Week 7: It's All Cream Cheese From Here

Here are mine. I titled a post but couldn't type in it. Blogger hates me. (ed. note: fixed it)
  

Mark's Picks are coming to you live from PGA National in beautiful West Palm Beach Florida

Last week finally put me back on the right side of things. Of course, things could’ve turned our better had Michigan State not taken a 4^th Quarter nap and allowed a Nebraska team they were dominating to come roaring back late and cover. That’s why they call it gambling though kids. Actually, I’m not exactly clear on the origin of the word gambling but Geoff once told me to just act like you know what you’re talking about and 95% of people will buy it. And it’s worked out pretty good for that guy so why not?

Michigan State -20.5 at Purdue- Speaking of Michigan State, Sparty has been a great bet this year. Outside of two bad 4^th quarters against Oregon and Nebraska, they’ve covered all their games and done so by a wide margin.  This week they take on a Purdue team that might be the Big Ten’s worst. Even though Sparty has to travel to the hornet’s nest that is West Lafayette, IN (Is it the House that Mike Alstott or Drew Brees built? I always get confused.), I’m confident that Michigan State gets back to the dominating form they displayed in the first 3 quarters of last Saturday night’s game. Sparty. 

LSU at Florida (Over/Under- 47)- Outside of Vanderbilt, these might be the SEC’s two most pedestrian offenses. Honestly, even calling them pedestrian is probably too far. They’re terrible, plain and simple. LSU will play two QBs. First, a sophomore who lost his starting job last week to a true freshman. And that same true freshman who performed so poorly that he relinquished the QB job by mid game last week at Auburn. Both QBs will play, and both will be underwhelming. Florida has QB problems of it’s own. Starting QB Jeff Driskel reached new lows last week by throwing for 59 yards and 3 interceptions before being yanked in favor of true freshman Treon Harris who led Florida to a comeback victory at Tennessee. Harris is now indefinitely suspended from the Florida Football team while the target of a sexual assault investigation. So, Driskel is back as a starter by default and should continue to make Gator fans mad with his poor decision making and even worse accuracy. The O/U could be 37 and and I’ll probably still take the under.

Ole Miss at Texas A&M (-2)- Ole Miss is coming off the biggest win in the program’s last 50 years and the best night in Oxford possibly even. A&M is still licking their wounds after being trounced by Mississippi State. This is nothing more than a bet on both teams coming back to the middle. A&M is still an average team defensively but they’ll be better in a wild atmosphere at Kyle Field. Ole Miss will have trouble getting back up to their peak for this game (at least early) and Dr. Bo Wallace won’t play the game of his life for the second straight week. The SEC West is impossibly tough and it shows this week. Aggies.

Danimal' Picks:

Hi there. On the yearly trip w/the Incesterians in Pinevegas, NC so my apologies for the effort here.

Some of Winchester's finest lining up a putt

Florida State -24 at ‘Cuse

Winston in the news again. That’s weird huh? As Mark said last week, if you bet against FSU in every game this year you’d be 4-1. Not today though.  ‘Noles

BC +3 at NC State

NC State (ed. note: nice effort Dan)

Miami (OH) +14 at Akron

Huh? Really? Yes. Really. Keeping my eyes on the team from Oxford is common practice with my wife being an alum and many of her friends and family still there. Have you ever been there? It’s quite a nice campus. The town ain’t all that bad either. Now, the team from Miami travels yonder to Akron this weekend to take on the Zips squad, coached by one Terry Bowden of the Bowden Clan. His Defensive Coordinator is Chuck Amato, former D Coord from FSU/Bobby Bowden days and former NC State Head Coach. I think he’s a huge tool, Amato that is, but there’s no denying he builds nice squads. Another tidbit you might not have been aware of is that Miami’s QB is ND transfer Andrew Hendrix. Andy isn’t a very good quarterback. His accuracy is lacking. It isn’t entirely his fault though as his team isn’t blessed with weapons. Or an offensive line. Or a good defense.  And though he hasn’t thrown any INT’s in the last few games, that’s going to change this week. Akron is go all sneaky squirrel on the Re*!awks and and beat ‘em handily. Akron stock – moving upward. Miami stock – staying where it has been for a while – in the cellar.  ZIPS