Spooky College Picks

27-21 after 8 weeks. Meh. Let's find some spooky picks this weekend, and get that percentage up!

Miami(14.5) @ UVA
Miami will cover this by halftime, and cruise to a 27 point win. Jacory will hand out a candy int in the third, just to be a nice guy...
Canes 48 Cavs 21

Tennessee @ South Carolina(-17.5)
Phil Fulmer must be turning in his booth at the buffet. 17.5 dogs to the 'Ol Ball Coach?! My how Rocky Top has fallen. The Game Chickens will struggle to cover this, but will do it. late.
(Smokey joining the Game Cocks, too embarrassed to be a Volunteer anymore)
Souf Cakolacki 35 Rocky Bottom 14

Michigan State @ Iowa(-6.5)
The Vegas line for fake kicks is 3.5 this week. Take the over, but sadly, none of them will work for Sparty. After doing his best Les Miles impersonation last week, Ferrentz wakes up the hawkeyes to steamroll Sparty out of the top 10.
Iower 27 Sparty 13

Missouri @ Nebraska(-7.5)
Can you say hangover road trip?! Yes, Mizzou was impressive last week, but now you have Big Red in Lincoln. Welcome to a tie for the Big 12 North.
Black shirts 59 Mizzou 28

Florida - Georgia(-2.5)

Ah, the Cocktail party. I predicted things could get ugly the day before Halloween in Jacksonville, and they are just that. Combined 5-6 in conference play? Ugh. Jorgia is averaging over 40 ppg since UGA VI took the sidelines. It doesn't stop this weekend, despite the Gators' new jerseys. (Fla D scores 14...)

Bulldogs 46 Gators 31

Texas Tech @ Texas A&M(-7.0)
Upset alert...Tubberville leads the Raiders on Halloween weekend, with the ghost of Leach looking over his shoulder, over the Aggies and all of their 12th men.
Red Raiders 27 Agricultural and Mechanical 24

Baylor @ Texas(-7.5)

The Bears are the best team in Tejas, right now. The only one ranked. The only one in the Big 12 with a winning conference record. The best offense, the best QB. Take advantage of it this year, my friend. Stay thirsty, run with it, and beat The Longhorns.
Bears 33 Tejas 23

Michigan(-3) @ Penn State
The Nittany Lions pull some funny stuff on Halloween Eve to beat the Wolverines.
PSU 29 Meeshigan 26

Oregon(-7) @ USC
This is the only chance for USC to be relevant this season. No post season, no polls, reduced scholarships, and let's be honest, beating UCLA this year isn't all that. Beat the Ducks and you've officially screwed with the BCS and NCAA football when you shouldn't be. (Even the ducks won't be able to find themselves in all black Saturday night.)
Trojans 47 Quacks 41

60's Weekend

It was hip to be retro this weekend, turning the clock to the 50's and 60's. That's scoring, of course. Oregon INCREASED it's points per minute average to over 1.0 by posting 69 points this weekend (In a 69-0 trouncing might I add.) Bama posts 62 on the road, Stanford 68 late, Nebraska 56 in Washington, Boise 51 after a week off and Oklahoma State posts 65 with 722 total yards. Even Directional (Central this time) Michigan got into the game putting up 52, and we have to tip our hats to Nevada posting 52 early on Friday night.

LaMichael James made his 2010 debut in style, rushing for 227 yards on 14 carries (That's a 16.2 average) and a pair of scores. Mark Ingram came back from a scoped knee to post over 100 yards in the first quarter. Justin Blackmon caught only 6 passes, but 3 were for scores. 174 yards leads the FCS this week. Possibly more impressing is Torey Smith catching 3 passes, 2 for scores, and 149 yards for a 49.7 yards average. The Terps lost to the 'Eers this weekend however, taking the luster off the Navy win a little bit.

How about some trickeration?! Who would have the intestinal fortitude or the wherewithall or craziness to call a fake field goal, in overtime, to win. Good on ya Sparty! (Notre Dame still covered though.)

It's nice to see the Hokies have finally found something that works. Stiney finally looked like he had half a clue, and the defense didn't look like a pee-wee team chasing the ball around. Maybe we can have a repeat of the 95-96 season, starting 0-2 and going on to win 10 straight and the Sugar Bowl. Here's hoping anyway...

Oregon faces off against Stanford in 2 weeks, which should give us a look into the Pac-10 a little better, and potentially what these quakers are made of this year. Stanford is 3rd in the Nation in scoring, so don't expect a ton of defense in this one. It's an 11:15 game, so set the DVR on the east coast.

Starting in the West

Conference Previews

First up: PAC-10

This is the last year for a ten member Pac-10, but it won’t be the Pac-12 for two more years. Colorado is waiting on the get-out-of-the-Big12 fee they are going to have to pay in order to go to a conference that “wants them.” Meanwhile, Utah is jumping right in next year.

The biggest question is what does the USC handcuffs do to the National football scene, as well as the Pac-10 conference they have owned for the last decade. My best guess is that they become the current Auburn of a few years ago. You still have to play them, pay attention to them, be amazed at what they are doing while under sanctions, but just can’t rank them in the polls. They could play spoiler, that is if they were in a relevant conference. And don’t give me the Notre Dame speak, that they could spoil the Leprechaun’s chances. They take care of that themselves. Everyone in the conference still has to deal with the beast that is USC. And now they have to deal with the circus that is Lane Kiffin.

Then there’s the quack attack that’s had a little press due to a QB that won’t (and wasn’t even enrolled there) even play anywhere near the conference. Guess that’s better than getting in a 3-point stance, while naked, when the po-po tells you to get on the ground at 3 am. Way to go Beavers!!!

Now for football. I believe that the conference will be decided late in the year because nobody will climb to the top of the hill early on in the season. Going out on a limb, I know. But there’s a good chance the Pac-10 winner could have 2 conference losses. The distractions at Phil Knight University off the field will help them focus to get the job done. They have a dual quarterback system with Nate Costa and Darron Thomas, not to mention 1000 yard rusher this year in LaMichael James. The Ducks will prevail come December! Of course, we’ll know on Sep 11 what the Ducks have when they waddle into Knoxville. Hope you have even newer unis for that one! The Civil War on December 4 should decide the conference between the Ducks and Beavers, with the Quack coming out on top late. (The phrase “Beavers and Ducks” still makes me chuckle at the horribly bad Billy Bob Thorton movie with Bruce Willis, Bandits. His character would wake up shouting “Beavers and Ducks. Beavers and Ducks.” Random…)

The Beavers Jacquizzzzzzz Rodgers will be player of the year, by a landslide. Sure, a Toby Gebhart comes along every once in a while, but this kid will be in New York in December for a photo op while someone else take the bronze home. 1,500+ yards and over 18 touchdowns. One heck of a year. But let’s see what he does Sep 25 on the Smurf Turf.

Onto the predicted order of finish, with records:


1. OREGON, 10-2, 8-1 Rose Bowl Bound. Costa and Thomas will share time, and James will be a super Soph on the road to Pasadena.
2. USC, 10-3, 7-2. They wouldn’t be able to go if they won it anyway, so why bother, right?! I see a few teams up north that will strike while they can. But let’s be honest, the talent at USC is still deeper than 90 other FBS schools. The only downfall is Lane Kiffin, good for at least 3 losses this year.
3. OREGON STATE, 8-4, 6-3. Jacquizzzzzzz is a B.A. But, he can only carry you so far. When the balls not in his hands, expect to see it flying thru the air quite a bit.
4. WASHINGTON, 7-5, 5-4. Jake Locker while complete a ton of passes to Jermaine Kearse and ride the roller coaster this year. They’ll win a few they shouldn’t, and lose a few that will leave everyone scratching their heads.
5. CALIFORNIA, 7-5, 5-4. The Bears just can’t find the right combos.
6. ARIZONA, 6-6, 4-5. Where else would you expect them?
7. UCLA, 7-5, 4-5. Neuheisel? Put Neidermeyer on it! Oh well, maybe NCIS will let Mark Harmon take a few snaps this year.
8. STANFORD, 4-8, 3-6. No Toby, that’s a problem. They will play by committee, not allowing anyone to get in a rhythm and causing a ho-hum year for the Dark Reds.
9. WASHINGTON STATE, 3-9, 2-7. The Cougars are fuzzy little kittens this year.
10. ARIZONA STATE, 3-9, 1-8. I’d be running and sticking someone in the head if I was the Sun Devil made to watch this product this year…