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Friday, September 9, 2011

Fab Five - Week 2 (NCAAF Predictions)

In an effort to pay a little more attention to College Football this year than I have in the past - I'll be going through the weekly matchups and narrowing them down to five potential plays for the week in a segment called Fab Five. Since I like being able to watch the games on television, I'll try my hand on the nationally televised games. Also, having graduated from the national sports powerhouse that is Drexel University you can be rest assured that I have no allegiances to any college football program, so all picks will be completely unbiased... Click for the picks after the jump




Saturday, September 10th

Oregon St. vs. Wisconsin (-20.5) (ESPN) - 12 pm
So I go to the Oregon St. team page to fuddle around with some stats and see what kind of team Wisconsin is going up against. What do I find? A week 1 loss to SACRAMENTO ST. I was not aware that the Hornets of Sacramento St. even fielded a football team, so when I talk about instilling confidence, Oregon St. definitely is not doing their job. Couple that with the fact that their starting RB Malcolm Agnew will not be making the trip to Madison and all signs point to a good old fashion midwest beating.


Week 1 losses aside, I've long liked the type of game that QB Russell Wilson brings to the table. He's a smart Quarterback that plays with a high IQ (so I'm told). I think he was a very good Quarterback at N.C. State and I think he will help this Badger team win the Big 10 and potentially play for a BCS Championship. 


For the game itself I think that the Badgers are too strong and will overmatch this Beaver team. I'll be taking the Badgers and laying the 3 touchdown spread. 


Alabama (-10) vs. Penn St. (ABC) - 3:30 pm
Alabama travels to Happy Valley for this nationally televised game on ABC. To me this game just comes down to who has more talent. And Alabama, like most SEC teams wins that battle. Nick Saban has put together an absolutely loaded defense - 8 of his 11 defensive starters are predicted to be in the top 150 players selected in next years draft. 


The Nittany Lions' main concern is whether their 84 year old Head Coach Joe Paterno, will be coaching from the sidelines or from the press box. Either way, I don't think it will matter as he'll probably want to be blindfolded as the Crimson Tide roll to a convincing victory over the Nittany Lions. Take Alabama and lay the 10 points.


Notre Dame (-3) vs. Michigan (ESPN) - 8 pm
I watched the Michigan game last week against Western Michigan and in the second quarter with the score tied 7-7 I honestly thought that there was a chance that Michigan was going to blow their opening game a la Appalachian State a couple years back. Western Michigan controlled the ball, put the Wolverine defense on its heels and had it not been for two costly turnovers deep in Michigan territory I think Western Michigan could have won this game. 


The Fighting Irish on the other hand did lose their opening game to an underrated USF team. The Irish put up over 508 yards of offense and their Defense actually held up only allowing one score all day. I look for a motivated Irish team to avenge their 28-24 loss to the Wolverines last year in South Bend and beat Michigan at the Big House by at least a touchdown. Take the Irish and lay the field goal. 


TCU vs. Air Force (+1) (Versus) - 3:30 pm
I know, I know. Versus? To be fair, Versus is the sole Network for the NHL playoffs. I just like what this game offers too much to stay away from. Easily the best game of last week's college football kickoff was the doozy that we got on Friday night between Baylor and TCU (ranked 14th at the time) in which Baylor held onto a 50-48 victory in a game that saw over 1,000 yards of offense. While it was a great game, it was an absolutely crushing defeat for the Horned Frogs from TCU. 


I would liken this game for TCU to a rebound after just getting dumped by your significant other. And TCU just got dumped by the BCS because they have no chance at a bid now. I think that Air Force will be too tough of an opponent for TCU to bounce back against especially on the road, and the Horned Frogs will start their 2011 season 0-2. Look for Air Force to win this game outright. 


South Carolina (-3) vs. Georgia (ESPN) - 4 pm 
I look at this matchup between two SEC Rivals that admittedly I don't know much about. I do know that the Game Cocks have two things going for them. 1, their team name is the Game Cocks and that gets me every time. 2, they have an absolute stud (pause) in their backfield by the name of Marcus Lattimore. Last year, in just his second career game as a collegiate athlete he carried the ball 37 times against this Georgia Bulldog team. He broke 42 tackles, while amassing 182 yards on the ground and two TDs. Now that's what I call beast mode.


Throw in the fact that Georgia's starting LB Alec Ogletree will be out for four weeks after suffering a broken foot in their week 1 loss to Boise State and I could easily see Lattimore going for over 200 yards and just running all over this beaten down Bulldogs team. Give me the Game Cocks on the road and lay the three points.


Hope everyone has a great Saturday and Sunday - definitely a lot of foooootball to be watched.


Season Record 0-0-0

3 comments:

  1. Love the pick of the crimson tide. ROLL TIDE in a route! who the hell is sacramento state? haha. with andy dalton out, tcu is bum juice! AFU by s td's

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  2. haha dude - i was so confused when I saw Sacramento State. I thought I clicked on a d3 team instead of Oregon St. Good going Beavers.

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  3. Went 2-2-1 in the first installment of the Fab Five - still cannot believe that Notre Dame let Michigan hang around and then win with 2 TDs in the last 1:12. Classic game though. Check back next week for week 2 of the Fab 5

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