A Great Year For North Dakota Collegiate Football

Introducing the 3 Football teams in the State of North Dakota that are in the national football polls of their respective divisions.

This is the logo of the Valley City State Vikings.  Currently they are 9-1 in the NAIA.  They are ranked #12 in the nation.  The NAIA playoff pairings are announced on Sunday.  It looks like the Vikings will make the playoffs as an independent with the Dakota Athletic Conference not recognized as a conference since the conference went from 8 teams to 4 last year.

The current logo of the Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota.  They are ranked #22 in the current FCS polls that were released on Sunday.  They are 6-3 this year so far, but 2 out of the 3 losses came at the hands of Idaho and Fresno State who are BCS schools.  They still have their fate in their own hands about winning the Great West title.  Not bad for a school who is still transitioning into Division I.

Last, but definately not least, we have the North Dakota State Bison.  Currently they are 9-0 on the season.  They are also ranked #1 in the nation for the FCS division.  The Bison have gone on the road and rolled the Minnesota Golden Gophers and won a showdown with then #3 Northern Iowa 27-19.  The closest game that they have played was a 9-3 victory over Southern Illinois.  1 win out of their last 2 games will give them a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title, which the Bison haven't won before. 

We here in North Dakota are proud of what our local schools are accomplishing.  And yes, I should get to a game or three each year, but this year has been nuts for me.  If the Vikings do get a game at home, I will be there.  If the Bison get a home game, I will try to get tickets.  However, the Bison are selling out at over 20,000+ people attending each game.  And if I do go, I will post about it.

He Said It (Via Open Letter)

To all,

I've had a lot of time today to sit and reflect, and try to put my thoughts into words as best I can.

I want to sincerely apologize for my actions during Friday night's Truck Series race at Texas.

I apologize to my fans, all my sponsors, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports.

After talking with my team, it's great to have their support and encouragement to assure me that there are better days ahead. Even though this took place while driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, I am sorry for how difficult this has been for everyone associated with Joe Gibbs Racing's Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series teams.

I'd also like to apologize to Ron Hornaday Jr., and everyone associated with the No. 33 team in the Truck Series.

I understand why I was taken out of the car for the rest of the weekend. NASCAR officials had to act, and I accept their punishment and take full responsibility for my actions.

As a racecar driver, the hardest thing to do is to sit on the sidelines listening to cars on the track when you know you should be out there competing. For this, I have no one to blame but myself.

Through a lot of support from the people around me, I feel like I've made a lot of strides this year, but this was certainly a step backward. Moving forward, I will do everything I possibly can to represent everyone involved in a positive manner. However, I know my long-term actions will have more of a bearing than anything I say right now.

Sincerely,

Kyle Busch

I’ve had a lot of time this weekend as well to reflect on what happened during Friday’s Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch hooked Ron Hornaday Jr.’s rear bumper and put him into the Turn 3 wall on Lap 13 after both of them made contact with each other while lapping a slower truck as you’ll see below.

In the interview Busch gave after the incident, not only did he show no remorse for his actions but he blamed the other drivers for his wrecks during the last four races.

It’s always been about Kyle Busch and no one else ever since this man-child was wedged into the seat of the #5 by Rick Hendrick. Enough!

My thoughts are this: the old Kyle Busch would never have endangered another driver’s life and/or their championship hopes when he lost his temper. The “new” Kyle Busch crossed that line Friday night. Luckily, Hornaday Jr. was uninjured in the incident but he’ll have to wait another year to win another CWTS championship.

The reality is, an angry Kyle Busch is infinitely more dangerous to other drivers behind the wheel of a stock car than Jeremy Mayfield ever was on meth. Allegedly, of course.

I think we’ve had enough of these Busch league antics. It’s time for an intervention. While I agree with NASCAR parking Busch for the weekend, I want to see more done so this doesn’t happen again. Unfortunately we can’t get Jimmy Spencer to slug Kyle Busch like he did to his older brother Kurt, so instead I’d like to see him enrolled in an anger management program so this doesn’t ever happen again. Failing that, I’d love for his sponsors to leave him and/or for Busch to get kicked to the curb by Joe Gibbs Racing.

Losing the ability to do what he loves might be the only thing left that will get Kyle Busch’s attention that he, not the other drivers, have a problem.

My Plan For The Columbus Blue Jackets

The time has come for the first GM to be fired this NHL season.  That distinction should go to Scott Howson of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  His plan of bringing in higher salaried players has backfired so far this year.  Did you know that the Blue Jackets are the sixth highest in payroll at this point of time?  They have $81,000 of cap room.  That means that the Columbus Blue Jackets are paying salaries of around $64 Million this year.  And for what?  A 2-11-1 record.  5 Points.  And already 6 points behind the 14th place team in the West.  Might have to start calling them the New York Rangers of the West.

Anyways, I would keep coach Scott Arniel for the time being.  He has the confidence of the players in the room.  The Captain, Rick Nash, has publicly come out in support of the GM and coach.  The coach deserves to stay, the GM not so much.  And if you bring back Ken Hitchcock to coach after firing him, you just get the problems of the past couple of years back in the locker room and the players will continue to resent him.  Stick with Arniel for this season.  See if he has the chops for actually coaching an NHL team.  You can fire him easily enough after the season is over.

Whoever the Blue Jackets bring in as the temporary GM, the first thing that they need to do is try to find a trading partner that will take Steve Mason.  His confidence is shot in Columbus, the fans are turning on him after a couple of lackluster seasons, and he is now starting to let in the more than occasional soft goal.  If this season is lost, then trade him for prospects (if someone will give them up), do an internal audit of how a Blue-Chip prospect like Mason failed and change the way that the Goalies are trained and handled in the minors as well as the NHL level.  Then play the two goalies that you hope will be the keepers of the net for the next 5 years and let them have a shot at seeing what the NHL level is all about. 

The team needs to think about players before they start signing them.  The top line for the Blue Jackets right now is LW Vinnie Prospal, C Derick Brassard, RW Rick Nash.  Which one of these players should actually be on a Top line?  The 2nd Line doesn't look much better.  LW Matt Calvert, C Antoine Vermette, RW Ryan Johanson.  I didn't realize that this was the AHL.  I understand that C Jeff Carter and LW Kristian Huselius are currently out, but that doesn't plug most of the holes in the Top 2 lines.  And the defensive corps have been atrocious this year so far.  Switch them with the AHL kids, and the AHL corps might actually perform better.

So in short, fire the GM for assembling this lackluster crop of Blue Jackets, find a trading partner for Steve Mason, keep Scott Arniel for the time being and start focusing on getting the talent out of the players in the minor leagues.  They have tried the last step for years and could never get the talent to develop where others thought that the players could be.  Evaluate how you are doing things down in the minors, change it, and develop those players that should be able to help you within the next couple of years.  If that isn't possible, then trade your most valuable trade chip in Rick Nash to a team for high end prospects.  Otherwise, the team will continue to flounder and there is no one else to blame besides the people in the Blue Jackets organization.

College Football Predictions - Week 10

Well, after last week, the Hawkeye socks are put away when I am picking games.  The luck has finally left from those.  However, the luck from the Jamestown College Foam Football Helmet is still there.  I am wearing that as I pick these games.

1) No. 1 LSU (+6) at No. 2 Alabama - the game of the year according to the hype which is already in overload.  The road team in this series has a 2:1 ratio of victories.  The Tigers have been higher in the ratings all year and I think that continues.  The statistics for the year all say the Tide roll, but going against the data, I am picking LSU.

2) No. 10 South Carolina at No. 8 Arkansas (-5) - South Carolina isn't the same team without Garcia and Lattimer.  Arkansas still plays through the air.  I'll take the Hogs to win this battle of Top 10 teams.


3) No. 17 Kansas State at No. 3 Oklahoma State (-21) - K-State got blown out by Oklahoma at home last week.  This week, the Oklahoma team that has the better record is the opponent.  The results though, will be the same.

4) Texas A&M (+13.5) at No. 7 Oklahoma - Texas A&M is a good team when they want to play.  I am going to say that they want to play against Oklahoma.

5) No. 6 Oregon (-15) at Washington - I have Oregon being better than Stanford and the Huskies looked bad against the Cardinal.  I expect the Ducks to roll up at least 50 points in a blowout win.

6) No. 23 Cincinnati (-2.5) at Pittsburgh - The invisible school that could earn a berth in the BCS, Cincinnati is invading Pittsburgh and playing a disappointing Pittsburgh team.  Give me the Bearcats to do to the Panthers what they did to the Wolfpack of NC State.

7) Texas Tech (+10) at Texas - Texas Tech upset Oklahoma 2 weeks ago and then got blown out by Iowa State.  Apparently the Red Raiders like the big games and don't show up for the bottom feeders.  Playing Texas for them is a big game, and I expect them to show up.

8) No. 4 Stanford at Oregon State (+20.5) - Yes, Stanford is the better team, but coming off that emotional win against USC last weekend, I think that the Cardinal have a let down.  They still win, but it will be closer than people think.

9) Notre Dame (-13.5) at Wake Forest - Another week of trying to figure out Notre Dame.  Let's just pick the Golden Domers and hope for the best.

10) Army at Air Force (-15) - This pains me.  I am a veteran of the Army and to see the football program in the shape that it is and not even be competitive with the other service academies irritates me.  Take the Falcons.

Additional Two

11) Louisville (+12.5) at No. 24 West Virginia - Another up and down team in West Virginia.  Louisville has a good program and should be able to take advantage of the defense that the Mountaineers play.

12) Purdue at No. 19 Wisconsin (-26.5) - If the Badgers cannot get up for this game after two last-minute losses against Ohio State and Michigan State, then they deserve not to be in the Big 10 title game.  I expect the Badgers to go bananas and roll up the score on the underrated Boilermakers.

High School Memory

First a quick thanks to Zeb for turning me on to the Tavern.  Like Zeb, I spent some time in the Marine Corps, so I'm a slow learner.  If I screw something up or violate any rules, there's a good chance that it was unintentional. 

I posted something on Facebook yesterday that might (or might not) be worth sharing:

Scotty and his Canadian friends crushed my Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I circled around him a few times before directly confronting him. Turns out he's actually a great guy - maybe kicking Boston's butt wasn't personal after all? He ended up winning 9 Stanley Cups, the most in history. By the way, the crying in high school wasn't a total melt down, sissy fit kind of thing. It was more of a silent manly tear rolling down my cheek. Not like my emotional collapse when the Yankees beat the Red Sox in 1978. Does anyone know if Bucky Dent is planning a trip to Sarasota?

I received quite a few comments, but my favorite from Elena:  "Good God John, it's time to pull up your big boy panties and move on.. Geez.."

College Football Prediction Results - Week 9

 An ugly week for my picks.  I don't like picking Notre Dame or Texas A&M games.  I also thought that a couple of teams would rebound better than they did.  All of that combined for my 1st losing week of the season.

WIN  1) No. 6 Clemson at Georgia Tech (+4.5) - Clemson 17, Georgia Tech 31.  Another undefeated team bites the dust.  The Tigers finally lost.  It was about time.  Although the Tigers will still be in the ACC Title game and possible BCS Bowl game, they aren't what anybody would call dominant.

WIN  2) No. 11 Oklahoma (-13.5) at No. 10 Kansas State - Oklahoma 58, Kansas State 17.  This battle of the unbeatens ended in a rout.  The Sooners are eying the Bedlam game against Oklahoma State and a possible chance at the BCS Championship game.  

WIN  3) No. 9 Michigan State at No. 13 Nebraska (-3.5) - Michigan State 10, Nebraska 17.  The Cornhuskers only have one more thing to do to be a participant in the inaugural Big 10 title game.  That is to beat Iowa.  That shouldn't be difficult. 

WIN  4) Baylor at No. 3 Oklahoma State (-15) - Baylor 24, Oklahoma State 59.  Mike Gundy has the Cowboys firing on all cylinders.  They need to stay focused on Kansas State, not look forward to Oklahoma.  They are the dark horse to make the BCS Championship game.  The reason?  Everybody is still doubting the Cowboys and the talent of the team.

LOSS  5) No. 4 Stanford  (-9.5) at No.20 USC - Stanford 56, USC 48 (OT).  USC took their shot and had Stanford on the ropes.  However, the Cardinal came back and pulled out the win.  It does make me hesitant about seeing Stanford beat Oregon for the PAC-12 North title.

LOSS  6) No. 22 Georgia vs. Florida (+1) at Jacksonville, Fla. - Georgia 24, Florida 20.  The Largest Cocktail Party was close, and it just shows how far the Gators have fallen from the heights they were at just a few short years ago.

LOSS  7) Navy (+20) at Notre Dame - Navy 14, Notre Dame 56.  I told you that this was the hardest game for me to pick this week.  The two teams I can't get an accurate read on this year are Notre Dame and Texas A&M. 

LOSS  8) No. 12 Wisconsin (-7.5) at Ohio State - Wisconsin 29, Ohio State 33.  What is up with the Badgers?  They have the best talent in the Big 10.  Bret Bielema is a real good coach.  Maybe the expectations were just too much for them to handle this year.  But to lose to Ohio State in the fashion that they did, it's gotta hurt the Drunk Sconies bad.

LOSS  9) No. 25 West Virginia at Rutgers (+5.5) - West Virginia 41, Rutgers 31.  The Hokies defense was still disappointing, but the offense kept on firing throughout the game and pulled out a 10 point win from a 3 point deficit going into the 4th Quarter.

LOSS  10) No. 14 South Carolina at Tennessee (+3.5) - South Carolina 14, Tennessee 3.  This was an ugly game.  A total of 238 yards passing was earned this game.  South Carolina won with rushing the ball 53 times.  The Vols are starting to look like Vanderbilt.

Additional Two

WIN  11) Rice at No. 18 Houston (-25.5) - Rice 34, Houston 73.  The Big East is trying to get Houston into their conference.  The better fit would be in the Big XII.  The Cougars throw the ball around, but the defense need work.  It looks like they might go undefeated.

LOSS  12) Missouri at No. 16 Texas A&M (-15) - Missouri 38, Texas A&M 31 (OT).  The Aggies are hot and cold.  The bad thing is that you can't predict which one they are before they hit the field.  Oh well, this is the last game between these two in the Big XII.  The next time they meet will be in the SEC. 

Week 8 Results:  5-7 Record.  1-4 Picking Underdogs.  4-3 Picking Favorites.  0-1 Road Underdog.  1-3 Home Underdog.  1-2 Road Favorites.  3-1 Home Favorites.

Season Results:  69-38-2 Record.  64.2 Win Percentage.  17-15 Picking Underdogs. 52-23-2 Picking Favorites. 12-8 Road Underdog.  5-7 Home Underdog.  20-12 Road Favorites.  32-11-2 Home Favorites. 

Another Reason To Hate The Chargers

It’s no secret I’m a Raider fan. In fact, I grew up a San Diego Chargers fan but that changed when in 2002 the legal counsel of the team told fans to give them a new stadium or they’re leaving for Los Angeles. Since we’ve previously lost the San Diego Clippers (NBA) and the San Diego Gulls (IHL version) to Los Angeles, I knew how this would turn out. I joined Raider Nation and never looked back.

Fast forward nine years later and the team is still holding the city hostage with its demand for a new stadium. And now we have another reason to hate the Chargers ownership:

Chargers owner Dean Spanos will help lead Texas Gov. Rick Perry's fundraising efforts in California, the campaign said Wednesday.

This is more than embarrassing. Not only does Perry lie about the details of his “Texas Miracle” but he regularly thumbs his nose at California for the fact we’ve lost a lot of jobs to other states. The Spanos family would be better corporate citizens (no thanks, Citizens United) if they held a fundraiser for a new stadium to keep the team in San Diego rather than support a loser off the field.

But that’s not the embarrassing part. This from the Perry team is:

Dean Spanos, Statewide Finance Chair

Spanos is chairman and president of the San Diego Chargers and has overseen the team's rise to become one of the National Football League's (NFL) most successful and respected franchises. He played an integral role on the NFL's Management Council Executive Committee during the recent labor negotiations. He also oversees all business and football operations for the Chargers and serves on the NFL Business Ventures, International and Legislative committees. Additionally, as president of the A.G. Spanos Companies, he and his brother, Michael, oversee all the company's construction operations nationwide.

Successful and respected? Thanks for the laugh, Governor Good Hair. How many Super Bowls have the Chargers won? Better yet, what is the won-loss record for the team in January? It’s marginally better than Nick Kaeding’s accuracy in the playoffs, which in plain English means they’re better off not winning the division if they’re going to lose in the first round anyway.

I guess Dean Spanos got bored propping up one loser with money and needed another one to keep him busy this winter.

Growing up baseball

I thought some of you might enjoy a little background bio to get a little insight into this particular blogger.  I'm 50 years old and was born the eldest of my generation, a fourth generation (at least) baseball fan.  I attended my first Red Sox game at Fenway with my grandparents in 1970, though it was a very rare treat since I grew up poor, rural and at least three hours from Boston.
But I had a baseball in my hand as a very young boy and was playing organized baseball (none of that t-ball crap) at the age of 5.  The following newspaper clipping is pretty contemporaneous.  I was probably 7 or 8, front row, 2nd from the left.

If there wasn't an organized game to play in, I'd usually be found trying to scrounge up a handful of local friends for a pickup game in the fields around my house.
Let me step sideways for a second and state that my grandfather was a very good player who taught me most of what I learned as a very young boy.  He played American Legion ball into his 40s and I played organized softball with him when he was in his 50s.  My mother was a fair player and two of her brothers were excellent players.  I went to a high school that was found in the 1860s and there's a cup in the trophy case that is awarded to the outstanding player from every senior class.  My grandfather, both uncles and my kid brother's names are all on that cup.  Alas, my name is not, much to my chagrin but that's a long story for another day.  Suffice to say  if I hadn't had a falling out with the coach and quit during my senior year, it would be.
If I couldn't scrounge up a pickup game, you could find me throwing myself flyballs, throwing the ball on the roof and catching it, hitting rocks into the field with an old bat or any number of other self-designed drills.  And you could usually find me on weekdays catching the Game of the Week on television, one of the few opportunities to watch games on TV back in those days, along with Red Sox games on the weekend.  Then the playoffs and World Series would be on TV, and I would be watching those games with great interest with my grandfather or my uncles or my mother, who still to this day is a huge fan.  During the season, I would almost daily be checking the box scores in the newspaper in the morning and at night I'd be listening to the game on the radio.

 Growing up in this little town of 700 people, farm league and little league teams were not well organized or instructed.  This town had one of each and I played on the farm league team through the age of eight, when my father decided his son (being the best player his age) was not going to play Little League here and I was given the opportunity to try out as a nine-year-old for a team in the neighboring town.  Now it was the town we would all go to junior high and high school in but very few kids from the two smaller towns in the district were able to play in their Little League, which had four teams, because they simply weren't good enough.  Well, not only was I good enough, I was good enough at 9 (unheard of even for kids who lived in that town) and I started (doubly unheard of).  The above picture is of yours truly playing in that league, probably 10 to 12 years old.  Notice the Carl Yastzemski stance, left foot back and the bat way too high; and yes, I wore number 8 and played left field.  I am right handed but most of the men in my family naturally swing from the left side, like Yaz.

This is a picture of that league's All Star team, which I was selected to as an 11 and 12 year old.  I'm in the back row, just left of center.
I hope this doesn't come across as bragging; I simply was the best player my age from about 5 to 17, when natural ability and constant, constant practice and drills were no longer enough, and size and strength came much more into play.
Anyway, after Little League, I played as a starter on the junior high team in the town my dad had moved to, a town twice the size of the one I had played Little League in and where they all laughed at me until I showed them.  Coming from that little town I couldn't possibly compete with them.  Well, here's the letter to prove it.

After starting there for two years, I moved back to my hometown and played junior high one more year as a 9th grader because back then my high school was for grades 10-12.
I then went out for the high school team as a 10th grader and not only made the team but was the starting right fielder, again something relatively rare.  That was probably the last year that I genuinely had fun playing.  The coach of that team had been the coach for 20 years or so, and he decided to retire after my sophomore year.  The new coach my junior year inherited a very talented team of seniors, who quickly "took over" the team.  Many of them had brothers who were sophomores.  What resulted was that instead of me becoming the starting left fielder (the previous left fielder having graduated), I had to fight and scratch for playing time in left and right, where I was the starter the previous year.  Despite hitting nearly .400, I was not an everyday starter.  The coach was always finding reasons to play sophomore brothers of seniors in those positions.  I hadn't planned on going down this road, sorry.   Anyway, despite that we had an excellent team and won the conference regular season.  In the first round of the State playoffs we encountered a junk throwing kid who kept us scoreless the whole game, a guy I knew I could hit had I not been sitting on the bench for the last game of my high school career.  The same coach came back the next year, and I would have started and done well but I just couldn't stand playing for the guy.  My only regret is that now I can't go back to my high school and see my name on that cup.

Left is my high school letter and I'll share another picture down below that was taken just before the State playoffs and was in my high school yearbook.  I'm in the back row, right of center.
I played in men's softball leagues in the summer between my junior and senior years, on a team with my grandfather, and then again the summer after my senior year before joining the Marines.  There were no American Legion teams in the area at that time.  The popular softball back here was called modified fast pitch.  It wasn't windmill fast pitch but more straight underhand fast pitch, as opposed to slow pitch.  I had fun and hit for a good average but I found I didn't have the power to be truly successful playing softball.  I did continue to play on office teams during a good part of the eight years I was in the Marines but it wasn't anything you could call highly competitive.  I think the highlight would be our team from the Camp Pendleton Legal Office playing in a Southern California tournament against other legal office teams.

I'm sure you've found that incredibly boring but hopefully a little charming and maybe sparks your own walk down memory lane.  I guess the only thing I left out is that I also played Babe Ruth baseball in the summers of my junior high years, 13-15 years old.  My father left the family when I was 11.  I taught my brother, who's six years younger, to play the game; and I was the little league coach in my little home town during the summers of my high school years.
To wrap up, I bowled (candlepin -- look it up) competitively through much of this same time and played football through most of my junior high and high school years but baseball always was and always will be the sport that's most in my heart.  I would encourage the other authors here to tell similar stories, if they have them.

Game 6 -- Cardinals win or Rangers lose?

Some people are saying Game 6 of the 2011 World Series was exciting and I suppose it was in many ways but it was certainly not well played or executed.  At last count five errors by the two teams resulted in at least five runs crossing the plate.
Obviously having the Cardinals come back from the brink twice added a great deal of drama but (and maybe it's because I wanted the Rangers to win) I found it aggravating that they couldn't close the door.  I give the Cardinals a lot of credit for their tenacity, being one strike away from losing on two different occasions and battling back; but it felt like to me that the Rangers gave it away more than the Cardinals took it.  The Cardinals were in an offensive slump, and I feel as though they would've stayed in a slump had the Rangers pitchers pitched well.
I said it somewhere before Game 6 that the Rangers closer was a time bomb waiting to happen.  I don't have the stats in front of me but how many walks had that guy given up before the bomb exploded last night?  He gave up at least two last night, including walking in a run.  Then comes the game-tying triple, which looked to me like a catchable ball, though you wouldn't know from the TV coverage.  It appeared to me that Nelson Cruz was never at full throttle going back for that ball and, therefore, came up one stride short of getting to it, especially hard to believe given that the Rangers outfielders were practically sitting on the outfield fences.
Now, all of the above seemed to be moot when Josh Hamilton hits his first homerun of the series to put the Rangers up by two runs in the 10th inning; but this is where the vice grip of pressure was visible.  The Cardinals had momentum, the stadium was rocking and the Rangers pitching staff looked tight and afraid.  They proceeded to give up two runs to tie the game once again.
On to the 11th inning, where the Rangers couldn't score a run; Ron Washington changes his mind and pinch hits for his last good pitcher with a man on first and two out, and the only pitcher he has left gives up the predictable game-winning homerun by Freese.
We've seen this time and again in baseball -- the team that has the championship in its grasp tightens up, succumbs to the pressure and gives it away in Game 6, so that when Game 7 comes around the pressure is practically strangling them and they lose a series that they were one strike away from winning.  This is a scenario that my beloved Red Sox had patented (see 1986 and 2003).  Josh Hamilton gave them a chance to relax and go home victorious but they blew it.  I see no chance in hell of them winning tonight.

College Football Predictions - Week 9

1) No. 6 Clemson at Georgia Tech (+4.5) - I am going out onto a limb here and saying that the Yellow Jackets and their Triple Option will trip up the Tigers for the huge upset and ending any chance that an ACC team plays for the National Title

2) No. 11 Oklahoma (-13.5) at No. 10 Kansas State - While I applaud Kansas State for going undefeated so far, this should be the end of the road.  Oklahoma has better talent and is probably ready to play their best game of the year in response to losing last week.  

3) No. 9 Michigan State at No. 13 Nebraska (-3.5) - Sparty has been winning emotional football games for the past week.  This will be the stumbling block for their hard 4 game stretch.  Nebraska should be able to win and start preparing for their spot in the inaugural Big 10 Title game.

4) Baylor at No. 3 Oklahoma State (-15) - I am not in love with the Cowboy's defense, but RG III will have a few mistakes which should let OK State pull away for the win.

5) No. 4 Stanford  (-9.5) at No.20 USC - Stanford has more than Andrew Luck.  The offense is predicated on the running game which has devastated their opponents.  USC, while talented, isn't in the same class at the Cardinal.

6) No. 22 Georgia vs. Florida (+1) at Jacksonville, Fla. - The Largest Cocktail Party will be close, but let's continue the pattern of Florida winning these games.

7) Navy (+20) at Notre Dame - This is the hardest game to pick this week.  The Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde routine by Notre Dame has me all confused about which team we are going to see.  The Fighting Irish should win this game easily, but something is telling me that this game goes down to the wire.

8) No. 12 Wisconsin (-7.5) at Ohio State - Wisconsin is going to be the bully in this game.  Watch for Coach Bielema to score and score often.  The Badgers coming up short against the Buckeyes ends this year.

9) No. 25 West Virginia at Rutgers (+5.5) - Here are the Hokies that are consistant as water.  The offense starts and stops, while the defense has been a disappointment.  I am taking Rutgers and the shot in the dark.

10) No. 14 South Carolina at Tennessee (+3.5) - With Lattimore out for South Carolina, I don't think that the Ol' Ball Coach has the horses to win the rest of the games on South Carolina's schedule.  The losing starts with a sorry Tennessee team.

Additional Two


11) Rice at No. 18 Houston (-25.5) - Houston has the #1 ranked offense in the land.  Rice isn't in the Top 100 in overall defense.  So expect lots of points and lots of them early as well.  The points will come mostly from the Cougars.


12) Missouri at No. 16 Texas A&M (-15) - And another Texas A&M game.  Whatever I choose, do the opposite.  Texas A&M has confounded me all year long.