Monthly Archives: September 2017

Week 5 and the End of September

College Football, , , , ,

Sometimes in football you have one of those weeks. I imagine the House did very well in Week 4, no one I know did well at all. No podcast again this week, but there will be one next week to wrap up the first month.

Perhaps the funniest thing from the weekend was the Oklahoma St OL getting a sack on his own QB. I wager he had a rough film session on Monday. I wasn’t overly surprised by many of the outcomes, just how close they were (or were not). That said, I watched a portion of the NC St/FSU game. While FSU still has OL woes, the officiating in that game was wildly inconsistent and that piled on the rust factor for FSU. I picked TCU to keep it close, but wow they looked good. My preseason pick of them playing in the Big 12 game looks pretty good right now.

So, you want Bama? Asking for a friend.

I was mistaken on my year last week. UK, Vandy, and Miss St were all 3-0 in 1911. Now, of course they are all 3-1. UK had an epic meltdown and they may want to switch to the SEC West now.

I moved to 11-8-1 for the year with my Vegas 5 and took an absolute beating Against The Spread with Top 25 and SEC games. I went 11-13 to move to 61-35 on the year.

This week the Vegas 5 starts with Iowa (+3.5) against Michigan St. Do they watch the games in the desert? Fresno St (-10) against a suspect Nevada team. SMU (-17) will be all over UConn. UGA is for real, I’ll take Georgia (-7.5) over Tennessee. And lastly, Cal (+13.5) at Oregon.

Who do you have?

Advertisement

Behold Week 4

College Football, , , , , ,

A rarity happened last weekend. Alabama played a home game and I was on my couch. But, that gave me the opportunity to watch a lot of football. Clemson was impressive controlling Lamar Jackson. Unfortunately for last year’s Heisman winner, he does not have much of a supporting class. Texas played USC much closer than I anticipated. San Diego St confirmed my faith in them and I begin to wonder if they will get the Non 5 invite to the big bowls. That would create an interesting waiting game for me and the Las Vegas Bowl I attend each season. UCLA fell on its face in Memphis. I don’t buy the body clock argument. Memphis beat them, straight up. UCLA has no D and they seem more suited to the Big 12.

The SEC proved once again that it may be Bama and the rest. Miss St embarrassed LSU. I read somewhere an angry LSU fan asking why they would fire the coach with the best win percentage in LSU history in order to hire the coach with the worst winning percentage in Ole Miss history. Vandy made the conference proud by beating Kansas St. In doing so, The ‘Dores got their first win over a ranked non-conference opponent since Harry Truman was in office. Auburn not only struggled against Mercer, a team that restarted its football program five years ago, they lost their backup QB (kicked off team) and one of its top recruits from a couple of seasons ago (transferring). Methinks there’s trouble on the Plains. For the first time since 1906, Kentucky, Vandy, and Miss St are all 3-0.

I went 3-2 in my Vegas 5 last week bringing my season total to 8-6-1. I moved to 50-22 in Top 25 and SEC games.

This week, I anticipate some great games. Conference play is in full swing for most everyone. For starters, giving 28 points is never that smart a play. That being said, I’ll take Oklahoma (-27.5) over Baylor. The Bears and the karma tour continues. Stanford will not lose three in a row. Therefore, I take Stanford (-7) over UCLA. Staying out West, Give me Cal (+17) over USC. USC wins, but Cal keeps it close. I also want Old Dominion (+27.5) against Virginia Tech. Lastly, Iowa (+12.5) against Penn St. And how cool is their new 1st Quarter tradition of waving to the patients of the children’s hospital next to the stadium?

Happy betting and expect the podcast to return next week.

And Now Week 3

College Football

No podcast this week as Irma has disrupted the standard operating procedures.

Two games into a season does not give enough information to get a good handle on who is truly great and who is a house of cards. Of course, film doesn’t lie and there are some very good and very bad teams out there.

The big game of Week 2 was Oklahoma over Ohio St. Consider the last four games for the Buckeyes, a controversial win over Michigan, a decisive loss to Clemson, a comeback over Indiana once the Hoosiers ran out of gas, and now the collapse of the second half to the Sooners. Before I give too much credit to the Sooners (though credit is due), perhaps we have all overestimated Ohio St.

Georgia pulled out a big win on the road against Notre Dame. I think the biggest upset was the crowd was 40% Bulldog. USC stomped Stanford and Clemson suffocated Auburn in the rest of the big-time match ups.

Week 3 gives up some conference match ups but little in the way of national marquee action. Clemson and Louisville is the biggest game of the week. I think we will learn if Clemson is a playoff team this weekend. Louisville relies heavily on great QB play from Lamar Jackson and he deserves the hype. I like Clemson here, but in Vegas, I’d leave it alone. Tennessee travels to the Swamp to meet the Gators. Florida has deficiencies on offense and the Vols on D. It’s a coin flip for me, but I give Tennessee the edge.

My picks last week went 2-3 giving me a 5-4-1 season record. I’ve also been picking each top 25 and SEC game outside this blog (a lot to report on individually). My current record against the spread there is 34-14.

This week my five picks if I were in Vegas again avoid many of the bigger games. I am sold on San Diego St. I know Stanford is my pick in the PAC12 North, and I’m currently ok there, but I see a close game. I’ll take San Diego St (+9.5)

I watched a much-improved Fresno St squad in person. Coach Tedford has brought a solid scheme and they have a legit NFL LB on the team. I’ll take Fresno St (+33) against Washington. The Huskies should win handily, but that’s a lot of points.

South Carolina (-6.5) is my pick over Kentucky. Oklahoma St (-13.5) over Pitt. Boston College (+13.5) against Notre Dame.

A Look at Week 2

Uncategorized

Hello, football fans! Since the taping of this week’s podcast Va Tech and WVU gave us a thriller, UT stormed back to help the SEC sweep the SEC, and aTm had the implosion of epic proportions. As for my picks from last week’s blog, I went 3-1-1. I guess Florida doesn’t have an offense yet.

With lots of great action on tap for the weekend I’ve chosen the Alabama v Fresno St game as where I’ll be. OK, being a season ticket holder kinda drives that, but still I have not missed a home opener this century.

This week, I’ll take Stanford (+6 ½) over USC. I think USC is still finding its rhythm out of the gate and Stanford is coming off a bye week after playing in Australia in week 0.

I’ll take UTSA (+17) over Baylor. While Baylor will play better this week for sure and UTSA is not good, I’m willing to take a shot in the dark that the road for the Bears will be bumpy this year.

After the roller coaster UCLA had Sunday night and Hawaii’s early success most might stay away, but not me. I got Hawaii (+23 ½).

My lock of the week is Western Michigan (+7) over Michigan St. I’m not sold on Sparty and the former boat rowers still have talent.

And for the last pick let’s take the over (53 ½) in the Auburn v Clemson game. I think the Tigers take this one.