Weekend Picks

Before I get to my picks, let me pat myself on the back. I was 7-0 in my NFL picks. That’s right, seven up and seven down. Now, I also realized that everyone else saw what I was seeing… Panthers +1 and the line moved big time to Panthers -1 by kickoff, which would have changed my record to 6-0-1. But I’ll take the 7-0 and move to .500 over all and on a roll.

Of course, I can’t pick NCAA games any more. I went 2-2 (the Gophers ended up giving 3, and I would have taken them). And before I get to my picks… how great was last Saturday? Why hasn’t this dominated the news? Seriously, if you compare the quality of football on Saturday to Sunday, it’s not even close. The college football games were amazing… from Wisconsin’s blocked punt to win with 34 seconds left, to the Penn State/Michigan finish, to the fun LSU/Florida game… and then of course the simply amazing Notre Dame/USC game that was easily one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen, yet almost no one talked about how great those games were last week. If one NFL game was as good as the entertaining Michigan State/Ohio State game, we would never hear the end of it. I really don’t get it, the college game is just better that the NFL at this point. Sure there isn’t fantasy football, but in terms of quality of play and excitement, the NCAA destroys the NFL. College football is just better than the NFL.

NCAA:
IOWA (-2.5) over Michigan
My “Michigan isn’t a good team this year” rant continues… let’s just say that Penn State got robbed. Two bad calls on that final drive that went against Michigan, first the refs adding the two seconds and then the catch on the sidelines where the guys foot was out of bounce. Poor Penn State, I can’t see them winning the Big Ten now, in fact if I were to handicap the Big Ten Race among the one loss teams…
5) Northwestern
4) Penn State
3) Wisconsin
2) Ohio State
1) Iowa

WISCONSIN (-8) over Purdue
What happened to Purdue this year? Maybe not getting to play Ohio State and Michigan was a disadvantage. They don’t look good at all. Wisconsin should win this at home with some ease.

TEXAS (-16.5) over Texas Tech
Texas has played one game that was decided by less than 25 points and that was the game at Ohio State. Texas Tech has beaten a bunch of nobodies. Texas rolls.

UTAH STATE (+18.5) over Boise State
Boise wins, but I just don’t like how they haven’t dominated anyone besides Bowling Green. I’m a little worried.

NFL, look don’t want to say it, but I’m going to say it. Another bad set of games in the NFL. Seriously, at this point, we’re lucky to get one or two good games in a week. This week happens to be a ‘might be a good game’ when the Chargers go to Philly. But that’s it. Every other game is boring or just uninteresting. People can hype up the Steelers vs Bengals game all they want, but I’m not a believer in either team.

VIKINGS (+1.5) over Packers
Hey look! Everyone’s given up on the Vikings and since the Packers have played one good game, let’s make them the favorites on the road in a dome! Folks, Brett Farve stinks it up in Domes, why should this be any different? That said, stay away from this game. Only bad things can happen.

Colts (-15.5) over TEXANS
Between innings of the Sox game on Sunday, I was watching parts of the Seahawks and Texans game until the Walker movie came on… let me tell you, if you didn’t know, the Texans suck. I mean they stink. Since their offensive line consists of one NFL player and four high school kids they can’t do anything on offense. Therefore their defense, which isn’t that good, spends most of the time on the field. They’re not even remotely competitive. The Colts will jump out to a big lead, pull everyone by the start fourth quarter and it still won’t matter because the Texans can’t score.

BEARS (-2) over Ravens
I’ve watched the Ravens this year. They aren’t good, and get them away from home and they’re that much worse. If this game was in Maryland, I’d take the Ravens, but it’s in Illinois in what is shaping up to be one of the greatest days of my life.

BROWNS (-2.5) over Lions
Let’s just say that if the Bears can figure out how to beat Farve finally, they’ll win the NFC North. Browns aren’t a bad team, they just aren’t good.

SEAHAWKS (-3.5) over Cowboys
I never thought I’d enjoy betting against a team so much, and then the 2005 Cowboys came along. That said, how are they 4-2? How did they win last week? And when does the NFC East start playing each other? Seriously, other than the Cowboys, none of the other teams have played each other. I have no feel for this division because of that. I mean, trying to measure the NFC East against only the Cowboys is darn near impossible.

REDSKINS (-12) over Niners
I hate to do this, I really do, but I can’t see any other way… I mean the 49ers stink. And they aren’t going to score many points against the Redskins who suddenly look really good. I still can’t believe how good they looked last week against the Chiefs. So good for the Redskins.

RAMS (-3) over Saints
I know I shouldn’t, but I like the Rams at home. I almost always do.

EAGLES (-3.5) over Chargers
I’m not sold on either team, but I like the Birds at home. Sure they can’t run the ball, sure they look like a team that might struggle to make the playoffs, sure their D isn’t as good… but they’re coming off a bye and the Chargers just don’t seem like a very good road team, especially when they have to go across the country.

Last week 7-0
14-14 on the year.