College Football 2011 Week 5

Okay, so I was right about my random upset pick of Toledo over Syracuse, but apparently a referee had money on the game. Congrats to the Rockets on their 30-29 win at Syracuse. Also, I'm very happy Kiffin lost. FSU really did struggle and they lost at Clemson. Rutgers beat Ohio. Nebraska beat Wyoming. And well, my Gators destroyed Kentucky in Lexington.

Desmond Howard, what were you thinking? Picking Kentucky over Florida? Give me a break. My upset picks were much better. Yeah, I get it - you wanted to go out on a limb. But Florida hasn't lost to Kentucky since 1986. As you pointed out yourself, Kentucky is not good this year. The Wildcats have not looked impressive in any game yet. They lost to Louisville. Louisville lost to FIU. Need I go on? That was not your best pick, Mr. Howard.

So, my three favorite college teams won last weekend, but what will happen this weekend? There are some very big games this weekend. Rutgers plays Syracuse who apparently has worked out a deal with the referees.  More importantly, Nebraska plays in Madison where it is very tough to win.  And most importantly, Florida is playing Alabama at home.

But I'll get to those picks shortly.

Pittsburgh showed me last week how bad they are by losing to Notre Dame.  South Florida beat Notre Dame.  But for some reason, I'm leaning toward Pitt tomorrow night.  Houston stays undefeated at UTEP.  Go Cougars!  BYU beats Utah State on Friday.

Arkansas will give Texas A&M a taste of SEC life Saturday - the Razorbacks win this one.  Minnesota falls at Michigan.  Zook beats Northwestern.  Georgia will play a closer game with an SEC West opponent this week.  I'll pick Dan Mullen in a close one.  If Kentucky thought last weekend was bad at home, the Wildcats really should not be looking forward to this weekend.  LSU wins big.  South Carolina will win a close game over Auburn.  I'm still not overly impressed with Spurrier's Gamecocks this season.  Once upon a time I had hope for Nevada, but I think Boise State is winning this one.  SMU has a better chance at TCU than people think, but that doesn't mean I think June Jones will pull off the upset.

Georgia Tech wins on the road.  Baylor wins at Kansas State.  Even though I think Michigan State is terribly overrated, I'm picking the Spartans over the Buckeyes this weekend.  Yes, Miller is better than Bauserman.  But Ohio State is just not good.  Clemson is overrated.  Virginia Tech isn't good, but the Hokies should beat Clemson.  Texas beats Iowa State.  Stanford beats awful UCLA.  Arizona State beats Oregon State. 

And the most important games of the week..... I think Rutgers will beat Syracuse - as long as the refs aren't blind.  I think the Huskers have yet to play to their potential.  This could be a very high scoring game.  Nebraska's defense hasn't impressed me, and Wisconsin has quite an offense.  The question that will determine the outcome is this: Can the Badgers stop Taylor Martinez? Both teams have potentially deadly offenses, and neither has shown me any defense.  Also, neither team has played anyone yet.  So this is a tough game to pick.  It's hard to win in Madison, but I want to pick Nebraska.  Would be great to see Nebraska win its first conference game in the Big Ten.  I'll say this - if Nebraska can shut down Wisconsin's run game, they've got a good shot.  If the Husker defense doesn't show up, this game could get ugly in a hurry.

And the most important game of the week....well, it's in the Swamp.  Well, Florida started the season with easy games against FAU and UAB.  No one expected trouble from either team, and the Gators coasted.  Then they played 2 SEC East opponents.  Tennessee and Kentucky...not exactly the toughest competition in the Southeast.  And Florida prevailed in both games.  The offense has been decent, but I'm still not sold on Brantley or Thompson.  This would be a good week to impress me.  The defense has looked lazy, but I wonder if the defense has just been playing to the level of its competition.  Alabama played well against a good Arkansas team.  I was not impressed with the Crimson Tide's performance in Happy Valley.  I thought they should have won that game by 100 points.  But they didn't.  So now, I'm tempted to believe if the Gator defense comes to play and shuts down Trent Richardson, Florida has a great chance to upset Alabama.  I bleed orange and blue.  I'm picking the upset.  I pick F-L-O-R-I-D-A!

Go Gators! R-U! Rah! Rah! Go Big Red!!!

College Football 2011 Week 4

Remember when I said week 3 would be more interesting? Well, it was awesome. Any weekend where both Ohio State and Florida State lose and the Gators win, I'm a happy girl. It's about time Ohio State dropped out of the top 25!

Auburn should have won at Clemson, but I guess they ran out of miracles. Either way, neither team of Tigers will go too far this season. The LSU Tigers on the other hand...beware. I was very glad to see Michigan State fall out of the rankings after losing to awful Notre Dame. How long before the fighting Irish are back in the rankings?

South Carolina did not impress me against Navy. Nebraska had a slow start, but the Huskers beat the Huskies. I'm not appreciating the lack of respect for Houston. Texas beat UCLA and moved up to 19. Granted, Houston's schedule is much easier than Texas's. But the Cougars did beat UCLA too, and they remain undefeated and ranked. This is my main grudge against early season rankings. They show NOTHING. They're based purely on rumors, biases and media hype. Shouldn't they be based on which team has the best chance of getting to the national championship? Well, statistically, the teams who are undefeated would have the best chance at this point, no? And yet, three one-loss teams remain ranked in the AP Poll, and four in the USA Today Poll. This is why I don't make my picks based on rankings. This is why I picked a winless, unranked Miami team to beat "ranked" Ohio State last week. I watched them play football. I just didn't think Ohio State stood a chance. (Yes, I may be biased - but remember...Gators don't like Hurricanes either!)

So, Pitt and Syracuse to the ACC? UConn and Rutgers rumors circulating? Not sure how I feel about this. I think eventually college football will evolve to a point where there are two conferences: East and West. The Big 12 and Big East are in trouble for now, though. Texas and Oklahoma staying in the Big 12 for now though will help the Big 12 last a bit longer. Texas A&M is not smart for joining the SEC. In all likelihood, the team will end up in the SEC West, and will end up being beaten repeatedly by the likes of LSU, Auburn, Alabama... I suppose it will help keep up the rivalry with Arkansas (who I believe is the better team).

Anyway, on to Week 4 picks...

Tomorrow night I will take Cincinnati at home. Friday - UCF loses to BYU.
I think San Diego State is gonna give Michigan a good fight. I think Michigan wins a close one. North Carolina turnovers lead to a Georgia Tech victory. Random pick: Toledo upsets Syracuse. Toldeo played well in Columbus and Syracuse didn't impress me. Maybe I'm just mad at Syracuse for not beating Lane Kiffin - even if I did pick USC...

Notre Dame starts 1-3 when they lose at Pitt. Georgia will make a stand for the SEC East against the SEC West this weekend and win at Ole Miss (not that a win means Georgia is good). Rutgers will definitely beat Ohio. I believe Alabama is beating Arkansas at home, but I do think Alabama is a bit overhyped. I still think Lucky Les and LSU will win the SEC West. I think Oklahoma State will win at Texas A&M. Wisconsin will beat South Dakota.

I think FSU will struggle at Clemson. Go Tigers! Washington rebounds after last weekend and beats Cal. Vanderbilt is losing to Spurrier & Co. Kansas St-Miami will be a close game between two bad teams. Rice may have beaten awful Purdue (yeah, the big ten is fantastic!), but the Owls are not beating Baylor. South Florida will beat UTEP and they'll stay ranked - maybe even move up for it.

No one on Florida's current team was alive the last time Kentucky beat Florida (1986). Gators win their first road game of the season. Nebraska will destroy Wyoming. LSU will beat West Virginia (who apparently no one wants to play with!). Arizona may put up a fight early, or may try to crawl back late, but I don't think Oregon is falling this week. Arizona State beats USC. Hawaii beats UC-Davis.

GO GATORS!!! R-U! Rah! Rah! Go Big Red!

College Football 2011 Week 3

Charlie Strong is in big trouble. I was so close on my BYU-Texas pick, and if they played again, I'd make the same pick again. BYU apparently left at halftime. Rutgers came SO close. I was very disappointed with the ending. But I guess if UNC didn't turn the ball over so much, the game wouldn't have been as close as it was.

The Gators shut out the Blazers, but I still wasn't impressed. The defense looked lazy. Deonte Thompson still can't hold onto a ball. Too many stupid penalties. They have a lot to work on before Alabama. And SEC play starts this week. Haven't lost to UT since 2004, and I don't want to see a loss this weekend.

Nebraska struggled early with a sub-par team...I guess they really have embraced being a Big Ten team. But they were no where near as pathetic as Ohio State. Every player on Toledo would have gotten a handwritten fan letter from me if they had beaten Ohio State. I was very disappointed they didn't pull out the win, but I was happy Ohio State was exposed. Although, they're exposed every year, and it never seems to affect the rankings very much...

Miss St and Auburn played a good game, and Auburn's home advantage helped them beat Dan Mullen. Both teams will have competitive seasons. Georgia hung in with South Carolina for a while, but come on - Spurrier had that locked up from the start. Everyone wants to talk about how great the Notre Dame-Michigan game was. I would call it competitive, not great. It was a battle of two awful teams. I was SHOCKED Michigan wasn't ranked after beating a winless team though, simply because the Big Ten gets so much praise. I thought Alabama would beat Penn State by more, but other than that, I wasn't surprised by too much in week 2.

Week 3 should be more interesting...my picks:

Miss State falls at home to LSU. Boise State beats Toledo by more than Ohio State did. Oklahoma wins at FSU. What do both teams have in common? Florida beat both in national championships. Stanford should beat Arizona. Washington isn't beating Taylor Martinez. The Huskies were embarrassed last year in Seattle - they're not beating Nebraska in Lincoln. Notre Dame will start 0-3. Michigan State will continue to be overrated for beating a winless team that gets its only praise from Lou Holtz.

Clearly I'm picking the Gators to beat the Vols. And I'll ask one of my favorite questions that I was asked in college - Why does Tennessee have checkerboards in the end zone? ...Because they can't spell Tennessee! I will pick Miami to win the "Ineligibowl" this weekend. Don't get me wrong - Miami and Ohio State are both bad. But Miami is at home. And Ohio State looked awful against Toledo. Auburn beats Clemson. SEC > ACC. Can Texas handle UCLA this time around? I'm picking the Bruins. I'm not sure why Texas is ranked. Arizona State has a decent QB...I'd like to pick Zook, but I think this game will be a good one.

I'll pick Kentucky over Louisville in the battle of "which team from Kentucky sucks less?" Syracuse loses to USC for sure. I pick Utah over BYU. Oklahoma State beats Tulsa. Alabama bets North Texas. Hawaii beats UNLV. None of these games even matter. Rutgers can't lose this weekend!

GO GATORS!!!!!!! And Go Big Red :-)

College Football 2011 Week 2

For the first time this season, I'll say it: To hell with Georgia. I guess they're just used to losing to teams in orange and blue... but what a disappointing display for the SEC. Now we'll hear about Boise State all season unless Nevada comes through again or if TCU can pull off an upset. Both the Nevada and TCU games are on the smurf turf, so you can expect to see Boise State in a BCS bowl this year -- but not the national championship game. Not too many big surprises last week though. I expected a close game between Notre Dame and USF, but I figured with home advantage Notre Dame would come out on top. But wow. That was just embarrassing. I expect an awful season from the Irish this year - if even Lou Holtz picked against them, you know it's not looking good. (though to be fair, he admitted his wife made him pick his son, and he still said he thought Notre Dame was a better team than USF)

Wisconsin played well at home and won big. What I neglected to mention in my blog last week was that I picked UNLV +35 in that game. My brother (a Wisconsin alum) kept teasing me before and throughout the game about my "stupid" pick. Didn't look so stupid when the badgers won by 34. Auburn was a disgrace. I know they lost a lot from last year's national championship team, but no SEC team - not even Vanderbilt - should come close to losing to Utah State. And that's not to discredit Utah State. I just have that much respect for SEC football. Sidenote: What is Texas A&M thinking? They want to leave the Big 12 to get beat up by the SEC? Bring it on. Texas was up 13-6 at halftime over Rice. Someone explain to me how they entered this week's top 25? Once again, preseason/early season rankings mean nothing and are based on nothing. These rankings are based on general perceptions of schools based on the past at this point, and absolutely nothing more. There is no other information available to help formulate rankings, so at this point it is frustrating, but understandable.

The Gators looked fine against the Owls. Brantley looked a little more confident than last year. That's a plus. But he still threw two interceptions, and that's not cool. Nebraska looked good. Taylor Martinez looked fast. But it was a game against Chattanooga, so I'm not sure what I can deduce. Rutgers looked good against North Carolina Central, but we'll see how they do against a better school in North Carolina this week.

Picks for week 2....
Tonight I'll take Oklahoma State. Tomorrow I'll take Louisville and Missouri in close games. Both weren't great last week, but they should be able to handle FAU and Arizona State. AZ St is at home though...so we'll see. And I gotta pull for Charlie Strong - until he plays Rutgers, of course.
Saturday - Badgers over Beavers. Ohio State wins another easy game over Toledo. Michigan State will score under 30 again against FAU, but the Spartans will win. Iowa beats Iowa State in an in-state rivalry game no one cares about. Kentucky will hopefully put on a better show for the SEC against Central Michigan. Auburn will play better this week, but I have to side with Dan Mullen in this game - even if the Tigers are at home.

Call me crazy, but I'm taking the Scarlet Knights on the road at UNC. I just have to. West Virginia and Pittsburgh should have no problems - so the Big East should have a good afternoon. Alabama wins big in Happy Valley. Sorry, Joe Paterno! Stanford beats Duke - and no one will care. East Carolina will give Virginia Tech a fight, but the Hokies will come out on top. Nevada will come in confident, but they won't accomplish much. Oregon has too much offense - Ducks win big. Much higher score than last week. TCU will begin climbing back up the rankings with a win over Air Force. I think Hawaii is winning in Seattle. Another rough week for the Huskies ahead next week...

Cincinnati may have had a nice offensive showing last week, but I don't think they can handle the SEC. Spurrier is winning at Georgia. UNLV will lose its second in a row. FSU wins another cupcake game this week and all the unnecessary hype continues. Ole Miss beats the Salukis. Nebrakasa will crush Fresno State. Arkansas will destroy New Mexico. USF should beat Ball State - but don't tell David Letterman. My upset special of the week: BYU wins at Texas. Gotta pick June Jones over UTEP. Florida will beat UAB. Driskel will hopefully be in early and often and will gain confidence - no interceptions this week! I want to see more from Debose this week. And no turnovers for the team. ::Ahem, Brantley:: I'll pick USC over Utah even though I despise Kiffin. Houston will beat North Texas on the road - Case Keenum is too good. Michigan should beat Notre Dame - sorry Lou Holtz! And of course, to state the obvious, LSU will humiliate Northwestern State.

GO GATORS!!! R-U! Rah! Rah! Go Big Red! (Husk 'em corns?)