Beerman's Picks by Ben Shapiro, 8/22/02
Each week this season, I will be posting
a column previewing the upcoming weekend's Big East and Top-25 match-ups.
All rankings are from the
ESPN/USA
Today Coaches Poll . I don't pick winners (that's too easy), I pick against
the spread .
All picks are for entertainment purposes only.
Last Week: A awful lot of fine folks
drove an awful long way just to lose.
This Week: The Big East is TV-rific.
It's an all day ESPN/ESPN2-BigEast love fest, interrupted briefly by the
small matter of a Miami-Florida match-up over on CBS. Ladies and gentlemen,
start your clickers.
Not in Action: #2 Texas, #5 Florida
State, #10 Virginia Tech, #11 Georgia, #16 Southern California, #18 Marshall,
#25 Penn State
Thursday, September 5
7:00
pm EST
Fox Sports West
-9.5
Oregon State
1 -0
(Away: 0-0)
Temple
1 -0
(Home: 1-0)
What's
up with two Thursday night games in a row in Philly?
Pick:
Oregon State
Friday, September 6
7:00
pm EST
ESPN
Hawaii
1 -0
(Away: 0-0)
-10.5
BYU
1 -0
(Home: 1-0)
No Top-25
or Big East action here, but I would be sorely remiss if I didn't
mention this game. Last year these teams scored a combined
657 points, and tonight's match-up promises to have the same Arena
Ball quality to it. Because those wacky Latter Day Saints
like playing ball on Friday, this one's running unopposed.
What a treat :O)
Pick:
BYU
Saturday, September 7
5:00 pm EST
CBS
Miami (#1)
1 -0
(Away: 0-0)
-2.5
Florida (#6)
1 -0
(Home: 1-0)
And heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere we go!
Miami's title defense really gets underway with this game, and we
also find out just what sort of coach Ron Zook really is.
It's tough to win in the Swamp, I think we all know that, but Zook's
gotta pay some dues before he takes down the champs.
Pick: Miami
3:30 pm EST
ABC
Alabama
1-0 (Away: 0-0)
-12
Oklahoma (#3)
1 -0
(Home: 0-0)
It was close, but Oklahoma came up big
with a 20 point 4th quarter rally. When capped by a meaningless
spread-beating touchdown with 1:46 remaining, there was much rejoicing
in the home offices of Beerman Inc.
Pick: Okie
7:00 pm
EST
Middle Tennessee State U.
0-1 (Away: 0-1)
-22
Tennessee (#4)
1 -0
(Home: 0-0)
How bout
them Blue Raiders! Now, Tennessee is a considerable step up
from Alabama these days, but the MTSU ground game should be able
to run enough time off the clock to keep this one respectable.
Pick:
MTSU
12:10 pm
EST
ESPN+, Gameplan, DTV
#771
Western Michigan
1-0 (Away: 0-0)
-22.5
Michigan (#7)
1-0 (Home: 1-0)
AKA the
"Classic Letdown" game. WMU
is one of the better MAC teams out there. While probably not
in Marshall's class, they have a fine defense and are expected to
contend for the MAC-West half title.
Really though, Michigan shouldn't
have too much trouble here.
Pick:
WMU
8:00 pm
EST
Utah State
0-1 (Away: 0-0)
-30.5
Nebraska (#8)
1 -0
(Home: 1-0)
What's
this? Is Nebraska having trouble running the football?
Developing...
Pick:
UNL
12:10 pm
EST
ESPN+, Gameplan, DTV
#772
Kent State
1-0 (Away: 0-0)
-28
Ohio State (#9)
1 -0
(Home: 1-0)
*yawn*
Pick:
tOSU
5:00 pm
EST
Idaho
0-1 (Home: 0-0)
-27
Washington State (#12)
1-0 (Home: 1-0)
The Sun
Belt Conference is looking to get off the schnide, 0-8 is not a
good way to start a season. Then again, I'm still trying to
figure out what part of Idaho is actually in the Sun Belt.
Sitting a whopping 12 miles away from Pullman, the Vandals use WSU's
field to host games in alternating weeks with the Cougars.
If you were ever curious about what it really means to be "small
time", that's it. I'm still
not sold on Washington State, but they will win this game by as
much, or as little, as they want to.
Pick:
WSU
3:30 pm EST
Fox Sports Net
Fresno State
1-1 (Away: 0-1)
-16.5
Oregon (#13)
1 -0
(Home: 1-0)
Now THIS could be a pretty good game.
Oregon should win, and they should win
handily. Especially at home. But FSU-West hung tough
at Wisconsin, and has two games under their belts now. Oregon
whalloped Mississippi State last week, but the Dogs are drowning
in the SEC this year, and that really doesn't impress me much.
Pick: FSU-West
3:30 pm
EST
San Jose State
1-0 (Away: 1-0)
-30.5
Washington (#14)
0-1 (Home: 0-0)
Skippy's
problem in Colorado was that he was too much of a "nice guy" with
his players, and lost control of his team. Washington lost
last week to Michigan as a direct result of a decidedly untimely
penalty. That, my friends, is a discipline problem.
That may fly in the Pac-10, but UDub will forever be an also ran
on the national scene unless they tighten ship.
Pick:
Washington
1:05 pm
EST
Rice
0-1 (Away: 0-0)
-27
Michigan State (#15)
1 -0
(Home: 1-0)
*double
yawn*
Pick:
MSU
7:00 pm
EST
Fox Sports Net
San Diego State
0-1 (Away: 0-1)
-22.5
Colorado (#17)
0-1 (Home: 0-0)
Hey, well
sometimes first game jitters DO get you. I'm not disparaging
Colorado State ... because they played a great ball game ... but
the Buffs are a much better offensive club than that. San
Diego State is about to find out just how much better.
Pick:
U of C
7:45 PM
EST
ESPN
-4
South Carolina (#19)
1-0 (Away: 0-0)
Wahoo State
0-2 (Home: 0-1)
Sacre Blue!
Two ex-Jets go toe to toe across the
gridiron in what is sure to be a classic for the ages. France
is feeling fat and happy after rolling up two meaningless scores
against 11 guys Bobby Bowden pulled out of the stands last Saturday,
but on the other hand, they gave up nearly 400 yards of offense
... on the ground ! That's right. A defense Chris
Berman once called "The Charlottesville Web" has given up 584 rushing
yards through just two games. Frankly, I'll be surprised if
Lou Holtz calls a pass all day.
Pick:
USC
10:15 pm
EST
Fox Sports Net
Colorado State (#20)
2-0 (Away: 1-0)
-7
UCLA
0-0 (Home: 0-0)
For the
third week in a row Colorado State shows up as their opponent's
opening game. I guess if you have to play three "tough" non-conference
opponents to start your season, that's about the best way to line
them up. Go Rams. Win
#3
Pick:
Colorado State
12:10 pm
EST
ESPN+, Gameplan, DTV
#773
West Virginia
1 -0
(Away: 0-0)
-10.5
Wisconsin (#21)
2-0 (Home: 1-0)
So there's
this flap going on at Wisconsin. Seems the WVU mascot wasn't
allowed to bring his musket to the game. Something about a
weapons ban on campus. Never mind that this particular musket
is nothing more than a gun-shaped noisemaker. Luckily for
sane people everywhere, Wisconsin chancellor John Wiley made an
exception to the rule on an appeal from their Athetic Director.
"Obviously there was a segment of the population that was unhappy
about it," Wisconsin athletic department spokesman Justin Doherty
said of the initial decision.
Nonetheless, the damage is done in the eyes of this sports fan.
Since this was even an issue in the first place, I have decided
that the PCniks in Madison have earned my ridicule. From here
on out, the formerly Wisconsin Badgers will be known as the...
Pick:
Port Chester Whooping Cranes
12:00 pm
EST
-16.5
N.C. State (#22)
2-0 (Away: 0-0)
Navy
1-0 (Home: 0-0)
Navy played
well last week. They dropped SMU like a bad habit,
and SMU was supposed to be less awful than usual this year.
It's a new coach, and a new offense, and it just might work.
This could be trouble for the Pack's first road trip.
Pick:
Middies!
8:00 pm
EST
The Citadel (I-AA)
0-0 (Away: 0-0)
(no line)
LSU (#23)
0-1 (Home: 0-0)
Think about
it. Say that you're an LSU player. Every day this week
you've read about how you were embarrassed last weekend. Every
day this week your coach has ripped you a new one. Come Saturday
night, you get to play a small Southern military college ... one
that never grew into a large state university. It's a small
revenge for sure, but I think The Citadel might be the only school
outside of Louisiana truly unhappy about our victory last week.
Pick:
LSU
1:00 pm
EST
NBC
Purdue
1-0 (Away: 0-0)
-6
Notre Dame
(#24)
1-0 (Home: 0-0)
Hey look
at me, I'm writing about Purdue!
Pick:
Hey look at me, I'm picking Purdue!
12:00 pm
EST
ESPN
-3.5
Texas A&M
1 -0
(Away: 0-0)
Pittsburgh
1 -0
(Home: 1-0)
It's Must
See TV. Straight up.
Big talk in Texas is that aTm could win 10 games this year and still
end up in a rather mediocre bowl. That's what happens when
you're stuck in a division with the likes of Oklahoma and the U
of Texas. Like nearly everything else in the state, however,
Texas talk is always big. The Aggies struggled mightily
on offense against Ricky Bustle's boys last week, and no one is
confusing La-La with the '78-'79 Steelers.
U of Pitt we know a bit more about.
They'll go as far as their quarterback can take them. For
now that's Rod Rutherford, but hotshot underclassman Tyler Palko
is waiting in the wings should he struggle. Rowdy Roddie Panther
did struggle last week against Ohio U (38% passing, 3 INTs),
so for the Panthers' sake, they'd best hope that was just early
season rust. Texas A&M plays defense on an entirely different
level than Ohio U...
Pick:
aTm
3:30 pm
EST
ESPN2
Stanford
0-0 (Away: 0-0)
-8
Boston College
1-0 (Home: 1-0)
We all
know the adage about how a team makes the most improvement between
their 1st and 2nd games of the season. When the word "surviving"
can be used to describe the result of a game against UConn, there
is plenty of room for improvement.
Stanford's hurting. Jr. QB Chad
Lewis is sitting out this game as punishment for an undisclosed
NCAA rules violation. The Cardinal is going with r-Fr. Kyle
Matter under center, and another r-Fr. backs him up. That
means zero pass attempts by either of their top two QBs for
this game. Stanford's strength is supposed to be their offense,
however, so if they're to win today they other starting 10 will
have to carry the load. To quote ESPN "The Cardinal will
have a ton of offense, but their defense figures to be no more imposing
than the French army ."
And by my count, the French Army
has given up 75 points in their first two games...
Pick:
BC
7:00 pm
EST
Dear Lord I hope not...
Buffalo
0-1 (Away: 0-0)
-6.5
Rutgers
0-1 (Home: 0-1)
oy...
For those of you who bet on this game
enough to move the spread a point and a half (towards Buffalo no
less), Gamblers Anonymous can be reached at: (213) 386-8789
Pick:
Anything but this
8:00 pm
EST
ESPN2
North Carolina
0-1 (Away: 0-0)
-5.5
Syracuse
0-1 (Home: 0-0)
Like two
once proud gladiators facing one another in their twilight years,
the Tarheels and the BOGs clash swords in the unforgiving arena
that is Upstate New York. Gone are Mack Brown and enough defensive
studs to stock several NFL teams. Only a memory is Donovan
McNabb and his ability to win a game by himself . Sadly,
today is only a pale shadow of what fans miscall their glory.
So light a candle, and think fondly of days that once were.
Remember last second comebacks, and big game blowouts ... top-10
rankings, and Heisman finalists. Remember this all and ask
yourself, as any true Heel or Orangeman would:
How long until tip-off?
Pick:
Cuse
TV Game of the Week: Miami @ Florida
Upset Special: Miami over Florida
(2-1)
Voice of the Fan Archives
TSL Home
