Free NFL Playoff Picks: Week 1

After a solid season that saw me finish 20+ games up, I figure I might as well give you my playoff picks as well- you know it’s been a weird season when not a single first round playoff game gives you a favored home team. Craziness!!! But I don’t see the favorites winning all four in Round 1 of the NFL Playoffs - oh no - I have two road winners and two home team victories - which is which is for you to find out… Good luck with your playoff bets!!!

Atlanta Falcons (-1) @ Arizona Cardinals: The Falcons have trouble with prolific passing teams. New Orleans, Denver, and Philadelphia combined to give Atlanta each of their three losses over the last 10 games of the season. Am I saying they can’t beat a passing team? Nope - they ousted the Packers, Saints, and Chargers already this season, so they have it in them, they just have more trouble with pass happy teams. And it doesn’t seem to be the passing game that kills them, but the threat of the pass that seems to really open up the run. The Saints, and Eagles both had big time rushing days against the Falcons, but I don’t see the Cardinals doing that. Even with the awesome production of Edgerrin James last week against the Seahawks, Arizona’s run game still doesn’t scare me much. I also don’t like how the Cardinals gave up just as many points per game as they scored this season, that kind of football rarely gets you wins in January. What else has me going against the home team in this one? How about Arizona’s wins over the last 10 weeks of the regular season? Seattle twice, St. Louis twice, and San Francisco - just barely. Something about that doesn’t excite me. I know Seattle was playing better down the stretch, but the best team in that group is San Francisco, and the Niners weren’t really jelling 8 weeks ago. Atlanta has been tested, and they’ve passed. The Cardinals have to prove to me that they can beat a good team before I go putting money on them to win, even as a home dog.

Indianapolis Colts @ San Diego Chargers (+2): The Chargers have always been a tough match-up for the Colts, and San Diego plays well in the playoffs. I know that the Colts have a pretty tough pass defense, but with Rivers out to prove a little something, I have a feeling he has a nice day for the Chargers despite the Colts success at stopping the pass this season. I’m not sure if LT will be 100%, but then again, has he been at the top of his game yet this season? This is a tough one - there probable isn’t anyone in the league playing better than the Colts have over the past 8-9 weeks - but the Chargers have done a little turn around of their own. The Chargers always seem to play their best football against the best teams, and that has me thinking that they are built for the playoffs. They needed one hell of a run to get in, but now they are in, and that can’t be exciting for the rest of the AFC. The Chargers may have won just 8 games, and they had to take all of their final four to get to 8 - but they’ve played plenty of close games, and very well could be 11-5, or 12-4 just like the Colts. The talent is there. The last part of this that really pushes me towards San Diego - it’s hard to beat a good team twice, and it’s even harder to go on the road and beat a good team twice. If the Colts want to make it to the 2nd Round, they have to beat the Chargers in San Diego for the 2nd time this season. I’m betting that doesn’t happen.

Baltimore Ravens (-3) @ Miami Dolphins: Can Baltimore really come in and beat the Dolphins for the second time this season? In Miami? I think so, but only because the Ravens are such a terrible match-up for the run-happy Dolphins. I know Miami has been throwing more, and successfully with Chad, but the Ravens defense doesn’t give up anything for free - and I think it stays that way. In the last 10 games, the Ravens have only lost to the Steelers and Giants. 8 wins, 2 losses, and the 2 losses were to a couple of the best teams in the league. Miami is solid, but the toughest win they’ve had in the last 10 weeks was last week against a flailing Jets club that had lost any identity they had. Both teams are solid - the Ravens are tougher - they may be a tough call as a road favorite here, but their toughness should overcome, and Joe Flacco is playing as good as he’s played all year.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Minnesota Vikings (+3.5): This one is really more of a toss up to me, but I still like the Vikings side more. I know the Eagles have played pretty well in 4 of their last 5 games, but I think they’ve been inconsistent enough to be a tough bet as a 3 point favorite on the road against a physical running team. The Eagles have no run-game anyway and the Vikings have been better against the past since their tough start to the season. The Eagles play much better at home than on the road, and so do the Vikings for that matter- but this game is in Minnesota. Everyone is loving Philadelphia here, but I’m not sure I can buy it. Look at the teams Philly has lost to lately, Washington, Baltimore, Cincinnati (tie), and the Giants (Those are the Eagles last 4 losses) - all of these teams have something in common; no matter what they are going to run the ball. Not all of them were super successful running against the Eagles, but all of them ran the ball a lot. Philly has a tendency to break down a bit in games that are physical like that. After coming off that huge party-win against the Cowboys to get in, it will be interesting to see how they come out. Either way, I think +3.5 at home for the Vikes is a solid bet.

Free NCAA Picks REVIEW: Week 14

NCAA Free Picks REVIEW: Week 13

 

Well, 5-12 isn’t as good as 14-5, that’s for sure, but that still leaves me 2 games over .500 in the last two weeks. College football can sure have some tough bounces, no question about that. There’s only a couple more weeks left for a chance at redemption from this terrible time I had in Week 13 - we’ll see if I can’t bust it up next time around. Here’s a list of the game I played with wins or losses listed on the side. 

West Virginia Mountaineers @ Louisville Cardinals (+7): (Loss) 

Army (+19) @ Rugters: (Loss) 

North Carolina State @ North Carolina (-10.5): (Loss)

Clemson @ Virginia (+3): (Loss)

Tennessee @ Vanderbilt (-3): (Loss)

Florida Atlantic @ Arkansas State (-4): (WINNER)

Stanford @ California (-9): (WINNER)

Boston College @ Wake Forest (-2): (Loss)

Louisiana Tech (-6) @ New Mexico State: (Loss)

Idaho (+23.5) @ Hawaii: (Loss)

Illinois Fighting Illini @ Northwestern Wildcats (+2.5): (Winner)

Florida State Seminoles @ Maryland Terrapins (-1): (Loss)

BYU Cougars @ Utah Utes (-6.5): (Winner)

Washington (-7.5) @ Washington State: (Loss)

Texas Tech Red Raiders (+6) @ Oklahoma Sooners: (Loss)

Iowa Hawkeyes (-6) @ Minnesota Golden Gophers: (Winner)

Mississippi @ LSU (-5): (Loss)

NCAA Football Free Picks REVIEW: Week 12

Nice week me… 14-5 is something to smile at - and Saturday had plenty of smiles. 

Rutgers (+8) @ South Florida: (win) I’m starting to figure the Big East out I think - whatever the consensus is, go the other way. I liked me some Rutgers in this one, and for good reason, they walked into South Florida and won outright. And talk about a beating, without any scoring in the 1st quarter, the Scarlet Knights put up 49 points on the Bulls. That’s big time. It was a sign of things to come, that’s for sure. 

Duke (+11.5) @ Clemson: (loss) Okay, I lost this one, and Duke was greatly outplayed - but their best player and team leader, quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, went down in the 2nd series of the game and Duke didn’t have a shot. In that case, neither did I. Clemson won 31-7, and I take one on the chin. 

Georgia (-8.5) @ Auburn: (loss) I should have listened to myself on this one. I knew it wasn’t a gimmie game, and I knew Georgia’s early season close wins were starting to look worse and worse, but I went with Georgia anyway, and while they did win, it wasn’t enough to get me in the W column. 

Middle Tennessee State (-2) @ Western Kentucky: (win) “But the better team is MTSU, they are good enough to be favored on the road as a 3 win team, and that tells me a lot about Western Kentucky.” Middle Tennessee ran the show in this game, never trailing for a minute and winning by 11 on the road. What can I say? It was a good week to be a me. You could almost say a Lucky day to be Lester? Whoa!!! A quick one. 

Toledo (+16) @ Western Michigan: (win) “Toledo has one good game against a decent team, and no I’m not talking about their win over Michigan - the Wolverines suck. I’m talking about a close loss at home against Central Michigan. Other than that, they’ve played terribly - especially on the road. Take away their win at Michgan and they’ve lost two straight on the road, to Norther Illinois and Akron, but 31 and 17 respectively. Western Michigan is better than that. But there’s this little thing called a let down game, and that’s what has me riding the Toledo Rockets in this one. Western Michigan sure can score the pigskin, but they allow a good amount of points as well. After upsetting Illinois (though it wasn’t much of an upset, but still a big win over a big name school) this game should be one in which they come out a little flat. I still like them to win, but Toledo at +16 will be my pick here.” I hit this game right in the nuts, you can’t argue with that. No doubt about it, Toledo is the lesser team, but Western Michigan didn’t play up to their ability. Sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. 

California @ Oregon State (-3): (win) The Beavers were better than Cal, and a late pick 6 cleared this one up perfectly. Cal couldn’t deal with constant pressure all day, and a Rodgers’ brother duo that did work from start to finish. The Beave is tough enough. 

North Carolina @ Maryland (+3): (win) “But this should be a bit of a let down week for the Heels, a win gets them a tie for first place in their division, but they are walking into Maryland. The Terps are undefeated at home and as good as NC is, they aren’t far and above better than Maryland. The Terps have crushed some dreams this season, and are trying to find the way to the top of their own half of the ACC. In College football, the home field advantage can be the answer to your betting questions - this is one of those times.” And what do you know, the Terps pull out the win at home. It was close. It was a battle. It was everything I thought it was, and at the foot of a 4th quarter field goal the Terps are still undefeated in Maryland. 

New Mexico State (+17) @ Fresno State: (win) “This seems like a good bet. Despite Fresno killing their bettors, the public still seems to love them, just waiting for them to finally win their second game against the spread. Interesting. What has Fresno done to be a 17 point favorite this season? Nothing is the answer. Take the Aggies.” There you have it. It took a late Fresno State 4th quarter touchdown to take the lead from New Mexico State, while me and that 17 point spread easily. 

Boise State @ Idaho (+36.5): (win) I said the value was with Idaho because the spread in this rivalry game had never been as big as it was this weekend. Boise State won by 35, and just by the hair on the spread’s butt crack, I won. Boise hammered Idaho in the 2nd half, but it was that early fight that got me the win. 

Oklahoma State @ Colorado (+18): (win) I said this spread was a touchdown bigger than it should be. I was right. The OK State Cowboys won by 13, but that was still enough for me to cover. Yhatzee! 

Troy State (+16.5) @ LSU: (win) This was a weird one. You can see why I wanted to leave it alone. The first 3 quarters were why I took Troy State, and the last quarter, the one where LSU did anything they wanted to do and fought back after being down by a seemingly insurmountable spread, and won - that’s why I didn’t want to bet on this game. That being said, I had the right side, as surprising as that was - it was Troy State’s side. 

Boston College @ Florida State (-6): (loss) The Seminoles fought back late, but BC was too tough defensively - mainly on their defensive front. FSU was hurried all day long and the Eagles won by a touchdown. 

Ohio State Buckeyes (-9.5) @ Illinois Fighting Illini: (win) I thought Juice’s touchdown pass with 50 seconds left in the game was going to get me, but then I remembered my line was 9.5 not 10.5 - close one. Ohio State won this game much bigger than the score showed. 

Nebraska Cornhuskers (-6.5) @ Kansas State Wildcats: (win) The Cornhuskers trounced the WIldcats, making me look like a smart little sports writing college picks advisor. Wahoo! 

Washington State Cougars (+36.5) @ Arizona State Wildcats: (win) As I said, it came down to wondering if the Wildcats could score enough points. A team that hasn’t scored 42 all season long shouldn’t be favored by 36.5 - Now 31? Sure… Haha… The Cougars tried to get me a loss, but they managed to hold the Wildcats out of the end zone one last time. 

Arizona Wildcats (+4) @ Oregon Ducks: (loss) The Ducks killed the Cats early, it was 44-17 at half time. But the Wildcats fought back and it took a late touchdown run by LeGarrette Blount that actually covered the spread for Ducks bettors. Arizona scored 28 straight points to pull within three and pull a sure loss into a cover win, but that late score did bettors justice and I lose. 

Tulsa Golden Hurricane @ Houston Cougars (+4.5): (win) These teams weren’t quite as equal as I thought, either that or Houston just had the right bounces because the Cougars did work, basically doubling up Tulsa and scoring 70 points on the Hurricane. 

San Jose State Spartans (+15.5) @ Nevada Wolfpack: (loss) It was 31-17 going into the 4th quarter, but the Spartans were shutout in the final frame as they allowed 10 - that got me another loss on this college Saturday. 

UCLA Bruins (-7) @ Washington Huskies: (win) The Huskies play calling is brutal. They are not good personnel-wise. There was absolutely no reason this game should have had this close of a spread. Free money indeed.

NCAA Football Free Picks REVIEW: Week 11

NCAA Free Picks REVIEW: Week 10

Boy, I had a very tough week - I don’t even want to go into detail about my losses - but I took some tough games on the chin late. Oregon easily outgained the Bears, but couldn’t put up points. FSU? Come one. Iowa? Goodness. San Jose State gives up 14 4th quarter points after being up 30-10 after 3. Killing me. Ad the DirecTV games are even more frustrating. This is a perfect example of what could have been. So many games decided on final drives and I just seemed to be on the wrong side of every single outcome that came up. I was 5-6-1 in my weekly picks, and 2-6 in my DirecTV Package - tough call. I was 3-3-1 on my Best picks of the week (Video picks) - but overall it was a tough time in my bank account. It’s like I own a bunch of stock for God’s sake. Anyway, sorry, better next week and some better beats hopefully. 

Wisconsin Badgers (+5) @ Michigan State Spartans: (WINNER) 

Northwestern Wildcats @ Minnesota Golden Gophers (-6): (LOSS)

Tulsa Golden Hurricane (-7) @ Arkansas Razorbacks: (LOSS)

Arkansas State Indians (+23.5) @ Alabama Crimson Tide: (LOSS)

Oregon Ducks (+3) @ California Bears: (LOSS)

Florida State Seminoles (+2.5) @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: (LOSS)

Iowa Hawkeyes (+3) @ Illinois Fighting Illini: (PUSH)

Stanford Cardinal (-29) @ Washington State Cougars: (WINNER)

San Jose State Spartans (-16.5) @ Idaho Vandals: (LOSS)

Washington Huskies @ USC Trojans (-43): (WINNER)

Boise State Broncos (-20) @ New Mexico Lobos: (WINNER)

TCU Horned Frogs (-13.5) @ UNLV Running Rebels: (WINNER)

DirecTV GamePlan

West Virginia Mountaineers @ Connecticut Huskies (+4): (LOSS)

Miami Hurricanes @ Virginia Cavaliers (-2): (LOSS)

Auburn Tigers @ Mississippi Rebels (-6): (WINNER). 

Kentucky Wildcats @ Mississippi State Bulldogs (-2):  (LOSS) 

Florida State Seminoles (+2.5) @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: (LOSS)

Iowa State Cyclones (+30.5) @ Oklahoma State Cowboys: (LOSS)

North Texas Mean Green (+17) @ Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: (WINNER)

Tulane @ Louisiana State (-26.5): (LOSS)

NCAA Free Picks REVIEW: Week 9

Well, it wasn’t well worth your time, I know, but I came out 1 game over .500 at 10-9 on the week. If you headed my advice and didn’t bet much on my two “maybe you should stay away” games, then you did a little better than me. All that said, here’s my review of this weekend’s games. 

Boston College Eagles @ North Carolina Tar Heels (-3): (WINNER) “You know my love affair with unranked favorites over ranked opponents - lets do it again this week. I know the Heels are without their starting quarterback and their stud receiver, but I like them against a weak Boston College team.” And like them I shall. North Carolina hammered the Eagles. 

Kentucky Wildcats (+26) @ Florida Gators: (LOSS) Apparently the injuries were worse than I thought. Either that or Florida is awesome. Maybe both? Kentucky got embarrassed by the Gators on Saturday. In turn, I got embarrassed. 

Penn State Nittany Lions (-2) @ Ohio State Buckeyes: (WINNER) “I know the history here. I know the Nittany Lions haven’t won at Ohio State in my lifetime (does that date me?) - but I’m not so sure that means jack right now.” And that didn’t mean jack. The Lions were the better football team and I wasn’t the only person to see that. Despite a very tough football game and losing their starting quarterback late, the Lions pressed on and took out OSU on the road.  

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-10) @ Washington Huskies: (WINNER) Notre Dame did everything and anything they wanted. UW did get two sacks on the day, making that 5 for the entire season. On Monday Ty Willingham announced that he will be stepping down at the end of the season. It’s too bad, I like the guy, but it was something that needed to happen. 

Oklahoma Sooners (+18.5) @ Kansas State Wildcats: (WINNER) It may have been tight, and maybe the Wildcats should have covered in this one, but I didn’t need that last field goal to cover, as 20 points would have been just fine for me. The Sooners are that much better than the Wildcats, conference game or not. 

Wyoming Cowboys @ TCU Horned Frogs (-30): (WINNER) I was thinking about 40-3 in this one and it ended up 54-7. TCU’s 30-0 2nd half helped pull to covers over Wyoming’s unsuspecting heads. This one was done in the 3rd - gotta love that. 

South Florida Bulls (-3) @ Louisville Cardinals: (LOSS) And Louisville wins at home against their conference rival. A game they almost surely should lose. The Big East can really get you in the guts. 

Texas Tech Red Raiders @ Kansas Jayhawks (-1): (LOSS) “Maybe I’m crazy but I like the Jayhawks here because they are at home and promise a more balanced attack and defensive game plan than the Raiders. That being said, this is a TT game and anything can happen. This is my smallest play of the week, but a play nonetheless.” Go ahead, mark it down, I was crazy when I made this pick. Texas Tech is legit, they will give Texas troubles next Saturday. Kansas just didn’t have it. After a 14-14 1st quarter, Tech outscored Kansas 49-7. You betcha. I hope your play was small like mine. 

Cincinnati Bearcats @ Connecticut Huskies (+2.5): (WINNER) A nice outright win by the Huskies? Try 40-16. After being down at the half, UCONN came out and put up 30 second half points, limiting the Bearcats to just one field goal. This was a nice cover for me. 

Central Michigan Chippewas (-4) @ Toledo: (LOSS) The Chipps needed a 4th quarter touchdown to finally pull ahead of a fighting Toledo squad, and I couldn’t get that extra field goal I needed to push. It’s alright, I freaking hate pushing. Well I guess getting your money back is better than losing it. Who knew?

Fresno State Bulldogs (-14) @ Utah State Aggies: (LOSS) “I’ll warn you that somewhere over 70% of the public is on the Bulldogs here and the lines are still moving up and away. Maybe it’s not as easy as I see,” I hope you listened to the advice I couldn’t listen to myself. I hate when I do that, but as long as you folks are doing alright I’ll call it even. 

Oklahoma State Cowboys (+12.5) @ Texas Longhorns: (WINNER) Oklahoma came out fighting and almost ended the Longhorn’s perfect season. Tough game for sure, one of the better battles in football this season. The Longhorns won 28-24, and I covered this pick easily. 

UCLA Bruins (+18) @ California Golden Bears: (LOSS) This was a TERRIBLE BEAT, let me tell you that. Cal scored 24 fourth quarter points on way to covering the spread by 3. I capped this game right on the money, expcept the money slipped out from under my hands and went straight down the gutter when freakish points started going on the board in the 4th. Oh well, that’s sports. 

Virginia Tech Hokies (+5.5) @ Florida State Seminoles: (LOSS) The Seminoles won by 10, which means I don’t cover anything. The 3rd quarter got me, and Virginia Tech looked a little out of sorts on Saturday. It’s tough when the team you’re betting on loses their most athletic player, and starting quarterback, before he throws one single pass. Oh, and then they lose their 2nd string guy later in the game. I lost, but you see where I’m coming from here? Lady Luck peed on my salad in this game. 

Bowling Green Falcons @ Northern Illinois Huskies (-7.5): (LOSS) NIU pulled this one out, but a field goal win is a loss for me. Damned Huskies. 

New Mexico State Aggies (-12.5) @ Idaho Vandals: (LOSS) I’m officially taking Idaho out of my “always bet against Washington Schools” motto. They pulled a huge upset on the Aggies this week. I was sure Idaho wouldn’t be winning again this year. The MAC is killing me! 

Mississippi Bulldogs @ Arkansas Razorbacks (+6.5): (WINNER) The Bulldogs won, which makes me happy, and hte Razorbacks covered, which makes me even happier. I needed some 4th quarter heroics to get this one in, and Arkansas put up two touchdowns to Mississippi’s 10 points. That’ll do, that’ll do. 

Florida Atlantic @ Louisiana Monroe (+2.5): (WINNER) “In conference home dog - I’ll take it. I like UL’s signal caller, that’s enough for me to lean on the home dogs here.” Well, Monroe didn’t win, but when you are a dog you get points, and when you get points and lose by 1, you win. That’s right, I got a little luck with this small school battle. I’ll take it.  

Nevada Wolfpacks @ Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (+3.5): (WINNER) “Hawaii is at home against a Nevada team that has 4 unimpressive wins over unimpressive opponents. I’ll take Hawaii. They look to be getting it together a little behind their new coach.” Hawaii in Hawaii is tough. I thought the Warriors should have been favored by a field goal in this one and they played like it. This was a battle down to the last drive, but Hawaii pulled it out, winning by 7.

NCAA Free Picks REVIEW: Week 8

Here goes something… 6-4 with my Free NCAA Picks for Week 8, and how about my DirecTV ESPN GamePlan Package Picks? Well, just 6-5, but that moves me 3 games up on the season - and in a tough week I’ll take that for sure. 

LSU Tigers (-3) @ South Carolina: (WINNER) “You bet - free money.” Closer than I thought, but free money comes in with a winner - you have to like that. 

Missouri Tigers (+6) @ Texas Longhorns: (LOSS) “Maybe Texas is better and this game is at home for them, but” - next time no buts, the Longhorns are playing great football, good enough to make them the best team in the Nation. I wasn’t much of a believer, and some weird penalties kind of kept Missouri out of it early, but Texas is good everywhere.

Virginia Tech @ Boston College (-2.5): (WINNER) The fact that BC was unranked and a favorite in this one fit perfectly. I liked the Eagles before I realized that, and afterward it made me even happier. Still, this one was close and it came right down to it. BC was the better team, even with some big mistakes. 

Oregon State Beavers (-13.5) @ Washington Huskies: (WINNER) “Free money again. This fits so many of my “good bet” categories I’m not even going into detail.” Does 34-13 qualify as a win? Oh it does? Cool, I was really worried about this one. 

Mississippi State Bulldogs (+7.5) @ Tennessee Volunteers: (LOSS-but) I started out liking the Bulldogs, but after further review, and later in the week I did the best I could to let you guys know that I would “stay away from this one” and bought back my bet by taking Tennessee - I hope you recognized that, all it did for me was give me a push and lose me my vig. 

Utah State Aggies (+21) @ Nevada Wolfpack:  (LOSS) “I just don’t think Nevada should be favored by 3 touchdowns against anyone in their conference, and despite the Aggies attempt to crush my soul be getting pounded by San Jose State last week, I think they are a good bet here.” Okay, I was dead wrong. Utah State is that bad and there is ONE school Nevada should be favored by three touchdowns against - the Aggies. Blast!!!

Pittsburgh Panthers @ Navy Midshipmen (+3.5): (LOSS) “First of all, this game won’t come down to points - either the Midshipmen win or they’ll get beat pretty good.” I thought Navy’s option two looked good and I was wrong, Pittsburgh just grabbed on to LeSean McCoy’s saddle and watched the score go up and up. Bad loss for me here, but I did slightly warn you about this possible outcome. 

USC Trojans (+42) @ Washington State Cougars: (WINNER) “This spread is freaking huge - I’ll take it.” Hahaha - bet against Washington teams, what can I say, this motto is getting easier to believe in so watch out for it next week. Still, this game was 41-0 at half time and USC just ran out the clock instead of scoring again. USC’s backups could have covered this margin. This game was just as big a joke as I thought it would be. 

Kansas Jayhawks (+20) @ Oklahoma Sooners: (WINNER) “I just think Kansas is closer to Oklahoma’s level than this. OK will be up to play this game after having their #1 ranking plundered from them, and I think they win this game, just not by this much.” Well there, the Jayhawks were up for the battle and if a couple things go their way this is even closer - still, as is, the Jayhawks put up enough points to cover in Oklahoma. 

Ohio State Buckeyes (-3) @ Michigan State Spartans: (WINNER) “Really? Hmm… I don’t see it that close.” Well, I can’t wait to tell you that I saw this one coming. The Spartans aren’t a Top 10 football team - one loss to USC doesn’t make the Buckeyes garbage. Penn State - Ohio State should be interesting.

Game Plan

Wake Forest Demon Decons @ Maryland Terrapins (+2.5): (WINNER) The Terps win outright, by a huge margin, and continue to be one of the weirdest teams in college football. Wake, no problem, but Delaware? Oh, there was a tough contest they barely got away with a win in. Weird. 

Western Michigan (-1.5) @ Central Michigan: (LOSS) “I like CMU QB Dan Lefevour,” and I should have stuck with that. Dan was balls on Saturday, taking it to Western Michigan and getting a huge win for his CMU squad. Damn it. 

Miami (OHIO) Redhawks (+10) @ Bowling Green Falcons: (WINNER) “The Falcons have allowed as many points per game as they’ve scored, and that’s never a good thing. These two teams have a nice history, and that usually ends up with Miami taking the game against the Falcons.” What do you know, Redhawks win. Sometimes that history is a good thing to follow (see this game) sometimes it’s not (see Michigan and Penn State - ha). 

Syracuse Orange (+24.5) @ South Florida Bulls: (LOSS) Damn Syracuse, what was I doing going away from betting against them? Ah, this one was closer than the score indicated. In fact, if it weren’t for that late 2nd quarter score, this would have been a different ball game. South Florida took mo into halftime and multiplied that into a bunch of points and a loss for me. 

Vanderbilt Vandals (+15) @ Georgia Bulldogs: (WINNER) “This game was close in ‘06 and close in ‘07 and this Vanderbilt team is better than they’ve had in a long time. Georgia is a very good football team, but they aren’t a “blow you out” group by any means. They’ve had trouble playing close with their opponents, and a complete upset here wouldn’t surprise me. They only beat Tennessee by 12, Arizona State by 17 and South Carolina by 7 - Vandy is better than all three of those schools. Close game here, that’s my bet.” There you go - the Bulldogs were in control, but I was right on the button about them, not a blow you out football team, especially against a never give up Vandals group. This was a nice win. 

Army Black Knights @ Buffalo Bulls (-10.5): (LOSS) Buffalo needed a lot of action late and an overtime to beat the Black Knights as obviously this one got the better of Ole Lucky on Saturday. 

North Carolina Tar Heels (-4.5) @ Virginia Cavaliers: (LOSS) Carolina had my win wrapped up with almost no time left, but wrapped is a joke in college football because Virginia tied this one up with a touchdown at 47 seconds left in regulation. Boo me. Then Carolina kicks a field goal and now I’m at the weird position of rooting for the Cavs to score but not a touchdown. They scored… a touchdown… I lose. Damn it! 

Middle Tennessee State (+14.5) @ Louisville Cardinals: (LOSS) “This one seems easy.” And it seemed even easier after MTS went into halftime up 3. Ah, but games are not just one half, those tricky games, and Louisvilles three touchdown 4th quarter just got me out of the money - thanks fold. The Cards won by 19 - And while I’ll admit my loss, I still think I was on the right side of this game. 

Toledo Rockets @ Northern Illinois Huskies (-8.5): (WINNER) “Toledo beat Michigan at the Big House last week… So what? Michigan is terrible, I’d take Northern Illinois over the Wolverines any day of the week and this game is at home. The Huskies have been good all year. I don’t see it, but most “experts” on a pretty prolific site have Toledo in this one. I’ll take the Huskies and be a renegade… Follow who you please.” If you followed me on one of my better picks of the week, ignoring the “experts” on said site (lets call it Lovers because it may or may not rhyme) then you took home an easy win that showed how bad Michigan really is right now. Yhatzee. 

Mississippi State @ Tennessee Volunteers (-7.5): (WINNER-but) I won this side of the bet, but I didn’t like it after further review - still, all this win did was get me a push because I bought back my bet earlier in the week by taking Tennessee here. 

Idaho Vandals @ Lousiana Tech (-20): (WINNER) 32 point win for LT - that’s a cover folks.

NCAA Football Picks REVIEW: Week 7

I finally had a terrible week, and like everyone knows, it is bound to happen some time. Before I have a huge rebound week, here’s where things went wrong this Saturday. 

Texas Longhorns @ Oklahoma Sooners (-6.5): Boy, Sam Bradford had 5 touchdowns passes and a gaggle of yards, but it was Texas’s ability to run the ball on short yardage situations and win the line of scrimmage that gave them this game. To my credit, Oklahoma was walking away with this one early until their best defensive player went out for the game with injury. I’m not sure how it would have ended up, but feel me on this one. 

Arizona Wildcats (-6) @ Stanford Cardinal: And Arizona falls to Stanford. Every time a school in the Pac 10 starts to separate themselves from the rest of the disgusting pack, to say, “wait, there’s a couple good teams in the Pac 10″ they lose to a very bad conference opponent. This week’s losers of street credit, the Wildcats - thanks for playing boys. 

Washington State @ Oregon State (-30): YAY! A win is a win, and it’s even nicer to win when you lose so many games you can’t see stop signs because of the teary blurr. Ah, it wasn’t so bad, every once in a while you lose a week - this week was tough for Ole Lucky. 

Nebraska Cornhuskers @ Texas Tech Red Raiders (-20): TT barely won this week as upset Saturday was in everybody’s cards except the Nittany Lions - ha. Anyway, I can’t believe this game was close - tough week for me. 

LSU Tigers (+6) @ Florida Gators: The Gators showed where the talent has been going lately. Florida had way too much speed and athleticism for the Tigers and it showed on just about every play. Florida killed LSU in ever phase of the game. Tebow was back to his old self. Florida, when playing well defensively, is one of the Nation’s Top 3 teams. 

Penn State Nittany Lions @ Wisconsin Badgers (+5.5): “If the Badgers proved anything last week, it’s that they play great football at home.” If they proved anything this week it’s that they can play absolutely terrible at home too, or that Penn State is going to be playing in the National Championship game - maybe both. 

Boise State Broncos (-10.5) @ Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles: Boise State pulled this one out 24-7 and I get a little happiness back in my soul. 

Tulsa Hurricane (-24.5) @ Southern Methodist Mustangs: Damn good coaching. SMU almost pulled this one out, meaning that 24.5 point spread i had to cover didn’t quite make it. 

Idaho Vandals @ Fresno State Bulldogs (-34): Fresno played like absolute garbage. Nobody in college football should give up so many points to the vandals. Needless to say I was crushed by the Bulldogs in this one. 

Air Force Falcons (-10.5) @ San Diego State Aztecs: 28 unanswered 2nd half points allowed Air Force to walk away with an easy win here, giving my a much needed 4th win on the season. So it didn’t end so bad after all… Okay, it was bad, my 5 games over .500 last week went right back to even as I finished Week Seven 3-7… Ugh. Better next week.

NCAA Free Picks REVIEW: Week 6

15-10-1 in a tough Saturday in NCAA Football. I was a handful of tough losses away from a brilliant week, but I’ll take 5 games up - that’s for sure. A special thanks goes out to college football teams in Washington - keep up the coverless football fellas!

Rutgers Scarlet Knights at West Virginia Mountaineers (-14) (LOSS): Up 14 headed into the 4th, I thought I could get a little help from the Mountaineers and pull this one out despite the injury to Pat White that had him out headed into the final frame. The Mounties tried to run out the clock, and White was out for good. Rutgers scored a late touchdown and I lost this one. I still think it was a good bet, but having White go out was tough.

South Carolina Gamecocks at Mississippi Rebels (-2.5) (LOSS): I still think the Rebels are the better team. A couple freakish “spurrier plays” turned momentum and South Carolina pulled this one out. When analyzing these two teams, I think Mississippi wins 7 or 8 out of ten. This just happened to be one of the 20% - bummer for me.

Florida State Seminoles (+3) at Miami Hurricanes (WINNER): “Talk about two up and down teams, you never seem to know what to expect from these two teams absolutely chalked full of talent. I’m just going to go ahead and chalk FSU’s 3 point output against Wake Forest up as a flukey bad loss and go with them headed into “The U” - Miami has talent, no doubt, but FSU has shown some strength against decent teams, Miami has only played well against nothing good. Rivalry game, but I’ll take the road team.” Well, I was certainly right on the button about these two Florida schools being more up and down than a yo-yo circus act. With FSU up 24-0, Miami’s lone 1st half score, a measily field goal, seemed to open up some kind of sadistic U flood gate to points. Miami put up 36 second half points, but that wasn’t enough to keep the visiting Seminoles out of the win column as FSU won by two.

Arizona State (+9.5) and (+10) at California 3:30 pm: (LOSS, PUSH) This was a push, though earlier in the week the line was 9.5 and so I guess I get a loss for that bet, my late bet got me a push though - so I’ll take that - ha. Arizona State didn’t do anything offensively, and I was lucky to get a push here.

Temple Owls (+8) at Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (WINNER): “I just like what Temple brings to the table with 11 returning starters, 20 seniors, and 26 juniors - this is a good football team that has had some tough losses against some good programs to start the season. I think they fight back with a nice win in this one.” Sometimes what I like and what I think become one in a fantastic explosion of joy and money winnings -this was one of those instances. The Owls were never down in this game, and while it got close in the 3rd, Temple came out tough in the 4th to put up 14 unanswered and make me a smart winner of more money.

Florida International (-6) at North Texas (WINNER): “Florida International is pretty decent - they stick close to good teams, and given a shot against a relatively equal opponent I think they will win easy. North Texas isn’t good - against anyone. Unless I’m sleeping on something, I like the FLINT to win by 3 touchdowns - lots of rushing yards from them in this one.” Did I say three touchdowns? How about 42-10, and North Texas didn’t put a touchdown on the board until the 4th quarter. I think I had this one pretty well figured out.

Northern Illinois at Tennessee Volunteers (-15.5) (LOSS): Maybe I’m wrong and Tennessee is really bad. Fluke loss to UCLA or just not very good? I’m thinking, after this week’s performance against NIU, option two is looking good. Sorry about this beat.

Oregon Ducks at USC Trojans (-16): (WINNER) Up 27-10 at half time I liked my chances. up 37-10 after three I was beginning to cash my check. And the 44-10 end game result was icing on the cake. Maybe the Trojans just had a bad game, and quite possibly, wait for it, they are actually really freaking good. Crazier things have happened.

Hawaii at Fresno State Bulldogs (-21): (LOSS) And Hawaii wins… It’s an interesting ball game, this college football, you never know what’s going to happen for sure. Just ask the Bulldogs. 21 point favorites losing in overtime to a Hawaii team that’s never upset a ranked team on the road. Ranked team
? Fresno? Well not anymore they aren’t.

Oregon State Beavers @ Utah Utes (-11): (LOSS) Damn Thursday Night games… That’s it for me, take the underdog on Thursday night or don’t bet the game at all. There’s no point in watching black magic happen against you - that’s my new philosophy and I’m sticking to in, until of course there’s nice value on a favorite.. Haha..

Cincinnati Bearcats (-3) @ Marshall Thundering Herd: (WINNER) The Bearcats, with 3rd string quarterback and all, were a heck of a lot better than the Thundering Herd. I knew it, you knew it, everyone knew it, so I’m hoping I wasn’t the only one cashing in on this winner.

BYU Cougars (-29) @ Utah State Aggies: (LOSS) “Cougars by 38 - that’s my best guess. Did I say guess? I didn’t mean it, I meant that’s my strong opinion based on facts and assumptions that border on the line of reality.” You can say what you want, and argue what you will, but I watched a BYU team walk into the 4th quarter with a 34-0 lead and on pace to one up my 38 point win prediction. What happened? Once again a team lets up late, not thinking of the bettors at all, and a couple souls get crushed. They didn’t go for the jugular and they allowed a couple late scores, and 34-14 doesn’t even cover my private parts. This was the first of four tough losses for me this weekend.

Boston College Eagles (-8) @ North Carolina State Wolfpack: (LOSS) I hate Boston College. They went into “try not to lose” mode and nearly let one slip away. What they did do was allow a bad Wolfpack team to crawl right back into this one with a 14 point fourth quarter. A late touchdown won it for BC, but I was still a point down, and despite my hopes and dreams, the Eagles didn’t elect to go for two to get me a push. Damn them.

Akron Zips (-3.5) @ Kent State Golden Flashes: (LOSS) The Zips win by 3 in overtime and I get a half point loss. You win some you lose some, but when I look back at what could have been an unbelievable week, I see a couple very tough losses on the card that could have easily gone the other way.

Florida Gators (-24) @ Arkansas Razorbacks: (WINNER) I needed most of those 21 fourth quarter points to pull out a cover here, but Arkansas couldn’t get into the end-zone all day. They had plenty of chances, and this game shows me that Florida probably doesn’t have much value anywhere close to 4 touchdown dogs, but it’s nice to learn a lesson and get a win - no doubt about that.

Oklahoma Sooners @ Baylor Bears (+27): (LOSS) This one didn’t start out well, that’s for sure, but it got close there, and if it weren’t for a late 4th quarter touchdown by the Sooners, I would have walked out of Baylor with yet another win to my name. As it was, I lost this one by 5 points. That’s the bad news. The good news, I wouldn’t lose another one all day long…

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (+28) @ Virginia Tech Hokies: (WINNER) “This is a real test, but after much deliberation I still can’t even fathom the Hokies as a -28 favorite against anybody in the nation, not even a Hilltopper team that has a 38 point loss to Kentucky and a 34 point loss to Alabama to be credited for.” You have to say that I had this one right on the dot. The Hokies can will a win out as well as anyone, and they play some solid defense, no doubt about it, but this game shows you they aren’t 28 point favorites, not even against Hilltoppers.

Texas Tech Red Raiders (-7) @ Kansas State Wildcats: (WINNER) “Don’t be fooled by K-State’s 3-1 record thus far, North Texas and Montana State don’t count, they lost to Louisville, and beat ULLaffayette by 10. Needless to say I like the Raiders, even though the public is riding this like a used up quarter pony at Walmart. Ride it!” Ride it, my pony…. The Raiders made K-State’s defense look like stationary defensive decoys as the TT put up 58 points on their conference foe. Maybe the Raiders are pretty good afterall, and maybe beating North Texas and Montana State doesn’t put you in close proximity to a Top 10 team in the Nation. Shoot, I don’t know.

Kentucky Wildcats (+17) @ Alabama Crimson Tide: (WINNER) Just as I thought, the 17 was too big of a spread here. Alabama came out and put up 14 quick points, but the rest of the game wasn’t that easy, and they needed a late onside kick recovery to finally put away the hard fighting Wildcats. Kentucky is solid, and maybe Alabama shouldn’t be huge favorites regardless of competition.

Illinois Fighting Illini (+3) @ Michigan Wolverines: (WINNER) “Because one of these weeks the Wolverines are going to get obliterated by all those stupid mistakes and Illinois is too physical and good to allow Michgan back in a game in which the Wolverines are getting handled. Juice will have a huge game, showing the Wolverines what kind of QB they need to be legit.” You know Rich Rodriguez was watching Juice throw the ball all over his defense and just admiring the young QB. Williams absolutely torched Michigan in the 2nd half. Juice’s 310 passing and 121 rushing yards were plenty of offense for the Illini, as they fought an early 14-3 first quarter deficit to win 45-20.

Nevada Wolfpack (-24) @ Idaho Vandals: (WINNER) “Because that’s how bad Idaho is.” Nevada went to 3-2 and beat Idaho 49-14. Does that cover a 24 point spread? Let’s see, carry the 3, you bet. It was 28-0 in the 3rd quarter, and Idaho’s 21 fourth quarter points sealed a nice win for me.

UL Lafayette (-2) @ UL Monroe: (WINNER) A little closer than I thought, Lafayette still took this one by 9 after Monroe put up 13 points in the 4th quarter. I love me some winners!

Washington Huskies @ Arizona Wildcats (-21): (WINNER) Well, this one was even easier than I thought. I needed some Washington Sports programs to come to my rescue, and by losing big and without much of a fight, they did exactly that.

Ohio State Buckeyes (-1) @ Wisconsin Badgers: (WINNER) Ohio State didn’t win by 10 like I thought they would, but a late touchdown put them over the top of one of the best home teams in the Nation, and they covered that 1 point spread by the hair on Jim Rome’s chinny chin chin.

Washington State Cougars @ UCLA Bruins (-17): (WINNER) This one seemed easy - it was - boy oh boy, Washington Sports is at a tough spot right now.

Next Page »