My football picks for 08

[mjh218]

Buffalo -3....they have a good coach and return a bunch of guys on both offense and defense. Last year their qb Willy completed almost 70% of his passes. He is back and should have another solid campaign this year. UTEP was poor on defense last year giving up more than 45 points 6 different times. Buffalo 27 UTEP 20

NCST +14...don't think SC's offense is very good. They have qb problems. NCST returns a bunch of guys on their offense and should be able to keep up in what I expect to be a low scoring game. SC 20 NCST 17


WF -12....Baylor is outclassed here. Grobe is a superb coach and returns Riley Skinner who is a pretty good qb. Baylor will be playing 3 qb's, which to me equals no consistency on offense. No reason that WF won't score 35ish tomorrow against a cruddy defense. WF 36 Baylor 17

all of these players are 1 unit...taking it slow at the start of the season!

[terryba4]

looks like you are starting off very good.

[Bostongambler]

2-1 Very good night mjh..

[th3ory]

nice opener mjh...too bad nc st had to let usc run away with that one.....temple -7 tonight? never thought i'd see the day.....might have to get on the owls

[mjh218]

I actually played Temple..but I didn't get home early enough to post it. Tough for me to post 7pm games on weekdays b/c of work. Living out west is a pain that way, the games start at 4pm.

2-1 +.9 units
]

[mjh218]

Saturday's menu

BG +13.5.....I think Pittsburgh is over rated and getting far too many points against a decent Bowling Green team. Pitt should be able to run the ball, but don't respect their passing game.

Haw +35....Hoping Urban takes it easy in the 2nd half

ECU +10......They kept it close on the road last year. They return most of their team from last year. Not sold on the VT offense, especially with Glennon.

Washington +13.5....not sold on Oregon either. Locker sohuld be able to generate some offense.

wisky over...Akron should give up 40 no problem.

[mjh218]

3-2 for saturday...eaked out a profit. I was dead wrong on Hawaii and thought washington was a bit better than they showed themselves to be.

5-3 for the year +1.7 units


Going with these for Labor Day

Fresno +4...The loss of Ray Rice should hurt this Rutgers offense. When you look at the two teams, Fresno has the playmakers.

Tenn

[mjh218]

Going away for the weekend, posting my plays early

Friday night

Navy/Ball St. over...two good offenses and 2 poor defenses. Navy can't stop anyone on defense and Ball St. returns a ton of talent on offense. First one to 40 wins this

Saturday

Temple +7...like this temple team. They are getting better by the day. Al Golden is a very good coach. Like a home team getting a TD

Ohio +34.5...Three letters USC.

MSU/EMU over 58.....MSU has shown that it plays absolutely no defense. EMU has a capable offense. MSU wins this 42-24

New Mexico +3

Minny over 55

ECU +8

WF -7

[mjh218]

4-4 over the weekend. Dropped .4 units

YTD record

10-8

+1.2 units

[mjh218]

Going to make my picks early this week...will try and give my full analysis and writeups

Tol/EMU over 58....In two games Toledo has given up 78 points. Pretty bad huh? EMU's offense should be able to put some points up against this D. EMU's D is not very good either. Last year this match up yielded 80 points. See a similar result this year

Iowa/IISU under the 48....Hard to gauge Iowa, since they have played Maine and Fla Int. in their first two games. This match up hasn't yielded 48 points since 2003. Look for a tight one between 2 rivals on saturday. My guess a 20-17 type score

Michigan -2 (2 units) Michigan lost a TON from last year, but the guys they have on their team are still better than what ND is working with. I feel that this ND team is as bad if not worse than last year. Weiss has proven he isn't that good of a college coach. His teams are slow and fail to execute. Clausen looks mediocre at best. ND almost lost to a SDSU team that was beaten at home by Cal Poly. I think Mich is a few steps better than ND.

Purdue +8 (2 units)....like the home team getting more than a TD. The Dux beat the piss out of a really cruddy Washington team and a REALLY bad Utah St. team. Curtin Painter is a very experienced qb, and should be pretty comfortable playing this one at home. I think the Dux are a bit over rated at this point. They will probably get the W, but I think this one will be a nail bitter.

Memphis/Marshall...over 59. Neither of these teams play any defense. Memphis has given up 83 points this year against Rice and Mississippi. Marshall looked like they were playing touch football last week in the 2nd half v. Wisky. First to 35 wins this one

Ohio St. +11 or more....Everyone is on USC's nuts. The Trojan's looked like world beaters v. Virginia, but I think it is being way overblown. Virginia is a very young team and made it pretty easy for USC. Ohio St. may not win, but they will keep it close

[mjh218]

3-2-1 for the weekend. Brings me to 13-10-1 for the year.

Up .7 units for the weekend. Up 1.9 for the year.

[mjh218]

will toss 2 units on K. St. on wednesday. Lville has fallen on some hard times and K. St. want to make a statement.

[mjh218]

Lost that one... down .3 units for the year 13-11-1

Here is my weekend card, going to be busy so i am posting it now.

WVU/Colorado over 56...Cody Hawkins is a ggood passer, but throws too many INT's. Pat White and crew ought to be a bit pissed after taking it up the a$$ against ECU a few weeks ago. Neither team plays great D.

Baylor +12...UConn is not that good. They pushed around a very bad and young Virginia team. Don't think UConn has the offense to blow out Baylor, who should be able to put up some points.

CMU/Pur over 64 (2 units) Last meeting hit 99 points. Lefeour can really move this offense, both on the ground and in the air. Painter is very proficient passing the ball. Points should be cheap in this one.

ECU -8...(3 units) have seen NCST's offense on 2 occasions and it is PUTRID! They struggle moving the ball, their line is terrible and their qb's have gotten the crap kicked out of them. ECU struggled last week v. Tulane, but the close call should give hem a kick in the butt. Can't see NCST getting more than 2 TD's

Navy/Rutgers over 60....Navy is tough to stop and they have proven that they can't stop anyone. They gave up 41 to Duke, Rutgers is not great, but they are better than Duke!

Tennessee +8 (2 units)...this is typically a pretty tight matchup. The Florida offense is stacked, but their defense is a bit suspect. Crompton is capable if he doesn't make stupid mistakes that lead to turnovers. Florida has rolled over everyone this year, will be interesting how they play in a tight gamr. Hard to come to Tennessee and win by more than a TD.

MSU -8.....MAybe it is me, but ND's win last week didn't impress me. Not sure that the ND Defense can stop the MSU rushing attack. Hoyer's numbers are not pretty at qb, but they played last week in a downpour. He should improve his #'s considerably if it isn't raining as hard this weekend.

[mjh218]

Adding a 3 unit play

Toledo +7

This is a situational play. Fresno had what they were calling the game of the decade last week and came up just short. This week they travel across the country to Toledo and are favored by a TD. Something tells me that they are going to struggle tonight and potentially lose SU. BCS is gone for them and their hopes are dashed.

[mjh218]

ouch!!

Got my ass handed to me this weekend. :)

[mjh218]

Two for Thursday

Oregon St. +24.5...USC hasn't beaten them by more than 24 in the last 10 meetings and OSU has won 2 of last ten straight up.

SMU +18...feel this is too many points for a so so Tulane team to cover.

Both for 2 units

[mjh218]

18-16-1 year to date

-1.2 units for the year. Here is what I am playing on Saturday

N.Ill/EMU over 53...EMU giving up almost 35 points on their own this year, it isn't like they have played world beaters. they played MD and Mich St. They are scoring almost 35 points per as well. Final score N. Ill 31-EMU 34

Ball St. -18 (2 units)....Ball St. just beat indiana on the road. Their offense is clicking on all cylinders. Ball St. won by 24 on the road last year. Nate Davis is the real deal. He is completing almost 73% of his passes and has thrown 9 TD's.

clemson -8...something tells me that Clemson gets hot. MD is so so at best and doesn't have the athletes to compete with Clemson if they are playing well. Death Valley is a rough place to play.

MSU/Indiana over 48 (3 units)..bought this early in the week when it opened up. This game has the potential to go WAY over 48. Indiana can't stop anyone and MSU is running the ball really well. Indiana can move the ball on offense. Last year the total hit 79, this year should be the same

Mississippi +22.5 (2 units)....Feel like Florida has not been challenged yet. Mississippi has played Florida tight the last few. fla hasn't beaten ole miss by more than 22 in the last 4 times they played. This one ends up being closer than the Gators want.

Purdue +1.5 (2 units)..ND is way overrated, end of story. Painter needs to get into the groove of things, I think he will do it against a pretty poor ND defense.

Colorado +6..FSU's qb situation is a complete mess. Their offense is a joke. Colorado has a much better offense. THey have a legit chance to win the game SU.

TCU +18.5...this game ends up being a nail bitter.

[mjh218]

adding

Ohio St over 48.5...Pryor on display today against a far inferior opponent. Minny is extremely weak on D. The Gophers gave up 23 to Montana St. I think OSU has something to prove, they want to steam roll a few teams and Minny is an good place to start. Osu 44 Minny 17

NW +9....Not sure Iowa's offense is good enough to beat anyone with a pulse by over a TD. NW has a pretty efficient offense and should be able to keep up with Iowa. NW may get the SU win

[southie]

Like your thoughts mjh, and followed you on all at noon

Best of Luck MJH