Football Pick'em

Coach got surprised on a few games last week; Cincinnati, Texas, Florida and South Carolina. Florida was a real let down losing to an ACC team but when you turn the ball over 6 times you just don't score points. Texas is a disaster and now Cincy is without their QB and probably won't show up on my radar again this year.

The totals for last week was a respectable 9 - 6 ATS. I was 8 - 2 on the top ten but only 1 - 4 on the streches and upsets. This brings my two week season total to 20 - 10. Sounds profitable to me.

HOME TEAMS IN BOLD

Now for this weeks locks.

1.   Bowling Green getting 2.5 from INDIANA

2.   UCLA getting 4.5 from NEBRASKA

3.   OKLAHOMA by 24.5 over Tulsa

4.   Louisville by 13.5 over KENTUCKY

5.   FLORIDA STATE by 31.5 over Nevada

6.   Northern Illinios by 27.5 over IDAHO

7.   PENN STATE by 4.5 over Central Florida

8.   MIDDLE TENN by 6.5 over Memphis

9.   Wisconsin getting 5.5 from ARIZONA ST

10. Ball State by 2.5 over NORTH TEXAS

A little bit riskier plays are;

11. AUBURN by 6.5 over Miss State

12. Maryland by 7.5 over CONNECTICUT

13. SOUTH FLORIDA by 12.5 over Florida Atlantic

The upset specials are not really upsets but these two games will not cover the spread.

14. Notre Dame by 20.5 over PURDUE (TAKE THE POINTS)

15. LSU by 36.5 over Kent St ( TAKE THE POINTS)

Well folks there they are. May the spread be with you.

Coach

What Did We Learn in Week 2

Sorry sports fans and coach followers, I am running a day late with some updates due to coach being a little under the weather. This is gonna be a brief one so here we go.

1.   The 4M's are really lighting up the scoreboard; Manziel, McCarron (giving the benefit of the doubt), Mettenberger, and Murray. Who says the SEC doesn't play offense and quarterback.

2.   A few weeks down the line the Ga vs LSU shootout could be really entertaining, maybe even better than this weekend's ALA vs TAMU game. Right now I give LSU a slight advantage because of John Chavis on the LSU defense.

3.   Did anyone really think Notre Dame would be real this year?

4.   Add Mack Brown to the coaches hot seat. Stick a fork in him.

5.   The talking heads gave Miami way too much credit in the win over Florida (really a loss by Fla) in proclaiming they are real and the ACC can compete.

6.   Is it just me or are there a lot of points being scored early in the season. Usually the defenses are ahead of the offenses and rule the day. Not so right now so I can only imagine what weeks 7 - 14 will look like for games.

7.   Ball State is a rock solid spread covering machine. Go with it.


See you next week on Tuesday for another edition of "What Did We Learn".

Coach

Why college polls need rules and regulations. Or better yet, do away with them completely.

This is an example of a real AP Poll ballot from @DougLesmerises: Link: http://t.co/K94YxTF53p Pic: pic.twitter.com/r0toVDWAG3
— The SEC Logo (@SEC_Logo) September 9, 2013

The above is a tweet I came across via The SEC Logo (@SEC_Logo).  Yes, that is an actual vote cast by an AP member for the ranking of college football teams.  I personally have no problem with this ranking, as long as it is viewed from the perspective of who is playing the "best" football as of right now and not a prediction of who will win the BCS title.  I can agree that Clemson has played some really good football the first two weekends.  They beat a Georgia team that looked really good against South Carolina.  Alabama did not look all that impressive against Virginia Tech.  Hell, I would suggest that Alabama be ranked behind Oregon, Georgia, and Louisville if we are basing it purely on quality of football played this season to date.  However, that is my main point. What are these polls actually based on?  In a vast majority of the votes, Alabama is ranked #1 overall.  And rightly so, given it's from the perspective of the reigning champ hasn't been beaten yet.  And therein lies the problem.  Too many people cast votes based on such a wide variety of criteria. With the millions upon millions of dollars that are up for grabs, ultimately based on these types of votes, there needs to be more rules in place to set guidelines on voting criteria.  Even with the playoffs coming to college football next season, the AP and USA Today polls can still play a major role in influencing the selection committee.  Can you imagine the backlash the selection committee would receive if they were to by pass a unanimous #4 ranked team in both AP and USA Today polls for any other team?  I don't even want to imagine what would happen if a by-passed team were ranked higher than #4.  Riots may break out across the country.

All in all, I think the point I'm trying to make is that the NCAA would be wise to make some sort of official statement in the off season declaring these polls invalid and of no importance in selecting playoff teams.  And they should make that statement multiple times.  OR....   they could attempt to impose rules and/or guidelines in voting for AP and USA Today members.  But in my opinion, trying to tell the media what to do is like trying to tell a spoiled child no.  So the former of the two ideas is probably the best course of action.

In the end, transparency in selection criteria will do the selection committee wonders in the eye of the public.  If the teams and the public know what it takes to make the playoffs ahead of time, then that will greatly minimize the controversy come selection time.

Football Pick'em

Coach's Locks Week 2

 

 

After a solid week ATS going 11 - 4, not to mention picking two upsets and three of the 4 loses were because of spreads, I am ready to shine the light on 15 new winners. So without further delay here we go.

 

Home team is BOLD.

 

1.     Duke by 5.5 over MEMPHIS (my favorite)

 

2.     INDIANA by 13.5 over Navy

 

3.     NORTHWESTERN by 12.5 over Syracuse

 

4.     MICHIGAN by 3.5 over Notre Dame (almost my favorite)

 

5.     OHIO by 5.5 over North Texas

 

6.     Oregon by 21.5 over VIRGINIA

 

7.    BAYLOR by 27.5 over Buffalo

 

8.    LSU by 34.5 over UAB

 

9.    Florida by 3.5 over MIAMI

 

10.  KANSAS ST. by 9.5 over UL Lafayette

 

Three stretches against the spread are;

 

11.   Cincinnati by 7.5 over ILLINOIS

 

12.   Western Kentucky getting 13.5 from TENNESSEE (UT will win)

 

13.   Texas by 7.5 over BYU

 

The two upset specials are;

 

14.   South Alabama getting 6.5 from TULANE

 

15.   So. Carolina getting 3.5 from GEORGIA

 

There are the winners for this week. If you know someone that could use a little help with their picks, tell'em about my posts. I hit over 63% last year and I am off to a good start again this year. As always, may the spread be with you.

 

Coach

What did we learn week 1

The results are in from the first set of locks against the spread. We finished 11 - 4 missing out on spreads on the Ohio St, Nebraska, and Troy games while missing the winner of the Boise St game. Bottom line you had a profitable weekend if you followed the coach's picks.

There were a few surprises, some pleasant some not, that should out for me. First the BIG10 might be the weakest conference out there. The shining star OSU gave up 20 to Buffalo, Purdue got crushed, Illini and Iowa got upset and they did not play any real marquee games.

Here we go with the snippets;

1. Clemson and Tahj Boyd are for real. Sammy Watkins is a beast. The thing that will keep them from winning it all is the lack of a solid defense.

2. Ohio Sate is not number 2 in fact may not be in the top ten.

3. Texas A & M does not play SEC style defense regardless of how many times the talking heads say they do.

4. When was the last time Alabama had less total yards in a game than Zach Mettenberger had passing alone (251)? That was the worst offensive line performance in a decade for them. Not to worry, they will improve.

5. Boise State's run is over. They will not be part of the BCS Championship landscape again. Or the playoff system either.

6. Three coaches that will be on the hot seat, if not already, Dan Mullen at Miss St, Lane Kiffen at USC, and Bo Pelini at Neb. Those were horribly unprepared teams this weekend.

7. TCU, while a loser to LSU, will challenge for the BIG 12 title this year.

8. Johnny Football is a spoiled child.

9. Jameis Winston is going to give the defenses in the ACC fits. I sure he will have his moments where he will play like a freshman but he will also look great at times (probably more of great than not).

10. The final BCS championship may not involve a SEC team. This could be the year that there are multiple undefeated teams and sure looks like the SEC will not have one of them. This would be a travesty if the conference were not allowed to defend it's crown in the final year before the playoff starts.

Of course as always this is just one man's opinion but I always tell'em like I see'em. Be sure to check back Thursday for the week 2 locks. Until then, may the spread be with you.

Coach

Coach

ESPN's latest SEC power rankings released

"Don't sleep on these Tigers. They're undervalued, but were very impressive in their 37-27 victory over a ranked TCU team in their own backyard." - Edward Aschoff

LSU is the biggest winner in the latest power ranking poll from ESPN. They climbed 3 spots up to number 3 for the week.  Looking forward to seeing where the Tigers will be ranked in the AP and USA Today polls for this week.

What a great opening weekend for college football!

And we still have one more game to go tonight! However, I don't plan on it being much of a game. I think FSU throttles Pitt. But the rest of the weekend included lots of upsets by FCS schools amongst some major games pitting top ranked teams against one another. The UGA vs Clemson game was a great one. Although it's too bad UGA ended up losing one of their top WR to a knee injury (while celebrating a teammates TD none the less). Overall, the SEC went 9-3 in non-conference games over the weekend. A strong showing by the conference. In contrast the Big12 went 6-2 with the biggest upset coming in the North Dakota St vs Kansas St game. How does the co-defending Big12 champion let NDSU win? And Bob Stoops thinks the SEC is just top heavy and not that strong. If the SEC is top heavy then the Big12 is certainly bottom heavy.

Remember to check back in tomorrow for our full weekly recap of the weekends action, to include a breakdown of Coach's Locks of Week 1.