Sports Picks & Predictions

5 Unit Play. #43 Take South Florida Bulls over Florida Gators (Saturday 12:20 pm ESPN 3) Did the Florida Gators lose too much talent from their 2009 squad to make a National Title run in 2010? My opinion is yes! Florida opened the season up by beating Miami (OH) by a score of 34-12. That looks to be convincing right? With less than seven minutes remaining in the third quarter the Gators led 21-3, but only had a total of 17 yards on offense. That was despite the Redhawks going 1-11 in 2009. One would have thought the Gators would have scored at will on this team and put up fifty-plus points.
Most experts expect Coach Meyer to lay the whip into his team during practice this week. That may be the case but I just do not think the offensive chemistry is there. QB Tim Tebow is gone and so are his top two receivers. Defense seems to be Florida

3 Unit Play. #4 Take New Orleans Saints over Minnesota Vikings (Thursday 8:30 pm NBC) The first game of the NFL season annually features the Super Bowl Champions at home and tonight that takes place in New Orleans. The defending Super Bowl Champion has been a must play in Week 1, as they are 10-0 straight-up and 7-3 ATS the last ten years. The Vikings are really banged up with injuries and will be without WR Sidney Rice, QB Favre

4 Unit Play. #36 Take Temple Owls over Central Michigan Chippewas (Thursday 7 pm ESPN U) Last week against division 1-AA opponents, one team (CMU) scored 16 points in the game's first 3 minutes, while the other (Temple) didn't gain the lead until the final 3 seconds of the game. The strength of their respective foes was the reason. Hampton, playing its first FBS opponent ever had an anemic 129 yards of total offense, yielding a safety on the games second play, a 81 yard run back on the free kick, and losing a fumble at their own 12 yd. line when they got the ball back. They quickly proved they didn't belong in this match-up. Temple on the other hand played Villanova the 1-AA champion in 2009 and the only team to defeat them during the regular season last year. This game was a slugfest from start to finish with the Owls finally prevailing.
Having to come from behind to win will serve as a wake-up call for this veteran team. Head coach Al Golden and his staff, almost all of whom have player and coaching experience at Penn St. on their resume, know what it takes to be a winner. It's highly doubtful that fist time coach Dan Enos and his freshly formed staff have had the time to develop this at CMU. The Chip's lost tons of talent to graduation and the team is still learning new systems on both sides of the ball. The combination of new coaches and a 2nd game starter at QB on the first road trip and in their first conference game present too many handicaps to overcome. Temple is plainly more battle ready and will have little trouble in this one.
TEMPLE OWLS 34, CENTRAL MICHIGAN CHIPPEWAS 14

10 Unit Play. #100 Take Fresno State Bulldogs over Cincinnati Bearcats (Saturday 10 pm ESPN 2) After a very successful season in Cincinnati, Coach Brian Kelly packed his bags and moved west to lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. His well-liked, no nonsense approach will be missed; however, this team lost much more than just their head coach. Also gone are QB Tony Pike, WR Mardy Gilyard, and six starters on defense. It will take some time for the defenses to improve and going to Fresno under this scenario is not an idle situation.
Fresno State returns 15 starters and is always a solid play under Coach Pat Hill as a dog or a small favorite. The Bulldogs have won 10 of their last 11 home openers. These two teams met last year in Cincinnati and it was a close game with the Bearcats winning, 28-20. That was a tough spot for Fresno State since they were coming off a home loss to Boise State the week prior.
Look for both teams to have outstanding seasons but feel the Bearcats defense will not be ready for the powerful Fresno offense. Coach Pat Hill had to take a pay cut this season and that will motivate him and his team to make a major statement in the home opener. The last five games of the 2009 season the Bearcats defense gave up 45, 21, 36, 44, and 51 points. Expect another high scoring game with the homer getting the call.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS 38, CINCINATTI BEARCATS 28.

10 Unit Play. #93 Take Northwestern Wildcats over Vanderbilt Commodores (Saturday 7:30 ESPN 3) Coach Bobby Johnson jumped ship in early July and this leads me to believe that the handwriting is on the wall. This is certainly not the case at Northwestern where Coach Pat Fitzgerald returns for his fifth year. He has his players and coaches believing that winning is going to be a reality for 2010. The Wildcats return 13 starters and this unit won road games in 2009 at Purdue, Illinois, and Iowa. They did lose QB Mike Kafka to graduation but that will not be a significant of a loss as most people think. QB Dan Persa challenged Kafka for the starting job in 2009 and this kid can play.
I expect the Commodores to really struggle running the football with an inexperienced offensive line. Northwestern has a chance to be 6-0 this season before they host Michigan State on Oct. 23rd. I will not be selling them short as this is the most talent Coach Fitzgerald has had since he took over as head coach. I am not a fan of laying points on the road, but I have to make an exception here. Northwestern is 5-0 ATS in their last five road games. Vanderbilt is 0-5 ATS in their last five home games. The trend continues here.
NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS 31, VANDERBILT COMMODORES 14

4 Unit Play. #2 Take Northern Illinois over Iowa State (Thursday 8 pm FSN) This game features the MAC's best defense versus the Big 12's worst offense according to '09 stats. Most of the starters from their respective units return for 2010. Look for the Cyclones to save their best game for next week

8 Unit Play. #303 Take Minnesota over New Orleans (6:30 pm Fox) The Vikings have playmakers on both sides of the football and I just fell that this is their year and all the cards will fall in place. Minnesota does not allow anybody to run on them and thus the Saints will only be able to move the football through the air. QB Brees is more then capable of doing this, but the pass rush of the Vikings will eventually catch up with them. New Orleans ranked No. 1 in total offense but Minnesota was not far behind ranking No. 5. The difference lies on the defensive side of the football, as Minnesota is ranked No. 6 and New Orleans is ranked No. 25. New Orleans has allowed over 400 yards per game in their last six and some of those were against weak teams in Tampa Bay, Carolina, and Washington. The Saints have never been to the Super Bowl and that streak will stay alive, as QB Favre goes to the game for the third time in his career. Minnesota 27, New Orleans 23.

8 Unit Play. #302 Take Indianapolis over NY Jets (Sunday 3 pm CBS) The Jets are on an improbable run and now we get too see first hand if they can beat the Colts when Indy is playing to win. The Colts were beaten the Jets in Week 16 before they decided to pull their starters and the Jets capitalized and now will enter having won four straight games. That being said, the Jets have no passing game and I just do not see Indianapolis giving the game away like the Chargers did last Sunday afternoon. This team reminds me a lot of the Ravens last season and they ran out of gas against an inferior opponent and that is how I see this game going as well. QB Manning will be able to pick apart the Jets strong defense and when the reach the twenties in scoring, it will be game over for the Jets. The Ravens have a better offense then the Jets and Indy held them to 12 first downs and just three points. Expect similar numbers in this game from the Jets, as Indy punches the first ticket to Super Bowl 44. Indianapolis 28, East Rutherford Jets 10.

8 Unit Play. #116 Take San Diego over NY Jets (Sunday 4:30 pm CBS) The Jets got a couple of breaks to close out the regular season by facing teams that had nothing to play for. Their luck will run out on Sunday against one of the best teams in the NFL. The Chargers will enter this game having won 11 straight games and the Jets just do not have the offensive firepower to keep pace in this affair. The Bengals fell apart to close out the season and QB Palmer was way off the mark for the last couple of games. QB Rivers has numerous weapons at his disposal and they can beat you via the air and ground attack. The Chargers have had some playoff success under Coach Tuner winning games in each of his two season and 2010 will be no different. The Jets do not get out of single digits, as the Chargers mach onto the conference championship. San Diego 24, NY Jets 6.

4 Unit Play. #111 Take Baltimore over Indianapolis (Saturday 8 pm CBS) The Colts have not been operating well of late and I believe their decision to rest players will eventually catch up with them. Baltimore has one of the best defensives in the league and a strong running attack that can keep QB Manning off of the field. The Colts have not been a strong postseason team, as they have advanced to the Super Bowl just one time despite being one of the top teams in the AFC for close to a decade. Indy has trailed in the fourth quarter numerous times this season and Manning may be able to bring them back on Saturday but either way, the Colts will not cover this spread. The unsung hero in this game is going to be RB Ray Rice and we expect him to have a big game on Saturday. Baltimore 24, Indy 23.

1 Unit Pick #267 Take Texas over Alabama (8:10pm, Thursday, January 7th) This one is for all the marbles and I know people tend to go off what then seen last and that was Alabama handling Florida while Texas struggled against Nebraska. I will tell you know the better team is the dog, I love Texas in this spot. Alabama might have gotten a little full of themselves by beating Florida and might have the feeling that have accomplished something. Texas has herd nothing but negative things after kicking a last second field goal to here. Texas has a good rushing defense to keep Ingram in check and force the quarterback to make big play

4 Unit Play. #266 Take Central Michigan over Troy (GMAC Bowl Wednesday 7 pm ESPN) I truly believe that this will be a coming out party for Chippewa QB Dan Lefevour and he will impress NFL scouts with his performance in the GMAC Bowl. He threw for over 3000 yards, had 27 touchdowns, and completed over 70% of his passes. Troy is also strong on offense but the MAC is a better conference then the Sun Belt and that will become evident on Wednesday. Thus the main difference will lie on defense and Central Michigan is just a notch above compared with Troy. The Trojans are giving up 277 yards per game through the air. That will not bode well this evening, as Central wins yet another game. Central Michigan 34, Troy 24.

4 Unit Play. #46 Take Dallas over Philadelphia (Sunday 1 pm Fox) The Cowboys and Eagles might be the two best teams in the NFL at the moment and they might play each other next week as well. The Cowboys want this game just as much as the Eagles do since a division title and a home playoff game may be enough to save Wade Phillips job. Dallas won the early meeting in Philadelphia, 20-16 and the Eagles do not have the same strong defense as in past years. They got up big on Denver put could not put them away and expect Dallas to be able to move the football on them as well. WR Austin is a playmaker for the Cowboys and expect him to come up big yet again, as the Cowboys win their third straight game to claim the NFC East Crown.

5 Unit Play. #38 Take Texas Tech over Michigan State (Alamo Bowl Saturday 8 pm ESPN) The Spartans have once again proved that they are the same team as in years past. They look like a championship contender at times but when it really counts, they tank. Their final home game of the season proved this as they were beaten by Penn State, 42-12. They not only lost that game but 11 players were suspended for this game for an incident that night.

Texas Tech will also be without their head coach, as Mike Leech may be fighting to hang onto his job. His absence will hurt but his game plan will be used and look for his players to rally behind him. The Spartans have been picked apart on defense especially through the air. They gave up 416 passing yards to Minnesota, 373 yards to Purdue, and 324 yards to Penn State. None of these teams mentioned have the passing attack that Texas Tech does. The Spartans do not have the offense to keep up and this one will get ugly early. Tech puts up a big number and we collect big in the process as well. Texas Tech 42, Michigan State 20.

6 Unit Play. #25 Take Ohio State over Oregon (Rose Bowl Friday 4:30 pm ABC) Top Bowl Game. The Buckeyes are not playing in the BCS Title game like they did in 2006 & 2007; however, this game is very import to Coach Tressel. The Buckeyes will enter this game on a three game bowl losing streak. Ohio State has not played since November 21st, one must wonder if the layoff will hurt them. My opinion is no, as this will give Coach Tressel more time to finally win a bowl game.



As one looks at the Ducks, their offense has been outstanding but the defense has been a real question mark. Now that outstanding offense has to face one of the best defenses in the country. This defense held USC to 18 points and Penn State to 7. Ohio State will come ready to play and they have the talent to stop the Ducks and a low scoring upset would not surprise me. Ohio State 21, Oregon 17.

5 Unit Play. #19 Take Northwestern over Auburn (Outback Bowl Friday 11 am ESPN) Just believe this is too many points to be laying for a Tiger team that is not real good on either side of the football. Everyone is on the Auburn bandwagon after they put up a great performance against Alabama in the Iron Bowl on 11/27. But that was a rivalry game and this Tiger team will not be that energized playing a Big Ten team that they are expected to beat. Auburn has lost five of their last seven games and they have faced very little offenses as efficient as Northwestern.



The Wildcats have the best quarterback on the field in Mike Kafka and he played tremendous down the stretch. They will enter this game off of three straight victories including two against ranked teams (Wisconsin & Iowa). I expect this game to go down to the wire but truly believe that the Wildcats will find a way to get it down in crunch time. They are well coached and their head man did not back his way into the job by going 1-11 the previous year.

4 Unit Play. #7 Take Nebraska over Arizona (Holiday Bowl Wednesday 8 pm ESPN) Nebraska improved each and every week this season and had a chance to finish 12-1 on the season if a couple of breaks would have went their way. They only game they did not show up was against Texas Tech. They played their hearts out in the Big XII Championship Game especially on the defensive side of the football. Normally I could see a letdown here for the Huskers; however, I just expect them to build upon that impressive performance.



Arizona has played well at times but the team does not have a shutdown defense like Nebraska has. That defense should be the difference especially going against an average U of A offense. Nebraska will continue to climb in the hopes of once again becoming a football power. It starts tonight with Big Red winning handily. Nebraska 24, Arizona 10.