Friday, August 31, 2007

Feeding My Gambling Addiction

Sorry this post didn't come earlier. The AC adaper on my laptop gave out today, and it was a little harder to find a matching replacement than I would have expected. Honestly Dell, is it too much to ask that just one of my computer's components last longer than a year before crapping out?

Anyway, I'm two bets into the football season, and I'm doing no worse than a flip of a coin. That alone is enough encouragement for me to keep on making uneducated picks. Let's see if I can mix in a home team somewhere.

Tennessee +6 at Cal

Cal may want revenge over last season's humiliating loss, but the reality is that Tennessee's defensive line will still be dominant and should cause Nate Longshore all kinds of problems. Erik Ainge had a breakout year in 2006, completing two-thirds of his passes, and as long as the pinky isn't an issue, he shouldn't have a problem against a Cal secondary that lost Daymeion Hughes to the draft. One thing going in Cal's factor is crowd noise. While Tennessee's fans usually travel well, they should all be in a complete state of shock after spending a day in Berkeley. I'm still having trouble imagining that scene. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a parallel circumstance, but nothing matches the idea of this guy bumping into this guy.
Tennessee 28, Cal 27

Virginia Tech -28 vs East Carolina

Va Tech may struggle on offense a little bit early in the passing game, as it would be reasonable to expect their emotions to cause some erratic play. But the Hokies should be able to rely on Brandon Ore all game long (similar to the way OSU dominated with Yvenson Bernard Thursday). ECU head coach Skip Holtz hasn't announced who the starting QB will be, but whoever it is, he will be making his first collegiate start. Va Tech is not the team you want to be facing for your first time. That defense isn't the type of unit to be gentle in breaking a QB's cherry. No, it's going to hurt, and hurt a lot...and there's probably going to be some blood spilled when everything's over and done with.
Virginia Tech 32, East Carolina 0

Georgia Tech +2 at Notre Dame
Ok, I can't really make an educated guess on this since both teams are likely going to rotate two QBs, none of whom have started a game before. So instead, I'm just making this call as part of my vision that Notre Dame will start the season 0-8, losing to Ga Tech, Penn St, Michigan, Mich St, Purdue, UCLA, Boston College, and Navy before finally beating Air Force in November. It's a longshot, but a guy can dream, can't he?
Georgia Tech 23, Notre Dame 20

Wisconsin -14 vs Washington State
Washington State opened last season on the road to a powerhouse team (Auburn) and was demolished 40-14. This game has a similar feel. Tyler Donovan doesn't have much gametime experience at QB, but his only job will be to handle exchanges- first between he and the center, and then between he and PJ Hill. After that, he can just watch Hill run..and run..and run. Between this game, Cal v Tenn, and Arizona at BYU, the Pac-10 may have a lot of questions to answer about the true strength of their conference.
Wisconsin 45, Washington State 19

Georgia -6 vs Oklahoma State
Boone Pickens may have given the athletic fund $165 million to play with, but that doesn't mean they can suddenly buy the best talent in the country- not while USC is still in the trade. Yes, the Cowboys are getting better and they have a good offense; and it's also true that Georgia's offensive line is very, very young. But betting against Mark Richt in a home opener is a good way to lose money. (Is that really all I have to go on for this pick? Hmmm...how about these girls in Georgia gear? They're inspiring.)
Georgia 30, Oklahoma State 23

Stanford +17 vs UCLA
UCLA's defense should dominate this game. There's really no reason why this game should be close at all, unless Jim Harbaugh sneaks into a Cardinal jersey in the 4th quarter. But the last two trips to Palo Alto have not gone that well for the Bruins. In 2003, they lost at Stanford, 21-14 and summarily went on a season-ending five game losing streak. In 2005, an undefeated Bruins team narrowly escaped defeat, pulling off a miraculous 30-27 win. Unfortunately, the 8-0 Bruins then met an embarrasing defeat at the hands of Arizona, 52-14. The lesson in all of this is that unless you're a Stanford student and required to do so by the administration, there is no good reason to step foot on the Stanford campus. Ever.
UCLA 17, Stanford 16.

Season to date: 1-1.

(Update: 3:47 am. Just have to say that I've got that "little kid on Christmas Eve" feeling. I'm too excited to get any sleep. Kickoff can't come soon enough. Yes, I have problems. No, I still don't want any help.)

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1 Comments:

At Sun Sep 02, 11:26:00 PM PDT , Blogger twins15 said...

3-3 for the day by my count... not terrible.

 

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