2008 Weekly Picks

Week 5 Record: 37-16 (69.8%)
Season Record: 246-57 (81.2%)


Tuesday, September 30

FAU at MTSU


Wednesday, October 1

Louisiana Tech at Boise St


Thursday, October 2

Pittsburgh at South Florida
Memphis at UAB
Oregon St at Utah


Friday, October 3

Cincinnati at Marshall
BYU at Utah St


Saturday, October 4

Duke at Georgia Tech
Iowa at Michigan St
Indiana at Minnesota
Boston College at NC State
Rutgers at West Virginia
Akron at Kent St
Penn St at Purdue
Florida at Arkansas
Kansas at Iowa St
Texas A&M at Oklahoma St

Alcorn St at New Mexico St
Western Kentucky at Virginia Tech
UNLV at Colorado St
South Carolina at Mississippi
Ohio at Western Michigan
Stanford at Notre Dame
Washington St at UCLA
Army at Tulane
Arizona St at California
Illinois at Michigan

Temple at Miami (OH)
Kentucky at Alabama
SMU at UCF
Texas Tech at Kansas St
Florida St at Miami
Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green
Navy at Air Force
Nevada at Idaho
Auburn at Vanderbilt
San Diego St at TCU

Connecticut at North Carolina
FIU at North Texas
Maryland at Virginia
Louisiana Lafayette at Louisiana Monroe
UTEP at Southern Miss
Northern Illinois at Tennessee
Ball St at Toledo
Washington at Arizona
Oregon at USC
Texas at Colorado

Rice at Tulsa
Ohio St at Wisconsin
Missouri at Nebraska
Wyoming at New Mexico
Hawaii at Fresno St
Oklahoma at Baylor

2008 Week 6 Top 25

1 - Oklahoma (2)
2 - LSU (7)
3 - Alabama (17)
4 - Missouri (6)
5 - Penn St (5)
6 - Texas Tech (8)
7 - USC (1)
8 - Florida (3)
9 - Georgia (4)
10 - South Florida (10)
11 - Utah (14)
12 - Texas (15)
13 - BYU (16)
14 - Boise St (18)
15 - Wisconsin (9)
16 - Ohio St (11)
17 - Auburn (12)
18 - Oregon (13)
19 - Kentucky (21)
20 - Oklahoma St (22)
21 - Fresno St (23)
22 - Tulsa (24)
23 - Connecticut (UR)
24 - Vanderbilt (UR)
25 - Wake Forest (20)

Previous week's rank in parentheses

Others Receiving Votes: Ball St, Cincinnati, North Carolina, Northwestern, Virginia Tech
Added: 23 Connecticut, 24 Vanderbilt
Dropped: 19 East Carolina, 25 Cincinnati

2008 Weekly Picks

Week 4 Record: 44-13 (77.2%)
Season Record: 209-41 (83.6%)


Thursday, September 25

SMU at Tulane
USC at Oregon St


Friday, September 26

Connecticut at Louisville


Saturday, September 27

Michigan St at Indiana
Virginia at Duke
Pittsburgh at Syracuse
Minnesota at Ohio St
Maryland at Clemson
Kent St at Ball St
Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan
North Carolina at Miami
Northwestern at Iowa
Mississippi at Florida

Army at Texas A&M
Rhode Island at Boston College
VMI at Ohio
Western Michigan at Temple
Arkansas St at Memphis
Tennessee at Auburn
Fresno St at UCLA
Colorado vs Florida St at Jacksonville
Purdue at Notre Dame
Wisconsin at Michigan

Houston at East Carolina
Morgan St at Rutgers
Arkansas at Texas
Marshall at West Virginia
Cincinnati at Akron
Louisiana Lafayette at Kansas St
Navy at Wake Forest
Buffalo at Central Michigan
Bowling Green at Wyoming
North Texas at Rice

Colorado St at California
Oregon at Washington St
Western Kentucky at Kentucky
TCU at Oklahoma
Central Arkansas at Tulsa
UAB at South Carolina
FIU at Toledo
Troy at Oklahoma St
Mississippi St at LSU
South Florida at NC State

Alabama at Georgia
Idaho at San Diego St
Virginia Tech at Nebraska
New Mexico at New Mexico St
Illinois at Penn St
Weber St at Utah
UCF at UTEP
Stanford at Washington
Nevada at UNLV
San Jose St at Hawaii

Weekly Wrapup

Week 4 Review
- I keep betting against Virginia Tech, and they keep winning games 20-17. An intriguing game at Nebraska looms.
- BYU has outscored their opponents 172-44 on the year for an average score of 43-11. The past two games have been 103-0.
- I thought Rutgers would have a down year, but I never thought they would start 0-3 with a loss to Navy (also in a down year.) At least they should break their losing streak with Morgan State coming to town.
- With so many non-BCS teams having great starts to the season, Boise State had been somewhat lost in the crowd. That all changed when they beat a really good Oregon team in Eugene.
- At the end of the year, we might look back at the Tennessee-UCLA game and realize that what was once an elite non-conference matchup turned into just another meeting of mediocre (or worse) programs.
- Vanderbilt has had some decent teams over the past few seasons, but it looks like this is the one that will finally break the postseason drought. They've started 4-0 with two conference wins already. There will be several more opportunities to get enough wins to go bowling.
- There are 27 undefeated teams left, with seven in the Big 12 and six in the SEC. The ACC and Pac-10 are down to just one each (Wake Forest and USC.) There are six non-BCS teams left.
- There are only eight winless teams left, and only the Sun Belt has more than one.



Week 5 Preview
- Connecticut is averaging almost 280 rushing yards per game. They travel to Louisville, who is allowing only 42 rushing yards per game. Something has to give. I'm betting on Louisville, whose offense is coming around to match a stingy defense.
- Georgia hosts Alabama in the only meeting of my ranked teams this week. Two really good defenses will be on display, but Georgia's offense is more mature.
- I've been high on this Penn State team since the preseason, and although they've been dominant, they haven't really been tested. Illinois kicks off their conference schedule, and should begin to confirm or disprove my expectations of the Nittany Lions as an elite team.
- NC State pulled off a stunning upset of a ranked team last week. Can they do it twice in a row as they host South Florida?
- Fresno State finishes up their brutal non-conference slate as they travel to UCLA in a game that looked much more interesting after Week 1 than it does now.

2008 Week 5 Top 25

1 - USC (1)
2 - Oklahoma (2)
3 - Florida (3)
4 - Georgia (4)
5 - Penn St (7)
6 - Missouri (8)
7 - LSU (14)
8 - Texas Tech (5)
9 - Wisconsin (13)
10 - South Florida (11)
11 - Ohio St (10)
12 - Auburn (9)
13 - Oregon (6)
14 - Utah (15)
15 - Texas (16)
16 - BYU (17)
17 - Alabama (18)
18 - Boise St (20)
19 - East Carolina (12)
20 - Wake Forest (21)
21 - Kentucky (22)
22 - Oklahoma St (25)
23 - Fresno St (24)
24 - Tulsa (UR)
25 - Cincinnati (UR)

Previous week's rank in parentheses

Others Receiving Votes: Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, TCU, Virginia Tech
Added: Tulsa, Cincinnati
Dropped: 19 West Virginia, 23 Arizona St

2008 Weekly Picks

Wednesday, September 17

Kansas State at Louisville


Thursday, September 18

West Virginia at Colorado


Friday, September 19

Baylor at Connecticut


Saturday, September 20

Mississippi State at Georgia Tech
Ohio at Northwestern
FAU at Minnesota
East Carolina at NC State
Troy at Ohio St
Temple at Penn St
Iowa at Pittsburgh
Central Michigan at Purdue
Alabama at Arkansas
UCF at Boston College

Eastern Michigan at Maryland
South Carolina St at Clemson
Miami at Texas A&M
Akron at Army
Buffalo at Missouri
Arizona at UCLA
Wyoming at BYU
Indiana St at Northern Illinois
Louisiana Monroe at Tulane
Houston at Colorado St

Notre Dame at Michigan St
Virginia Tech at North Carolina
Northeastern at Syracuse
Rutgers at Navy
Boise St at Oregon
Marshall at Southern Miss
Florida at Tennessee
Alabama St at UAB
Utah at Air Force
South Florida at FIU

Wake Forest at Florida St
Ball St at Indiana
Murray St at Western Kentucky
Vanderbilt at Mississippi
New Mexico at Tulsa
Rice at Texas
Portland St at Washington St
Kent St at Louisiana Lafayette
MTSU at Arkansas St
Sam Houston St at Kansas

SE Louisiana at Louisiana Tech
Wofford at South Carolina
Massachusetts at Texas Tech
Tennessee Tech at Western Michigan
Miami (OH) at Cincinnati
LSU at Auburn
Georgia at Arizona St
Nicholls St at Memphis
Idaho at Utah St
TCU at SMU

Fresno St at Toledo
San Jose St at Stanford
Iowa St at UNLV
New Mexico St at UTEP

Weekly Wrapup

Week 3 Review

- Not a good weekend for the Pac-10. Seven losses including four to teams from the Mountain West, a blowout by Baylor, and California caught sleepwalking against Maryland. Oregon needed OT to beat Purdue, a middle-tier Big Ten team at best. The lone bright spots were USC firmly entrenching itself as the #1 team in the country, and Oregon State dominating an overmatched Hawaii squad. With games against Boise State and Georgia this weekend, the conference has a opportunity to regain some respect.
- Speaking of USC, I'm not at all surprised that they won big. This team always excels against non-conference foes. The last time they lost to one was in the Rose Bowl to Texas for the National Championship. The last in-season loss was to Kansas State in 2002. In the past three years, they've beaten Arkansas twice, Nebraska twice, Notre Dame three times, Fresno State, Michigan, and Illinois. The problem has been surviving the weekly grind of the conference schedule without slipping up to a Stanford of an Oregon State.
- Never underestimate the importance of special teams. Fresno State missed three field goals in their 13-10 loss to Wisconsin.
- My apologies to Connecticut, who I mentioned in a pillowfight last week with Virginia. I thought it would be a low-scoring defensive battle. Instead Connecticut rolled up over 500 yards of offense and scored 45 points. Donald Brown is the star, averaging over 180 rushing yards per game and has already scored eight touchdowns, one behind Javon Ringer of Michigan State for most in the country.
- One storyline to follow all season is whether Michigan makes it to a bowl game. They need all the wins they can get against teams like Notre Dame. Wisconsin and Illinois are up next.


Week 4 Preview
- LSU at Auburn: A tough defensive struggle much like the one Auburn just had with Mississippi State. Both teams will focus on running the ball instead of their inexperienced QBs. The difference may be turnovers, which favors Auburn since LSU has only forced one in two games.
- Georgia at Arizona State: Georgia's offense struggled last week on the road, but it was against a stout South Carolina defense. Arizona State's defense isn't that good, but they will be able to manage more than seven points. Georgia takes another close one.
- Boise State at Oregon: Fresno State's BCS dreams were crushed this past weekend, and it's likely the same could happen to Boise this weekend. Autzen Stadium is always a tough venue for visiting teams, and Oregon is a top ten team. Look for a solid win by the Ducks.
- Virginia Tech at North Carolina: North Carolina followed up a questionable opening week win with a dominant road victory over Rutgers. Virginia Tech is looking more respectable after a close win over a surprising Georgia Tech team. The winner becomes the favorite in the Coastal, and I'll take the home team.
- Wake Forest at Florida State: The much maligned ACC needs another team from the Atlantic to help carry the conference banner like the winner of the game above.
- Northeastern at Syracuse: The Orange find a beatable opponent on their schedule!
- Florida at Tennessee: National title contender Florida goes on the road for the first time to face the defending SEC East champs. Tennessee needs to prove their loss to UCLA was just an aberration, especially after what BYU did to the Bruins.
- Utah at Air Force: An underrated battle of two unbeaten teams in the same conference. Utah doesn't have many landmine games on the schedule, but this is one of them. The Utes should still get the win.