Sunday, November 23, 2008

Good calls this weekend

Before I post my results, there are several things I would like to say about CFB.

(1) To my IU friends, I'm sorry. I'm not saying this because I am bias in favor of Jessica, but the Hoosiers put up... nothing. That was bad. It actually made Purdue look good. But, it was a good send-off for Joe Tiller and I guess maybe it was all for a good reason. But seriously... 62-10?

(2) Notre Dame SHOULD NOT be invited to ANY BOWL. There is NO team in CFB that I detest more and finishing 6-6 (well, they are 6-5 now, but they play USC next week and will lose), makes them bowl eligible, but unless there are no other Div 1-A teams that can go, it's a travesty if they are invited to any bowl. Collegefootballnews.com projects them to face Oregon in the Sun Bowl. Please for God's sake, DON'T. They are not worthy of being the Duck's opponents. The Ducks will rack up 600 yds of offense on them. Please God, let us play someone else more worthy. More importantly, please God, leave ND at home. Losing to Syracuse, a #91 ranked team, when they were 19.5 points favorite is a JOKE.

(3) I was wrong. Well, partially. I thought TT was better than the Sooners. I was wrong on that. As much as I dislike Oklahoma, they thoroughly whooped on the Red Raiders yesterday. If it was not just a convincing win, it was a statement win and I have to be honest. Yesterday, TT lost it's National Championship, it's Heisman, and most likely a BCS bowl. That loss was tough. They now need a miracle from Texas A&M (which faces Texas Thanksgiving Day, but this one does not help the as much), Oklahoma St (which faces Oklahoma next Sat, this is the one they really need) and definitely Missouri (Big 12 Championship game). Their biggest favor would be for Oklahoma St to defeat Oklahoma and then they would face Missouri for the title game (head to head against Texas, they will be Big 12 South Champions). Then, they need to win the title game to get to a BCS bowl (probably Fiesta). What I was right about is that they are now going to get completely shafted if both Texas and Oklahoma win out. They might make the Holiday Bowl. If Texas and Oklahoma win their last game but lose in the Big 12 Championship Game, TT might not even get to the Holiday Bowl and that's a shame.

(4) I am still undecided about the Duck/Beaver game. I think it would be nice for the Beavers to go to the Rose Bowl. But, it would be nicer if the Ducks played the role of spoilers. More during the week.

And now for my results. I did pretty well this week. I went 4 of 5.


(My calls in Blue, correct calls in Green and incorrect calls in Red.)

Games I would (and probably have) put money on (my picks in GREEN):

Tulane 16 @ Tulsa 51 (Tulsa -29)
Tulane 7 Tulsa 56

Boise St 42 @ Nevada 22 (BSU -6)
BSU 41 Nevada 34

UNLV 31 @ San Diego St 13 (UNLV -11)
UNLV 21 SDSU 42

UL Lafayette 24 @ Troy 36 (Troy -10)
UL Lafayette 3 Troy 48

Texas Tech @ Oklahoma Over (O/U 75)
TT 21 Oklahoma 65


Games I would love to put money on, but have no guts:

Oregon St @ Arizona (UA -3)
Too strong a bias on this one. I would love for OSU to win out and go to the Rose Bowl. However, the Beavers play the Ducks next week and I have a tough one deciding who I would like to win. Whatever the case, even if I want the Ducks to win next weekend, I would rather they play a Beaver team with the Rose Bowl on the line. The Beavers are going to do what they have done well all season with Rodgers. And Arizona can be run on, just like the Ducks putting 207 yds on them last week. They can be scored on too, like Wazzu putting up 28 (most points scored for Wazzu this season). But Arizona plays real tough at home and beat Cal and held USC to a 10-17 score. I'm going to call the Beavers on this game but it is a really tough call.
OSU 19 Arizona 17

Washington @ Washington St (UW -7)
I have already written about this game. It's a real hard call because both teams are just way too inconsistent.
UW 13 WSU 16

Michigan @ Ohio St (Ohio St -21)
I am not sure if this spread is too high. I think the Buckeyes have to make a statement if they wish to still be considered for an at-large bid. Their chances are running very thin but who's to say Penn St isn't gonna trip up at East Lansing. Both these games are going to be of huge significance. If Ohio St trip ups and Michigan St beats Penn St, Michigan St goes to the Rose Bowl. The Wolverines have a chance to play spoilers for their in-state brothers. I say Ohio St wins but just not by 21.
Michigan 7 OSU 42

Michigan St @ Penn St (Penn St -15.5)
Now, I am not picking Penn St to win by 15.5. I am picking them to win but I expect this game to be decided by a touchdown or less. And if I had to call for an upset this weekend, this would be it. Like I have mentioned above, the Spartans still need some help to get to the Rose Bowl, but they can only do so much for themselves.
Michigan St 18 Penn St 49

Stanford @ California (Cal -8.5)
THE BIG GAME. This year it might actually have some truth to it since Stanford has awoken. Sorry to all you Cal alum who read this blog... but you already know how much I hate your team and your stadium. The Bears, as usual, is in it's end of season slide and the Cardinal have become a pretty respectable team this year. I actually like Stanford's chances. I am not only going to call Stanford to cover the spread but also to win.
Stanford 16 Cal 37

No comments: