Rambling's Week 3 CFB Recap

Saturday, September 15th, 2012:

Wake Forest at #5 Florida State, 11:00 am ESPN, Winner: 1-0 ATS: 0-1

California at #12 Ohio State, 11:00 am ABC,  Winner: 2-0 ATS: 0-2

#13 Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh, 11:00 am ESPNU,  Winner: 2-1 ATS: 0-3

#16 TCU at Kansas, 11:00 am FX, Winner: 3-1 ATS: 0-4

#1 Alabama at Arkansas, 2:30 pm CBS, Winner: 4-1 ATS: 1-4

UMASS at #17 Michigan, 2:30 pm BTN, Winner: 5-1 ATS: 1-5

North Carolina at #19 Louisville, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN2, Winner: 6-1 ATS: 2-5

#18 Florida at #23 Tennesseee, 5:00 pm ESPN, Winner: 6-2 ATS: 2-6

UAB at #8 South Carolina, 6:00 pm ESPN3, Winner: 7-2 ATS: 3-6

North Texas at #15 Kansas State, 6:00 pm, Winner: 8-2 ATS: 3-7

#2 USC at #21 Stanford, 6:30 pm FOX, Winner: 8-3 ATS: 4-7

Florida Atlantic at #7 Georgia, 6:30 pm ESPN3, SEE: Idaho at LSU Winner: 9-3 ATS: 5-7

Idaho at #3 LSU, 7:00 pm ESPN3, Winner: 10-3 ATS: 5-8

#20 Notre Dame at #10 Michigan State, 7:00 pm ABC, Winner: 10-4 ATS: 5-9

#14 Texas at Ole Miss, 8:15 pm ESPN, Winner: 11-4 ATS: 5-10

#25 BYU at Utah, 9:00 pm ESPN2, Winner: 11-5 ATS: 5-11

Houston at #22 UCLA, 9:30 pm, Winner: 12-5 ATS: 6-11

No write ups this week as I am taking a little more time looking over each game. Much better week straight up for me but I was atrocious against the spread this week, I have to take a look at recalibrating the teams values heading into week 4, hopefully I can rebound against the spread. This brought my overall record to 41-15 on winners and 28-28 ATS. I'll have my Week 4 picks up late Wednesday or mid-day Thursday.

Rambling's Week 3 CFB Picks

Well, we're already to week three and we have some solid match-ups but I'm ready for every conference to get into conference season. The intrigue increases and the scenarios become increasingly interesting. But now onto this week's picks...

Saturday, September 15th, 2012:

Wake Forest at #5 Florida State, 11:00 am ESPN, Wake is coming off a late winning effort against North Carolina last week, and seems to have a solid team this year. Florida State hasn't been tested and has beat up two teams with significantly lesser talent. I think FSU has the clear talent edge in this game and shouldn't be lacking for motivation after last years upset loss to Wake. Winner: Florida State ATS: Wake Forest +28

California at #12 Ohio State, 11:00 am ABC, Cal looked absolutely awful in it's first two games, a loss to Nevada and a scrappy win against Sacramento State, and does not breed much confidence as it travels to the Horseshoe this weekend to take on the Buckeyes. Ohio State has been inconsistent but they've put away teams they should have each of the first two weeks. Ohio State should continue that trend when they take on the Golden Bears. Winner: Ohio State ATS: Ohio State -17

#13 Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh, 11:00 am ESPNU, Virginia Tech visits Pittsburgh and that's just unfortunate for Pitt. The Panthers have looked horrible against far less competition than Va Tech and should have issues with Frank Beamers defense. Winner: Va Tech ATS: Va Tech -10.5

#16 TCU at Kansas, 11:00 am FX, Charlie Weis and Dane Crist are both on the Kansas sideline. Yep, that's all you need to know. Winner: TCU ATS: TCU -21

#1 Alabama at Arkansas, 2:30 pm CBS, Arkansas fully healthy would be a heck of a game for Alabama, however with Tyler Wilson day to day and a couple key defensive injuries for the Razorbacks this game shouldn't be in doubt for very long. Winner: Alabama ATS: Alabama -21

UMASS at #17 Michigan, 2:30 pm BTN, It took forever for UMASS to score on Indiana. Michigan will roll. Winner: Michigan ATS: UMASS +46.5

North Carolina at #19 Louisville, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN2, Both teams have some promise at the quarterback position, however, Louisville doesn't have a major academic scandal looming over it's sports programs. Charlie Strong has his team heading in the right direction and an offense that should help them keep pace. Winner: Louisville ATS: Louisville -3

#18 Florida at #23 Tennesseee, 5:00 pm ESPN, Gameday visits Tuscaloosa this week for the first meaningful match-up in this rivalry in a few years. Florida beat A&M last week but there are still some questions about what this Gator teams identity is. Tennessee doesn't appear to be missing Da'rick Rogers all that much so far as Tyler Bray and company are putting up plenty of firepower. I think we see that offense slow down against a good Florida front seven but I think the Vols pull off the victory at home. Winner: Tennessee ATS: Tenn -3

UAB at #8 South Carolina, 6:00 pm ESPN3, South Carolina can calm a lot of fears if they do the un-South Carolina thing this week and puts away a second straight team they should. And handily. Winner: South Carolina ATS: South Carolina -34

North Texas at #15 Kansas State, 6:00 pm, Kansas State will whoop up on Kansas State. Winner: Kansas St. ATS: KSU -28.5

#2 USC at #21 Stanford, 6:30 pm FOX, This is the best game of the day, USC comes in after a perplexing game against Syracuse in the Medowlands and Stanford comes off one very good game against Duke and a game in which they looked very mortal aginst San Jose State. I think USC has the best unit on the field (Off.) and the 3rd best (Def.). Stanford will be a very fine team this year in Pac-12 but I don't think they're defense can hold USC down enough to make up for the difference in talent on their offense. Winner: USC ATS: Stanford +7.5

Florida Atlantic at #7 Georgia, 6:30 pm ESPN3, SEE: Idaho at LSU Winner: Georgia ATS: FAU +43

Idaho at #3 LSU, 7:00 pm ESPN3, I'm packaging these two games because they include top level SEC talent versus over matched low level mid major teams. Winner: LSU ATS: Idaho +42.5

#20 Notre Dame at #10 Michigan State, 7:00 pm ABC, Second favorite game of the day, let''s just do this by the units on the field, MSU has the better offense, not by much but it's better. MSU has the better defense both teams have more talent on that side of the ball. Michigan State in this one by a nose. Winner: Michigan State ATS: MSU -5.5

#14 Texas at Ole Miss, 8:15 pm ESPN, I keep hearing talk this week about Ole Miss having a chance at the upset. It's a nice thought, SEC at home versus Texas who hasn't looked good in a couple years. This shouldn't be a contact much past the 3rd quarter. Winner: Texas ATS: Ole Miss +11 (I'm not picking a Texas offense by more than 10 on the road. I'm not crazy.)

#25 BYU at Utah, 9:00 pm ESPN2, The holy war rolls on another year but this years affair does not appear to be shaping up in the Utes favor. They haven't looked good this season, and after a loss to Utah State and the loss of Jordan Wynn the promise is all but gone from the 2012 Utah season. BYU is rounding into one of the best non-AQ schools of the season along with La Tech and Ohio. Should be a fun team to watch, this game is probably not. Winner: BYU ATS: BYU -4

Houston at #22 UCLA, 9:30 pm, Houston lost to Texas St. UCLA is a better than any of their Neuheisal teams. Winner: UCLA ATS: UCLA -17

Should be a pretty good week 3 in college football. Hope everyone enjoys the game and sorry for a late set of picks.

Rambling's Week 2 CFB Picks Recap

Saturday, September 8th, 2012:

UCF at #14 Ohio State, OSU 31, UCF 16, This game went pretty much as expected, UCF showed up to play and kept the game in check for around a half and then the Ohio State athletic advantage overwhelmed them. Winner: 1-0 ATS: 1-0

Miami (FL) at #21 Kansas State, KSU 52, Mia FL 13, Kansas State absolutely demolished a young Hurricanes team. Kansas State should be dangerous as long as Colin Klein stays healthy. Winner: 2-0 ATS: 2-0

Penn State at Virginia, Virginia 17, PSU 16, What a heart breaker for Penn State as a late touchdown for Virginia and a handful of missed field goals left them 1 point on the wrong end versus the Cavaliers. Not much to say here on either team as Virginia won on luck and Penn State is in for a very long year. Winner: 3-0 ATS: 3-0

Auburn at Mississippi State, MSU 28, Aub 10, What can I say I believed in Auburn coming into the season, a week 1 loss to Clemson was understandable. This week's loss was not, on the road at Miss State isn't an abomination, until you realize it was by 18. Can this be the year the Bulldogs at least show up in the West, I don't know yet. Winner: 3-1 ATS: 3-1

East Carolina at #9 South Carolina, SCar 48, ECU 10, South Carolina did what it hasn't done the last couple of years and put away a far inferior team and this time without their starting QB. Winner: 4-1 ATS: 3-2

Ball State at #12 Clemson, Clem 52, BSU 27, See: the other South Carolina team, minus back-up QB. Winner: 5-1 ATS: 3-3

WKU at #1 Alabama, Ala 35, WKU 0, Yeah not much to glean from this game, Alabama continues to be more efficient than anybody in the country. Winner: 6-1 ATS: 4-3

#2 USC vs Syracuse, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN2, USC started slow and which most teams traveling that many time zones tend to. Barkley through for 6 TD's and USC walked away with the 13 point win. Winner: 7-1 ATS: 5-3

#11 Michigan State at Central Michigan, MSU 41, CMU 7, Three things for this game: the Spartan defense wants to know who wants some, the offense can do enough and Central Michigan is a middle tier MAC team. Winner: 8-1 ATS: 6-3

Air Force at #19 Michigan, Mich 31, AFA 25, Michigan didn't lose this game but by-god they tried their hardest to. Winner: 9-1 ATS: 6-4

Purdue at #22 Notre Dame, ND 20, Purdue 17, A late score put Purdue up with only a Notre Dame 2 minute drill between them and a win, and then.... Rees happened. Let's think about that statement, are we as college football fans ready for Rees to happen? Winner: 9-2 ATS: 7-4

#24 Florida at Texas A&M, Florida 20, A&M 17, Texas A&M has the same issue as it had last year. Florida is, well pretty much as confusing as the last 3 Florida teams. Winner: 9-3 ATS: 7-5

Iowa State at Iowa, ISU 9, Iowa 6, Iowa State won, neither team proved much to anyone, and I can't wait 'til Iowa State beats Texas and we can all laugh at how much 2012 continues to mimic some of the most wonderful twists of 2011. Winner: 10-3 ATS: 8-5

#13 Wisconsin at Oregon State, OSU 10, WI 7,  Duff'd it  Winner: 10-4 ATS: 8-6

Fresno State at #4 Oregon, Oregon 42, Fresno 25, Oregon's results are becoming as routine as Alabama. Two big losses came out of this game and we will see how the Duck's respond. Winner: 11-4 ATS: 8-7

Washington at #3 LSU, LSU 41, Wash 3, LSU absolutely dominated this game from start to finish. Washington should win some games in the Pac-12, but LSU is head and shoulders above Sark's team. Winner: 12-4 ATS: 9-7

ULM vs #8 Arkansas, ULM 34, Ark 31, Yes Arkansas had injuries, yes ULM played out of their minds in the second half. No you can't use these excuses when your 2nd string should beat the opposing team. Winner: 12-5 ATS: 9-8

#16 Nebraska at UCLA, UCLA 36, Neb 30, Impressive win for UCLA as they pulled out the win over Nebraska. Was a bit of a sloppy game by both sides but UCLA capitalized on Nebraska mistakes much more successfully than Nebraska. Nebraska is better than many of us thought coming into the season and should cause Michigan and Michigan State some issues in the Legends division. Winner: 12-6 ATS: 10-8

#7 Georgia at Missouri, UGA 41, Mizz 20, This game was a slug fest in the first half and then Georgia decided to take a belt to Missouri's behind. Jarvis Jones showed what men can do as he dominated Mizzou's offense in the second half. Mizzou is gonna cause many headaches this year but Georgia is the clear favorite in the SEC East. Winner: 13-6 ATS: 11-8

New Mexico at #17 Texas, Texas 45, UNM 0, It would have been more of a surprise if Texas didn't cover in this game. Winner: 14-6 ATS: 12-8

#18 Oklahoma State at Arizona, Ariz 59, OK St 38, I guess I was right to doubt OK State but I should have taken it further, Arizona put a beat down on the Cowboys and must be looked at in a slightly altered like in Rich Rod year 1. Winner: 14-7 ATS: 13-8

Duke at #25 Stanford, Stan 50, Duke 13, A very nice bounce back game for Stanford as they put a whooping on Duke after struggling in week 1. Duke is making steps but they won't challenge for an ACC crown in teh next year or two. Winner: 15-7 ATS: 13-9

Kind of a rough week as there where some marquee upsets that I didn't see coming, I'm alright with my 13-9 ATS record but there's no excuse for losing 7 games straight up. Hopefully I can do better in week 3. This brought my overall record to 29-10 on winners and 22-17 ATS. I'll have my Week 3 picks up late Wednesday or mid-day Thursday.

Rambling's Week 2 CFB Picks

With the long weekend of football I didn't have time to write up a week 1 recap and that is my bad. I will get back to that next week, but just a quick little recap of last weeks picks. I went 15-1 on winners and 9-8 against the spread. With one week in the books, let's move forwards to week two...

Saturday, September 8th, 2012:
UCF at #14 Ohio State, 11:00 am ESPN2, Ohio State had a very solid first showing under Urban Meyer and Braxton Miller looks like this system will be a perfect fit for his talents. UCF comes off a week 1 drubbing of Akron and enters the Horseshoe with a good amount of talent on a team that has had a good amount of preseason distractions. I think you see a competitive game for three quarters before Ohio State separates from UCF. Winner: Ohio State ATS: UCF +18.5
Miami (FL) at #21 Kansas State, 11:00 am FX, Miami beat Boston College in week 1 which included some added positives in the run game, however Kansas State just has way too much talent for this edition of the Hurricanes to hang with. Winner: Kansas State ATS: Kansas State -6.5
Penn State at Virginia, 11:00 am ABC, I promise I won't be putting every Penn State game this season in the weekly picks but I thought this game was an interesting on each teams front. Penn State comes into this game after a loss to Ohio at home. Ohio is a talented team but Penn State's intensity really flatened as the second half wore on. How will this team respond on the road after a tough home loss? Will we learn anything about the Bill O'Brien era? Virginia is a team that could take a major leap in the ACC this year under Mike Locksley, will they be able to put away a team they certainly should be able to or will they play down to their opponents skill level. Winner: Virginia ATS: Penn State +10
Auburn at Mississippi State, 11:00 am ESPN, Mississippi State's home opener is a stiff SEC divisional test. MSU was a sleeper team I really liked last year and they let me down. I look forward to seeing how well their offense can keep some of the pressure off the defense which should be a solid unit again. Auburn is coming off a tough loss to rival Clemson in week 1 and is in real trouble if they don't show up to play in week 2. Losing to a non Alabama/Arkansas SEC West team will be a tough pill to swallow for the Tigers. Winner: Auburn ATS: Auburn +3.5
East Carolina at #9 South Carolina, 11:21 am SEC/ESPN3, South Carolina sneaked out a win against Vandy, partially thanks to a pass interference non-call, but the bigger issue for the 'Cocks is that Connor Shaw still hasn't been able to throw a football this week. Whether or not Shaw plays the Gamecocks should roll in this one easily. Winner: South Carolina ATS: East Carolina +21.5
Ball State at #12 Clemson, 11:30 am ACC/ESPN3, I'd love to tell all of you that Clemson has a chance to Clemson this game but Ball State just doesn't have the chops this year to pull off that kind of upset. Clemson is coming off a second straight win over Auburn and should keep this train rolling at least for now with a victory over Ball State. Winner: Clemson ATS: Clemson -27
WKU at #1 Alabama, 2:30 pm SEC/ESPN3, See Clemson, only with better players, a better week 1 win and a better head coach. Winner: Alabama ATS: WKU +40 (sure, I'll go with that)
#2 USC vs Syracuse, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN2, Teams traveling cross country often have troubles with the time changes and it's affect on their bodies. With that in mind I think it will take USC a quarter or so to really hit it's stride against Syracuse. Syracuse themselves have to deal with the fact that they let a golden opportunity to open the season with a win against Northwestern. I think this game is close because of the outside effects but USC is a far superior team than the Orange. Winner: USC ATS: Syracuse +26
#11 Michigan State at Central Michigan, 2:30 pm ESPNU, Central Michigan started slowly against SE Missouri State last week, they pulled it out but you got to have some concern about that game. Michigan State played a sloppy game versus Boise State; Saved by a otherworldly performance by Lavian Bell, the Spartans need to cut down on the mistakes on offense if they're gonna win 11 or 12 games this year. Winner: Michigan State ATS: Michigan State -20.5
Air Force at #19 Michigan, 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN2, Does anybody really think that Michigan is gonna go back to back losses under Brady Hoke's watch, he might suit up at CB just to prove the point. Winner: Michigan ATS: Michigan -21.5
Purdue at #22 Notre Dame, 2:30 pm NBC, Notre Dame should win this game, on a talent basis, better coach and it's at home, but the Golden Domers made a trip across the atlantic just one week ago and I think we will see some adverse effects of this trip this week. Purdue welcomes back suspended QB TerBush who from the sound of Danny Hope out of practice will more than likely be your week two starter for the Boilermakers. Winner: Purdue ATS: Purdue +14
#24 Florida at Texas A&M, 2:30 pm ESPN, The first of two welcome to the SEC games this weekend, Florida travels to Kyle Field to take on the Aggies. Florida comes off what can only be described as a lackluster performance in it's opener against Bowling Green. The Gators offense looked out of sorts with both QB's under center, while the defense looked good but bent too much against an average at best MAC team. A&M hasn't played yet this season after it's week one game against La Tech was cancelled by Hurricane Issac. A&M introduces a new offense, QB and coach heading into the 2012 campaign. Winner: Texas A&M ATS: Texas A&M -1
Iowa State at Iowa, 2:30 pm BTN, Iowa State won this game behind Steele Jantz and the hubris of Paul Rhodes, this years game promises to be equally as intriguing. Iowa comes in after escaping a scare from Northern Illinois which highlighted some issues in the secondary and efficiency on offense. Winner: Iowa State ATS: Iowa State +5
#13 Wisconsin at Oregon State, 3:00 pm FX, Last years game in Madison was so lopsided Oregon State decided to punt backwards to help there defense. Duff'd it Oregon State should be better, and Wisconsin played a rough game game against Northern Iowa last week but I don't see that factoring into this game too much as Wisconsin rolls. Winner: Wisconsin ATS: Wisconsin -7
Fresno State at #4 Oregon, 5:30 pm Pac-12, Fresno should be a well coached football team that will be middle of the road in the MWC. Oregon is an extremely well coached team and is one of the four beset teams in the country. Winner: Oregon ATS: Oregon -35
Washington at #3 LSU, 6:00 pm ESPN, Steve Sarkisian believes he has his best team in his Washington tenure and much of that revolves around QB Keith Price who should give us a much better indication of how good the depth is in the defensive backfield. LSU should be able to move the ball against this Washington defense, whilst the LSU defensive front should bulldoze the Huskies offensive line. Winner: LSU ATS: LSU -23.5
ULM vs #8 Arkansas, 6:00 pm, See: Alabama & Clemson and place Arkansas in the middle. Winner: Arkansas ATS: Arkansas -30.5
#16 Nebraska at UCLA, 6:30 pm FOX, This will be a match-up of two teams that saw better quarterback play on the field week 1 than they have in many moons. Nebraska rolled Southern Miss on the arm of Taylor Martinez who looks to have fixed some of the kinks in his motion. UCLA rode redshirt freshman Brett Hundley to a clobbering of Rice. Winner: Nebraska ATS: UCLA +6
#7 Georgia at Missouri, 6:45 pm ESPN2, The second of the welcome to the SEC games, pits Missouri up against Georgia. Pregame bickering should add a little more fun to our enjoyment of the lead up but this game comes down to how Georgia deals with the suspensions on defense against a Mizzou attack that should have a bit of explosiveness to it. Georgia's old man offense should have some success against the Tigers to the dismay of some. Winner: Georgia ATS: Georgia -2.5
New Mexico at #17 Texas, 7:00 pm LHN, If you've watched college football the last couple season, you know New Mexico. Same for Texas. This shouldn't be close. Winner: Texas ATS: Texas -39
#18 Oklahoma State at Arizona, 9:30 pm Pac-12, I missed this game when I wrote this and I apologize Oklahoma State looked very impressive in a week 1 win over Savannah State, but Arizona's win was better versus Toledo. I don't think this is the upset of the week but Arizona should cover this and make the Cowboys sweat out a victory. Winner: Oklahoma State ATS: Arizona +10
Duke at #25 Stanford, 9:30 pm, This should at least be interesting, Stanford is coming off a lackluster performance against San Jose State and Duke is coming off a whacking of FIU. I don't know what to make of either of these teams at this point so I think I'll wait til this game is over to pass judgement on either. Winner: Stanford ATS: Duke +15

Well that's it for the week 2 picks and because of the hectic week this was finished despite that all encompassing allure of Pittsburgh-Cincinnati. Enjoy your football and look Sunday for a recap of the week that was.

Rambling's Week 1 CFB Picks

We're back for another season of college football and the second for me writing a blog through football season. I plan to use the same guidelines as last year, I will pick all top 25 games, except those against FCS schools, against the spread (ATS) and heads up winners. Without further ado let's kick off week one with some picks.

Thursday, August 30th, 2012:
#9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt, 6:00 pm ESPN: How often past decade has anyone been able to say that they were excited to see what a Vandy season will hold, maybe 3 times. I think this year could be another step forward for the 'Dores, even if the win total doesn't change all that much. South Carolina on the other hand is finally out of the Stephen Garcia era and moves forward with SEC East championship aspirations. I think this game is closer than most. Winner: South Carolina ATS: Vanderbilt +7 (should continue to move toward South Carolina)
Washington State at BYU, 9:15 pm ESPN3: The first game of the Mike Leach era is a late Thursday night kickoff but for insomniacs should be a barn burner. Leach has a history of taking under-talented teams farther than they should, year 1 may be bumpy but leach has some WR talent to work with. Bronco Mendenhall's Cougars may be the best team in Provo in a couple years however the loss of QB Jake Heaps is a step in the wrong direction but BYU should be the best Independent this year. Winner: BYU ATS: BYU -13

Friday, August 31st, 2012:
Tennessee vs North Carolina State, 6:30 pm ESPNU: Tennessee has been in a downhill spiral since the last few years of the Phil Fulmer era, however, this year may be the start of a turn around under Dooley in Knoxville. Improvement still may not render the results wanted by the Vol faithful. Bray is a big time prospect and a big time head case but should be the strong point of the team, the main question on offense is the wide reciever corps which is now without it's most talented athlete in Da'Rick Rogers who was cut from the team last week. NC State is a dark horse ACC contender that at worst will give teh top teams in it's conference fits this year with a high powered offense. This contest will certainly be a gateway into each teams season and help sort out the hierarchy of both conferences below the top tier teams. Winner: NC State ATS: NC State +3.5
#24 Boise State at #13 Michigan State, 7:00 pm ESPN: How effectively can John Southwick replace Kellen Moore? How can Boise replace their top 5 defensive linemen from a year ago? Will Southwick have enough skill position help? How well can Andrew Maxwell replace Kirk Cousins?... The answers, Idk, poorly, yes and I believe surprisingly well. Winner: Michigan State ATS: MSU -7
San Jose State at #21 Stanford, 9:00 pm Pac-12 Net: This was a rout last year and this year should be no different Stanford has a lot to replace on both sides of the ball but San Jose State doesn't have the talent to stay in this game past halftime. Winner: Stanford ATS: San Jose State +25.5

Saturday, September 1st, 2012:
Buffalo at #6 Georgia, 11:00 am ESPN3: Buffalo hails from the MAC conference, it is 1 of 13 teams in that conference and they aren't very good. Georgia is from the SEC, it is 1 of 14 teams in that conference and 1 of 5 with a chance to win the conference. Georgia should win this in a landslide. Winner: Georgia ATS: Georgia -38 (should probably just stay away from this)
Marshall at #11 West Virginia, 11:00 am: This rivalry game has seemed to be closer the last few years than it should have been with West Virginia's talent advantage. Year 2 of Holgerson's offense should see a marked improvement which should allow them to make some noise in the Big XII. Marshall on the other hand is in a place where they are playing on pride and hoping that pride can keep them in this game long enough. Winner: West Virginia ATS: Marshall +24.5
Miami (OH) at #18 Ohio State, 11:00 am BTN: Ohio State has a post-season ban and a new coach which means this game should give us a litmus test for the Buckeyes season compared to last year. Miami (OH) would love to knock off the big dog in the state, I'm just not sure they have the talent in the two deep to keep this close. Winner: Ohio State ATS: Ohio State -23
Ohio at Penn State, 11:00 am ESPN: I have no idea how this game was made a 6 point game to start off with. With all the turnover at Penn State,a new coaching regime and a couple handful of players leaving the program altogether PSU is set up for a struggle of a season. Ohio on the other hand brings back a veteran laden offense that was explosive a year ago and should be even better this season. Ohio should have a very good shot to knock down Penn State and start a season that could end with them being undefeated. Winner: Ohio ATS: Ohio +5.5
Southern Miss at #17 Nebraska, 2:30 ABC/ESPN2: Southern Miss is coming off one of the best seasons in recent memory that culminated in a C-USA championship game upset of Houston and a bowl win over Nevada. Nebraska was good not great in their first year in the Big Ten, where they didn't really challenge for the conference championship. Nebraska's season is dependent on the growth of QB Taylor Martinez and 3 former walk-ons on the offensive line. Winner: Nebraska ATS: Nebraska -19
Hawaii at #1 USC, 6:30 pm: USC should be in the thick of the national title hunt this season but there are some weaknesses with depth and youth on the defensive line. Hawaii is a great place to visit but they have to travel multiple time zones to play on the mainland which leaves them at a huge disadvantage. Winner: USC ATS: USC -42
#8 Michigan vs #2 Alabama, 7:00 pm ABC: This is the game of the week in college football, a week 1 game pairing top 10 preseason foes. Alabama will be what it has been throughout the Saban era strong and talented on defense and efficient on offense. The offense is the season key, it could be one of the most proficient and efficient in the country this year which should worry everyone in the country not just the SEC. Michigan on the other hand has a similar problem to USC, the defensive line is in a rebuilding stage and will most likely be susceptible to being mauled by the Alabama offensive line. On offense it all comes down to Dennard Robinson's ability to control turnovers and make big plays against a defense that is young but extremely talented. Winner: Alabama ATS: Michigan +14
Wyoming at #15 Texas, 7:00 pm LHN: Texas has been an enigma since their national championship appearance in 2009, and I don't believe warranted a top 15 ranking this year. There isn't much to talk about with Wyoming to start the season, there is what there is. Winner: Texas ATS: Texas -30
#4 Oklahoma at UTEP, 9:30 pm: See above about Wyoming, for UTEP. Oklahoma should challenge for a national championship but they must avoid the slips they have been prone to in the past. Winner: Oklahoma ATS: Oklahoma -30.5
Arkansas State at #5 Oregon, 9:30 pm ESPN: This game would be a dream match-up in week 8 because of the offensive match-up. That being said it wouldn't have been close even in week 8, however, both teams will be major players in their conference races. This should be one of the highest scoring games of the year. Winner: Oregon ATS: Arkansas State +36


Sunday, September 2nd, 2012:
Kentucky at #25 Louisville, 2:30 pm ESPN: The 2012 Battle of the Bluegrass on the football field should be an interesting showcase for Louisville. Charlie Strong is entering his third year as the Cardinals head coach and has a team he likes. Kentucky is the worst team in the SEC and has some very big flaws mainly at QB. I think Louisville runs away with this game. Winner: Louisville ATS: Louisville -13.5

Monday, September 3rd, 2012:
Georgia Tech at #16 Virginia Tech, 7:00 pm ESPN: This game will be huge in deciding the winner of the ACC Coastal, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech are both among the top 4 or 5 teams in the conference and should showcase ACC football well opening weekend. Georgia Tech is pretty known on the offensive side of the football but has to replace wide out Stephen Hill to provide a deep threat. Virginia Tech is replacing two stud running back and their hopes rest on the back of Logan Thomas. Winner: Virginia Tech ATS: Georgia Tech +7.5

Well there you have it, enjoy the return of football and I'll be back Sunday to recap the week that was.