College Football Results

Picking Spreads: 1-3

Season Spreads: 21-25

Picking Winners: 3-1

Season Winners: 32-14

What I Learned This Week

- The ACC can’t compete with the SEC. #7 Georiga Tech lost to unranked Georgia and #18 Clemson lost to unranked South Carolina. That’s not even mentioning Tebow’s final whomping of Bobby Bowden in the Swamp.

- Miami is still easily the second best team in Florida and will compete with UF for top billing next season.

- Arkansas took LSU to overtime and narrowly lost. The Razorbacks quarterback is just a sophomore. If he decides to continue playing college ball they could be a sleeper team waking up to compete for a national title come next season.

NFL Predictions

Season Spreads: 49-34

Season Winners: 61-22

Green Bay (-11) at Detroit: I like the Packers to cover the spread. They defeated Detroit 26-0 in their first match up this season and I don’t think this game will be much closer.

Oakland (+14) at Dallas: The Radiers are playing much better since the benching of Russel, aka Fat Albert. I think Oakland makes this close but a late game turnover will lead Dallas to victory.

Cleveland (+14) at Cincinnati: The Bengals look to avenge that late game break down against Oakland last week. I think Cincy’s defense shuts down the Browns and they cover the spread.

Jacksonville (+3) at San Francisco: A win for the Jaguars gets them looking great for a wild card spot in the playoffs. I think Jack Del Rio will have his men ready and the Jags get a road victory.

Can’t Pick These

Giants (-6) at Broncos: Who knows either of these teams true identities? A lot will be told about the direction of each squad’s season on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay (+13) at Atlanta: The Falcons are struggling. What a perfect time for the Bucs to come to town.

Miami (-3) at Buffalo: It really depends on the weather in this one. Miami should easily win and even if it’s cold the Dolphins starting QB Henne is from Michigan so he’s used to it. Still, if it’s crazy cold crazy things can happen.

Chicago (+11) at Minnesota: The Vikings should win even if they played blind folded but a rivalry game is never a sure thing, especially in the NFL. The spread’s a little high, too.

Washington (+9) at Philadelphia: The Eagles won by 10 in their first meeting but I’m not confident enough to guarantee anything because Philly’s success always depends on their play calling.

Indianapolis (-3) at Houston: This could be the game Indy losses to ruin their perfect season. A road rivalry game against a hungry team hunting for a playoff birth is never easy.

Kansas City (+14) at San Diego: The Chargers should stomp the Cheifs but the way Kansas City played against Pittsburgh last week I can’t count them out.

Arizona (+3) at Tennessee: Tennessee’s a lot like Arizona last year. They got blown out by New England and started playing hard when their season depended on it. The only difference is the Titans started off so bad that I doubt they can reach the playoffs let alone make it to the Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh (+3) at Baltimore: When the Steelers look down and out is when they play their best football. The Ravens are the same way. The loser here looks like they’ll be on the outside looking in come playoff time.

New England (+3) at New Orleans: It’s the old perfect team against the new perfect team. This will be some great Monday Night Football action.

College Football Predictions

There’s only a few weeks left to get my season spread winning percentage to .500 so I can at least say I’m bowl eligible. College spreads are way tougher to pick than the NFL. Below are my results thus far.

Season Spreads: 20-22
- Winning Percentage: .476

Season Winners: 29-13
- Winning Percentage: .690

Florida State (+25) at #1 Florida: The Gators will win but there’s no way they cover this spread. FSU wants to remain over a .500 ball club and shut Bowden critics up by defeating their in state rival Florida. The Seminoles haven’t been blown out yet this season and Florida hasn’t blown out a quality opponent yet. FSU will play hard and keep the game close but won’t have the talent to win at Florida.

#9 Pittsburgh (PK) at West Virginia: There’s no spread for this game so picking the winner and spread is all tied into one for me. I’ll take Pitt to give WVU their first loss at home this year. Pitt’s playing great and if they can win here and defeat Cincinnati at home next week then Pitt may get a BCS Bowl bid. There’s a lot looming for the Panthers and this game could be a trap but I think their head coach Dave Wan-stache will keep his team focused on the game at hand.

#17 Miami (-6) at South Florida: It’s USF’s chance to gain bragging rights as the second best team in the state behind Florida. Miami can only beat good teams when their struggling and USF isn’t struggling. Still, I think Jacory Harris will show why he was an all state player in high school and keep bragging rights with the Hurricanes by winning and covering the spread. I'll be there to watch!

Syracuse (+14) at Connecticut: Nearly every game UConn played this season was close and this one will be no different. I think UConn gets the win but won’t cover the spread. This will be a highly emotional game for UConn as they try to become bowl eligible with a win in the midst of grieving their murdered team mate Jasper Howard. If the Huskies lose they still have a chance at bowl eligibility the following week when South Florida comes to town but that game will be much more of a challenge. The Huskies want to get this one in honor of their friend.

Can’t Pick These

#3 Texas (-21) at Texas A&M: A&M is all over the place with how they play week to week this season. They’ve been blown out, blown teams out, and been in close games. All I know is Texas better come to play because this is like A&M’s championship. If they can somehow ruin the Longhorns chances at a national title on national television during Thanksgiving night, A&M will proudly hold that moral victory as their trophy.

#2 Alabama (-10) at Auburn: This is the game before THE GAME for Alabama. There’s nothing Auburn would love more than to spoil their SEC rival’s national championship hopes before Florida gets the chance to in the SEC Championship game the week after. ‘Bama better not get caught sleepin’.

#18 Clemson (-3) at South Carolina: This would be a great bowl game. Both these teams play a lot alike and the reason for their difference in records is that one plays in the tough SEC and the other plays in the weak ACC.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

New Mexico (+45) at #4 TCU: I wonder if TCU will complete their undefeated season? Great scheduling Horned Frogs a 1-10 team to end the season with! I really hope New Mexico somehow pulls the upset that would be great.

Georgia (+8) at #7 Georgia Tech: Oh how Georgia would love to kill Georgia Tech’s hopes at a BCS bowl game while at the same time proving the SEC is a far superior conference than the ACC.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Young Vince; The Tennessee Titan

All it took was getting injured, being replaced as the starter while watching his team succeed, and contemplating suicide for Vince Young to mature and realize his potential.

The agonizing weeks that turned into months and ultimately a full year helped Vince Young make the transition from a great college quarterback to a quality NFL QB. Learning defensive schemes and coverages on the sidelines from the ultimate veteran Kerry Collins and the tenured leader Jeff Fischer fought off Young’s insecurities and over confidence in his athletic ability.

Young’s realization that unique athleticism doesn’t automatically convert into a successful NFL career saved his NFL life. It had to be painful watching his team play much better without him last year and even worse watching his team go win less while being told he isn’t even good enough to start on a terrible team.

Vince Young has been through some of the highest of highs and lowest of lows a football career can possibly take and he’s only 26 years old. Vince is still Young and his rebirth into the successful quarterbacking world proves he can overcome the most titanic obstacles.

He boldly predicted and guaranteed being inducted into the Hall of Fame. If he achieves leading the Titans to the playoffs after their 0-6 start, something that has never been done before, then his previous words and actions won’t seem so crazy. In fact, he can literally be heralded as Vince Young; The Tennessee Titan.

NFL Results

Picking Spreads: 2-2

Season Spreads: 49-34

Picking Winners: 3-1

Season Winners: 61-22

What I Learned This Week

- The Dolphins don’t need the Ronnie Brown run wildcat offense for success.

- It’s in Tony Romo’s DNA to struggle after the first week of November.

- Detroit and Cleveland do have offenses they just need to play against a terrible defense to show their skills.

- When a team’s special teams isn’t special, eehemmm… Steelers, it can hurt the team even more than a bad offense or defense.

- Indy knows how to win no matter what it takes in all aspects of the game. That mentality leads to playoff success.

- The Jets should be renamed the Stealth Bombers because they’ve flown off the radar.

- The AFC North lost their tough swagger.

- Denver’s done. Daniels, their head coach, doesn’t have the experience to get his team out of this slump. They do have veterans to help turn this around, but Kyle Orton is proven to be a loser and below average quarterback so that won't happen.

- Titans fans never have to worry when Jeff Fischer's at the helm. Even after a 59-0 stomping and losing their first six games some how Fischer got the team back in the playoff hunt and that somehow is the reemergence of Vince Young.

- The Houston Texans need a witch doctor to reverse their never better than average curse.

College Football Results

Picking Spreads: 2-0

Season Spreads: 20-22

Picking Winners: 1-1

Season Winners: 29-13

What I Learned This Week

- The Miami Hurricanes only beat struggling teams. They play in Tampa against the South Florida Bulls next Saturday for bragging rights as the second best team in Florida, and USF isn’t struggling.

- Sam Bradford made Oklahoma a national title contender. It’s usually said that one player can’t make a football team but it sure looks like it did for the Sooners. Without Bradford, it won’t be Sooner, but Later before they regain their elite status.

- Charlie Weis will add another percentage point to the unemployment rate in America once this season ends.

NFL Predictions

Picking Spreads: 47-32

Picking Winners: 58-21

Washington (+11) at Dallas: Washington makes this close but Romo will step up and finally pull out a tough victory for the Cowboys. The Redskins played much better last week by defeating Denver and I think they’ll make this closer than an 11 point game but don’t have the talent to win in Dallas.

Cleveland (+3) at Detroit: Detroit will cover the spread. It’s the battle of last years worst team and this year’s worst team. The Lions have improved enough to beat the Browns by more than three.

Pittsburgh (-10) at Kansas City: If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being a Steelers fan it’s this… when one of their facets of the team play bad one game the next they play completely different. Last week Ben and the offense played terribly. I don’t know if it was a bad game for Ben or if it was that great Bengals defense, but either way their offense will put up at least 35 against the terrible Cheifs while holding Kansas City to under 20.

Seattle (+11) at Minnesota: Seattle’s struggles this year will get exposed even more against my pick for the best team in the league, the Vikings.

Can’t Pick These

San Francisco (+7) at Green Bay: The Packers lose to the winless Bucs then dominate the Cowboys. The 49ers look much improved to begin the year then change their quarterback half way through. Who knows what either of these teams really are?

Falcons (+7) at Giants: Both are great teams that are struggling. The loser might miss the playoffs.

New Orleans (-11) at Tampa Bay: Tampa made their last game close against the Dolphins, who made their game against New Orleans close. I know stuff like that never matters, but the Bucs have played much better the last two weeks and the Saints haven’t been playing as well. I think this will be closer than expected.

Buffalo (+9) at Jacksonville: The Jaguars aren’t consistent enough for me to pick them for this high of a spread.

Indianapolis (-2) at Baltimore: This is the game of the week. The Ravens are hungry looking to get in the playoff hunt and Peyton tries to keep his team undefeated.

Arizona (-9) at St. Louis: The Cardinals are playing well and the Rams are competing with the Browns for the worst team in the league. Still, this is one of those games Arizona loses. They tend to lose concentration when games don’t matter.

Jets (+11) at Patriots: Brady and his bunch look to bounce back against crying Ryan. Divisional games seem to almost always be close.

Cincinnati (-9) at Oakland: This spread sounds about right.

San Diego at Denver: A huge game in the battle for the AFC West Championship. Denver’s been disappointing and San Diego’s been surging.

Philadelphia (-3) at Chicago: The Eagles are much better but the Bears play good at home.

Tennessee (+5) at Houston: On Monday Night Football it’s time for Vince Young to show his maturity. He has the Titans winning again, but can they beat a playoff contender?