Playing Devil's Advocate

     So Ohio St recently lost its starting QB, Braxton Miller, for the season with a shoulder injury. Many have said that this is/was a devastating injury to tOSU national title hopes. Initially, I was inclined to agree with everyone. I still do. But I want to play devil's advocate for a second. Why are tOSU's hopes dashed but Alabama is still in the running? Both teams are replacing a lot of talent, in particular breaking in rookie QB's. The real difference is that tOSU has an immensely easier schedule than Alabama. Ohio State plays one team ranked in the pre-season top 25, Alabama plays the other 24 teams. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but you get my point. Alabama gets to play Florida, Texas A&M, LSU, and Auburn. Ohio State gets to play Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Michigan State, and Michigan.

     Ohio State plays Virginia Tech September 6th. Virginia Tech very well might beat them that game, but should tOSU win then they could easily be 8-0 heading in to the Michigan State game. Undefeated in November certainly sounds like a playoff contender to me. Add on top of all that, tOSU's backup QB was a 4* recruit coming out of high school, and maybe all hope isn't lost in Columbus. 

     I think you could apply this argument to many teams throughout not only the SEC, but the entire nation. There are a lot of fresh faces at QB this year. That makes having a veteran QB all the more important to a title run. So losing an experienced QB weeks before the season starts does appear devastating, but is merely just placing you at par for the course. You're now like many other teams with a fresh face at QB. Just another obstacle to overcome.

NCAA D1-A Autonomy And What It Means To The Average Fan

     It means things are going to change, and I mean potentially big changes. Don't worry, the same 10-15 big name schools will still be the ones winning the championships, however there will most likely be a new championship being played. This new championship will allow the mid-majors an opportunity to compete for a trophy and potentially added revenue. Granted this added revenue won't be of the former BCS level, but it will be a slight boost. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let me back up and tell you how I got to this conclusion.

     First off, autonomy will be a step in the right direction for a small minority of student-athletes. To start, this will affect most athletes at the major universities, i.e. increased scholarship limits in sports such as baseball, softball, and other minor sports. This will really impact college football. This will allow universities to provide stipends to support full cost of attendance, medical coverage, and many more benefits. This will effectively toe the line of amateur athletics. After a few years of this passes and everyone realizes that attendance/viewership doesn't drop, more steps will be taken to push the student-athletes of the power 5 conferences toward semi-professionals. This will further separate the power 5 from the mid-majors and the rest of the NCAA. Once there is a full separation of the power 5 from the NCAA, these schools will be able to treat athletes as a sort of employee. Paid partly in education and partly in on field performance. This, of course, is something that happens roughly 10-15 years down the road.

     The benefit to the mid-major schools is a chance to compete for their own championship and potentially added revenue from increased bowl games. This doesn't mean there will be more bowl games overall, just more access to bowl games for the mid-major schools. The power 5 will eventually turn their respective conference championship games into a sort of bowl game/playoff game while eventually expanding the playoffs themselves. With an entirely new subdivision of NCAA football, there will be even less incentive to play the lower subdivisions within the NCAA. Thereby shortening the regular season while expanding the playoffs. Playoff expansion could extend into the conferences themselves, meaning a four team playoff for the conference championship. Explaining the feasibility of this idea is another article unto itself.

     All of these ideas/predictions could just be the day dreaming of a crazed lunatic, or maybe some of it comes true. Either way, feedback is always welcomed. Let the debates begin!

It's been awhile...

It sure has been a long time since I posted here. Time to update and refresh the site.

LesMiles.Net Trailer - Alabama Game

Football Pick'em Week 8

Ol coach had a tough week last Saturday with covering the spread. Vegas has really tightened up on us. We finished 6 - 9 for the first losing week in a while and our current year to date totals are 56 - 49.

HOME TEAMS

1.    Texas Tech by 6.5 over WEST VIRGINIA

2.    South Carolina by 7.5 over TENNESSEE

3.    Wisconsin by 10.5 over ILLINOIS

4.    Washington by 2.5 over ARIZONA STATE

5.    OREGON by 37.5 over Washington State

6.    Oregon State by 10.5 over CALIFORNIA

7.    ALABAMA by 28.5 over Arkansas

8.    LSU by 7.5 over OLE MISS

9.    BAYLOR by 31.5 over Iowa State

10.  OHIO STATE by 17.5 over Iowa

These are my take the points specials;

11.  VANDY getting 8.5 from Georgia

12.  UCLA getting 4.5 from STANFORD

13.  CLEMSON getting 2.5 from FSU

14.  Auburn getting 13.5 from TEXAS A&M

15.  HOUSTON getting 9.5 from BYU

There you have it, good luck and as always "MAY THE SPREAD BE WITH YOU".

Football Pick'em Week 7

I had my first losing week in two years last week going 7 - 8. This brings the year to date total to 50 - 40 through 6 weeks. The spread gets tougher to beat every year about this time. Vegas has really homed in on the games. But I am committed to giving my clients the best possible information. So here we go.

HOME TEAM

1.    Nebraska by 14.5 over PURDUE

2.    TEXAS TECH by 14.5 over Iowa State

3.    Missouri getting 8.5 from GEORGIA

4.    CLEMSON by 24.5 over Boston College

5.    Baylor by 17.5 over KANSAS STATE

6.    LSU by 7.5 over Florida

7.    Oregon by 13.5 over WASHINGTON

8.    Texas A & M by 6.5 over OLE MISS

9.    UCLA by 24.5 over California

10.  WASHINGTON STATE by 1.5 over Oregon State

For the riskier play

11.  South Carolina by 5.5 over ARKANSAS

12.  Northwestern getting 10.5 from WISCONSIN

13.  Michigan by 2.5 over PENN STATE

The upset specials this week are

14.  Indiana getting 9.5 from MICHIGAN STATE

15.  KENTUCKY getting 27.5 from Alabama

As always may the spread be with you.

Football Pick'em

We had a winning week again for week #5 going 9 - 6 ATS but only 5 - 5 on my top ten. This makes our year to date total 43 - 32 or 11 games to the good. Coach has gone back to the drawing board to refine the strategy for success. The staff of researchers came up with the following;

1. We are 11 - 1 in the SEC, 7 - 2 in the BIG 12, and 8 - 1 in the PAC 12.
2. We are better in the early games and next best in the night games.
3. We are not good in the BIG10 and ACC.

So with that said here we go for this week.

HOME TEAM

1.    Texas Tech by 14.5 over KANSAS

2.    Georgia by 10.5 over TENNESSEE

3.    Oregon by 38.5 over COLORADO

4.    LSU by 9.5 over MISSISSIPPI STATE

5.    Arizona State by 5.5 over NOTRE DAME

6.    STANFORD by 6.5 over Washington

7.    OKLAHOMA by 10.5 over TCU

8.    FLORIDA by 10.5 over Arkansas

9.    BAYLOR by 27.5 over West Virginia

10.  Louisville by 33.5 over TEMPLE

Something a little more risky;

11.  VANDY by 2.5 over Missouri

12.  AUBURN getting 2.5 from Ole Miss

13.  Washington State by 3.5 over CALIFORNIA

My upset specials this week are

14.  NORTHWESTERN getting 5.5 from Ohio State

15.  Minnesota getting 20.5 from MICHIGAN

Good luck sports fans and as always "May the Spread be With You".