Weekly Wednesday Football #1

In order to keep from taking too much time away from work and family, and yet still keep everyone informed as to my ridiculous opinions about football, I've decided to merge my weekly football columns into one on Wednesday. A brief rap-up of the week before and my picks/analysis for the coming week will be coming at you every Wednesday (maybe some Thursdays), so feel free to check in as often as you like.

College Week 1 Wrap-Up
Teams that REALLY impressed me:
Alabama - As Martin Lawrence once said "DAMN, Gina!" Could the Tide have left any less doubt that they are going to defend their national title to the death? Of course, Michigan probably should have started ranked between 15 and 22 because of their weak defense, but DAMN that was a beat down.
Clemson - Auburn may no longer be the top of the SEC West, but Clemson, minus their biggest playmaker, showed they are for real. A neutral site win against a BCS team on national TV? That doesn't sound like the Clemson we all know and love.
Baylor - Can't write these guys off yet. They still scored, they played decent defense (for once), and more importantly, there appears to be a air of success floating around Waco.

Teams that were totally unimpressive:
Penn State - You can make all the excuses in the world, but a Big 10 team should never lose at home to a MAC team. For the players and their fans, I hope they get on the right track. They get to play Indiana, right?
Colorado - The move to the Pac12 was widely panned here in Missouri, as we'd seen their football and basketball programs fall apart over the last 5 years. They are supposed to be the big-time program in their state, but they're losing to MWC bottom-feeder Colorado State too frequently.
Kansas - I am unimpressed by your soft win over South Dakota State. When you play FCS schools, you are supposed to win by 50+ (see: Missouri versus Southeastern Louisiana).


College Week 2 Picks (in order of confidence)
LSU over Washington - We will learn a lot about the Pac12 mid-pack teams this week (everyone below USC and Oregon).
Wisconsin over Oregon State - You'll notice a trend here with Pac12 schools against BCS teams.
Nebraska over UCLA - How many does it take to make a trend a scientific fact?
Virginia over Penn State - Not the best team for the Nittany Lions to be trying to rebound against.
Iowa State over Iowa - The Hawkeyes barely beat Northern Illinois... but this should be close too.
Arizona State over Illinois - Going against scientific fact because I despise Illinois and their silly quarterback.
Texas A&M over Florida - Just because it feels like a trap for the Gators.
Miami (FL) over Kansas State - Purple kitty cats = overrated.
Auburn over Mississippi State - Always a close game, this could go either way.
Missouri over Georgia - I'm leaning on the slim chance I think the Tigers have. It's at home, it's on ESPN2, Georgia still have several suspended, and did you see how many yards the Buffalo running back had on the Dawgs last week??? Buffalo?

Last Week: 6-4 (34 pts)

NFL Season/Week 1 Picks
Giants over Cowboys - Sticking with the champs.
Bears over Colts - Staying away from the chumps.
Eagles over Browns - Staying away from the future chumps.
Lions over Rams - Detroit's still healthy, don't worry, they'll have 4-5 key injuries and stumble to 6-10.
Patriots over Titans - Why is it every year, someone says the Patriots could go 16-0, and I don't think they're crazy?
Chiefs over Falcons - Just like the Lions, when the Chiefs are healthy they should win at home... probably looking at 8-8 this year.
Vikings over Jaguars - Picking against Blaine Gabbert until he figures out how to take a 7-step drop and throw with pressure in his face.
Saints over Redskins - Nearly impressed with RG3 enough to take the upset pick, but give it a few more weeks.
Bills over Jets - Clearly the Jets have no idea how to manage a team. If you bring someone in to sell tickets, he shouldn't be on the bench.
Texans over Dolphins - Some say Tannehill got a bad shake at Texas A&M because his receivers drops accounted for like 65% of his incompletions. Not sure how throwing to the Dolphins receivers will change that..
Packers over 49ers - Wait, aren't the 2 best teams in the conference not supposed to play until 2 weeks before the Super Bowl?
Seahawks over Cardinals - Four guys who think they should be starting at quarterback in the NFL. Number of wins as a starter between them? Less than 15.
Panthers over Buccaneers - I'm riding the "Cam Newton will not have a sophomore slump" train until it derails... sometime around week 7.
Steelers over Broncos - If Manning survives the season, I'm hiring his surgeon to be on call for my son throughout his athletic career.
Ravens over Bengals - Might regret this pick in the Bengals can play run defense.
Chargers over Raiders - By less than a touchdown, mark my words.