I'll be honest. I'm pretty crabby and extremely tired thanks to Joe Torre's unexpected choice to say "good riddance" and suicide bombing in Pakistan (what a mess…poor people). This will be quick, especially considering the slate of games is…I'll stop myself there before foot goes in mouth, again.
As for Thursday night: Greg Schiano and Ray Rice get the credit. That offense made plays we all knew it was capable of - through the air and on the ground. Rice was dominant as the game churned along and the trick plays were perfectly executed and neutralized two costly special teams turnovers.
Last week I said the ACC is a mini version of the SEC, with everyone beating each other up and all. Let me rephrase. The Big East is a mini version of the SEC and the ACC is a mini version of the Big East at this point (only Connecticut is unbeaten in-conference and only Pittsburgh is winless at 0-1).
We'll do this week's picks like we did this week's Top 25. Just click the link to continue onto the picks. Let me know what you think of this format.
Louisville at Connecticut (+3.5)
Thought: The Cardinals are riding high after a win against Cincy.
The Pick: Louisville
Penn St. at Indiana (+7)
Thought: The big win over Wisconsin has Penn State back in business.
The Pick: Penn State
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (+10)
Thought: The Bearcats can't afford another Big East loss if they want to stay in the title hunt.
The Pick: Cincy
Iowa at Purdue (-7)
Thought: Iowa is a different team away from home.
The Pick: Purdue
Arkansas at Mississippi (+4.5)
Thought: I'll continue to stick with the power running tandem. This line appears to be a gift.
The Pick: Arkansas
Texas Tech at Missouri (-3.5)
Thought: Tough game to pick. Texas Tech has been rolling, but Missouri needs a win in its quest for an Oklahoma rematch.
The Pick: Missouri in a barn burner
Texas A&M at Nebraska (-2)
Thought: Battle of two teams who will have new coaches next year. Battle of two highly disappointing teams, especially on this forum.
The Pick: Texas A&M
Miami at Florida St. (-5.5)
Thought: Another set of disappointments. Miami has looked pretty rough the last two weeks, but can Florida State stop committing penalties? Time to grow up.
The Pick: Florida State
Michigan St. at Ohio St. (-17.5)
Thought: I'll continue to default to consistency when Ohio State comes up, until they prove otherwise.
The Pick: Ohio State to cover, but it'll be close to that number
Tennessee at Alabama (-1.5)
Thought: Speaking of consistency, it's what the Crimson Tide hasn't been this year. If Tennessee can show some balance on offense, it should pull the upset.
The Pick: Tennessee
Kansas at Colorado (+3.5)
Thought: For some strange reason I'm not a believer in the Jayhawks…yet. Colorado might just be having a blast being this year's spoiler.
The Pick: Colorado
Stanford at Arizona (-10.5)
Thought: Stanford beat USC. Arizona didn't. Well, we all know you can't play that game. Stanford still has some fatal flaws.
The Pick: Arizona
Kansas St. at Oklahoma St. (-3)
Thought: Tough game to choose considering I've only seen Oklahoma State once this year. But I'll continue to believe in Ron Prince.
The Pick: Kansas State
Oregon at Washington (+11)
Thought: Washington is pesky, especially with Jake Locker at quarterback, but Oregon is just too smooth on offense, despite its losses to injury last week.
The Pick: Oregon
Michigan at Illinois (+2.5)
Thought: Both teams are a little banged up, but I think Michigan has found itself and is really enjoying this midseason resurgence.
The Pick: Michigan
Virginia at Maryland (-5)
Thought: Virginia is leading the Atlantic Division of the ACC and Maryland has been all over the place this year. But I still think that UVa's offense is a little suspect.
The Pick: Maryland
Auburn at LSU (-11.5)
Thought: I'm not giving up on the Tigers (of LSU that is)…I think Auburn's offense, as we saw last week in its win, is pretty rough.
The Pick: LSU
USC at Notre Dame (+18.5)
Thought: Different class of athletes and the better class is mighty angry.
The Pick: Southern Cal
Florida at Kentucky (+7)
Thought: As fun as it was to watch the moxie of Kentucky last week, it's so difficult to figure out how much of the 60 minutes can Rich Brooks' boys keep it together.
The Pick: Florida
Comments (4)
At Kentucky, the losing team will get 40.
What about WVU Miss. St?
Where the love Adam? :-)
(love the new formats, I can see it requires a lot more work, but to us readers, it looks great!)
Adam,
We're waiting to hear your thoughts on another wild weekend of college football!
Kentucky falls, but that wasn't completely unexpected.
LSU sqeaks by again with another last second, fairly unimpressive victory.
Vanderbilt over South Carolina was a definite shocker!
WVU has another three touchdown plus victory and dominates early against the SEC's Mississippi State.
Where's the love Adam? Where's the love? :-) :-)
Looking forward to this Saturday's local clash when WVU visits RU. I'll be tailgating, eating Fat Cats, and in 129 as always. And no, I'm not selling my tickets so please don't ask.
And Adam, I'm hoping David Wright is "right" when he says BC has no chance of winning in Blacksburg. I would like to see BC fall. I have no problem with them leaving the Big East (even though they alienated the bulk of their northeast fan base) but I do remember how they promised to stay while secretly negotiating a way out. It's time for Beamer's boys to show them the "ex-#2" door.