Picks of the Week - Week 6
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:31 am
Last Week: 4-2
Year to Date: 16-10
California +2 at UCLA
In their first four games, the Bruins have given up 180 rushing yards per game, and they have lost starting defensive end Nikola Dragovic for the year. In their first five games, Cal has averaged gaining 260 yards per game on the ground and they just got starting RB Marshawn Lynch back at full speed for this week. OK, Cal's schedule is weak, but UCLA's ain't much better, and unlike Oklahoma, Cal at least has a serviceable QB. Look for Cal to dominate the line of scrimmage and the time of possession, and if UCLA gets behind, they don't have the weapons to come back on a team like Cal.
Ohio State -2.5 at Penn State
Make no mistake, although Penn State is a decent football team, they haven't played anyone who can remotely compare with Ohio State. And, Ohio State is coming off a bye week, and that added preparation will be the difference. Ohio State has the best defense in the country, and they have the speed to shut down Penn State's offense completely. Penn State has a tough defense as well, but Ohio State just has too much talent.
Syracuse +6.5 at Connecticut
UConn has beaten Buffalo, Army and Liberty, combined record of 1-12. Syracuse played both West Virginia and UVA to a pretty close game (15-7 and 27-24, respectively), and they spanked Buffalo, too. Syracuse has gotten some pretty good teams to turn the ball over (they're averaging 4 turnovers per game), and there's no reason to think they can't continue that against UConn. This is UConn's first real test, and it'll be for a national TV audience, something they're really not used to. Syracuse should win this one outright.
Kansas +6 at Kansas State
In a game where both teams have played lousy all season, one thing stands out - Kansas' defense has been consistently good, even containing Texas Tech's high powered offense for 3 quarters. Kansas State picked up 44 yards rushing against Oklahoma last week, and while they'll do better this week, they probably won't do much better. And in a game where there probably won't be 42 points scored in the entire game, a spread of 6 is huge (14% of the projected total).
Oklahoma +14 at Texas
This is a classic example of the "ride the horse until she bucks you" game. OU has owned Texas the past five years (190-56 combined score), and while this year's OU team has problems, they do have one matchup that makes this bet attractive. The one thing Texas does very well is run the ball (310 ypg), but the one thing OU does very well is stop the run (65 ypg). OU will have trouble moving the ball on offense, especially if Adrian Peterson isn't 100% from his sprained ankle he got last week (reports are that he is 100%), but the OU defense is good enough to reasonably contain Texas' ground attack, and Vince Young isn't quite good enough to dominate OU through the air. And, besides, 14 points is a hell of a lot in a rivalry game of this magnitude.
Year to Date: 16-10
California +2 at UCLA
In their first four games, the Bruins have given up 180 rushing yards per game, and they have lost starting defensive end Nikola Dragovic for the year. In their first five games, Cal has averaged gaining 260 yards per game on the ground and they just got starting RB Marshawn Lynch back at full speed for this week. OK, Cal's schedule is weak, but UCLA's ain't much better, and unlike Oklahoma, Cal at least has a serviceable QB. Look for Cal to dominate the line of scrimmage and the time of possession, and if UCLA gets behind, they don't have the weapons to come back on a team like Cal.
Ohio State -2.5 at Penn State
Make no mistake, although Penn State is a decent football team, they haven't played anyone who can remotely compare with Ohio State. And, Ohio State is coming off a bye week, and that added preparation will be the difference. Ohio State has the best defense in the country, and they have the speed to shut down Penn State's offense completely. Penn State has a tough defense as well, but Ohio State just has too much talent.
Syracuse +6.5 at Connecticut
UConn has beaten Buffalo, Army and Liberty, combined record of 1-12. Syracuse played both West Virginia and UVA to a pretty close game (15-7 and 27-24, respectively), and they spanked Buffalo, too. Syracuse has gotten some pretty good teams to turn the ball over (they're averaging 4 turnovers per game), and there's no reason to think they can't continue that against UConn. This is UConn's first real test, and it'll be for a national TV audience, something they're really not used to. Syracuse should win this one outright.
Kansas +6 at Kansas State
In a game where both teams have played lousy all season, one thing stands out - Kansas' defense has been consistently good, even containing Texas Tech's high powered offense for 3 quarters. Kansas State picked up 44 yards rushing against Oklahoma last week, and while they'll do better this week, they probably won't do much better. And in a game where there probably won't be 42 points scored in the entire game, a spread of 6 is huge (14% of the projected total).
Oklahoma +14 at Texas
This is a classic example of the "ride the horse until she bucks you" game. OU has owned Texas the past five years (190-56 combined score), and while this year's OU team has problems, they do have one matchup that makes this bet attractive. The one thing Texas does very well is run the ball (310 ypg), but the one thing OU does very well is stop the run (65 ypg). OU will have trouble moving the ball on offense, especially if Adrian Peterson isn't 100% from his sprained ankle he got last week (reports are that he is 100%), but the OU defense is good enough to reasonably contain Texas' ground attack, and Vince Young isn't quite good enough to dominate OU through the air. And, besides, 14 points is a hell of a lot in a rivalry game of this magnitude.
ouch..........................you're not a Red Sox fan are you....Cubs maybe.......................sorry 'bout the rough weekend