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? Read the rest of this entry »
Evanston, IL
Tailgate & Cover is pleased to welcome our friend, The Framba, from sportsfixchicago.com for a preview of the Michigan State @ Northwestern game this weekend. They do really great work over there, so if you’ve never been, we’d highly suggest you get over to their site of a visit.
Michigan State (7-0) at Northwestern (5-1) – 12:00PM EST @ Ryan Field, Evanston
It has been 20 years since the Spartans captured a Big Ten Conference championship yet the next 2 weeks will go a long way in determining whether that particular drought will end here in 2010. Michigan State has relied on an explosive running game, a stingy defense led by one of the best LBs in the country, and an inspirational coach with brass balls this season and The Framba sees no reason why they should alter their game-plan this week at Northwestern. Read the rest of this entry »
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? Read the rest of this entry »
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? Read the rest of this entry »
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: Read the rest of this entry »
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: Read the rest of this entry »
Greg Jones celebrating; John Clay not celebrating.
After hitting our Thursday night pick by the skin of our teeth, T&C took a loss on the Saturday Northwestern pick. Give credit to Minnesota, they played out of their minds to keep it close. Can’t win ‘em all…
› Though we missed out 12 PM game bet, a big Michigan State victory cures all! The Spartans showed they have an arsenal of weapons on offense and a stout defense – #20 nationally against the run. Looking for the best coverage of MSU football? We suggest visiting The Only Colors. Read the rest of this entry »
The lines:
Spread: Northwestern -5.5 @ Minnesota
Moneyline: NU -220/UM +180
Over/Under: 53.5
This means Vegas sees a 29-24 win for the Wildcats
The Pick: Northwestern -5.5
Persa has NU off to a 4-0 start.
What you’ve got here is the most underrated team of the last two decades, facing a team who has lost to Northern Illinois and an FCS team. I don’t think the favored team will mind being on the road – a comfortable five hour trip to the least intimidating road environment in the Big Ten Conference (except for the Wildcats’ own Ryan Field).
When I looked at this matchup I fully expected the line to be between Northwestern -9 and -11. You’ve got to figure, the Wildcats are a touchdown better than the Gophers, then tack on a few points because Pat Fitzgerald will out coach Tim Brewster. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
