College Football Ping.
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Posted on 08/28/2006 5:53:39 PM PDT by MikefromOhio
It's finally here!!! College football at it's best!!
The scheduled games (and my picks) are below:
Week One – College Football
Yes the season is finally here. It’s about freakin time too. Anyway, I am in several pick’em type leagues and here is how I am going to be filling my card out. Debate, criticize or whatever, but let’s remember that it’s just a game ok?
All rankings are from the ESPN.com Scoreboard page. I will also list any games of interest and any other games listed in my Public Yahoo league.
GAME(s) of the WEEK
Saturday, September 2nd, 2006
(9) California at (23) Tennessee (-1.5)
Cal faces a pretty stiff challenge going into Knoxville against a Tennessee team that everyone is expecting to rebound after a sub-par year. This is going to be a hard game to win right out of the chute and I don’t think they can do it.
Tennessee 24 – Cal 17
Monday, September 4th, 2006
(11) Florida State at (12) Miami (-3)
Now there normally won’t be two games that qualify as games of the week, but seeing that the preseason rankings aren’t exactly accurate by any stretch, I’ll go with two here. First off, last year’s defensive struggle won’t be repeated this year. FSU and Miami both lost key players on the defensive side of the ball. FSU lost more and they have more question marks on offense. Look for Miami to win a close and relatively offensive game.
Miami 32 – Florida State 28
Thursday, August 31st, 2006 – 10:00 PM ET
Northern Arizona at (24) Arizona State (NL)
ASU has an offense to hang with the big boys, but can they develop a defense? Certainly their offense will click against Northern Arizona, but how will their defense look? This game might even be close for a half or so.
The Prediction:
ASU 47 – Northern Arizona – 17
Saturday September 2nd 2006 (in ranking order)
Northern Illinois at (1) Ohio State (-18.5)
Northern Illinois isn’t a pushover by any stretch of the imagination. Although they aren’t on the caliber of Texas or Notre Dame, they can go into Columbus and sneak away with the win IF Ohio State is looking ahead. On paper this game doesn’t look like much of a contest.
The Prediction:
Ohio State 45 – Northern Illinois 10
(2) Notre Dame (-7.5) at Georgia Tech
Can Notre Dame find a defense to go along with the great offense? Calvin Johnson and GT will be a great first test. This game will go closer than many think.
ND 28 – GT 24
North Texas at (3) Texas (-41)
This game is all about getting experience for Colt McCoy. Texas will blow North Texas off of the field.
Texas 60 – North Texas 0
Washington State at (4) Auburn (-14.5)
Some people say Auburn is for real. Others don’t seem to pay much attention to them. Auburn thrives off of that type of non-hype, or at least they have in the past. This year they aren’t starting out of the top 10, they start at #4. Wazzu is improving, but they aren’t quite there yet.
Auburn 45 – Wazzu 13
Marshall at (5) West Virginia (-22)
All West Virginia has to do is win ONE game (at Louisville) and they are in the BCS title game. Marshall is a shadow of it’s former self and this is going to be another long year for the Thundering Herd.
WVU 42 – Marshall 14
(6) USC (-8) at Arkansas
USC 52 – Arkansas 20
Southern Miss at (7) Florida (-20)
Florida 44 – Southern Miss 13
Louisiana – Lafayette at (8) LSU (-30.5)
LSU 45 – LALA 7
UAB at (10) Oklahoma (-21.5)
Oklahoma 33 – UAB 13
Kentucky at (13) Louisville (-22.5)
L-ville 45 – Kentucky 10
Vandy at (14) Michigan (-26)
Michigan 33 – Vandy 9
Western Kentucky at (15) Georgia (NL)
UGA 35 – WKU 14
Montana – (16) Iowa (NL)
Iowa 52 – Montana 10
Northeastern at (17) Virginia Tech (NL)
VT 32 – Northeastern 0
Florida Atlantic – (18) Clemson (NL)
Clemson 38 – FAU 7
Akron – (19) Penn State (-16.5)
Penn State 24 – Akron 0
La Tech at (20) Nebraska (-20.5)
Nebraska 37 – La Tech 3
Stanford at (21) Oregon (-11)
Oregon 34 – Stanford 12
(22) TCU (-7.5) at Baylor
TCU 35 – Baylor 10
SMU at (25) Texas Tech (-26)
Texas Tech 59 – SMU 13
0-0 Straight UP 0-0 Against the Spread
In what may be a torrential downpour if Ernesto continues on its current track. I'll be there regardless...
LOL
yeah...
The Penn State defense will be solid, but I wonder if the offense will get clicking immediately...
Rain might make that game much better than it otherwise would be.
I dont know, I expect Akron to give up a better fight against PSU than what you think and Arkansas is supposed to be decent(like they are supposed to be every year), USC may have a tougher time of it then what you are thinking.
We lost a lot on both lines and the secondary. The good news is that we return all the speed on the outside, and a QB who is more technically sound than Robinson. We'll have a good backfield as well, but of course whether or not the line can open holes will be the question.
Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot of time to gain chemistry - we visit #1 & #2 within the first four weeks...
We will see...
I was debating on making the score closer in the USC game, but if USC's defense does anything, I expect USC's offense to not have a hard time scoring.
I hate to say this, but if FSU scores 21, much less 28, the my Canes will lose. We're hurting at receiver, especially with Moore out indefinitely. Our defense isn't as weak as you might think.
My call for this one is 20-7, Miami.
Yeah Penn State has a killer schedule this year....
You see I don't see the FSU defense holding Miami under 30....
FSU looks overrated. It will all play out on the field of course, but FSU looks to be in a down mode this year.
You still have the spread covered....
TCU 35 – Baylor 10
I'm no Baylor Bear fan, but you might want to rethink that score. TCU will be proven as over-rated and Baylor may actually be a .500 team this year.
I don't know...
Baylor is going to have to prove me wrong before I pick them.....I've been burned by them in the past.
Go canes. Too many suspensions though. Can't wait to watch football this year in HD!
HD is freakin awesome.
You'll love it.
The Canes defense is awesome.
It's ok, but if the offense can't stay on the field to give them a break from time to time, they will get worn down.
How good is ND this year? Pre season #2? DO they deserve it?
Their offense is one of the best in the nation.
Their defense is a gigantic question mark.
They have plenty of experience returning (8 starters), but I don't know if that is a good thing or not.
I can't imagine them getting through the season without at least 2 losses looking at their schedule.
I hope The Canes offensive line is better than they were last year, but I think they are too young and inexperienced.
They might be...
Unfortunately for Miami, the one part of the FSU defense that has experience is the D-line.
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