4.11.06

College Picks, Hey Hey!

It’s winter here in Chicago, which is sort of a good thing. Even though winters here last forever, there is something nostalgic about it all. So many childhood mornings where I’d wake up and look outside to see the cloudy, gray, unhappy landscape. And often times that meant a day of football in the back ground while I did chores, lots of chores.

CLEMSON (-19) over Maryland – The Tigers need this game… the Terps? I’m only giving them some love because I have a soft spot for the Terps.

Indiana (+6) over MINNESOTA – Don’t look now but the Hoosiers are lining themselves up for a bowl game. I know, amazing… but true. They sit at 5-4 and 3-2 in the Big Ten after destroying Michigan State last week. So all they need is one win and they’re going bowling… and they get it here. Next week they have to go to the Big House and they close out the year at Purdue. This is their best chance to get that W to go bowling. And Minnesota just isn’t that good. Either Vegas in underrating the Hoosiers or someone knows something I don’t know… I’m going with Indiana sneaking up on everyone.

WISCONSIN (-7) over Penn State – This has to be frustrating season for Penn State. They’ve got three losses: laid an egg against Notre Dame, fought Ohio State but just didn’t have the horses, and then gave Michigan a game only to come up short. Now they’ve got to go into Madison to play a Badger team that’s hot and looking to be one of those ‘one loss’ teams. A win here and the Badgers could find themselves in the BCS mix (though highly unlikely considering that Ohio State and Michigan are ahead of them in the Big Ten). I think the Badger win a close one.

NEBRASKA (-6.5) over Missouri – I’ll lay the points in Lincoln.

North Carolina (+25) over NOTRE DAME – A lot of points for a Irish defense that isn’t that good. I know, UNC stinks and Notre Dame is going to kill them. But I still don’t like that Irish D and you figure at least a garbage TD is scored in the 4th. I’m going to regret this pick. (And yes, we still believe that Wisconsin and BC, both one loss teams like ND, are better).

LSU (+5) over Tennessee – Huh? I don’t get SEC lines. There’s like a 90% chance that this will be a three point game as it is. And the Tigers have the best home field advantage in the SEC. Whatever… not saying anything… SEC games are so so easy to bet on.

Ohio State (-24.5) over ILLINOIS – This is a feisty Illini team, but this game will get ‘ugly’ at some point.

Boston College (-4) over WAKE FOREST – Wake’s had a nice year but the Golden Birds control their ACC density and look like a team of BCS density (and yes we’re PRAYING for a BC/ND Orange Bowl). Can you imagine if they hadn’t lost to NC State? We’d be looking at an undefeated BC and Louisville, to go along with the Michigan/Ohio State winner. What would the BCS do?

TEXAS A&M (+2.5) over Oklahoma – This isn’t the Sooners year. I’ll take the points in College Station.

Virginia Tech (-2) over Miami – If it was 2002 this would be the game of the year! Tech’s probably a team to watch for next year… and how weird is it to see the ‘Canes as a home dog?

Arkansas (-3) over SOUTH CAROLINA – How about those Razorbacks? How about the SEC? Is it me or does everyone but Georgia and Vandy have one loss in the SEC this year?

Last Week – 3-4
Season - 33-13-2

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's the deal with your LSU pick? LSU +5? The game opened at LSU -2 and closed at LSU -3.5 or -4. Also, you say "the Tigers have the best home field advantage in the SEC," but the game is at Tennessee.

You can get Arkansas -2 (-104) at Pinnacle, which is far better than -3. Sorry if you already grabbed it at -3.

Otter said...

You're totally right about the LSU line, I misread that... it should have been LSU -3.5. So we'll just pretend that never happened because I doubt I take LSU giving points on the road knowing that...