bet this line was double figures
Chargers (-8.5) over Dolphins – are the Dolphins destined for a date with Andrew Luck
Jets (+3.5) over Ravens – this will be the best game this week, mark my words
Buccaneers (-8.5) over Colts – this is why Peyton Manning should be the MVP every year, his team SUCKS without him

Last Week: 6-10
Season: 27-21

College Football Week 5

Before we get into this week’s college match-ups, how about the simultaneous epic collapses of the Braves and Red Sox?? Was it me or did the Yankees look pleased with the way they screwed over the Sox? I mean you have to try really hard to blow a 7-0 lead in the eighth. More respect for the Phillies who played their hearts out and aided in the Cardinals postseason entry. I bet there is some sort of karmic realignment before we’re all said and done. Phillies over the Rangers in 6.

There was lots of chatter about LSU jumping Oklahoma after last week. Which team do you think looked more convincing in their win? OU at home giving up 500 yards of offense, 2 turnovers and 28 points to Mizzou or LSU dominating West Virginia?

Baylor over Kansas State – RG3 is going to show us just how weak k-State’s non-con schedule was
Georgia Tech over NC State – which will happen first: Georgia Tech puts up 700 yards of offense or the ACC gets some respect?
Virginia Tech over Clemson – speaking of ACC, are you ready for the slaughter that will leave everyone with at least 3 losses?
Alabama over Florida – Bama is for real, the Gators are just hanging around waiting for South Carolina to slip up
Notre Dame over Purdue – why don’t they just join the Big Ten already?
Wisconsin over Nebraska – crossing my fingers for a 4-8 finish from the Cornsuckers
Navy over Air Force – are we going to have another couple weeks of hearing about the awesomeness of the triple option offense
Texas A&M over Arkansas – welcome to the SEC… wait, that’s not ‘til next year?
Auburn over South Carolina – upset alert: which team is actually overrated?
Ohio State over Michigan State – I have no clue on this game

Last Week: 7-3 (47 pts.)
Season: 27-13 (174 pts.)

NFL Week 3

If you’d have showed me the Chiefs 2011 schedule 3 years ago, I’d have said they’d start 2-0. I definitely would have said that as late as Sept 10th. Two torn ACLs and dozens of bad play calls later, they are 0-2 (and the teams they played are both 2-0, wow!). By the way, if you are looking for a fantasy football advice nugget this week, take the Chargers… all of them. On my ESPN Gridiron Challenge this week, I have Mathews, Tolbert, Jackson, Gates, Novak and the Chargers D. I didn’t pick up Rivers because Cam Newton is cheaper and I have a feeling Rivers will throw a couple picks early.

This rash of injuries has to be directly linked to the lack of offseason training and conditioning. Jamal Charles’ injury was a freak accident, but that hit Tony Romo took really punctured his lung?? They should have moved the first two or three games of the season to the end of the season. Sure, they’d be playing the Super Bowl on President’s Day weekend, but at least they’d have had more time to get their bodies ready.

Chargers (-14.5) over Chiefs – Which Chief will tear their ACL this week? I’m hoping for Cassel, but it will probably be Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali, or Brandon Albert.
Lions (-3.5) over Vikings – That’s right, I think the Lions will start 3-0.
Packers (-3.5) over Bears – So Jay Cutler has been sacked more than any QB in the league this year; expect that to continue this week.
Jets (-3.5) over Raiders – The Raiders deserve some credit for running the ball well, but the Jets have looked good so far.
Broncos (+6.5) over Titans – These teams are too evenly matched for this spread, despite Tennessee’s win over the Ravens.
Browns (-2.5) over Dolphins – This game should be close, but not that close.
Patriots (-8.5) over Bills – The Bills circled the wagons last week, but they probably won’t be a road block to Brady’s 8,000-yard passing season.
Bengals (-2.5) over 49ers – Andy Dalton for Rookie of the Year (oh wait, there’s that Cam Newton guy).
Texans (+3.5) over Saints – Have you been watching Houston’s defense??
Giants (+7.5) over Eagles – A concussed Michael Vick or a healthy Vince Young?? Is there a third option?
Panthers (-3.5) over Jaguars – Okay, I’ll buy the Newton hype.
Ravens (-3.5) over Rams – Last week was an aberration.
Falcons (+1.5) over Buccaneers – Now here’s a line that makes sense, way too close to call this game.
Cardinals (-3.5) over Seahawks – The ‘Hawks are the one thing standing between the Chiefs and Andrew Luck.
Steelers (-10.5) over Colts – When was the last time the Colts were 10-point home dogs?
Redskins (-6.5) over Cowboys – The ‘Skins are rolling. The banged-up Cowboys will struggle.

Last Week: 10-6
Season: 21-11

College Football Week 4

So the expansion saga continues…
Word is that Dan Beebee is out as Big 12 commissioner. Apparently, Oklahoma will stay if he leaves. Could I have hit the conspiracy nail more on the head? He’s in Texas’ pockets. Get him out of here before he adds UTEP and Rice to the conference so the Longhorns can get 2 guaranteed wins every year. On to the picks:

Ohio State over Colorado – I couldn’t be more sure of anything in my life. The Buffs are the worst team in the Pac-12.
Oregon over Arizona – Are you guys ready to discuss whether a one-loss, Pac-12 champion, Oregon team is more deserving of the BCS #2 than Boise State? ‘Cause it’s happening.
LSU over West Virginia – Offensive gurus aside, this is SEC defense.
Michigan over San Diego State – don’t underestimate the Aztecs, but they won’t win.
Alabama over Arkansas – It’s about time the Tide expose Arkansas as pretenders.
Notre Dame over Pittsburgh – less than 2 Irish turnovers and they’re in good shape
USC over Arizona State – if James Franklin and Mizzou can go in there and ALMOST win, USC should.
Florida State over Clemson – something about the Tigers on National TV, they don’t show up
Oklahoma State over Texas A&M – first team to play defense wins
North Carolina over Georgia Tech – I believe the Tar Heels’ defense is good enough to slow down the Ramblin’ Wreck.

Last Week: 5-5 (36 pts.)
Season: 20-10 (127 pts.)

NFL Week 2

Oh my god, will someone please fire Todd Haley, cut Matt Cassel and tell the Chiefs to tank for Andrew Luck? Last week was embarrassing for any sports fan, and I’m from KC.

This Week’s Picks:
Raiders (+3.5) over Bills – short week for West coast team in noon game on the East coast rules be damned the Raiders can get off to a good start if the play like last week.
Saints (-7.5) over Bears – you’re telling me you’d put more faith in Jay Cutler than Drew Brees?
Browns (-2.5) over Colts – I believe they are better than they showed last week. I also believe the Colts are as bad as they showed last week.
Chiefs (+8.5) over Lions – conventional wisdom would tell you the Lions will cover, but we’re still talking about the Lions here.
Packers (-10.5) over Panthers – what spread would be too high? 14.5? 21.5?
Ravens (-5.5) over Titans – is it strange that the Ravens already won the AFC North? I mean, a win in Pittsburgh has to be the nail in the coffin, right?
Buccaneers (+3.5) over Vikings – I don’t trust McNabb.
Jets (-10.5) over Jaguars – too bad the Jags can’t play the Titans every week
Redskins (-4.5) over Cardinals – anyone else a little intrigued by Sexy Rexy’s guarantee?
Steelers (-14.5) over Seahawks – this line is waaaaay too high, but would you want to be Tavarius Jackson and the Seahawks right now?
Cowboys (+2.5) over 49ers – just because they blew last week’s game doesn’t mean they aren’t better than every team north and west of them
Broncos (-5.5) over Bengals – at what point does Tebow start looking for a new home, so he can actually play this game that he’s soooo good at.
Texans (-2.5) over Dolphins – only 2.5 points????
Patriots (+6.5) over Chargers – seriously, less than a touchdown at home??
Eagles (-2.5) over Falcons – who are these guys? Do they know how competitive Vick is?
Giants (-6.5) over Rams – the Rams may win the West, but they might also do it at 6-10.

Last Week: 11-5

College Football Week 3

Last Friday night was a great example of how a coach can lose a game for his team. After battling back from a 30-16 deficit with 12 minutes to go, Mizzou failed to win the game in regulation because Grant Ressel missed a 47-yard field goal attempt after his coach called consecutive timeout. The ESPN announcers were baffled and I’m sure every Tigers fan watching the game was dumbfounded as to why Gary Pinkel called those timeouts; Ressel had been very accurate from that range. Pinkel explained that they were trying to draw the Sun Devils’ defense offside, which is silly. An extra 5 yards would have been a first down, but there was no time left to try to score a touchdown or run another play. The extra 5 yards would have been negligible to Ressel, who has made longer more pressured kicks (50 yards to beat Kansas in ’09). Don’t even get me started on the play-calling on the previous plays. Second-(and third-)and-five with 30 seconds left of a tied game while in field goal range is no time to throw the ball. And while we’re at it, the conventional logic is to play defense when you win the toss in college overtime, but I believe that when you’ve got the momentum and are the team that came back to tie, you should take the ball and keep the flow going. By allowing Arizona State’s defense a chance to rest and get motivated by the offense scoring, the coaching staff gave that game away. The Tigers won that game and their coaching staff gave it back to Arizona State. They better put up 50 on Western Illinois.

This week’s picks:
South Carolina over Navy
Nebraska over Washington
Ohio State over Miami
Oklahoma over Florida State
Stanford over Arizona
Auburn over Clemson
Texas over UCLA
Michigan State over Notre Dame
Pittsburgh over Iowa
BYU over Utah

Last Week: 6-4 (40 pts.)
Season: 15-5 (91 pts.)

College Footbal Week 2

So, how about week 1? Utah State’s near upset of Auburn. The Baylor/TCU game. Boise’s dismantling of Georgia. The Big 12 and Big East going 18-0.

There is no easy way to describe how uneasy I feel about Mizzou’s 17-6 win over Miami-OH. With the short-week road-game coming up, I really hope the defense is ready to grind out another low scoring win. James Franklin does not look like much of a passer, but he has Brad Smith’s speed and Chase Daniel’s compact stride, which equals a lethal runner. Hopefully, Mizzou fans can hold off on asking for the Corbin Berkstresster era.

As for the pending realignment Armageddon, I think it’s fucking ridiculous that there are not NCAA mandated regulations on how conferences handle the distribution of TV time and money. The fact that Texas got a higher percentage of the profits from the TV deal and Nebraska/Colorado exit fees is absurd. It’s not enough that they are the dominant team on the field; they have to dominate the board room too? All this could have been prevented if the Big 12 wasn’t run by incompetent butt-kissers. Dan Bebee was the NCAA investigator primarily responsible for giving SMU the death penalty in the early ‘80s. SMU was out-recruiting Texas and Texas A&M in the old Southwest Conference and instead of simply sanctioning the Mustangs into mediocrity, he oversaw the handing down of the “death penalty” which essentially crushed their program for 20 years. SMU was a more attractive program than Baylor and Texas Tech, and probably would have ended up in the Big 12 had they avoided the “death penalty.” If hasn’t become obvious that Dan Bebee is in the pockets of some Texas boosters, then I must be insane.

Here’s this week’s picks:
Wisconsin over Oregon State – the Badgers will run amuck
Iowa over Iowa State – the one weakness of the remaining Big 12, what program of ISU’s is attractive to another conference?
Tennessee over Cincinnati – time for the Bearcats to focus on basketball
Alabama over Penn State – too bad the classiest coach in all of college football doesn’t have the talent to beat one of the biggest coaching douchebags
North Carolina over Rutgers – how much do you think Butch Davis is responsible for the violations at Miami?
Michigan over Notre Dame – under the lights in the big house plus very hyped crowd equals more struggles for the golden domers
Auburn over Mississippi State – I’m not buying the Miss State hype, Auburn rebounds nicely
Georgia over South Carolina – same goes for the Gamecocks and Georgia
BYU over Texas – has Garrett Gilbert proved anything? Why are we giving Texas credit before they show up against a quality opponent?
Utah over USC – a thus begins the biggest regret of the Pac-12, letting Utah come in and run the show

Last Week: 9-1 (51 pts.)

NFL Week 1

All right, so there is a lot going on to talk about in college football (mainly the pending realignment that I covered at the end of last season), but the NFL season starts tonight. So I’ll try to knock one out today and one tomorrow for the college boys.

Thank goodness the lockout is over, but honestly, it’s a vicious cycle and we’ll be right back where we started at the end of this CBA. I hope the owners and players understand that it’s pretty fucking annoying to listen to rich people complain about more money. The only thing I feel the players need to be concerned about is their retirement benefits and health care. These guys kill themselves for our entertainment; they should be able to live comfortably for their remaining years.

On to the season predictions:
AFC East: Patriots, Jets, Bills, Dolphins
AFC North: Steelers, Ravens, Browns, Bengals
AFC South: Texans, Colts, Jaguars, Titans
AFC West: Chargers, Broncos, Raiders, Chiefs

Jets over Chargers, Ravens over Texans, Steelers over Jets, Patriots over Ravens, Patriots over Steelers

NFC East: Eagles, Giants, Redskins, Cowboys
NFC North: Packers, Lions, Bears, Vikings
NFC South: Falcons, Saints, Buccaneers, Panthers
NFC West: 49ers, Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks

Giants over 49ers, Falcons over Saints, Packers over Giants, Eagles over Falcons, Packers over Eagles

Super Bowl: Patriots over Packers

That’s right, I’m picking the Patriots. Ochocinco gets his ring and retires (only to return a year later to embarrass himself).

This season, to stretch my gambling chops and one day be able to make money on my skills, I’m picking against the spread. Let’s hope this doesn’t develop into an addiction.

Packers (-4.5) over Saints
Falcons (-2.5) over Bears
Bills (+6.5) over Chiefs
Browns (-4.5) over Bengals
Lions (+3.5) over Buccaneers
Titans (+3.5) over Jaguars
Texans (-2.5) over Colts
Eagles (-5.5) over Rams
Steelers (+2.5) over Ravens
Vikings (+8.5) over Chargers
Redskins (+3.5) over Giants
Cardinals (-5.5) over Panthers
49ers (-5.5) over Seahawks
Jets (-4.5) over Cowboys
Patriots (-5.5) over Dolphins
Broncos (-0.5) over Raiders

College FB Week 1

It’s that time again. The greatest time of the year. Time for college football!
I can’t tell you how revved up I am already. The nice thing about being a Royals fan is that baseball season never gets in the way of football season. Don’t get me wrong, I pray for the day that I can’t switch off my “Royals race to not lose 100 games” tracker every September, but that may never happen.
This college football season has already been marred by scandals and conference realignment, but it begins with just as much hype and excitement as any other one.
Will Andrew Luck’s decision to stay help or hurt his future?
Will there be anyone left standing in the Big 12?
How will Colorado, Nebraska, Boise State, and BYU do in their new conferences (or independence)?
Can the Big East gain any respect?
Will someone finally haul off and punch Bob Stoops in the nuts?

And here are my conference predictions (dark-horses in italics):

ACC Coastal: Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Duke
ACC Atlantic: Florida State, Clemson, Boston College, Maryland, Wake Forest, NC State
Florida State over Virginia Tech. I know it’s a popular pick but I think Florida State is back. Good for the ACC, bad for those of us that have always hated them.

Big “12”: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas A&M, Baylor, Texas, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas
That’s right, I’m being a total homer and picking my team as the dark-horse. Watch out for Baylor to make some more waves, and I don’t think Texas is going to just turn it around in one year.

Big East: West Virginia, Pittsburgh, South Florida, Rutgers, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Louisville
Will it be WVU’s offense or Pitt’s defense? And will either team win 9 games?

Big “Ten” “Legends”: Michigan State, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Northwestern, Minnesota
Big “Ten” “Leaders”: Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois
Wisconsin over Michigan State. How much with the scandal and suspensions hinder Ohio State’s success? Can Denard Robinson and Michigan adjust to a new offensive scheme? How many points will Wisconsin score?

C-USA East: Central Florida, East Carolina, Marshall, Southern Miss, Memphis, UAB
C-USA West: Houston, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP, Tulane, Rice
Houston over Central Florida. Case Keenum is bound and determined to lead Houston to the conference title, and put up some gaudy numbers in the process.

Independents: Notre Dame, BYU, Navy, Army
The Irish should be in the BCS discussion, and I expect BYU to drop off a bit.

MAC East: Miami-OH, Temple, Ohio, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Akron, Kent State
MAC West: Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Ball State, Western Michigan, Toledo, Eastern Michigan
Miami-OH over Northern Illinois. The Redhawks could be 11-2, if they get some respect they could be ranked by the end of the year.

MWC: TCU, Boise State, San Diego State, Wyoming, Colorado State, UNLV, New Mexico
Of course it comes down to the winner of TCU and Boise, but watch out for SDSU to sneak in if the others slip up.

Pac-12 North: Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, California, Washington, Washington State
Pac-12 South: Utah, Arizona State, Arizona, UCLA, USC, Colorado
Stanford over Utah. The Utes will rock the conference but fall short against a determined Cardinal and Andrew Luck. Colorado will suck gloriously.

SEC East: South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vanderbilt
SEC West: Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Mississippi
Alabama over South Carolina. The Gamecocks will make a bigger splash than last year, but the Tide is too strong and experienced.

Sun Belt: Troy, Arkansas State, FIU, FAU, North Texas, Western Kentucky, UL-Monroe, UL-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee State
Always too tough to call. Eight wins would be a miracle for any of these teams.

WAC: Fresno State, Nevada, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Utah State
This will be the swan song for the WAC. I hope these teams find somewhere to call home.

Heisman: Andrew Luck
National Champ: Alabama over Oklahoma
Rose: Stanford over Wisconsin
Orange: TCU over Florida State
Fiesta: Oklahoma State over West Virginia
Sugar: South Carolina over Utah

This Week’s Picks:
Auburn over Utah State
USC over Minnesota
Michigan over Western Michigan
South Carolina over East Carolina
Boise State over Georgia
LSU over Oregon
Boston College over Northwestern
Houston over UCLA
BYU over Mississippi
Hawaii over Colorado