A little after 5:30 pm on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010, Lane Kiffin took the podium in Heritage Hall and spoke into the mic, his first press conference as head coach of the University of Southern California.  “To be here today, I’m extremely fortunate”.  That’s the understatement of the f#@&ing century, and we’re only 10 years into it.

Lane Kiffin has somehow parlayed failure, before being rescued by mediocrity, into 3 coaching gigs in the last 4 years (each one seemingly superior to the prior), thanks to having good people around him. Senile Al Davis (who is beginning to look more sane thanks to Kiffin) hired him away to be a first time head coach…anywhere.  Kiffin sported a .333 winning percentage, though in his defense, it was the Raiders.  Still, he was fired, and somehow got hired at a national power program at the University of Tennessee, replacing a legend, where they have had 3 head coaches in 30 years.  Kiffin, the last, was there only 14 months.

Kiffin jumped into the toughest conference in America, openly taking on conference rival and defending National Champion Florida and coach Urban Meyer.  Kiffin even went so far as to accuse Meyer of recruiting violations and cheating, which was inaccurate, before racking up 6 NCAA violations himself.  Not seeming to know or care about the NCAA rule book and moving on to USC, a program that may incur sanctions for things he did when he was there, would seem to be a recipe for disaster.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If it was Kiffin by himself.

However, Kiffin comes in a package.  A package that contains two other great coaches (One of which, Ed Orgeron, was reportedly calling the recruits he brought to Tennessee and told them to now come to USC-a classless move), thereby increasing his own value. A package that will no doubt convince recruits to come to USC, just when it looked like the program was imploding faster than David Hasselhoff at a local drinking hole.  And one of those great coaches is revered defensive coach Monte Kiffin, Lane’s dad.  Continuing to get by on his daddy’s merit is one way Lane was hired at Tennessee.  A national power program wouldn’t normally hire a young coach who had never coached in college, and who’s only head coaching was a 5-15 record.  Lane Kiffin now seems to have achieved one of the signs of the football apocalypse:  Making Al Davis look completely likeable. Kiffin has gone from success as an assistant to failing on his own, to mediocrity with a hand-picked staff that is far more talented.  He moves on to USC with that staff, and his own ego-driven self-delusion.

Seeing Kiffin the night of Tuesday, January 12th, in a 60 second self-congratulatory monologue before scurrying away like a coward, the fear in his face and body language was more than distinguishable.  Knowing the Lynch mob wasn’t too far behind; Kiffin briefly rattled on about how he was proud of what he did and worked hard every day.  Then he slithered away, where he must have had a chopper waiting with blades churning, needing to be extracted from a hot LZ.  It was reminiscent of Mussolini in Dongo, trying to find a way to escape.  Or Ceausescu in Bucharest and then Targoviste.

Unlike those sociopaths, Kiffin did get away.  Kiffin is the loudmouth kid in the gang who loves to start trouble, as long as he has his boys around him to protect him.  But one thing is for sure.  If SC falters again, not even little Laney’s supporting cast will be good enough to save him from the axe.

And after Pete Carroll fails in the NFL (again), look for his prodigal return.  It should only be a couple years.

Every year it seems, the BCS is on the verge of a major controversy that would push for a playoff.  And every year, somehow, the questions that develop after the season ends somehow fall on deaf ears.  But this year, a scenario developed that couldn’t be ignored, or so we thought.  This year, a “BCS BUST” scenario has never been more prevalent, but the BCS selection committee chose the chicken sh!t way out.

Case in point: pairing Boise State and TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.

Going into the 2009-2010 Bowl season we had 4 undefeated teams, something the system has never had.  The argument has always been that schools from historically “weaker” conferences couldn’t play with the big boys in the power conferences.  But that argument has been drilled like a Paris Hilton on a night out in recent years.

Just three years ago, Boise State put all the critics complaints to rest, taking out Oklahoma in-maybe not so arguably-the most exciting college football game in history. The dramatic 43-42 overtime victory culminated with Boise State’s Statue of Liberty 2- point conversion was seen on prime time national television.  And let’s not forget, Oklahoma was a 2 loss team that year, with one of them being to Oregon on a call that was pure robbery.  The game was stolen from Oklahoma like the innocence of a child by Gary Glitter. If not for that horrible call, Oklahoma would have been playing for the national title, and Boise State beat them.

And last year, undefeated Utah squared off against #3 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.  The SEC is perennially thought to be the toughest conference in the country year after year, and the Mountain West shouldn’t have been able to compete.  Utah not only competed, but dominated from the outset and finished the year undefeated and with a #2 ranking.  After working over the SEC #2, we all wanted to see them square off against the BCS champion and SEC #1 Florida.  What we were left with was the only undefeated team finishing the season ranked second, and an ass load of questions.

So now here we are, with 2 undefeated schools ready to play the big boys, and prove once and for all that a playoff system is necessary.  The problem is, the big boys don’t want to play them, and the BCS selection committee didn’t want to put their power conferences in a position to be beaten.  The BCS had a chance to redeem themselves, or at least practice what they preach, and instead went and hid like cowards.

We can sit here and speculate that, although Georgia Tech had a very nice year, but TCU would very likely beat them, but now we’ll never know.  And what would happen if Boise State were to face Iowa?  If you are going to put the Big Ten #2 in a BCS game, that’s  nothing.  Boise State already proved they could beat the Big 12 #1 two years ago. Given these scenarios, there would be 3 undefeated teams including the BCS title game winner.  If Cincinnati were to upset Florida, that would have given us 4 unbeaten teams at year’s end, all but demanding a new system be implemented.

At the very least, a “Plus 1” scenario would be some sort of improvement, but don’t count on the BCS to revamp any time soon.  BCS conferences have perennial toilet teams like Duke, Syracuse, Indiana, and Vanderbilt raking in 3 times as much money as TCU and Boise State. The WAC and Mountain West Champions put it all on the line and succeed every year, including beating the best conference and teams in bowls, but can’t get paid because the conference is apparently not good enough.  So don’t expect the BCS conferences to all of a sudden go for a playoff, even though it’s clear that it would be fairer.

Just like organized crime (and the case can be made that’s exactly what the BCS is) its all about money.

Here we go again.  Yet another chance for another story of East Coast bias.  This time, it’s an award ceremony at New York City’s Downtown Athletic Club for the best college football player on the land, and while there is only 1 out of the 5 nominees playing on the East Coast, a lot of the time its West Coast” hating.  Case in point:  Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, the most deserving of all the nominees, may very well get overlooked.

Some may point to the fact that Gerhart is heavily rumored to pursue a career in baseball, one in which he may be more talented than football, which is scary.  That may preclude people from voting for him, just like when Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward won in 93.  Ward went on to an average career in the NBA.

But the award shouldn’t be predicated on “what the athlete might do”.  It’s for the best player in college football, and if you look at who each payer has played, you will see what I mean.  Gerhart’s main competition at running back is Alabama’s Mark Ingram.  Gerhart racked up more rushing yards, touch downs, and yards per game than Ingram.

Gerhart          Ingram
Yards                        1736              1542
Yards per game        144.67          118.62
Touch downs             26                 15

More importantly, Ingram played in one more game, facing a division I-AA school in Chattanooga. Gerhart played a tougher schedule, as evidenced by his average rush defense faced of 59th, when compared to Ingram facing the 67th, and no doubt would have been lower if not for the fact that you can’t even factor in Chattanooga because they are not a D-1 school. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, the other main threat, faced a pass defense that ranked on the average 77th in the nation. And everyone’s favorite Christian Warrior, Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow, already ha the award once.  Losing to Alabama in the SEC championship sealed his fate for a chance at a second award.

Certainly, the winner of this award by no means goes on to greatness at the professional level.  In the last 20 years, there have been numerous busts, while setting records in college.  This includes Andre Ware (89), Ty Detmer (90), Gino Toretta (92), Charlie Ward (93), Danny Wuerffel (96), Chris Weinke (2000), Eric Crouch (2001), Jason White (2003), Matt Leinart (2004), Troy Smith (2006).  Four of the above player never started an NFL game.

The running backs were no guarantee either, and besides Eddie George, who was always “good” but never “great”, ’94 winner Rashaan Salaam and ’99 winner Ron “No Gain” Dayne were complete busts. 1998 winner Ricky Williams snagged one NFL rushing title, but his career has been significantly damaged due to multiple retirements, drug use and depression.  2006 winner Reggie Bush is little more than a 3rd down back.

Though it seems the Heisman is more of a curse than a blessing, there can be no denying Gerhart is more deserving of the award.  So lets here it for Toby.  The ward isn’t about who might be the higher NFL draft pick, but who has exhibited the most excellence on college football this year.  And tough Stanford is vastly improved, the fact remains that the PAC-10 is far better than anyone gives it credit for, and has higher rush defense ratings than other conferences thought to be better.

We’ll see if the West Coast Hate continues December 10th.

Whoops

Ever since the Connecticut debacle, and some would say the Navy debacle, Charlie Weis was pulled to the side of the boat, and it was only a matter of time before the gaff hook impaled the big tuna.  Unlike Bob Davie and Ty Willingham’s demise, Weis’s arrogance makes his downfall that much more interesting, and to some, delightful.  Weis has clearly been humbled, and his demeanor in the press the last 2 weeks wreaked of a defeated man…a man who knows his public execution is immanent.  The fish fry happened today, and we now wait to find a replacement.  Below are our top 5 choices, in order of most likely.  My gut is telling me Kelly, but the animosity between Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh would make the most compelling rivalry between the schools in years, and that’s the one I’m routing for.

1)    Brian Kelley, Head Coach, Cincinnati
After heading the Bearcats to a BCS bowl victory and several Big East conference championships, Kelly may have achieved all he can, which is quite a bit.  2 bowl victories, a conference title and a BCS bowl appearance is not bad in 3 years, nor is his 33-6 record.  But to move on to a school of National Prominence with an exclusive television contract aint a bad gig either.  When you consider his current program and resume, it will be easier for Kelly to move than some of the other top contenders.

2)    Urban Meyer, head coach, Florida
Certainly, Meyer has the most impressive resume of any candidate, and if Notre Dame had their choice, he would most likely be the guy.  A 5-1 record in bowls since he has been there, including 2 conference titles and 2 BCS titles.  In the past, Meyer had referred to coaching at Notre Dame as his dream job.  However, Notre Dame’s main problem is their higher academic standards.  They cannot get the players that Florida, USC, or some of the other schools have with lower academic standards.  With Meyer’s 2 national Titles and perhaps another on the way, the only reason for him to go to Notre Dame would be to become a Deity.  This would occur, however, if he were to go to the most preeminent Catholic university and performs a miracle.

3)    Bob Stoops, head coach, Oklahoma
Stoops name continues to surface, and he continues to deny.  Maybe because he is not the first choice, and doesn’t want to pine for something in which he knows the feeling isn’t mutual…yet.  There’s no doubting his success.  8 straight bowl games, 5 of which are BCS bowls including a BCS championship in 2000.  He has great regular season success with a 115-29 record, but much more shaky in Bowls with a 4-6 record.  That may suggest his 10 year run at Oklahoma could use a fresh start somewhere else.

4)    Jim Harbaugh, Head Coach, Stanford
Harbaugh has done the unthinkable, and he’s been brash and unapologetic in doing so.  He took a team from the toilet and turned them into a force that no one wants to play.  Say what you want about Heisman Candidate Toby Gerhart’s amazing year, but he’s not all Stanford has.  A big reason for his success is Stanford’s great offensive line.  When you are recruiting in the same conference against Pete Carroll, landing great players is no easy task, and Harbaugh has done it.  Speaking of, Harbaugh has made it clear that he doesn’t particularly care for Carroll, or USC’s arrogance.  Beating them twice in the last 3 years in SC’s house, including running up the score and embarrassing Carroll just 2 weeks ago in a 55-21 slaughter is evidence enough.  Even though Harbaugh is a Wolverine, what better way to establish a hate-fueled rivalry than by going to SC’s most storied rival?  We’re talking Bo Schembechler-Woody Hayes stuff here.  That could be really fun.

5)    Gary Patterson, Head Coach, TCU
This would almost certainly have to be a default hire, with the other 4 electing to stay where they are.  All but Kelly have vehemently denied any desire to go to Notre Dame.  If they cannot get them, Patterson isn’t a bad choice, and he may jump at the chance. Stuck in a small conference, Patterson has done about as good as anyone ever could, going 53-10 over the last 4 years, and more importantly, 4-0 in bowls.  He now has a chance to have a perfect season if he can win his BCS bowl, and against a top program, that would be extremely impressive.  That would provide the necessary catapult to see what he can do with a national power.

Eventually, it’s got to come to an end.  When it does, the fans, players, and everyone who declare their allegiance to whatever power that falls, should acknowledge their greatness, and say thank you. But making excuses, deflecting commentary about what really happened, and trying to make the rest of the viewing population take part in a game of semantics is perhaps more embarrassing than the loss itself.

Case in point:  USC’s dismissal from BCS and Pac-10 championship consideration after their second embarrassing conference loss in 3 games.  This time, at the hands of perennial loser, but now much improved Stanford.

Stanford pummeled USC 55-21 in front of their home fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 14th.  After escaping with a win over lowly Arizona State the week before, Trojan fans instant recall of a 48-20 onslaught at the hands of Oregon 2 weeks ago was ever present.  In the last 2 weeks USC tallied won unimpressive victory by hanging on against a weak team, and the other 2 games resembled a whore waiting for the ship to dock at the harbor, as she anxiously waited to get owned in the ass by about 10 sailors when the ship disembarked.

Perhaps more telling than the embarrassing losses is some of their wins. Vegas had the Trojans a 44 point favorite in week 4 against one of the worst teams in college football in Washington State.  After putting up a 20 spot in the first quarter, the game was virtually even the rest of the way, with the Trojans outscoring the lowly Cougars 7-6 over the final 3 quarters.  By the way, the Cougars are 87th nationally in total defense. In week 9, they held on against the sorry Sun Devils of Arizona State, in which they eeked out a 5 point victory and managed only 1 offensive touchdown against the 117th ranked defense in the country.

It’s so funny how USC fans are attempting to deflect their punishment.  Then there’s all the excuses of the injuries and that they are starting freshman quarterback.  Guess what?  It’s not anyone else’s fault that a true freshman is the best you have at the position.  And the true freshman didn’t allow 613 yards to Oregon and 469 yards to Stanford in a 2 week period. Many people are trying to spew nonsense such as Harbaugh going for two late in the game ruined a great victory for Stanford.  “Now all anyone remembers is that they went for 2 when the game was well in hand”, I’ve heard SC apologists cry.

Wrong.  They remember your team getting pounded like a hooker that needs to pay her rent in 2 days.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Toro!  That’s the fatty part of the tuna, and considered a delicacy.  But Big Tuna Charlie Weis looks more like a week old California roll than a delicacy, at least as far as his performance is concerned.

In 2004, the university gave him a 10 year contract extension just halfway through his first year with a 5-2 record. That’s more premature than the sexual stamina of a 16 year old boy (and some 30 year old men I know…just saying). The sad thing is that his first year success was using a large portion of former coach Tyrone Willingham’s recruits. Since that extension his record 26-21, a mark barely above .500 in a football program and alumni and booster association that demands much more than mediocrity.

So is it a case of too much time in the buffet line and not enough time game planning?  After all, when his shirt is off, it looks like he still has a fanny pack on…made of flesh.  We can go low-brow all day with the fat jokes-and no, we’re not above it- but I’m sure Weiss would welcome fat jokes in comparison to the discussion of his job being on the line.

Built for Comfort, Not for Speed

Gone is Jimmy Clausen’s Hulk Hogan Hair (Balding on top, long blond locks down the back, also known as the “Skullet”), and perhaps so too are his clutch performances.  Actually, that’s yet to be shown by Clausen.  So why, with only 9 seconds left, would Weis call for throwing a fade to the front part of the end zone, which may as well have been a punt because it got so much hang time, and an extra 1-2 seconds run off?  Then, on what could have been the final play, Clausen throws to a receiver on a slant route 3 yards short of the goal line.  Luckily, he had one more chance to redeem himself, which turned into one more chance to show just how bad they could choke; throwing an incomplete pass that wasn’t even close.

Perhaps most importantly, how in the name of Touchdown Jesus do you have the ball on the 4 yard line, 9 seconds on the clock, a time out left, and NOT RUN THE DAMN BALL? The play calling ultimately cost Notre Dame the game, and that falls directly on Weis.  USC was up by 20 in the 4th quarter and it’s a down year for them.  They no longer have that great vertical passing attack that has been a staple of their offense since Pete Carroll came around.  And if they didn’t take their foot off Notre Dame’s throat, the outcome could have been a lot worse.

That’s 8 straight for USC over Notre Dame, with Weis winless since he’s been there.  The ILLUSION that they came back in the end when it looked like USC just wanted to go home probably saved his job, at least for the foreseeable. But another 2 losses will very likely turn Charlie Tuna into sashimi.  And not the delicacy, either.

Waaaaahhhhh!!!!!!

Yes, the politician Mack Brown is at it again.  But this time he is just getting started a little early.  During his weekly press conference, the politician has begun to defend his team’s weak offensive play against a battered OU club.  He called it a defensive slugfest.  This a term used by ESPN, and the conference they have a man crush on, the SEC, when two horrible offensive teams square up and play to a 6-3 outcome.  I have seen soccer matches that are more exciting than some of these so called “defensive slugfests”.
It has become apparent that the Big 12 Conference is vastly overrated.  Mack is not liking this one bit, but how can he argue when one carefully examines their scheduling of non conference teams (or shall we say shark chum)?  Texas had brought in a few consultants on how to beat the BCS System after being left out of last year’s title game.  Their obvious solution was to schedule weak opponents and let the conference slate carry them to the finish line.
This looked to be a great tactic until the conference took a face plant.  Conference apologists will say, “The Big 12 is 33-13 in the conference games.  We also beat teams like Georgia and Wake Forest.”    True, but let’s look a little deeper.  33 of these wins came against teams like Northwestern State, Kent State, New Mexico, UAB, Northern Colorado, Duke just to name a few.  Now, let’s look at the losses.
-OU lost to BYU and Miami (I actually applaud OU for scheduling these teams)
-Texas A&M lost to Arkansas
-Texas Tech AND Okie State lost to Houston (Damn that school who owns the Big 12 this year)
-Kansas St lost to UCLA
-Colorado lost to W. Virginia, Colorado State and Toledo
-Nebraska lost to Viginia Tech
See the trend here?  Against good opponents (and some not so good), the Little 12 has looked feeble.  Texas also is not helping its cause playing teams like Louisiana Monroe, Wyoming and UTEP.   So quit your crying Mack, and don’t schedule cannon fodder while trying to rely on your conference’s reputation.  You were looking for a repeat of the Big 12 hype last year but your dice just crapped out.  So, if you lose a game and get left out again, just turnaround, and thank those BCS consultants you hired.

UPDATE WEEK 9:  11-7, making us 25-15 over the last 2 weeks. Scroll to the bottom for our week 10 picks!

UPDATE: Week 8 of College football was ourt best yet, going 14-8!  Scroll to the bottom for our week 9 picks

Starting this week, we will publish our College Football top 25 games and the lines, and who we pick.  Our picks are in emboldened, and for those unfamiliar with gambling, ATS means “against the spread”.  And some top 25 games may not be available as they are “off” the board and do not have lines.  Here’s hoping we catch fire and open our own Casino.

Troy @ (1) Florida -36 1/2

Wyoming @ (2) Texas -32

(3) USC -7 @ (7) Ohio State (SC is 10-1 ATS in their last 11 vs. the Big 10)

Florida International @ (4) Alabama -33 1/2

Syracuse + 28 1/2 @ (5) Penn State (PSU is 1-7 ATS in last 8 vs. Big East)

Houston @ (6) Oklahoma State – 15 1/2 (Hou is 1-7 ATS in last 8 road games)

Vanderbilt + 14 1/2 @ (9) LSU (LSU is 1-7 ATS in their last

Eastern Michigan @ (10) Cal -32 1/2

Miami (Ohio) @ (11)Boise St. -37 (BSU is 41-17-2 ATS in their last 60 home games)

(12) BYU – 18 1/2@ Tulane

Idaho State + 49 1/2 @ (14) Oklahoma

Marshall @ (15) Virginia Tech -19 (Marshall is ATS 17-38-2 in heir last 57 road games)

(16)TCU -11 @ Virginia (TCU 12-5 in their last 17 ATS overall)

(17) UTAH -13.5@ San Jose State (UUT 8-3 ATS in their last 11 road games)

Arkansas State @ (18) Nebraska -21 (ASU is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 overall

(19) North Carolina -4.5 @ Connecticut

(20) Notre Dame -3 @ Michigan (ND is 7-3 ATS n their last 10 road games and Head to Head)

South Carolina @ (21) Georgia -7

SE Missouri State + 48 @ (23) Cincinnatti

(24) Oregon State -7 @ UNLV (OSU is 16-5 ATS in their last 21 overall)

(25) Kansas -13 @ UTEP (KU is 22-7 ATS in their last 29 overall)

UPDATE: Week 2 was not so kind to me, however I did hit all 4 of our locks. Let’s hope week 3 brings better luck.

(7) Cal -14 @ Minnesota (Cal is 10-1 in heir last 1 games on turf)
Temple + 29.5 @ (5) Penn State (Temple is 9-4-1 in their last 14 ATS)
East Carolina @ (19) North Carolina -7.5 (EC is 1-8 in their last 9 ATS)
Duke @ (23) Kansas -24 (UK is 12-4 in their last 16 home games ATS)
(11) Ohios State -21 @ Toledo
North Texas @ (4) Alabama -39.5
Tennessee @ (1) Florida – 29.5 LOCK (UF is 12-1 ATS in their last 13 conference games)
(3) USC -19 @ Washington (Washington is 10-28 ATS in their last 38 on turf)
(16) Utah + 5 @ Oregon (Utah is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 on turf)
(18) Nebraska @ (14) Virginia Tech -5 LOCK
Tulsa @ (12) Oklahoma -18 (OK 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games overall)
(21) Cincinnati + 1 @ (24) Oregon State
Rice @ (17) Oklahoma State -33.5 LOCK (OSU is 7-3 in their last 10 home games ATS)
Florida State @ (9) BYU -8 LOCK
UL Lafayette +27 @ (7) LSU (ULAF is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 overall)
(20) Georgia -2.5 @ Arkansas
Texas Tech @ (2) Texas -18

WEEK 4

.500 seems to be the staple.  We need to turn up the accuracy this week, or this feature will be going bye bye (if our ego will let us take it away)

South Florida @(25) Florida State -14(SoFLA is 2-9 ATS vs team with winning record)

(18) North Carolina @ Georgia Tech -3

Indiana @ (22) Michigan -20(Ind is 4-9-1 in their last 14 ATS overall)

Fresno State @(15) Cincinnati-17(Cin is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 overall)

(7) LSU -12 Lock @ Mississippi State (LSU is 10-2 ATS in last 12 vs MSU)

Southern Miss @ (19) Kansas -13(UK is 14-3 ATS in their last 17 on turf)

(6)Cal -5.5@Oregon (Cal is 10-1 ATS in last 11 on turf)

(14) TCU +2.5 @Clemson (TCU is 13-6 ATS in last 19 overall)

UTEP @ (2) Texas -36.5 (UTEP is 2-8 ATS in last 10 vs. Big 12)

(13) Miami -3 @(12) Virginia Tech (Miami is 7-2 ATS in last 9 road games)

Colorado State @ (20) BYU -17

Arkansas @ (3) Alabama-17.5 LOCK (Bama is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 overall)

(1) Florida -21.5 @ Kentucky (FLA is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 conference games)

(8) Boise State -16.5@ Bowling Green (Bgren is 3-14 in their last 17 ATS)

Illinois @ (11) Ohio State -14

UL Lafayette +29@ (24) Nebraska (ULLAF is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 overall)

Arizona State @(17) Georgia -12

Texas Tech @ (23) Houston

Iowa +9.5@ (4) Penn State (Iowa is 7-1 ATS in last 8 road and grass games)

Washington State + 46 @ (10) USC

UPDATE

10-10 again last week, and 1-1 on locks.  College football is truly a crapshoot .  The fact that we are doing so well in the NFL allows us to continue to prognisticate.  As long as we don’t end up losing, I guess its okay.  Here is week 5.

Utah State @ (21) BYU -23.5

(20) Michigan -3 @ Michigan State

(6)Virginia Tech -17 LOCK @ Duke (VaTech is 19-7 in their last 26 road games ATS)

Arkansas State @ (17) Iowa -21.5

(3) Alabama -16 LOCK @ Kentucky (Ala is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 overall)

(11) Cincinnati -29 @ Miami of Ohio (MiaOh is 1-8 ATS in their last 9 home games)

(13) Penn State -7 LOCK @ Illinois

(18) Mississippi -10 @ Vanderbilt (Miss is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games overall)

(4) LSU -3.5 @ (14) Georgia (Geo is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 home games)

(7) USC -4.5 LOCK @ (19) California

(9) Ohio State -17.5 @ Indiana (Ohio State is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall)

Washington State +35 @ (25) Oregon (Wash St is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall)

SMU @ (10) TCU -28 (TCU is 14-6 in their last 20 games overall)

(15) Houston -15 @ UTEP (Utep is 2-6 in their last 8 ATS vs. a team with a winning record)

(8) Oklahoma -7.5@ (21) Miami (OK is 8-2 in their last 10 games ATS overall

UPDATE

OUCH!  The worst week we have had in NFL or NCAA. We went 7-8, so we’re not getting clobbered, but the trend in college is that the favored teams with the big spreads aren’t covering, except for Alabama.  We’ll keep that in mind as we head into week 6.  Some top 25 games are not available as they do not have lines.

(19) Auburn -3 @ Arkansas (Auburn is 4-1 ATS this year)

Boston College + 13.5 @ (5) Virginia Tech (BC is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 meetings)

(13) Oklahoma State -5.5@ Texas A & M

(17) Oregon -4 LOCK @ UCLA (OR is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall)

Iowa State @ (15) Kansas -19 (Kansas is 8-2 in their last 10 ATS overall)

(3) Alabama -4.5 LOCK @ (16) Mississippi

(25) Wisconsin +15.5 @ (8) Ohio State (Road Dog is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games)

Baylor @ (21) Oklahoma -28 (OK is 6-2 in their last 8 games on grass ATS)

(9) TCU -10.5 @ Air Force (TCU is 14-6 in their last 20 games on grass ATS)

Colorado @ (2) Texas -32.5 LOCK (Texas is 20-7 in their last 27 vs. a team with a losing record ATS)

(1) Florida +8 @ (4) LSU (Fla is 17-4 in their last 21 vs. a team with a winning record ATS)

Michigan @ (14) Iowa -8 (Iowa is 37-17 ATS in their last 54 home games)

(20) BYU @ UNLV +17 (BYU is 4-9 in their last 13 games ATS overall)

(23) Georgia Tech + 3 LOCK @ Florida State (GT is 7-2 in their last 9 road games ATS)

UPDATE

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Far and away our worst performance  of the year, taking us under .500.  We’r still doing great on the NFL.  We are foregoing the ATS, and picking based on knowledge.  Lets see what happens.

Arkansas @ (1) Florida -24.5

(7) Ohio State -13.5 @ Purdue

(18) Oklahoma @ (2) Texas -3.5

(5) USC -10 LOCK @ (25) Notre Dame

(12) Iowa -2.5 @ Wisconsin

(23) Houston -17 @ Tulane

Texas Tech @ (17) Nebraska -10.5

Minnesota @ (13) Penn State -17.5

Colorado State @ (8) TCU -22

(19) BYU -17 @ San Diego State

(15) Kansas -9.5 LOCK @ Colorado

(4) Virginia Tech -3 @ (20) Georgia Tech

(11) Miami -14 LOCK @ Central Florida

(22) South Carolina @ (3) Alabama -18 LOCK

(24) Missouri @ (14) Oklahoma State -7

UPDATE:  A decent start to the season has been spoiled by some bad luck the last 3 weeks.  Wobbling, weaving, it’s not looking good.

Minnesota @ (17) Ohio State -17

(23) South Florida + 6.5 @ (19) Pittsburgh

(13) Georgia Tech -5.5 LOCK @ Virginia (GTECH is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 road games)

UCONN -7.5 @ (22) West Virginia

Arkansas @ (25) Mississippi +6.5

(12) Oklahoma State -9.5 @ Baylor (OK State is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 meetings head to head)

Tennessee @ (2) Alabama -14.5 LOCK (Bama is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 conference games)

(11) Penn State -4.5 @ Michigan (Mich is 2-8 ATS in their last 10 conference games)

(14) Oregon -10 @ Washington (WU is 4-13 ATS in their last 17 games overall)

Louisville @ (6) Cincinnati -18 (Louisville is 2-8 ATS in thier last 10 games overall)

Clemson @ (9) Miami -5

Oklahoma +8 @ (21) Kansas (OK is 6-1-1 in their last 8 road games ATS)

Air Force @ (20) Utah -9.5 (Air Force is 2-7 in their last 9 overall ATS)

(8) Iowa -1.5 LOCK @ Michigan State (Iowa is 8-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record)

Vanderbilt @ (23) South Carolina -13.5

Texas A&M @ (24) Texas Tech -21 (T-TECH is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 conference games)

SMU @ (18) Houston -16

(7) TCU -2.5 LOCK @ (16) BYU  (BYU is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 conference games)

Auburn @ (10) LSU -7.5 (Auburn is 3-9 ATS in their last 12 conference games)

(1) Florida -22.5 @ Mississippi State (FLA is 11-0 ATS in their last 11 road games)

(3) Texas -13 @ Missouri

Oregon State +21 @ (4) USC (OSU is 11-4 ATS in their last 15 games overall)

(5) Boise State -25 @ Hawaii (Boise State is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games overall)

UPDATE:  Wow, our best week yet.  14-8, to get us back right at .500.  Sad, but true.  Hopefully the second half of the season will be more kind.

(7) Cincinnati -14.5 LOCK @ Syracuse (Cin is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 conference games)

New Mexico State + 44 @ (15) Ohio State

Indiana @ (8) Iowa -17.5 (Iowa is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games overall)

(22) Mississippi -4 @ Auburn (Miss is 9-2 in their last 11 road games ATS)

Southern Miss @ (16) Houston -6.5 (Home team is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 meetings)

San Jose State @ (5) Boise State -35 LOCK (Boise State is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games overall)

Georgia @ (1) Florida -15 (Fla is 12-4 ATS in their last 16 conference games)

(18) Miami -7 @ Wake Forest (Miami is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 gams overall)

UNLV @ (6) TCU -35 LOCK (TCU is 42-18 ATS in their last 60 home games)

(10) Penn State -15 @ Northwestern (Penn State is 6-2-1 in thier last 9 road game ATS)

Kansas State +28 @ (23) Oklahoma

(11) Georgia Tech -12 LOCK @ Vanderbilt (GTECH is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 road games)

Washington State @ (25) Notre Dame -28

(21) South Carolina -6 @ Tennessee

Tulane @ (9) LSU -35.5

Wyoming @ (19) Utah -17 (WYO is 7-18-1 in their last 26 games overall ATS)

(4) USC -3 LOCK @ (12) Oregon

(3) Texas -9 @ (13) Oklahoma State (Texas is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 meetings)

UPDATE WEEK 9:  11-7 last week, putting our 2 best weeks in a row together, going 25-15 over the last 2 weeks, back above .500.  I guess its not how you start, but how you finish.  Let’s keep it rolling in week 10.

(24) Virgnia Tech -13 @ East Carolina (EC is 3-9 in their last 12 games on grass ATS)

(5) Boise State -21 LOCK @ Louisiana Tech (BSU is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 road games)

(22) Wisconsin -10.5 @ Indiana

Northwestern @ (6) Iowa -16 (Iowa is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games overall)

Virginia @ (17) Miami -13.5

Syracuse @ (14) Pittsburgh -21 (Pitt is 9-2 in their last 11 games on grass ATS)

Central Florida @ (2) Texas -34.5

(25) BYU -13 @ Wyoming (WYO is 8-22-1 ATS in their last 31 games on grass)

Navy + 12.5 @ (21) Notre Dame (Road Team is 13-1 ATS in their last 14 meetings)

Wake Forest @ (11) Georgia Tech -14.5 (Home team is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 meetings)

(18) Oklahoma State -7.5 @ Iowa State (OKST is 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 road games)

Washington State +33 @ (19) Arizona (Underdog is 8-1 ATS in their last 9 meetings)

(8) Oregon -6.5 @ Stanford

(9) LSU @ (3) Alabama -7.5 (ALA is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 conference games)

(12) Ohio State @ (10) Penn State -5 (Home team is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 meetings)

(4) TCU -24 LOCK @ San Diego State (TCU is 17-7 ATS in tei last 24 games on grass)

New Mexico @ (16) Utah-27.5 (NM is 2-8 in their last 10 games overall ATS)

Oregon State +7 @ (23) Cal (OSU is 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games overall)

Vanderbilt @ (1) Florida -35 (FLA 21-7 in their last 28 overall ATS)

(15) Houston -1.5 @ Tulsa

(13) USC -10 @ Arizona State

(20) Oklahoma -4.5 LOCK @ Nebraska (OK is 7-1-1 ATS in their last 9 road games)

UCONN @ (7) Cincinnati -17 LOCK

UPDATE WEEK  10:  OUCH…10-12 last week.  Still over the lat 3 weeks that makes us 35-27.  If we finish out the year with 2 big weeks, that should put us up around 60%…just as good as Vegas, but we bet EVERY game.  Here’s our week 11 picks.

(23) West Virgina @ (5) Cincinnati -9 (Cin is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 conference games)

(7) Georgia Tech -12.5 @ Duke (GT is 20-8-1 ATS in their last 29 road games)

Indiana @ (17) Penn State -24.5 (Penn State is 7-3 ATS vs. a team with a losing record)

(2) Texas -24 @ Baylor (Texas is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 road games)

Michigan @ (20) Wisconsin -9 (Mich is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 road games)

(12) Houston -4.5 @ Central Florida

(21) Virginia Tech -18 @ Maryland (VaTECH is 20-9 ATS in their last 29 road games)

(22) BYU -26.5 @ New Mexico (NM is 1-8 ATS in their last 9 games on grass)

Idaho @ (6) Boise State -31.5 LOCK (BSU is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games overall)

(1) Florida -17.5 @ South Carolina (Fla is 11-1 ATS in their last 12 road games)

(15) Miami -3 LOCK @ North Carolina (Miami is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 overall)

(13) Iowa @ (8) Ohio State -16.5 (Iowa is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 meetings)

Stanford + 10.5 @ (10) USC (SC is 1-8 ATS in their last 9 conference games)

(25) Auburn +4 @ Georgia (GEO is 2-7 ATS in their last 9 conference games)

(19) Arizona +3 @ Cal (ARI is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 vs. a team with a winning record)

(3) Alabama -12.5 LOCK @ Mississippi State (Ala is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 road games)

Louisiana Tech @ (11) LSU -23 (LT is 1-8 ATS in their last 9 vs. SEC)

(14) Utah @ (4) TCU -19.5 (TCU is 43-18 in their last 61 home games ATS)

Notre Dame @ (9) Pitt -7 LOCK (ND is 1-7 in their last 8 games ATS overall)

Texas Tech @ (18) Oklahoma State -4.5

Arizona State @ (16) Oregon -18

Damage control? Too late.

Coach Urban Meyer and quarterback Tim Tebow have something in store for Lane Kiffin and the Vols

Lane Kiffin obviously hasn’t read the book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”.  A son of a highly respected and long tenured defensive coach Monte Kiffin, Lane is largely thought of as being handed the greatest coaching gigs at a young age without ever having to prove himself, just because he is Monte’s son.  He became the USC offensive coordinator after Norm Chow was unceremoniously run out of town.  With Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart and other great weapons, and with Kiffin merely inheriting Chow’s genius architecture of offense, he was able to parlay that 1 year tenure in that cush position into an NFL head coaching job with the Oakland Raiders, even over more qualified candidates.  With this track record of getting things handed to him, it’s no wonder he opened up his yap in the worst way possible, inviting a beating that would make the Gooch’s beating of Arnold Jackson look tame.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Certainly, no one can Blame Kiffin for trying to create a buzz about the program.  Once a national power, Tennessee’s 5-7 atrocity last season resulted in the removal of coaching legend Phil Fulmer and the hiring of Kiffin.  So it was interesting how when the program is in the worst shape it’s been in well, maybe, ever, he decides to go after the King of the mountain.  What better way to generate some attention than to pick on the biggest kid on the block?  The problem is, when you do that, you better be able to handle yourself, because the biggest kid on the block is likely to pile drive your dome in the dirt, then spit on you when he’s done.  This would indicate why Tennessee is a 30 point underdog this weekend as they head to the Swamp, in what may be the best definition of “Lambs to the slaughter” we’ve seen in years.

It’s probably going to get ugly, and perhaps the best indication of that is the eerie quiet that is coming out of Gainesville.  All the “no comment” and “we’ve moved on” verbiage from Florida certainly seems like the quiet before the storm, likely to be a category 5 hurricane unleashed on the Vols.  And with perhaps the best player in college football history taking the attack on his coach personally, Tim Tebow said in a statement Monday, “”I don’t like anyone talking about coach (Urban) Meyer”.  As happy as Gator fans are that the current regime has not behaved with the same arrogance that the Steve Spurrier regime did ( running up the score and then not winning the big game), you can certainly expect to see a blast from the past this weekend.  Look for a 40-50 point margin of victory here, just like the Old Ball Coach would do.

UPDATE:
It’s on! Even after a much closer game than most people expected and maybe even wanted, the war of words seems only to be heating up, led by the coaches. When asked why exactly the Gators didn’t blow out Tennessee by at least 30 points, as Vegas oddsmakers predicted, Florida coach Urban Meyer said his objective was just to win. According to Meyer, a conservative play calling scheme by Tennessee impressed upon Meyer that the Vols didn’t want to win, and would just try to keep it close, and thus allowed for Meyer to keep a leash on his dogs instead of turning them loose. “When I saw them start handing the ball off, you didn’t feel like they were going after the win,” said Meyer to reporters the day after the game. “They wanted to shorten the game. I remember looking out there and there’s 10 minutes left in the game and there’s no no-huddle, they are down, I think it was 23-6, and (there’s no) urgency.”
He also went on to say that 3 of his own players were battling flu-like symptoms during the week leading up to the game.

It didn’t take long for Kiffin to fire back. When told of Meyer’s comments about his teams possible illness, and asked if Tennessee players had the same affliction, Kiffin quipped, “I don’t know. I guess we’ll wait and after we’re not excited about a performance, we’ll tell you everybody was sick.”

Its on…Do we really have to wait till next year?

On Saturday’s college football opener, Ohio State barely escaped Navy in the final seconds at home to hold on for a 31-27 victory.  During the lack luster performance, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor sported the words “Mike” and “Vick” on each piece of his eye-black tape.  When asked about it post game, Pryor had this to say about his support for his idol:

“Not everybody is a perfect person in the world. Everyone kills people, murder people, steals from you, steals from me, whatever.”  Pryor’s scathing indictment of modern day society draws an interesting parallel with a quote by the great sociologist Manny Ramirez (see Manny being Manny…again).  I’m glad to count myself among the few who do not kill or murder people, at least not yet.  

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s nothing wrong with picking a side and showing your allegiance.  But in so doing, make sure you say the right thing young man.  And if you don’t say the right thing, at least say the wrong thing the right way.