The Weekly made it three straight winning weeks, and four winning weeks out of the past five, with two wins in week 14.  Alabama came out and methodically beat down Auburn, sending Tommy Tuberville packing (which, on a side note, has got to be the most foolish decision in college football this year.  Tuberville had beaten the Tide six straight times coming into this contest and now one off year and he's gone?  Auburn has already fallen behind Nick Saban in just his second year at Alabama and they think that bringing in someone new is going to help?  Who knows how to recruit Alabama better than Tuberville?  It's a bad week for Auburn football.  The move is going to set this program back ten years.  Mark those words.).  Speaking of coaching hot seats, USC pounded Notre Dame for The Weekly's second win.  The Trojans and the Irish don't belong on a field together.  Seriously.  The Irish are totally inept, unable to get a first down until late in the 3rd quarter.  It's gotten to the point where the Irish are completely unwatchable.  It's really sad for such a tradition-laden program.  In our lone loss, Baylor hung in with Texas Tech.  Thankfully for The Weekly, Texas Tech is not playing until their bowl game, so we can't lose with the Red Raiders this week.  It's been a banner regular season for The Weekly as we head into the final week.  We expect to carry our tremendous November into December and January.  

Championship Week picks...

Navy (-10.5) vs. Army, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., noon     
     This is our annual Navy over Army pick.  Navy has had a surprisingly good season considering the loss of head coach, and Weekly Favorite, Paul Johnson.  The Naval Academy has dominated the series of late.  The Middies have won nine of the past eleven games, including the past six games.  Of those past six, none of them have been particularly close.  Navy has played tough in all their games and are once again bowl eligible at 7-4.  They have a couple of pretty good wins against Rutgers and at Wake Forest.  The Army program has seen better times, much better times.  The Knights are 3-9, finishing up another season at the bottom of the college football barrel, a far cry from the days of Heisman trophies and national titles.  Army has only beaten Tulane, Eastern Michigan and Louisiana Tech this season, while losing to New Hampshire, a 1-AA school.  The only reason this line is so low is because of the rivalry factor.  We can learn from the past six years in saying that the rivalry factor is only a factor when the teams are comparable.  These two teams are certainly no where near comparable.  Navy is head and shoulders better than Army.  The ten and a half point spread is a layup.  Sailors over soldiers in a big way.  

ACC Championship - Virginia Tech vs. Boston College (+1), Tampa, Florida, 1pm
     We got burned on this one last year, but it's a new year and this is a different situation.  Boston College already holds a victory over the Hokies and the Eagles are playing better football right now.  Neither team is going to wow you with offense.  You can give Tech a slight advantage because they should get much better quarterback play out of the dynamic Tyrod Taylor than the Eagles should get out of backup Dominique Davis.  Davis started his first game last week after starter Chris Crane suffered a season ending collarbone injury and looked pretty good, throwing for two touchdowns and no picks.  The difference here is that the Boston College front seven is quite good.  The Eagles interior linemen and linebackers are extremely good and will give a struggling Hokie offense trouble all day long.  In their past three games Tech has only mustered 14, 14 and 17 points.  Those three games were against Miami, Duke and Virginia; not exactly a who's who of college football programs in 2008.  Tech will find that the BC defense won't break easily.  Look for BC to pull out a 17-7 kind of victory, sending the Eagles to their first BCS bowl game.

SEC Championship - Florida (-10) vs. Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, 4pm
     We battled with this game all week long.  Our first inclination was "whoa ten points? really? sounds kinda high."  But the more and more we looked into this game, it seems like there is value in the line.  Alabama is 12-0 and that's impressive no matter what conference, forget about the SEC.  The problem is that looking back at the final product, Florida has been much more impressive than the Tide has been this season.  'Bama had the good fortune of beating Clemson (who only beat five Division 1-A teams) when they were ranked 9th, Georgia (who ended up losing three games, while showing they didn't have an elite defense) when they were ranked 3rd and LSU (who went 3-5 in the conference) when they were ranked 16th.  On the other hand Florida has been the best team in college football since a loss to Ole Miss on September 27th.  The Gators have not scored less than 26 points in a game this season and have scored at least 42 in each of their last seven games.  Urban Meyer also brings a young, but incredibly tough defense with him.  The Gators have only allowed 21 or more points twice this season, holding nine of their twelve opponents to 15 points or less.  Florida WR Percy Harvin might not be at 100% but Florida has a seemingly unlimited amount of speed on the offensive side of the ball.  Alabama has not seen anything this season that can compare to the speed Florida is going to throw at them.  Their best shot at hanging with the Gators is going to be running the ball and keeping the ball out of Heisman QB Tim Tebow.  They might be successful on the ground, but if they want to win this game they're going to have to throw the ball and we don't see enough in the passing game to get Nick Saban's crew to the national championship game.  The Tide will be in the game, but eventually Tim Tebow and the Gators will prove to be too much.

This is probably the second best day of the college football calendar, only second to New Year's Day.  Sit back and enjoy it all.

As always...

Many Hundos.

Week 13 brought more success for The Weekly.  Ohio State beat Michigan for a school record fifth straight time, in convincing fashion.  Oregon State kept their BCS hopes alive by beating Arizona in the desert.  Penn State took down the Big Ten title by smoking the one dimensional Spartans.  The lone loss was an embarrassing one, as Texas Tech got pounded by Oklahoma.  The second consecutive 3-1 week puts us at twelve games over for the season.  We're keeping this one short and sweet thanks to the holiday weekend.

Rivalry Week II picks...

Auburn at Alabama (-15), 3:30pm
     Two programs headed in different directions here.  Alabama is so tough on both the offensive and defensive lines that they should be able to dominate this game.  There is no way that a Nick Saban coached team will lose its focus so close to the finish line.  Look for the Tide to cruise to an easy win en route to the SEC title game.

Baylor at Texas Tech (-21.5), 3:30pm
     Don't think that one bad loss is gonna derail us from riding the Raider train.  This is a perfect spot for Texas Tech to get right back on track against a Baylor defense which, frankly, stinks.  Tech will get its run game going again while the Tech D-Line should be able to pressure freshman QB Robert Griffin.  The pressure should force the young QB into some mistakes which the Red Raiders will be able to take advantage of.  With their Big XII championship hopes still in the balance, the Raiders will bounce back.

Notre Dame at Southern Cal (-31.5), 8pm
     Supposedly this is a rivalry game.  We still can't figure out how or why a school from Indiana and a school from California are "rivals" but we digress.  Notre Dame is just simply not a good football team.  They don't seem to have any direction, and last week's loss to hapless Syracuse proves that point.  USC is still chasing down a top two spot in the BCS so they'll be looking to pour it on for the voters.  Unfortunately for the Irish, they don't have the guns or the wits to play on the same field as the Trojans.  Will ND score?  Doubtful.  Trojans win big.  Really big.

Only three games with the smaller Saturday slate this week.  Thanksgiving week always throws off The Weekly.  We would have liked to added Colorado (+18) today at Nebraska, but we weren't quite ready to send it out.

Hopefully everybody had a great Thanksgiving.

Till next week...

Many Hundos..

Coming off what we called our "most disappointing" week this season, The Weekly responded once again.  This time we responded in a big way -- our most impressive week of the season.  Troy led LSU 31-3 in what looked to be our best pick of the 2008 season.  Despite blowing the lead and eventually losing to the defending national champs, the Trojans held on to cover and gave The Weekly it's most impressive pick of the season.  One of The Weekly's most despised programs started to get back on our good side with a cover against Oklahoma State.  Colorado hung in there and played tough at home, as they have all year long.  Maybe they shouldn't be kicked out of the Big XII after all.  UCLA kept doing what it's done all year long by beating bad teams.  This time the Bruins handed Washington it's 10th loss of the season a cover, giving us three wins on the day.  Our lone loss was a close one, just missing a perfect day.  Georgia beat Auburn 17-13 in a grind it out SEC battle.  Now at ten games over .500 The Weekly is enjoying a fine season.  Moving into the rivalry weeks we're feeling pretty good.  Let's hammer out some more wins...       

Rivalry Week I picks...

Michigan at Ohio State (-20.5), noon
     This is a play against Michigan as much as it is on Ohio State.  Michigan has only won three games for a reason, they can't move the football.  They don't have a quarterback who is capable of running the offense that Rich Rodriguez is trying to implement.  On the other hand, Ohio State has been a different team since Terrelle Prior has taken over at quarterback.  The win can give the Buckeyes' their fourth straight Big Ten title so they'll come out hungry.  The Wolverines are working on their worst season in their 100+ year history, they've packed it in.  See ya in 2009 Michigan. This will be Ohio State's record fifth straight win over the archrival Wolverines and they'll make a statement in doing so.
 
Oregon State (+2.5) at Arizona, 7pm
     This a game which is going to be won in the trenches by the Oregon State lines.  The offensive line has been superior all year long, giving freshman phenom RB Jacquizz Rodgers monster holes to run through.  The threat of Rodgers coupled with a solid offensive line will give QB Kyle Moevao plenty of time to find his wide receivers down the field for big plays.  On the other side of the ball the Beavers' defensive line should wreak havoc on the Wildcats.  The front four will be able to contain the Arizona running game, putting lots of pressure on QB Willie Tuitama to make plays on second- and third-and-long situations.  Tuitama will make a few plays and hurt the Badgers deep, but in the end Rodgers and company will be too much for Arizona, as the Badgers keep marching towards the Rose Bowl.

Michigan State at Penn State (-15.5), 3:30pm
     The Weekly hates picking against its favorites, but sometimes you need to go with your head and not your heart.  Michigan State RB Javon Ringer is a Weekly Favorite thanks to his manly performances of carrying the entire Spartan team on his back.  But Saturday in Happy Valley he just won't be able to carry the entire load against a defense like this.  The Lions are going to load up against the run and force QB Brian Hoyer to beat them, which he simply isn't capable of doing.  Penn State is great when QB Daryll Clark doesn't have to shoulder the load.  Nittany Lions' RB Evan Royster should be able to have a nice day against a Michigan State defense which gives up 4.5 yards per carry.  Penn State WR Derrick Williams will be able to keep the Spartan outside linebackers honest, giving Royster even more room to run.  The combination of Royster and Williams will be able to take lots of pressure off of Clark and this Nittany Lion offense will be in full force.  Add in the fact that this might be JoePa's last game in Happy Valley -- the place will be rockin' -- and it all points to a big Penn State win.

Texas Tech (+7) at Oklahoma, 8pm
     Did you really think we weren't gonna take the Red Raiders?  Of course we are, it's the year of the Red Raider.  Texas Tech has beaten Oklahoma two out of the past three seasons.  This is the best Tech team yet.  We won't talk about how good the offense is, because we all know that.  Here is one of the keys to the game:  the Sooner defense will sorely miss LB Ryan Reynolds and DE Auston English.  They have been able to get away with simply outscoring opponents, this weekend they aren't going to be able to do that and the defense will need to step up.  Without Reynolds and English they are going to have a tough time doing that.  Whatever happened to Big Game Bob [Stoops]?  In their past twelve games against top 15 opponents, the Sooners have one just four times.  The Red Raiders will win this one in what will prove to be every bit as good as the Texas-Texas Tech game a few weeks back.  Make sure you tune in.

Sorry for the somewhat shortened version of The Weekly, we're on our way out the door to Easton, PA to see the longest running football rivalry in the country.  Lafayette is going to beat Lehigh for the fifth straight year.  If there was a spread it would be our game of the week, but there is no line on the game, so we can't be it.  Oh well.

Till next week.

Good Luck.

Many Hundos.

Despite going 2-2, last week was the most disappointing week of the 2008 season.  Michigan State got the day off right by rolling over Purdue.  As predicted in this space Javon Ringer outscored the Boilermakers.  After that win is where the trouble started.  In our second game, we correctly called out the oddsmakers for "mismarking" the line for the Kansas-Nebraska game, but we were incorrect in the way which they mismarked it.  That Kansas loss was a headshaker.  How does that happen?  We nailed our weekly Texas Tech pick as Heisman front runner Graham Harrell, who The Weekly has been touting for three seasons now, embarrassed the Oklahoma State defense.  The Red Raiders looked unstoppable again.  Southern Cal's somewhat narrow defeat of Cal kept us from going 3-1 on the weekend.  The Trojan defense was, once again, masterful.  Mark Sanchez needs to get his offense up to speed.  A 17-3 win over these Golden Bears won't help USC's argument as the "Best One Loss Team in America".  Still eight games over for the season, let's make it twelve.  Week 12 winners...  

Georgia (-9.5) at Auburn, 12:30pm
     Auburn is simply not a good football team right now.  They don't have a legitimate quarterback and thus cannot move the football.  The Tigers have won just two of their past seven games with those two wins coming against a couple of lowly Tennessee schools, Tennessee and Tennessee-Martin (who are basically indistinguishable at this point).  On the other hand, Georgia can move the ball.  In recent weeks the Georgia offense has found their rhythm against every team not named Florida.  New Jersey product Knowshon Moreno is averaging an impressive 5.9 yards per carry, and Matthew Stafford is having his best year as Bulldog quarterback.  The Tigers haven't scored more than 22 points in an SEC game yet this season, meanwhile the Bulldogs have scored at least 24 points in five of their seven SEC games.  Look for more of the same this weekend as Georgia puts Auburn one more loss closer to missing a bowl game while making Tommy Tubberville's seat that much hotter.  Dawgs win by at least two touchdowns.

UCLA (-6.5) at Washington, 10:15pm
     Hey, just because a game features two teams who aren't any good doesn't mean you can't at least make some money off of it.  This is a good spot for the Bruins in a year mostly devoid of good spots.  The Bruins aren't very good, but they have taken care of business against teams they should beat.  As long as that holds true, this should be a layup.  UCLA's three wins came against Tennessee, Stanford and Washington State -- teams they're supposed to beat.  Their six losses all came against teams who will be going to a bowl this year -- teams they shouldn't beat.  The only BCS conference team who is anywhere near as bad as Washington is their in-state counterpart Washington State.  The Cougars are winless on the season and have been outscored by an embarrassing average of 26 points per game.  UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel will be going against a Washington program which he led to a Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl victory for the first time.  The program has been crippled since he left and now he'll be able to add further to the pain of the Cougar faithful.  Washington puts up another stinker as UCLA cruises.

Troy (+16.5) at LSU, 8pm
     No, that's not a typo.  We're sure most of you don't even know where Troy University is -- that would be southern Alabama.  LSU has been on a downswing in the past six weeks.  Both Georgia and Florida hung 50 on the Bayou Bengals and although they took #1 Alabama to overtime, they still lost the game.  The Weekly has constantly knocked LSU QB Jarrett Lee and rightly so.  The sophomore from Brenham, Texas has been unimpressive at best.  He's throw 13 touchdowns and 14 picks while only completing 53.4% of his passes.  As The Weekly watches more and more football, we think it becomes more and more evident that defensive lines win and lose games.  Stopping the run and creating pressure with your front four is essential in order to play winning football.  The Trojans have SEC-quality talent on the defensive line.  They are fifth in the country in sacks with 29, they'll get to and rattle Lee just enough to make this a game.  Baton Rouge will be rockin' as always, but these Trojans are a feisty bunch.  It may be a tough game, but Troy covers for us.

Oklahoma State at Colorado (+17.5), 8pm
     The Weekly hates picking these late games since that means we have to sit around all day waiting and it seems like we've been taking lots of these late games in 2008, but we digress... The Cowboys are having a stellar season, but have historically had trouble winning in Boulder.  More importantly, the Buffaloes have been solid at home this season.  They're 5-1 at home with the lone loss coming against the mighty Longhorns from the University of Texas.  Sophomore signal caller Cody Hawkins has been getting better every week and should be able to move the ball against a porous Okie State secondary.  Buffs RB Rodney Stewart has been impressive in his rookie campaign and he gives Colorado another way to attack the Cowboy defense.  The Oklahoma State offense may be a bit much for the Buffaloes to win this one outright, but Hawkins and Stewart will be able to give the Buffs a shot to win it in the 4th quarter.

The Weekly will be in Easton, Pa. next Saturday for the game as the Lehigh and Lafayette meet for the 144th time.  The Leopards are going for their fifth straight victory while trying to extend the all-time lead to 77-62-5 over the Engin--- umm, Mountain Hawks.  We expect to see many of you there.

Until next week...

Good Luck.

Many Hundos.

The 2008 version of The Weekly has been incredibly resilient.  After a perfect Week 8 we experienced a letdown in Week 9.  In Week 10 we quickly picked ourselves up off the floor to win three out of four games.  The 3-1 week ran our season record right back to a solid 60%.  In the Halloween spirit, Florida made beating Georgia look like taking candy from a baby.  Urban Meyer was merciless, going as far as taking two timeouts in the final minute while leading by 39 points.  That's what you get when you pull a stunt like the Bulldogs did last year despite being in the midst of a 2-15 streak vs. the Gators.  Our second winner of the day came from the Big East as UConn couldn't handle Pat White.  When White plays the Mountaineers are tough, but when he doesn't play, they're like Entourage without Ari -- not good.  Weekly Favorite Texas Tech was our winner of the week, as they beat Texas in what was undoubtedly the best game in football this year.  We've been saying it for well over a year now:  Michael Crabtree is the real deal.  Our lone loss was from Chestnut Hill, as Clemson managed to finally beat Boston College for the first time as an ACC opponent.  The Weekly will keep rollin' this week as we revert back to a few familiar faces for our Week 11 picks...

Oklahoma State at Texas Tech (-3.5), 8pm
     As we said you're going to see some old favorites this week.  We love, love, love the Raiders in this spot.  Oklahoma State is way too good to be overlooked by anyone, so this is certainly not a trap game.  For those of us who were lucky enough to watch Saturday night's game between Texas and Texas Tech (yes, it was that good) you noticed that it was an extremely emotional game.  Those fans in Lubbock were wild and the team definitely fed off of their excitement.  This week should be no different.  They'll be playing under the lights against a top 10 ranked Big XII South rival for the second straight week and those fans won't let the Red Raiders experience a letdown.  For years we've been talking about Tech's offense, but now they have the defense to match it.  The D-Line has been phenomenal all year long, especially last week against Texas.  The Raiders should be able to slow the Cowboy running attack just enough to put QB Zac Robinson in some third-and-longs, where the Raiders thrive.  The Raiders can get pressure on the quarterback without blitzing and have a pair of ballhawking safeties in Darcel McBath and Daniel Charbonnet, who have each picked off five balls this season.  That combination will make it really tough, even for a potent offense like Oklahoma State, to make any long conversions.  We worry a little about the hook here, so maybe you want to buy a half-point, but we're confident that the Harrell for Heisman campaign will come out of Week 11 with another win for its cause.

Purdue at Michigan State (-10), noon
     Lots of factors at work in this play.  The Boilermakers are not just a bad road team, they are a terrible road team.  They're 0-3 and have yet to be competitive on the road this season.  The defense ranks 91st in the nation against the rush, allowing 176 yards per game.  That sounds like a recipe for disaster against a run-heavy Spartan offense.  Weekly Favorite and Michigan State RB Javon Ringer has recovered from a virus and is expected to be at 100% for Saturday.  Ringer hasn't rushed for 200 yards in a Big Ten game yet this year, we think that will change.  Michigan State is still alive for a Big Ten championship despite losing to Ohio State a few weeks back.  If they can win Saturday and then stage an upset of Penn State next week they would be conference champions thanks to a unique tiebreaker system which The Weekly applauds.  In the event of a 3-way tie between Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State, Michigan State would be awarded the conference title because they did not schedule a Division 1-AA opponent this year, while the other two purchased a couple of wins.  Hopefully this would wake these schools up and force them to schedule some more challenging opponents.  Anyway, this game will help set the table for Michigan State.  Javon Ringer will personally account for more points than the entire Purdue team.  Spartans win big.

Kansas (+1.5) at Nebraska, 2:30pm
     Are we missing something here?  Nebraska isn't a good football team.  They have lost four of their past six games with the two wins coming over perennial Big XII cellar-dwellers Iowa State and Baylor.  Kansas may have gotten lit up by Texas Tech and Oklahoma, but very few teams don't get lit up by Texas Tech and Oklahoma.  Kansas QB Todd Reesing is the best quarterback that nobody cares about.  Didn't this guy win the Orange Bowl last year?  Doesn't this guy have 20 touchdown passes and over 2600 yards this year?  Didn't this guy lead Kansas to a 76-39 win against Nebraska last year? Yes, yes and yes.  Okay -- but now he's a one and a half point dog at Nebraska?  Someone really mis-marked this line.  Let's take advantage and hammer it.  Kansas is tied for 1st place in the Big XII South and eyeing a showdown in the Border War with archrival Missouri for the division title.  If they're going to trip up on their way to a division title it will be next week against Texas, not this week at Nebraska.  Remember they hung 76 -- seventy-six -- points on the Huskers last year.  The Husker D hasn't looked much better in 2008.  Kansas hangs another 40 on the scoreboard and cruises to their 4th Big XII victory.

Cal at Southern California (-22), 8pm
     Over/under 20.5 points against the USC defense over their final four regular season games?  Sadly for their opponents, that's a legitimate question.  The Bears' offense is going to have a long, long day at the office on Saturday.  We could draw it out and talk about how USC has pitched three shutouts in its last four games and throw crazy stats out there like their opponents have averaged 7 points per game this year but it's really much simpler than that.  A shaky offensive line + Nate Longshore as your quarterback + a pissed off USC defense = no points for Cal.  The USC offense will grind out plenty of points.  Until someone proves they can move the ball against these guys, we'll keep taking them.  Look for something like Trojans 35 - Bears 3.

Until next week...

Good Luck.

Many Hundos.

The Weekly followed up a phenomenal week 8 with a sub-par week 9.  Just one win against three losses.  South Florida lost at Louisville and we can cross the Bulls off the list of Big East contenders, not like there were many of those to begin with anyway.  Hats off to Penn State.  They finally got over the hump and beat Ohio State on the road.  The win places the Nittany Lions in the middle of a media-created BCS controversy, despite the fact we're not even in November yet.  Three undefeated teams left on October 31st -- the BCS is flawed!!  Give us a break.  It will work itself out.  But we digress...  In our third loss of the weekend, BYU scored a ton of points, but so did UNLV.  Apparently the Cougars defense didn't feel like showing up.  Thanks fellas.  Our lone victory came from our trusty friend Mike Leach.  The Red Raiders looked primed for this weekend's game against Texas by hanging 63 on a decent Kansas defense.  It's the first weekend of November and we're getting into the stretch run.  We have a few games we really like this week.  Onto the picks...  

Texas at Texas Tech (+3.5) , 8pm
     It's no secret that The Weekly loves Texas Tech, but this time it finally looks like it's the Red Raiders' time to beat the Longhorns.  This is only the second time in Texas Tech history that they've come out of the gates with eight straight wins, which makes this the biggest game in Tech history.  The Tech offense looked almost unstoppable last week in dismantling Kansas on the road.  Texas Tech throws the ball.  A lot.  Everyone focuses on QB Graham Harrell and WR Michael Crabtree but, as with all good offenses, the offensive line is what makes the machine run.  This season the line has given up three sacks in 363 pass attempts.  Put that into perspective for a moment.  That's one sack for every 161 pass attempts, or about one every three games (at least for Texas Tech).  The line has been giving and will continue to give Graham Harrell time to throw.  Texas' secondary is very, very young.  As long as the Red Raider line continues to be the best in America, Texas Tech is going to score a lot of points.  More importantly, this is the fourth straight game that Texas will be playing a top 15 team.  This has 2006 USC-UCLA written all over it.  It would be one of the great feats in college football history for Texas to come out of this 4-0 and we just don't think it's going to happen for them.  Lubbock is a tough place to come into and win whether you're Texas or North Texas.  Red Raiders move to 9-0.  

Clemson at Boston College (-3.5), 3:30pm
     The past three years when Clemson was good they couldn't figure out how to beat BC, think they'll be able to do it now?  Nah, we don't think so either.  For our purposes Clemson is 1-4 this year (we don't count games against 1-AA teams, that's like giving the Red Sox a win because they beat the Boston College baseball team in a Spring Training game).  When healthy the Tigers weren't very good.  Now that the Tigers are banged up, they're worse.  Their problem for the past two years has been their offensive line, which creates a terrible match up with Boston College.  The interior defensive linemen for the Eagles might be the best in the nation.  BJ Raji and Ron Brace are monsters.  Seriously the two biggest people The Weekly has ever met and we know some big people.  Not only are they big, but they are very good.  Even if Clemson RB CJ Spiller plays the monsters in the middle will eat him up.  Look for the Eagles to kick Clemson when they are down.  Eagles by double digits.  

Florida (-6.5) vs. Georgia, at Jacksonville, Florida, 3:30pm
     Urban Meyer is absolutely money against his rivals.  He is 9-1 against Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State.  The Gators lead the SEC in scoring defense and are tied for the fewest turnovers in the country.  Those are signs of a well coached team.  Georgia, on the other hand, has been penalized the most times in the country.  That is a sign of a poorly coached team.  Florida is putting up massive points and the Georgia defensive front comes into the game a little banged up.  Like we talked about earlier with Texas, this will be Georgia's third straight game against a ranked opponent.  One of The Weekly's theories for 2008 is that SEC teams coming off of big time conference battles just don't perform in the following week.  Stafford and company will score some points, but Tebow and the Gators are out for revenge after last year's stomping on the field incident.  Gators by two touchdowns.  

West Virginia (-3.5) at Connecticut, noon
     The Mountaineers have burned us a few times, but we still have faith in them.  The Huskies are very one dimensional.  They can run the ball, but have trouble even picking a starting quarterback, forget about actually throwing the ball.  The West Virginia defense is solid against the run, so look for them to bottle up RB Donald Brown.  QB Pat White is back for West Virginia and looked pretty good in a win over Auburn.  It took them a half to get it together, but they got it together and were great in the second half.  Over the past four years West Virginia has really put it on Connecticut.  Look for another big score from the Mountaineers, as they march along towards a Big East title.  

Four games.  Four winners.  Ten games over .500 by next week.  Should be a great weekend of football -- Texas-Texas Tech, Florida-Georgia, Bergen Catholic-Don Bosco, Giants-Cowboys... Great sporting events.  Great football.  

Go Bergen. 

Many Hundos.  

Week 8 was a breath of fresh air.  We brought you our second undefeated week of the season, winning all four of our posted games.  Georgia Tech pulled out a late victory over perpetually underachieving Clemson, as Josh Nesbitt threw a touchdown pass with just under six minutes to play to keep the Yellow Jackets in control of the ACC Coastal division.  In our other ACC game, Virginia continued its incredible turnaround by beating Carolina in overtime, 16-13.  Cavs RB Cedric Pearman scored the game tying touchdown with 40 seconds to go in the 4th quarter, then scored the game winner in overtime to keep UVa on Georgia Tech's heels (no pun intended).  Don't look now, but Ohio State is playing very good football.  The Ohio State offense is clicking with Beanie Wells at 100% and Terrelle Prior looking more and more like a Freshman version of Vince Young, as they went to East Lansing and beat Michigan State 45-7.  South Florida took care of business in out-classing Syracuse, 45-13.  Syracuse is in a sorry, sorry state of affairs right now.  That was a big showing for The Weekly, as we blew right past our targeted 60% mark for the season.  We're happy with the season thus far, but there's no complacency here... LET'S BUILD ON THAT!!

Texas Tech (+1) at Kansas, noon
     The Weekly was somewhat shocked to see this line.  Texas Tech comes into this game riding its longest undefeated start in 30 years by winning each of their first seven games.  Tech QB Graham Harrell is one of the reasons why the entire nation is focused on the Big XII.  Over his last four games he's completed nearly 80% of his passes, even while some of his top wide outs have been banged up.  Well the bad news for Kansas is that Michael Crabtree and Co. should be healthy and ready to explode this weekend in Lawrence.  Kansas QB Todd Reesing is one of the most underrated players in the nation.  He seems to always be overlooked because of the elite talent at his position within his conference.  Reesing is a very good college quarterback, but can the offensive line give him enough time to make plays?  The KU O-Line ranks 73rd in the nation in sacks allowed, and is going up against a defensive front which seems to be coming into its own.  Ultimately we think that the underachieving offensive line won't be able to protect Reesing enough or run the ball enough to keep the Red Raider offense off the field.  Kansas will put up points, but it won't be enough to stop Weekly Favorite Mike Leach's high octane offense. 

South Florida (-3.5) at Louisville, 3:30pm
     The Bulls still aren't getting the respect they deserve from the odds makers.  A healthy South Florida team is going to be very, very tough to beat in the Big East this year.  Don't let Louisville's 4-2 record fool you, they've played a glorified Sun Belt schedule.  Three of their four wins have come over Tennessee Tech, Memphis and Middle Tennessee State.  Thanks to that soft schedule RB Victor Anderson has averaged 7.0 yards per carry and rushed for six touchdowns.  It is highly unlikely that he's going to be able to put up numbers like that against this South Florida defense, which means the ball will be in the hands of QB Hunter Cantwell.  Against the aforementioned soft schedule, Cantwell has thrown for just eight touchdowns and eight interceptions, not a good ratio.  The Bulls have a veteran team and know how to win on the road.  They've won all three road games in 2008 and have won eight of their last ten away from Tampa.  The Bulls are on a roll, tough away from home and playing an untested opponent.  All signs point to a double-digit victory.

Penn State at Ohio State (+2), 8pm
     Ohio State isn't playing in the national championship, whether they run the table or not.  Don't let any Buckeyes tell you that they deserve it if they win out.  They don't.  This is a different team than the one who lost to USC, but that embarrassing USC loss still counts.  The key here is that they are a different team than the one in early September.  We saw it last week in their dominating win at Michigan State.  Everyone knows what a healthy Beanie Wells can do, but Terrelle Prior is the one who is making the biggest difference for the OSU offense.  He can make plays with his legs that Todd Boeckman can only dream about.  More importantly, this Buckeye defense is one of the best in America, better than anything these Lions have seen.  Penn State's first year starting QB Daryll Clark has been extremely impressive, but playing the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe is a different animal.  Clark is playing behind an offensive line which is just okay, nothing special.  Let's see how Clark responds to playing under college football's brightest lights, in the face of intense pressure from an incredibly fast defense.  Penn State hasn't won in Columbus since 1978, we think that streak will continue.

UNLV at BYU (-23.5), 2pm
     The Cougars are coming off their first loss in over a year.  This is still a really good football team, and potent offense.  QB Max Hall is one of the nation's best passers, one loss won't change that.  Last week they ran into a TCU defense which, when playing well, can be as good as anyone in America.  The Horned Frogs were the more focused team and took it to BYU.  BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall is one of the brightest young coaches in college football and we expect his team to come out ready to dominate a lesser opponent.  UNLV had an impressive win at then No. 15 Arizona State.  A few weeks later that win doesn't look quite as impressive, since it looks like it's going to be a rebuilding year in Tempe.  The Runnin' Rebels are coming off of three straight conference losses and have given up 229 points in seven games.  The Cougars are ready to light up the scoreboard in front of the home crowd and stay in the hunt for a Mountain West championship.  Cougars run away from the Rebels in this one.

There you have it, two dogs and two favorites.  It should be a great weekend of college football. 

Until next week...

Many Hundos.

The Weekly was kind of stuck in the mud in week number seven.  Mississippi State beat Vanderbilt outright and kept our theory about fatigue in the SEC in tact.  Florida took care of LSU in a big way.  The Gators showed everyone why they are as good as anyone in America by trashing the defending national champs 51-21.  Florida had 14 players on their roster who run the 40 yard dash in less than 4.4 seconds -- it showed on Saturday night.  We were disappointed in a couple of Weekly Favorites over in the Big XII.  Weekly Favorite and Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach were given a scare by Nebraska before prevailing in overtime, but that doesn't give us any solace.  Chase Daniel, another Weekly Favorite, and the Missouri Tigers' offense disappointed as they, along with the Oklahoma State offense, never really got into a great rhythm.  The two teams barely eclipsed 50 points; forget about 77.  So after seven weeks we've put ourselves in a good position to book a great season.  Getting off to a hot start in the second half is huge, and we expect to do that this week.

North Carolina at Virginia (+4.5), 3:30pm
     This is a case of bad timing for the Tar Heels.  UNC learned this week that star WR Brandon Tate will be sidelined for the rest of the year with a knee injury, a major blow to Carolina's ACC title hopes.  Where did this Virginia team come from?  They were left for dead two weeks ago following an embarrassing 31-3 loss to, of all schools, DUKE!  Their coach was as good as gone and everyone was looking to 2009.  But suddenly after two convincing wins over Maryland and East Carolina, the Cavs are alive and well again.  We're going to ride the hot hand and take the points at home.  Without Brandon Tate for the first time since 2004 (the senior has played in every game starting from his Freshman year), Carolina will rely heavily on a defense which has created scoring opportunities and that can only take you so far.  Carolina hasn't won a game at Virginia since 1981, don't look for that to change on Saturday.

Georgia Tech (-2.5) at Clemson, noon
     The Bowden Era at Clemson is done.  This comes as little surprise to many of us paying attention to Clemson the past three years.  The Tigers have underachieved and finally Bowden was going to get fired because of it eventually.  This could be good for Clemson in the long run, but in the short run -- it might be a long year.  Clemson is 1-3 against FBS competition and will be without QB Cullen Harper and RB CJ Spiller.  They were struggling for points against Maryland and Wake Forest with those two which means that they are really going to struggle without them against a tough Georgia Tech defense.  Another Weekly Favorite, Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson looks like he has quickly done a great job.  The Jackets are 5-1 and sitting at 2-1 in the ACC Coastal Division and are 8th in the nation in rushing at 255 yards per game -- classic Johnson.  Look for the Jackets to contain a listless Tiger offense as they move closer to an ACC title game birth.

Syracuse at South Florida (-24), noon
     The Weekly witnessed Syracuse first hand last weekend at West Virginia.  The Orange probably played as well as they possibly could, and could still only muster two field goals.  In the past three meetings South Florida has brutalized Syracuse to the tune of 95-20, and it looks like the talent gap has never been wider.  The Bulls are finally starting to get healthy, especially defensive anchor George Selvie who should be close to 100% for the first time in over a month.  South Florida is at home and coming off a bye, while Syracuse is making their second long road trip in as many weeks.  Boasting the top offense in the Big East, USF will have no problems disposing of one of the worst defenses in all of America.  Bulls in a laugher.

Ohio State (-3.5) at Michigan State, 3:30pm
     Ohio State has been flying under the radar for weeks now.  This is not the same team who got their jock handed to them by Southern Cal.  Freshman sensation Terrelle Prior has given this team some much needed athleticism, as well as a spark, and pre-season Heisman Trophy candidate RB Beanie Wells is back in action.  Michigan State has been riding the back of their own Heisman trophy hopeful, in Weekly Favorite Javon Ringer.  Ringer has literally carried the Spartans to the top of the Big Ten, carrying the ball an incredible 247 times in just seven games.  In his past two games Ringer has seen his yards per carry drop to just 3.5 and 3.6 yards per carry.  These are down drastically from 5 and 6 yards per carry averages earlier in the season.  Could it be that Ringer is feeling the effects of those 247 carries?  We think so.  Ringer won't be able to carry the burden this week, as Ohio State keeps control of Big Ten.

Good Luck. 

Many Hundos.

After a mediocre Week 5, we got back on the right track in Week 6.  We won three out of five games, so it wasn't our best performance but there is good reason to be excited about the week.  Those three games weren't just won, they were nailed...

1.  "Expect the Tigers to hang another 40 or 50 on the scoreboard as they get their first win in Lincoln in over 30 years."  Missouri 52, Nebraska 17

2.  "Vandy in a low-scoring squeaker."  Vanderbilt 14, Auburn 13

3.  "Illini [as an underdog] by double digits."  Illinois 45, Michigan 20

Of course we missed on our other two games, but they were near-misses...

1.  "West Virginia embarrasses Rutgers on Saturday -- this is a layup."  West Virginia 24, Rutgers 17

2.  "It just so happens that Kansas' favorite whippin' boy is Iowa State. [snip]  This game should be over by halftime."  Kansas 35, Iowa State 33

In our defense, those misses could have easily been winners so our 3-2 week comes with frustration.  Kansas spotted Iowa State 20 points before the Jayhawks decided to start playing.  In our other loss, Rutgers QB (and The Weekly's newest favorite target) Mike Teel somehow, perhaps magically, put together a 4th quarter touchdown drive and messed up a push and of course we all know -- a push is a win. 

This is a huge weekend in college football as national championship hopes are on the line for Florida, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas.  On college football's biggest weekend of 2008 so far, The Weekly looks to elevate ourselves above the legendary capper's benchmark of 60%, as we currently sit at 58% for the year.
 
Vanderbilt at Mississippi State (+2.5), 2:30pm
     A couple of major factors at play here.  Isn't Vandy 5-0?  Isn't Mississippi State 1-4?  Didn't Vandy just beat a ranked Auburn team?  Is this the same Mississippi State team who got beaten by Louisiana Tech?  Yes, yes, yes and yes.  Okay, then why is Vandy only a 2.5 point favorite?  That's the million dollar question.  We think that's because the Commodores aren't as good as their 5-0 record and the Bulldogs are better than their 1-4 record.  Vandy ranks 115th in Division 1-A in total yards.  Eventually that's going to come back to bite them.  You have to be able to move the ball to win games.  An opportunistic defensive will only take them so far.  If they fail to create turnovers they are in lots of trouble.  As for the Bulldogs, they had a nice showing in their last game two weeks ago at LSU, losing 34-24.  Freshman QB Tyson Lee had an incredible debut considering the defense he was facing, going 17-26 for 175 yards, a touchdown and no picks against the Tigers.  The other major factor at play working against Vandy is the same one which was working for Vandy last weekend.  Mississippi State is coming off a bye week, while Vandy scratched and clawed for sixty minutes with Auburn last week.  Add in that the Commodores have to travel to Mississippi, and we have an upset in the making.  

Nebraska at Texas Tech (-21), 3pm
     Texas Tech has finally hit its stride, just in time for a reeling Nebraska defense to travel to Lubbock.  The Huskers are the last Division 1-A team to play on the road this year, and they won't be warmly welcomed by a Red Raider offense which is ranked 2nd in the nation in total yards and 1st in passing yards.  Tech QB Graham Harrell is on pace to become 2nd on the NCAA's list of all time passing yards, in just three years as a starting QB.  Insane.  Nebraska couldn't handle Virginia Tech or Missouri, they surely aren't going to suddenly be able to handle Texas Tech.  The last time the Huskers traveled to Lubbock the Red Raiders hung 70 on the board.  Look for Harrell, Crabtree and company to light up the scoreboard in an easy Tech win.  

LSU at Florida (-6), 8pm
     The reigning Heisman Trophy winner didn't need any extra motivation this week.  Foolishly, the LSU defensive line gave it to him.  Whether the Ricky-Jean Francois meant it or not, he gave Tebow some bulletin board material. Tim Tebow is the kind of player thrives in the spotlight and we think this is his time to shine.  LSU sophomore QB Jarrett Lee played well on the road at Auburn, but this Florida team and The Swamp are a different animal.  Unlike Auburn, Florida is proven at the quarterback position which will end up being the difference in this game.  Look for a fast Gators' defense to cause Lee problems all day long, as the Gators hold LSU to 14 points or fewer and Florida wins by ten.  

Oklahoma State at Missouri -- Over 78.5, 7pm
     Yup, we're going with the "If It's That High, It's That High For A Reason" Theory.  The Tigers and Pokes feature the second and third highest scoring teams in the nation, averaging 53.4 and 52.6 points per game.  Let's start with Missouri.  The Tigers have had 49 straight possessions without a 3-and-out.  We'll repeat that for effect.  The Tigers have had 49 straight possessions without a 3-and-out.  That may be the greatest offensive accomplishment in the modern era.  Mizzou has playmakers all over the field and the best quarterback in the nation.  They'll be going up against a young secondary, who won't be capable of slowing down this ridiculous offense.  Everyone knows how prolific Missouri is, but nobody seems to realize how good Okie State is.  QB Zac Robinson has led 13 touchdown drives which have lasted under two minutes.  The Cowboys average over 300 yards a game on the ground and Missouri's run defense has been suspect all year.  Look for the Tigers to hang close to 60 on the board and the Cowboys to be somewhere in the high 30's.  It's going to be that kind of game.  

The Weekly crew will be traveling to Morgantown today to check out the Homecoming festivities at underachieving West Virginia University.  Thankfully for the Mountaineers they'll be playing Syracuse, who are so bad that they can't underachieve.  It should be a wild scene, we'll report back next week.  

Good Luck. 

Many Hundos.

So much for 2-2 being a "down week".  When Week 5 took a 2007-esque turn, our picks went down with it.  What happened last week?  Florida loses at home to Ole Miss, Georgia loses at home to Alabama, Southern Cal loses to Oregon State (yes, the same Oregon State team that got waxed at Penn State).  All in all six ranked teams lost to unranked teams.  It was a wild, wild week in college football.  Let's hope that's just an aberration and not a trend.  Navy just keeps killing us.  For the second straight week we were warned about fading the Midshipmen.  After The Weekly was placed in mailboxes all over the country last Friday, we received a phone call from a loyal reader, someone who's been with us since day one, saying that the Wake Forest over Navy pick was our worst pick in four years.  Unfortunately, he was right.  That pretty much epitomizes our entire week.  Despite the bad week it wasn't a bad September for The Weekly, but we think October might be our finest month ever... 

And of course, the picks for week number six of your 2008 college football season...  

Missouri (-10.5) at Nebraska, 9pm
     Just what The Weekly needs, a little dose of Chase Daniel.  The leading Heisman candidate brings his high powered offense into Lincoln for a chance to beat Nebraska on their home turf for the first time in a long time.  The Tigers are averaging 53.4 points per game and just over 400 yards per game passing.  In addition to what we knew was going to be a prolific passing game, Mizzou RB Derrick Washington has picked up right where Tony Temple left off last season.  Thanks to Washington and Daniel's mobility Missouri can truly beat you in the air or on the ground.  This is going to a problem for the Cornhuskers.  New Husker head coach Bo Pellini is a defensive guru, but he hasn't had the time to resurrect the once famous Blackshirt defense.  Last week the Nebraska "D" gave up 35 points to an offensively challenged Virginia Tech team.  Expect the Tigers to hang another 40 or 50 on the scoreboard as they get their first win in Lincoln in over 30 years.  

Kansas (-12) at Iowa State, 12:30pm
     Well if the theme for the last two weeks was Auburn and whoever Navy was playing, this week looks to be Big XII road favorites.  It just so happens that Kansas' favorite whippin' boy is Iowa State.  In the past two seasons the Jayhawks have beaten up on the Cyclones to the tune of 86-17.  No too much has changed from those last two years.  Kansas has lost a lot of buzz recently because of their loss to South Florida (a game they should have won) and the fact that there are four Big XII teams not named Kansas in the Top 10.  Thanks to the lack of buzz around the Jayhawks there's only a 12 point spread on this game, and we see lots of value in it.  Saturday is the day that the Jayhawks will put it all together on the offensive side of the ball as 2007's leading receiver Dexton Fields will be back after missing games with an injured foot.  Fields went for 11 catches, 109 yards and 2 touchdowns in last year's contest against the Cyclones.  The addition of Fields, as well as a 95th ranked Cyclone rushing defense, will take pressure off of the lagging rushing game.  This game should be over by halftime.  

Rutgers at West Virginia (-14), noon
     Two big factors at play here.  One: the Mountaineers may have finally put it together.  Two: Rutgers stinks.  We know it was just Marshall, but a win is a win and West Virginia looked pretty good in their win last week.  The supposed downfall of Patrick White has been thoroughly overplayed.  He has completed 73.3% of his passes and thrown for seven touchdowns and only one interception.  This team isn't going to contend for a national title and they all know it, but they also know that a Big East title and BCS appearance are well within their grasp.  On the other hand, you have a 1-AA quality team disguised as a major program.  Mike Teel has thrown for two touchdowns and seven interceptions.  He didn't even play well against Morgan State last week (11-18, 188 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception) and the team only amassed 297 total yards.  This Rutgers team is worse than the one who let West Virginia torment them last year, in Piscataway mind you, by the score of 38-3.  West Virginia embarrasses Rutgers on Saturday -- this is a layup.  

Auburn at Vanderbilt (+4) , 6pm
     College Gameday is broadcasting from Nashville, Tennessee and it's not for a neutral site game.  Vandy is hosting Gameday for the first time and are primed for an upset of their neighbors from the Plains.  Speaking of Auburn, they are coming off of two brutal SEC brawls -- uhh, I mean games.  Those games have really taken a lot out of teams in the past.  A recent example would be then No. 1 LSU grinding out a win at Florida last year and then getting beat at Kentucky the following week.  We incorrectly thought that Auburn had taken strides in their mastery of the spread offense.  Their quarterback play has been terrible and they've had difficulty putting points on the board.  Vandy's ball hawking defense combined with an offense that never spits the pit gives them the top turnover margin in all of America.  They have a win over Ole Miss, who just beat Florida, and Saturday would be a landmark win for a program who's looking for a landmark win.  Vandy in a low-scoring squeaker.

Illinois (+2.5) at Michigan, 3:30pm
     We love battle tested teams who are fighting for their lives.  The Fightin' Illini have already played, and been competitive in, two games against Top 10 programs.  They've been on the losing end of both games, vs. Missouri and at Penn State, but have played pretty well in both games.  Michigan is still trying to find an identity.  They've had an up and down season thus far due to inconsistent play of their young players in prominent roles -- especially at the quarterback position.  The Illini have missed Rashard Mendenhall, but QB Juice Williams is a veteran leader and this is a must win game.  Thanks to last year's success the expectations were high for this group of Illini and after losing the Big Ten opener at Penn State last weekend, they'll need to take care of the Wolverines this weekend in order to stay in Big Ten championship contention.  We'll take the team with more to lose in this game, as Illinois has to have this game.  Illini by double digits.

Sorry for the tardiness.  Next week we'll get the newsletter out Thursday, since The Weekly staff will be on location in Morgantown, WV for the highly anticipated West Virginia-Syracuse game.

Till next week...

Many Hundos.

It's a good thing when our down weeks are 2-2.  Although salvaging a .500 week, last week can be described as the good, the bad and the ugly.  The good: Wake Forest beating Florida State on the road.  What Jim Grobe has done at Wake Forest is nothing short of incredible.  Just as good was Michigan State.  Weekly Favorite Javon Ringer continued to be the Spartans workhorse as he wore out a bad, borderline awful, Notre Dame squad.  The bad: Auburn leads LSU 21-20.  LSU is driving for a game winning field goal which would ensure a cover for the Weekly, and, in turn, another winning week.  Instead, LSU is throwing the ball and scores a go ahead touchdown with about a minute to go.  LSU wins.  We lose.  Maybe it's karma from the "Backdoor Cover of the Century" last week.  The ugly: Picking Rutgers to not only win, but also cover.  Weekly Rule #37: We will not bet on a Mike Teel led team again.  Ever.  No matter what the circumstances are.  In no situation.  College football, pro football, flag football.  Ever. 

And of course, the picks for week number five of your 2008 college football season...  

Navy at Wake Forest (-16) , 3:45pm
     As Yogi said, "it's deja vu all over again".  Taking Wake Forest and fading Navy.  We're going to keep pushing the anti-Navy play, as much as some people (you know who you are) disagree with the strategy.  We all know how Navy gets it done -- on the ground.  The Demon Deacons will surely welcome the Middie's one-dimentionalness (is that a word? it is now) being that Wake only allows 3.2 yards per carry and just around 100 yards per game rushing.  Wake Forest QB Riley Skinner isn't flashy and won't steal any Heisman votes from Chase Daniel and company, but the kid knows how to win games.  But the biggest factor at play here is the Navy defense.  We all saw how Mike Teel made them look like the '85 Bears, but in reality they're closer to the '81 Colts (look it up).  Skinner picks apart the Navy defense in a 20+ point blowout.  

Tennessee at Auburn (-6.5), 3:30pm
     Yep, another familiar face.  Tennessee was pathetic last week.  Florida took it to them in their own backyard.  Phil Fulmer looked like a man who is losing more than football games.  His body language has been off-the-charts bad, approaching something out of the Manning family's playbook.  If you told us his wife was cheating on him, his son recently came out of the closet and his 14-year old daughter got knocked up by the local gas station attendant -- all at the same time -- we'd believe it in a heartbeat.    There is no way a team led by this coach can compete with a really good Auburn team on the road.  Auburn took a major step forward last week even in defeat.  The new offense is starting to come together for a program who has beaten the Vols three straight years.  The Tigers take down Tennessee for the fourth straight season, in convincing fashion.  

Alabama at Georgia (-7), 7:45pm
     For the second straight week we're taking the marquee SEC game.  Has Georgia impressed anybody yet?  A win is a win, but at some point they're going to need to put it all together and look like the national championship contender that "experts" tout them to be.  This could be that week.  Nick Saban has brought Alabama back to the front of the national picture more quickly than anyone could have imagined, but they are just too green to tackle the daunting task of going on the road to beat a veteran Georgia club.  The ATS trends are impressively in Georgia's favor.  The Dawgs are 6-0 ATS in their past six against teams with a winning record, 4-0 ATS in their last four home games and 6-0-1 ATS in their past seven games overall.  Saban and the Tide are almost there, but they're still a year away.  Georgia RB, and New Jersey native, Knowshon Moreno has been able to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump thus far in 2008, he will lead the Bulldogs to a two touchdown win Between the Hedges against this young Tide squad.  

South Florida (-9.5) at North Carolina State, 7:30pm
     NC State is coming off of a big win against a previously unbeaten in-state rival.  That spells hangover.  The biggest issue for the Wolfpack is that QB Russell Wilson is injured.  That doesn't bode well going up against the fastest defense that the 'Pack has seen this season.  South Florida played about as poorly as it could and still managed to pull out a few wins, underwhelming as they may have been, but wins nonetheless.  It's about time for the Bulls to pull it all together and win a game in convincing fashion.  The 'Pack has had a tough time taking care of Big East opponents (that's a rare statement when it comes to Big East football) going 1-4 ATS in their last five games against teams from that conference.  The trouble will continue on Saturday evening as Weekly Foe Matt Grothe will gut out a double digit victory.  

Until next week....  

Many Hundos

As big time conference play gets rolling, The Weekly looks looks like it's in mid-season form.  Southern Cal's 35-3 romp of Ohio State highlighted a 3-1 week for The Weekly.  Ohio State was simply outclassed.  Maybe the game would have been a little closer if Beanie Wells plays, but it probably wouldn't have made too much of a difference.  USC was not being denied when they had the ball, Mark Sanchez looked like he could have done anything that he wanted to.  Penn State took a laugher over Syracuse, hanging 38 points on the Orange by halftime.  Poor field goal kicking was the theme of the other two games as Iowa State and Fresno State missed 3 field goals apiece.  Despite the 3 misses, Iowa State can definitely take home the "Backdoor Cover of The Year" Award and possibly the "Backdoor Cover of The Century" Award.  The Cyclones, a 13.5 point underdog, were down 17-3 with less than 2 minutes to go.  After driving down to the Hawkeye 1 yard line, the drive stalled with 28 seconds left after a failed 4th down conversion.  Iowa then proceeded to take a safety in order to gain field position, making it 17-5.  The Hawkeyes punted away to the Cyclones and proceeded to intercept a pass and end the game a 17-5 winner.  Now THAT'S a backdoor cover.  Fresno State looked like they wanted to lose to Wisconsin, since they blew opportunity after opportunity and missed 3 field goals in a 13-10 loss.  We've gotten off to a great start here in 2008, and we see no reason to think that our early season success will slow down. 

And of course, the picks for week number four of your 2008 college football season...  

LSU at Auburn (+2.5), 7:45pm
     The balance of power in the SEC West is usually at stake in the Tiger Bowl, as the winner of this game has gone on to win five of the past seven SEC West crowns.  The home team has won the past eight meetings, so getting Auburn as a home dog looks great.  We know a baseball game broke out at what was supposed to be the Auburn-Mississippi State football game last week, but a win is a win, even if the score is 3-2.  The Auburn defense is as tough as its ever been, and the offense is still working some of the kinks out after moving to the ever popular spread this past off-season.  We tend to believe that Tubberville has some offensive tricks up his sleeve that we didn't see in the Mississippi State game.  Both teams are inexperienced at the QB position, which doesn't bode well for the visitors.  Taking an inexperienced QB on the road in the SEC, against a defense like this spells trouble.  Auburn knows all about winning big games as they have taken down nine of the last 12 against Top 10 teams.  Meanwhile, LSU is 1-6-1 against the spread [ATS] in their past eight SEC games.  The Weekly sees a hard hitting, tight football game that Auburn squeaks out.  

Wake Forest (+5) at Florida State, 7pm
     Are the Seminoles going to be prepared to play in this game?  Maybe, but they certainly won't be as prepared as the Demon Deacons.  Florida State has the softest 2-0 record in the nation by beating Western Carolina and Chattanooga by a combined score of 115-7.  While the 'Noles were beating up on a couple of nobodies, the Demon Deacons went out and scheduled some decent competition.  They beat Baylor on the road and found a way to win against a much improved Ole Miss team at home.  It's not like they beat USC and Oklahoma, but at least they're games that will get them ready for their ACC schedule.  In each of the past four meetings Wake has covered as an underdog, winning the past two straight up.  The Demon Deacons are 4-1 ATS in their last five conference games, 4-1 ATS in the past five road games, as well as 8-2 ATS in their last ten games overall.  On the other hand the 'Noles are 0-5 ATS in their last five games after scoring 40 or more points in their previous game, which leads us to believe that scheduling those cupcakes really doesn't do much good for anyone involved.  Oh, and we refuse to be bitten by the bad kicker bug this week since Wake has one of the top kickers in the nation in Sam Swank.  The Demon Deacons go into Tallahassee and become only the 2nd ACC team to beat FSU in three consecutive seasons. 

Notre Dame at Michigan State (-8.5), 3:30pm
     Irish fans want to get excited about the 2-0 start, but we aren't about to let that happen.  Barely holding on to beat lowly San Diego State and having Michigan hand them the game last week is really nothing to get excited about.  Meanwhile, the newest addition to The Weekly Favorites, Michigan State RB Javon Ringer, had a field day last week in the rain, carrying 43 times for 282 yards.  How can a workhorse like that not be a Weekly Favorite?  Notre Dame beat Michigan last week on the strength of six -- count 'em -- six Wolverine turnovers.  The Spartans won't be careless with the football this week, especially because they'll be feeding Ringer the ball all day long.  Following an opening day loss to Cal, Michigan State has rebounded well by beating Eastern Michigan and Florida Atlantic.  Unless the Irish find a way to create six more turnovers (which they won't), the inconsistency of QB Jimmy Claussen will finally come back to bite the Irish as Ringer and the Spartans literally run away with this one.  

Rutgers (-5.5) at Navy, 3:30pm
     We predicted a down season for Rutgers, but not this far down.  It could turn out that the first two games Rutgers played were against top teams.  Fresno State is very good, despite the loss to Wisconsin, and some people think UNC is primed for a run at the ACC title.  We like to pick on Rutgers QB Mike Teel, but is he really as bad as the 1 TD and 5 INTs he's thrown in the first two games?  We're starting to think that he was just going up against some tough defenses.  Even Teel should be able to pick apart this Navy defense, which is coming off a week where they allowed 41 points to Duke.  The Scarlet Knights still have talented WRs in Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood who can break a game open.  Navy is 0-2 and may be in for a long year with former coach and Weekly Favorite Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech.  Look for Rutgers to spread it out and put a whole bunch of points up on a porous Midshipmen defense.    

Good Luck. 

Many Hundos.

The Weekly was exactly right about lightning not striking twice, unfortunately we should have said it about our 3-0 week and not about East Carolina.  The Pirates showed that they are no fluke by utterly dominating West Virginia.  They held the supposedly high octane Mountaineer offense to a paltry 3 points.  With the win East Carolina is now in position to become this year's BCS-buster.  They're going to need to go 13-0 to do it, but that is well within the realm of possibility.  Pitt finally took down their first victory in a win over an up-and-coming Buffalo program, but hung us out to dry by just missing the cover.  The Panthers need to get their act together, beating Buffalo by two touchdowns is not asking too much of a once proud program.  The week wasn't totally lost though, as Texas Tech and Ole Miss went down as winners in our book.  The Tech offense wasn't totally in sync during a 35-19 win over Nevada, but big plays lifted the Red Raiders to a cover.  Ole Miss totally blew what would have been a big win, allowing Wake Forest to drive down the field and hit a game winning field goal as time expired.  We would have liked to see our underdog win outright, but the cover is all we care about.  We're off to a good start to Year 4, but having a good Week 3 would make it a great start.  

And of course, the picks for week number three of your 2008 college football season...  

Penn State (-27.5) at Syracuse, 3:30pm
     It's nice to see Penn State and Syracuse renewing an old rivalry.  The two schools met every season from 1922 to 1990, but the series ended when Penn State joined the Big Ten.  At that time Syracuse was a perennial bowl-bound program.  To put it nicely, things have changed. In losing their first two games to powerhouses Northwestern and Akron, the Orange have yielded 72 points.  Numbers like that against teams like those does not bode well for the Orange.  Amidst all sorts of controversy, this Nittany Lion team is currently firing on all cylinders, coming off a 45-14 drubbing of Pac-10 fairy Oregon State.  College sports are strange -- sometimes teams in the middle of crazy circumstances, like having multiple players dismissed from the team, can re-focus and energize an entire team.  JoePa has managed to turn this negative into a positive for the players who remain on the team.   Taking games with such a big number can be a crap shoot, but the perfect storm of Penn State playing well and Syracuse being so bad is too good to pass up.  

Wisconsin at Fresno State (+2), 10:30pm
     After beating up on two cupcakes at home, Wisconsin is taking it to the road where they'll meet a very good Fresno State team and a frenzied Fresno State crowd ready to welcome their Bulldogs for the first time.  The Badgers bring a very inexperienced quarterback to the west coast with them in first year starter Allan Evridge.  Evridge was not tested in either of the first two games as RB PJ Hill put the Badgers on his back.  Fresno State is going to pack eight and nine men in the box and force Evridge to put the ball in the air.  Despite only sacking Rutgers QB Mike Teel once in the opener, Fresno State put enough pressure on Teel to force him into making mistakes.  Look for the Bulldog defense, along with a wild crowd, to force Evridge to make some bad decisions and turn the ball over.  The Fresno State offense is too talented to let those opportunities slip away.  Wisconsin had issues on the road last season, going just 2-3, and the Bulldogs see this as a statement game.  Look for Fresno to begin to state their BCS case with a double-digit win.  

Iowa State (+13.5) at Iowa, 12:05pm
     Yes, it's back.  The annual Cy-Hawk Trophy game has been a pillar of success for The Weekly.  The Cyclones are the underdog for the third straight year, and for the third straight year The Weekly is all over them.  After losing 15 straight contests from 1983 to 1997, the Cyclones have bounced back to win 7 of the past 10 meetings.  Iowa State has covered against Iowa in each of the past four seasons and has won the game outright as a double digit underdog twice.  This is a heated rivalry between two programs which have been disappointments in recent years.  A Weekly rule of thumb is to take points in rivalry games, this is one of those games.  Cyclones cover for the fifth straight year.  

Ohio State at Southern Cal (-11), 8pm
     These are the two most talented rosters in college football, coached by two of the best coaches in college football but there are too many question marks for the Buckeyes as they head to the west coast.  RB Beanie Wells is doubtful, now he's ok, now he's doubtful again.  Is this Jim Tressel or Bill Belichick?  We have no idea what to expect the Buckeyes to get out of Wells and anything less than 100% won't be enough to lift the Buckeyes.  Ohio State QB Todd Boeckman has not fared well against ranked opponents in his career, seven TD passes and seven INTs in just four games.  The super-fast USC defense will cause Boeckman problems like he's never seen before.  Even worse for Ohio State is that the offensive line has underperformed in its first two games and can ill afford to have that happen again or else you're going to see LBs Rey Maualuga and [you know we had to do it... ex-Bergen Catholic star] Brian Cushing in the backfield all night long.  For those of you thinking you're going to see a lot of Diaper Dandy Terrelle Pryor, think again.  Tressel has been very, very cautious in his use of Prior in the early goings, claiming he isn't ready.  If he wasn't ready for the Ohio game, we can't see him getting significant time in the Southern Cal game.  At best you're going to see him used the way Urban Meyer used Tim Tebow during The Stud Muffin's freshman year.  USC has won its last seven meetings versus Big Ten opponents by an average of 28 points.  We don't expect a huge Trojan blowout, but we do see them winning handily.

Till next time...  

Many Hundos.

Coming off a down year in 2007, The Weekly knew it was vital to get 2008 started on the right foot -- and did we ever do that.  Three winners and no losers, mixing in two underdogs who won outright and The Weekly has a monster Week 1.  On Saturday night, Missouri showed off its firepower in a 52-42 shootout win over Illinois as Weekly favorite Chase Daniel picked apart the Orange Crush to the tune of 323 yards and 3 TD passes.  Jeremy Maclin matched the hype written about in this space last week by returning both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns.   Also on Saturday night, Alabama took Clemson behind the shed for a good ol' fashioned beating in front of a packed house in Atlanta.  We predicted the game would be won in the trenches, and the Tide pushed around the Tigers all night long.  It doesn't matter if you have seven All-American running backs, if you can't block, they can't run.  Simple as that.  We love Clemson, we really do.  They make our job easier since they're so predictable -- they can never be relied upon to show up in a big spot.  Monday afternoon brought us to Piscataway as Fresno State simply wore down Rutgers, especially in the running game.  The Bulldogs broke a handful of long runs in the 2nd half which really took the wind out of the Scarlet Knights' collective sails.  We were really pushing for Teel to throw that third pick, but we'll take two picks and a Bulldog win. 

And of course, the picks for week number two of your 2008 college football season...

West Virginia (-7.5) at East Carolina, 4:30pm
     The Weekly sees great value in this line thanks to East Carolina's upset over Virginia Tech last week.  We hate to break up the party in Greenville, but lightning doesn't strike twice.  The Pirates played a great game against Virginia Tech and still needed a late punt block which was returned for a touchdown to pull out the win.  This week they're playing a team whose talent level is far superior to that of the Hokies.  People around the West Virginia program claim that this year's edition of the Mountaineers is better than last year's despite the loss of a few key players, namely Steve Slaton.  By last November it was pretty clear that Slaton was disinterested and his absence can be viewed as addition by subtraction.  What's really scary about Slaton's departure is that when sophomore RB Noel Devine takes Slaton's place, the Mountaineers will be even more talented, not less.  West Virginia returns all five starters on an offensive line which powered a rushing attack that ranked third in the nation in 2007.  We'll be seeing more out of the WVU passing game, as the coaches seem to be willing to lift some stress off the running game and let QB Pat White take what the defense gives him.  Last week Villanova stuffed nine guys in the box all day and White went off for five touchdowns through the air.  Last year the Mountaineers played very poor hosts to the Pirates, dishing out a 48-7 whipping.  The Weekly sees a lot more where that came from as White, Devine and company hang at least a half-a-hundo on the Pirates.

Texas Tech (-10) at Nevada, 9pm
     We know, we know -- two road favorites.  Road favorites are the scariest proposition in gambling, but these numbers are just too enticing.  The Nevada defense is going to have their hands full on Saturday.  Tech QB Graham Harrell can be forced into mistakes by applying pressure, but the Wolfpack will have to create that pressure with their front four.  If they can't apply pressure with the front four look out, because what makes Harrell so good is that he gets rid of the ball extremely quick and just one poorly timed blitz could be an instant six for Tech.  Nevada will constantly need seven guys in coverage to defend against the Red Raiders' big play ability.  That's where the Pack is really going to run into trouble.  The Red Raiders receivers have a huge athletic advantage over the Nevada secondary and Weekly favorite Mike Leach is a brilliant game-planner.  Everyone knows all about Tech WR Michael Crabtree, but the solid receiving corps goes five deep with Eric Morris, Edward Britton, Ryan Hale and Detron Lewis all contributing.  All the talk surrounding Texas Tech is about their improved defense but don't let that fool you, this team is about offense.  Tech lights up the scoreboard in a fun, but lopsided affair.

Mississippi (+8) at Wake Forest, 3:30pm
     The Rebels are one of this year's Weekly sleeper teams.  During the off-season Ole Miss brought in Houston Nutt, a creative, salty veteran head coach who is no stranger to life in the SEC.  More importantly for this Rebel team, they'll have a legitimate threat at quarterback in sophomore Jevan Snead.  Snead sat out last season after transferring in from Texas, where he displayed all the talent but was a questionable decision maker.  Under Nutt's tutelage Snead should flourish.  What may be an early indicator of how Nutt and Snead have instantly elevated the program is the way they took care of business in Week 1.  This was the Rebel's fourth consecutive opening day win over Memphis, but the first time they truly dominated the Tigers.  Throughly unimpressive in their Week 1 win over Baylor, Wake seems very vulnerable at the moment.  We've seen how these SEC-ACC games have been going this year, and we'll ride that until something tells us otherwise.  In what will be their first bowl bound season since the Eli Manning era, Ole Miss will upset Wake Forest on the road.

Buffalo at Pittsburgh (-13.5), 6pm
     Another line that we see a lot of value in thanks to a Week 1 upset.  Even though Pitt lost two separate ten point leads in an opening day loss to Bowling Green, the season is not lost for the Panthers.  Hopefully last weekend was a serious wake-up call for this team, who was touted as a sleeper to contend in the Big East.  If you take a look at the numbers from last week, it's a miracle that Bowling Green was even in the game, forget about winning it.  They were outdone by Pitt in every statistical category except one -- turnovers.   This week's opponent, Buffalo, is simply over-matched.  Head Coach Turner Gill has done a nice job in making the Bulls competitive in the MAC, but they are hardly ready to compete on the big stage.  Look for Pittsburgh to come out refocused and motivated as they hold onto the ball and win this one going away.

Some other games were enticing, but The Weekly will insist that you be cautious this week, especially with the multitude of very high numbers.  Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Florida, Notre Dame, Kansas, Utah, Arizona, Texas and Iowa are all 20+ point favorites.  Remember when picking these games you are really betting on those school's second team's performances.  Georgia got dropped down in the AP poll this week for a supposedly "poor" performance in a game against a weak opponent.  Nobody seemed to recognize that it was 38-0 when Georgia pulled their starters -- they ended up only, yeah only, winning 45-21.  Be wary of those kind of backdoor covers.

As always, good luck to all... 

Many hundos.

While walking out of The Weekly's headquarters last week you could feel it in the air.  It was a crisp autumn morning that came just in time for college football season, reminding The Weekly team to get moving and put Season 4 of The Weekly together.  Last year was a roller coaster ride for everyone in college football and we had our worst year because of it.  Despite having our worst year we were still able to keep our head above water in the all-time standings.  Things are looking up for 2008 as many Weekly favorites return -- Chase Daniel, Tim Tebow, Mike Leach and Steve Spurrier -- but some Weekly foes are also back -- Matt Grothe, Jimmy Claussen and the entire Colorado Buffaloes program.  Let's win some games...

Saturday, August 30, 2008 

Illinois vs. Missouri (-8.5), at St. Louis, Missouri, 8:30pm
     Expectations have never been higher for these Mississippi River rivals as they each ended their 2007 campaigns in the BCS.  Missouri returns Heisman Trophy finalist and Weekly favorite Chase Daniel behind center along with five other offensive starters who hung 40 points per game on opponents last year.  The QB/WR combination of Daniel and super-soph Jeremy Maclin is spectacular and can rival any such duo in the nation.  Although Missouri's 2007 leading rusher Tony Temple is going to be tough to replace, the big hole at running back comes from the orange side of the field.  Illinois got hit hard with graduation losing Big Ten MVP Rashard Mendenhall and defensive anchor J Lehman.  We know all about how great WR Regis Benn is going to be but the absence of Mendenhall will hurt this team more than people think.  Look for Chase Daniel to get his 2008 off to a fast start as Tigers walk out of St. Louis with a big opening day win.  

Alabama (+4.5) vs. Clemson, at Atlanta, Georgia, 8pm
     Clemson is the favorite to win the ACC.  QB Cullen Harper is coming off a fine season, the backfield is loaded with two top RBs in CJ Spiller and James Davis, the defense reloaded by adding one of the top DE recruits in the nation with Da'Quan Bowers.  Everybody is high on Clemson, and why not?  But there are plenty of reasons why The Weekly is skeptical.  Year in and year out Boston College proves that Clemson is a pretender, even though Clemson's "skill" players are immensely more talented than BC's.  The reason BC beats Clemson is because of line play.  It all starts in the trenches people!  Clemson loses 3 starters from an already bad offensive line.  Put that together with the fact that both Spiller and Davis coming off of years where their yards per rush and touchdown totals dropped and The Weekly isn't sold on these Tigers.  On the other side of the ball Alabama returns an All-American to anchor their offensive line in OT Andre Smith, while also bringing back veteran QB JP Wilson and the top recruit in the country in WR Julio Jones.  When it comes to coaching we think that giving Nick Saban a full summer to game plan for Tommy Bowden is just not fair.  The Tide roll out of Atlanta with a win.  

Monday, September 1, 2008  

Fresno State (+5) at Rutgers, 4pm
     "Anybody, any time, anywhere."  Pat Hill's Fresno State Bulldogs personify their motto.  After a 4-8 rebuilding year in 2006 the Bulldogs came out and had a solid 2007, going 9-4 and beating Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl.  This is the year that Fresno State has been building towards as they are the favorites in the WAC and have BCS-buster aspirations.  In order to achieve their lofty goals they'll have to get through the Scarlet Knights.  Rutgers returns QB Mike Teel and two 1,000 yard receivers in Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt.  Much like Illinois, Rutgers will be missing the straw that stirred the drink.  Ray Rice's 2,000 rushing yards have moved on to the next level and he leaves a gaping hole in an otherwise talented offense.  Two returning 1,000 yard receivers, minus one 2,000 yard rusher probably equals two 1,500 yard receivers and a few more losses for the Knights.  A down year for Rutgers will start on Labor Day, as Teel throws three picks which will be the key to a Fresno win.  

Week 1 should be a light week for handicappers as teams, especially in college where there is no preseason, are trying to find an identity.  But we're confident in the Tigers, Tide and Dogs to get us off to a good start.  

It's great to be back...  

As always, many hundos.