BIG WINNER!!! Finally, a nice week in the college football ranks. Some big wins by some big teams, and I reaped some of the benefits. I tore it up during the week, going 3 for 3 on back to back to back Wednesday, Thursday, Friday games – and then the weekend. Here’s how the cookie crumbled. My baker’s dozen turned into 10 wins; 10-3 gets me right back in the game!!!
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at Lousiana Tech Bulldogs (-3.5): (WINNER) On the road for the Warriors isn’t that bad this week as they haven’t played since the 19th. However, I’m still on Tech here. They’ve played pretty well against equal competition, which I think the Rainbows are. Giving up a little over a field goal at home on Wednesday Night seems like a good value pick to me. The favored team has won this battle in all but one occasion in 7 meetings since 2000. The home team has covered in 6 of the last 7.
Colorado Buffaloes (+17) @ West Virginia Mountaineers: (WINNER) Luck. Then some terrible un-luck. And what do you know, some really good luck with two seconds left the Buffaloes throw a hurry-up touchdown in the corner of the end-zone for the cover. There it is. Sometimes you need some luck to counteract the un-luck.
Pittsburgh Panthers (-6.5) @ Louisville Cardinals: (WINNER) The Panthers finally got over the Louisville hump last season when they rocked the Cardinals 41-7. That marked the first time in the last 20 years (8 total meetings) that Pitt won this match-up. I think they make it a steak against a Louisville team that just doesn’t do the program much justice. Pittsburgh can really run the ball, and they’re making fewer mistakes than in recent years. That helps in a short week.
Michigan Wolverines (pk) @ Michigan State Spartans: (LOSS) What do you know, the Spartans were sick of all that “little brother” talk, and they came out to dice up the Wolverines. But Michigan fought and battled and took this to overtime. A stupid, stupid interception put the Spartans in a good place to win OT with a field goal (which would have meant a push for many of the Wolvering bettors that got on later in the week), but a broken tackle or two meant a TD win for the Spartans. My first loss.
Florida State Seminoles (-4.5) @ Boston College Eagles: (LOSS) I expected FSU to come out to win after playing like dump in Week 4. But they just kept the poo-cycle on full blast, and let the Eagles win by a touchdown.
Alabama Crimson Tide (-17) @ Kentucky Wildcats: (WINNER) I barely covered this game. The Tide won by 18. However, the Tide crushed the Cats. They were up 31-6 and then 38-13, but Kentucky really wanted to cover, so they gave it their all. Lucky for me, I had that one point.
LSU Tigers (-2.5) @ Georgia Bulldogs: (WINNER) I’m still not sure LSU belongs in the Top 5, but they earned it this week, and they’ll spend at least one more week in that group. This was quite a battle, down to the wire, but LSU had just enough to make me, and them, a couple winners.
Washington Huskies (+17) @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish: (WINNER) “I think they have a good chance to not only cover, but pull the upset, so I’ll take all those points.” The Huskies got proper screwed, like the hare. Now, any team that gets inside the 1 twice and comes away with just three points probably doesn’t deserve to win, but the Huskies got a TD taken away that never went back on the board. They also watched as ND failed a 2-pt conversion only get two points anyway. The Huskies went all the way to OT with the Irish, but couldn’t get the right bounces. Easy cover for me though.
Oklahoma Sooners @ Miami Hurricanes (+7): (WINNER) “I think Miami has the kids to play with a team like Oklahoma. They are playing at home, in front of a crowd that will be nuts, getting hyped for a huge chance to prove themselves once again after they really tumbled in last week’s game against Virginia Tech. A little slap in the face to show you that you may not be everything you think you are usually does a team good, and I think last week’s loss will have that effect on the Hurricanes. Since their loss to BYU, the Sooners haven’t had a tough game to show me what they are really made of, as Idaho State and Tulsa don’t really do it for me. I’ll take the home dog here,” I think the ‘Canes had a nice win here. Both teams played alright, but Miami did just enough to get the win, as Oklahoma couldn’t stop the run. Oklahoma fought back late, but fell just a little short.
Ohio State Buckeyes (-17) @ Indiana Hoosiers: (WINNER) The Buckeyes won by 19, just enough to cover up, but they hammered the Hoosiers, it wasn’t that close.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-4.5) @ Mississippi State Bulldogs: (WINNER) The bulldogs tried to make it close in the 4th quarter, but Tech QB, Josh Nesbit, was just too much of a beast. He missed on only 3 of his 14 attempts, putting up 266 yards and a touchdown on just 11 completions. He also didn’t get huge ground numbers, but his 23 rushes helped batter the Bulldogs defense.
USC Trojans @ California Golden Bears (+6): (LOSS) “Apparently it’s hard to win against a physical team when you’re looking forward to next week’s huge battle. Fortunately for the Bears, the battle this weekend had some pressure relieved when they got trounced by the Ducks.” Apparently I was wrong, and apparently it wasn’t a freak occurrence, the Bears getting trounced by the Ducks, because I have a feeling the Bears just aren’t nearly as good as anybody thought. I don’t get how Mr. Best can continually get shut down by ranked teams, yet another time he does nothing against USC…
Washington State Cougars @ Oregon Ducks (-31): (WINNER) “Fade the Cougars… even after two big wins. I stayed away from WSU last week, as they stayed close to the Trojans, so good for me. But they are terrible, and Oregon has figured out what they’re doing. If they don’t put up 50 on the Cougars I will be surprised.” I would have been surprised, but since the Ducks slammed 52 points down WSU’s collective throat, I’ll just settle for being right… and satisfied… Fade the Cougs is back on folks!!!