Pick of the Week 11/6: Two Pack

Nathan Scheelhasse has a QB rating of128.5

We improved to 5-1 on Thursday night games for the season yesterday – making us 10-5-1 for the season. We’ve got two picks for the weekend…

The lines:
Illinois +3 @ Michigan
Ill. +130/Mich. -150
O/U 57.5
The Pick : Illinois +130

So let’s look at Michigan’s run of Big Ten games this season:

-3 against MSU

+3 against Iowa

-3 against PSU

And now we’re looking at -3 against Illinois. If you look at the team’s track records this season, it is an easy game to call – and there isn’t much point analyzing it. Illinois has three losses to teams in the top 15: Missouri, Michigan State and Ohio State, plus they went on the road and crushed Penn State. They have proven to have a solid defense and a serviceable offense with a few big play threats. The Wolverines have a not-so-durable Denard Robinson and a terrible defense.

This is purely a case of Vegas trying to get even money on each side of the coin and there are still way to many Michigan faithful putting money on the Wolverines. Use your head and take the Illini to win straight up.

The lines:
Oklahoma -3 @ Texas A&M
Okla. -150/TAMU +130
O/U 61
The Pick : Oklahoma -3

Texas A&M got off to a rough start in their Big XII season schedule going 0-3. Since then, the Aggies have rebounded and beat up on Kansas and Texas Tech. Oklahoma has had an outstanding season with only one loss coming against Missouri on the road. The Sooners have a solid defense and a great offense, led by QB Landry Jones, WR Ryan Broyles and RB DeMarco Murray.

My biggest concern in this game is Texas A&M’s quarterback situation. Starter Jerrod Johnson had a lot of hype coming into this season, but he is now splitting time with backup Ryan Tannehill. This week when reporters asked the pair of QBs if they knew Mike Sherman’s plan for this game, they both indicated they had no clue.

College Station is one of the toughest stadiums in the country to play in, and this weekend the 12th Man should give the Aggies a huge advantage. Unfortunately, with A&M’s quarterback issues, I don’t think they have the talent to keep up with Oklahoma this year and Stoops is going to once again undo Sherman (who I’ve said before is not the right fit for Texas A&M). My pick is Oklahoma -3.

Working for the Weekend v4.0

With a tough schedule, Cam Newton's Auburn Tigers seem to be in the driver's seat for a BCS #1 ranking - if they can win out.

A rough weekend with our Arizona State pick… can’t win ‘em all. I don’t know what’s been going on Saturdays but we’re 4/4 on Thursdays – so come back and see our Florida State @ N.C. State pick this week. Let’s take a look around college football this coming weekend – is it Saturday yet?

Working for the Weekend v3.0

 

Will Pryor come through in a tough road venue?

 

When conference foes start taking each other on, as fans we can see what teams are contenders and what teams feasted on non-conference cupcakes. Through the first two-to-three (in most conferences) weekends of conference play we’re starting to see some separation. Per usual in college football, no team is invincible and we saw that first hand last week as #1 went down.

In the Big Ten this weekend, three key games will help everyone sort out the conference pecking order. How big are MSU’s victories over Wisconsin and Michigan? Will newly anointed #1 OSU make a statment on the road? Will the Hawkeyes get a road win, or can Denard Robinson rebound after a loss?

10/9 – What We Learned

 

Edwin Baker shushes the Michigan crowd. This cost 15 yards but was quite enjoyable to watch.

 

4-2 last weekend on our picks, which is a bit rough. An exciting weekend of college football with the former #1, Alabama going down. The important thing for us is that Michigan State pulled out their third-consecutive victory over in-state rival Michigan. What did we learn around the country?

10/9 Pick of the Week: We’ve got Five…

 

Paul wants to come back to East Lansing.

 

On the heels of a Thursday night win and in celebration of the battle for the Paul Bunyan trophy in the Great State of Michigan this weekend, T&C is going with five picks instead of just one. There are a lot of good choices this weekend:

Working for the Weekend v2.0

I needed one of those a few months ago.

I’m honestly shocked that ESPN’s College GameDay won’t be in Ann Arbor for theMichigan State @ Michigan game this weekend. Probably fair to assume that ESPN has no plans to send Herbstreit, Corso and the gang to a Big Ten game this year (we’ll have more on this in an upcoming post). Let’s have a look around the Big Ten this week:

Big Ten Division Balance

This past summer was full of conspiracy theorists and expansion rumors for the BCS conferences. Eventually, even the smaller conferences got into the game. Big Ten commissioner, Jim Delaney, really had a chance to flex the conferences’ muscle. The second he said the Big Ten would look into expansion, everyone else in the college football world reacted. At the end of the summer, Delaney assembled the conference Athletic Directors to determine divisions for the Big Ten, so they could have a championship game (as expected).

After weeks of squabbling, here is what how the conference broke in two, taking into consideration, balance, rivalries and geography:

Working for the Weekend

LeVeon Bell - remember the name.

The Big Ten conference season is finally here! This weekend should give us a better idea of what teams are for real. In a weekend filled with a lot of promising matchups, the conference is getting big

time TV exposure in the ABC 3:30 ET slot with Wisconsin at Michigan State and the ESPN 8 ET slot with Penn State at Iowa. Hopefully all four teams impress the national media. Here are a few things to watch for on Saturday:

› Just so we’re all clear, running a track meet against Connecticut, Massachusetts and Bowling Green doesn’t validate an offense (or a Heisman candidate). And neither does beating up on Indiana. So let’s not jump to any conclusions about Michigan this weekend.

› Ohio State should have no problem at Illinois. As the conference schedule begins, this is it for Buckeye’s QB Terrelle Pryor – will he step into the spotlight and live up to his high school expectations?

› Northwestern at Minnesota. The Wildcats should roll. I’ll get to this game in my pick of the week…

› Purdue – as I said here, a bye this week is a best-case-scenario for the Boilermakers.

› I’m not looking forward to Michigan State’s game against Iowa and Penn State (both are on the road). I think Iowa pulls one out this week at home over PSU. The Hawkeyes’ elite defense will be too much for Penn State’s freshman quarterback to handle.

› This season, Michigan State has been exactly what I thought they would be. They struggled at home against a bad Notre Dame team and handled their other three opponents. Defense looks OK – and is improving. As iffy as the unit has looked, remember they stopped ND 5 straight times in the 2nd half. The offense looks OK – Cousins seems to have settled into a groove and Freshman LeVeon Bell is the real deal. MSU matches up well against the Badgers, but Lance Kendricks and John Clay will be a load for the Spartans to handle. Both offenses should roll and the game will come down to Wisconsin stopping MSU’s run game, MSU’s defense stopping anything and whether Dantonio’s medical leave affects the Spartans.

Links
Somebody ask Urban Meyer why we didn’t see Trey Burton the first three weeks… or why he didn’t wait to unwrap him until this week’s game against #1 Alabama.

TCU to the Big East? Really? Can’t we just make one good conference from the WAC/MWC/Big East?

Boise State is on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but they’re without D.J. Harper for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL.

Tony Dungy to Minnesota?

Coach Kelly got a raise. No, no, not Brian – Chip.