Thursday, October 31
7:30 pm EST
ESPN
-1
Colorado State (#24)
7-2 (Away: 4-2)
Air Force
6 -2
(Home: 4-1)
Wowzers.
Wyoming beating Air Force was a HUGE upset. I guess that's
what happens when you lose your one big game.
Meanwhile, I think this is Colorado
State's 17th game on Thursday night this year. It's ridiculous.
Pick: Air Force
Saturday, November 2
12:00 pm EST
ESPN+, Gameplan
-38.5
Miami (FL) (#1)
7-0 (Away: 3-0)
Rutgers
1-7 (Home: 1-3)
Seems
most anyone can run on Miami these days. Next up, the
ferocious rushing assault of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Pick: RU
3:30 pm EST
ABC, Gameplan
Colorado (#12)
6-2 (Away: 2-0)
-12.5
Oklahoma (#2)
7-0 (Home: 5-0)
And
here's our shot... Colorado
will run the ball. Oh yes. They will indeed.
They've turned things around nicely since a lousy start.
The Buffs might be the last, best hope anyone has of knocking
off Okie before the B-12 title game. And as the only team
in the B-12 North currently without a conference loss, Colorado
might get chances to turn the trick there as well.
Pick: Colorado
7:30 pm EST
ESPN2
Pittsburgh
6-2 (Away: 2-1)
-13
Virginia Tech (#3)
8-0 (Home: 5-0)
I'll
admit that I share in the general malaise that seems to be affecting
our team these past few weeks. Temple and Rutgers just
don't do it for me. Good jokes are wasted on them, and
there's no point in doing any real analysis either. I've
not brought my "A game" and for that I will apologize.
But now we've got Pitt. The
team of Marino and Martin. Majors and Dorsett. Pittsburgh
occupies a special place in the recent history of Hokie football.
It was a mid-September day in 1993 when a plucky Tech squad
led by Maurice DeShazio marched north and laid a whuppin on
the Panthers the likes of which no one expected. 63-7
was the final, but few of us realized just what it meant at
the time. Pittsburgh was supposed to be the up and comer.
Johnny Majors was back coaching again, and it was only a matter
of time before they were once again a force on the national
scene. "Dark days in Blacksburg" is all Sports Illustrated
bothered to say about Tech in their season preview issue.
A surprising seven more wins followed that year, culminating
with a victory in the Independence Bowl. The nation didn't
notice for two more years, not until an 0-2 Hokie squad upset
Miami, but the force that is Beamerball took hold on that day
... against Pittsburgh.
Fast forward nine years. It took a while, but Pitt
is the up and comer once again ... and not just on name recognition
this time. Walt Harris has them going in the right direction,
and their whupping of us last year was a springboard
to a bowl campaign of their own. They've stepped it up
this year, but are not at the top. Not yet. Not
today. No sir!
....
Do you suppose Marshall thought that they had it bad, visiting
Tech on a Thursday night? Rubbish. They were pretenders
and we all knew it. It was loud, and it was unruly, but
we were just playin. Heck, I even left the game early
and missed the last three scores.
How about LSU, the big intersectional contest on national
television? Our biggest non-conference foe in recent memory?
Maybe so, but Pitt stands between us and our BCS bowl.
Pittsburgh is in TROUBLE. 65,000 screaming fans, plenty
warm after an all day tailgate. Revenge. Weather
so cold they'll have no choice but to try to run on us.
"YOU WILL NOT RUN ON US!" Tear the bottom out of
that first stadium cup and shout that through your new megaphone
after each 1 yard stuff. It's gonna be loud, its gonna
be cold, and its gonna be ugly. Shake your Gobbler, rattle
your keys. Scream and holler like you're trying to actually
knock the pass down with your voice. I want to see Pittsburgh
false start or go offside at least five times this game.
I want to see Pittsburgh players huddled around their space
heaters as far away from the student section as they can get.
You know the drill ladies and gentlemen. Now go to
work.
We quit? I think not. But keep up the talk little
kitty, and come get yours.
Pick: HOKIES!
3:30 pm EST
ABC, Gameplan
Minnesota (#19)
7-1 (Away: 2-1)
-12.5
Ohio State (#4)
9-0 (Home: 6-0)
How
the heck did Minnesota jump 5 spots for being idle last week?
Oh wait, I get it. They're entering the stretch run in
the Big Ten. tOSU, Michigan, then Iowa. It's all
about inflating the heavies' opposition ;o)
Hey, I like Minnesota. They're
a tough bunch and doing better than most thought. But
really, they're the UVA of the Big Ten, and they're about to
go on a losing streak.
Pick: Minn
7:45 pm EST
ESPN
Florida (#22)
5-3 (Away: 1-1)
-2
Georgia (#5)
8-0 (Home: 5-0)
Let's
change gears a bit, and actually root for the Gators
for a change. Georgia and Alabama are very plainly the
class of the SEC this year, and Bama is on bowl probation.
So if the SEC wants a national title, it's Georgia or nothing.
Pick: UGA
2:30 pm EST
NBC
Boston College
4 -3
(Away: 0-2)
-10
Notre Dame (#6)
8 -0
(Home: 4-0)
Enough
with the nonsense. I don't like it one bit, but Notre
Dame is good this year. They've played a tough schedule
and won every contest. More so, they seem to be getting
better as the year goes on. At this point, it is not a
matter of the Irish stealing someone else's bowl bid.
At this point, it's becoming a matter of do they have enough
to play for a title. It saddens me, but it's true.BC
thinks they're not just another 4-3 team. Well, let's
see them prove it.
Pick: Eagles
7:00 pm EST
Fox Sports Net
-4
Texas (#7)
7-1 (Away: 3-0)
Nebraska
6-3 (Home: 5-0)
For
one more week at least, the cries of "Dead man walking" have
fallen silent in Lincoln. If Nebraska is to do one useful
thing this year, let them beat the Longhorns. It's time
for the Big East to get an at large bid, and it'd be a shame
for Texas to knock Miami down to the Gator Bowl.
Pick: UNL
3 :30
pm EST
ABC, Gameplan
Georgia Tech
5-3 (Away: 2-2)
-10
N.C. State (#8)
9-0 (Home: 5-0)
I'm
still in shock that Georgia Tech defeated France last week.
I thought for sure that they were going to be 10-2 coming into
our game. I find myself suddenly directionless in life,
and likely headed for a future of drug addiction and male prostitution...
Pick: NCSU
3:30 pm EST
ABC, Gameplan
Arizona State (#17)
7 -2
(Away: 2-1)
-7.5
Washington State (#9)
7-1 (Home: 4-0)
How
on Earth did Arizona State lose to the Tarheels?
Pick: ASU
12:00 pm EST
ESPN
Port Chester University
6-3 (Away: 2-1)
-9
Iowa (#10)
8-1 (Home: 4-1)
Wow.
Iowa is good this year. I mean really good.
And yet I can't name a single player on their team. Perchance
I have not watched enough college football? Is that possible?
Oh the humanity!
Pick: Iowa
12:00 pm EST
ESPN2
Michigan State
3-5 (Away: 0-1)
-16
Michigan (#13)
6 -2
(Home: 4-1)
Charles
Rogers is a baaaaaaaad man, but that's about the only thing
the Spartans have going for them these days. The wheels
have fallen off, the axles are trashed, the transmission got
dropped somewhere in Iowa, and I'm pretty sure the cops are
searching under the back seat as we speak. Bad scene,
man. Bad scene...
Pick: Michigan State
2:00 pm EST
-30.5
Kansas State (#14)
6-2 (Away: 1-1)
Kansas
2-7 (Home: 1-3)
One
thing that you must admire about Bill Snyder...he doesn't believe
in sitting on a comfortable lead.
Pick: Kansas State
3:30 pm EST
Stanford
2 -5
(Away: 0-4)
-13
Oregon (#16)
6 -2
(Home: 4-2)
Neither
one of these teams is familiar with the concept of team defense.
Should make for a fun game to watch, but *yeesh* the carnage
could be incredible.
Pick: Ducks
2:00 pm EST
-18
Bowling Green (#22)
7-0 (Away: 2-0)
Kent State
3-5 (Home: 2-2)
As
Bowling Green continues their inexorable march up the ranks
of the top-25, the traditional Midwest college football power
structure can only watch in fear. You can not stop the
Falcons, you can only hope to contain them!
Kent State is the worst 3-win team
ever in the history of 3-win teams. Two at home over I-AA
opposition (including a 3 point squeaker against Cal-Poly) and
one on the road over the mighty Buffalo Bulls.
And if that's not a guarantee
of a close game, I don't know what is!
Pick: Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming...
4:00 pm EST
ESPN2
-10.5
Florida State (#20)
5-3 (Away: 2-2)
Wake Forest
5 -4
(Home: 3-1)
Three losses already, and Florida to go. I'd laugh out loud if
FSU knocks off NC State to win the ACC ... and manages to not
be BCS-eligible!
Pick: FSU
3:30 pm EST
ESPN
Illinois
3-5 (Away: 0-2)
-14
Penn State (#21)
5-3 (Home: 3-1)
So
now the Big Ten is seriously considering adding instant replay
for next season. I've got to wonder, wouldn't it be cheaper
just to shell out a little more money to hire better officials
in the first place? Sounds like politicians' logic to me.
And all this because JoePa refuses to go gently into that good
night...
Pick: Illinois
2:00 pm EST
Missouri
4-4 (Away: 1-3)
-10
Iowa State (#23)
6-3 (Home: 4-1)
Iowa
State is tired of losing. You hear that? Just plain
sick and tired of it! Good
enough for this prognosticator.
Pick: ISU
3:30 pm EST
Fox Sports Net,
Gameplan
-19
Marshall (#25)
6 -1
(Away: 2-1)
Akron
1-7 (Home: 1-2)
Hey
hey, Marshall's back! Or should I say, Byron Leftwich
is back. Because that's what it is. I know football
is an eleven man game, but this is the most absurd example of
a one man team that my barley and hops addled brain can come
up with.
Pick: Marshall
12:00 pm EST
-6.5
West Virginia
5-3 (Away: 2-1)
Temple
3-5 (Home: 2-3)
Now
that's just embarrassing. Only Rutgers and Syracuse should
be as little as one TD favorites over Temple.
Pick: WVU
7:00 pm EST
ESPN+, Gameplan
Syracuse
2-6 (Away: 0-4)
-5.5
Central Florida
3-4 (Home: 2-1)
The
truly sad thing here is that UCF is most likely the better
team in this contest. *sigh*
Pick: UCF
