Weekend Wrapup Part II

Wow, two Weekend Wrap-Ups in one weekend? I am either excited that I am getting better at writing or that I am depressed about a lack of life. Either way, it is your gain!

Let's start off with the Polls. Can we finally get the Coach's ballots out in the open? Until then, I am going to assume that Pete Carroll put USC #2 in his ballot and Oregon off the top 25. There is NO way USC should be ranked ahead of Oregon just a week after getting destroyed by 25+ points in Eugene. Sad part is, even USC has a gripe, because Ohio St. is somehow ahead of them in the polls. Such political bullshit.

We hope here at SportsTown that Cal RB Jahvid Best is alright. That was one of the more brutal falls I have ever seen. It is time for RB's to realize that vaulting 8 feet in the air over defenders is not exactly the best way to get into the endzone.

Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson just got my respect this week. In overtime, going for it on 4th Down and 2, when a chipshot FG ties the game took some serious minerals to do. Billy Raftery was somewhere in the US screaming out "ONIONS!".

The main game of the week was the LSU-Alabama clash that was a good physical game. Alabama was the better team of the two in the game, but Alabama was also very fortunate on two occasions. First, LSU stud CB Patrick Peterson getting hurt. Peterson had Julio Jones on lockdown and there is no way Jones gets the big touchdown if Peterson is on the field.

The second part was the refs blowing a clear interception by Peterson while Bama was driving in the 4th quarter around midfield. Now, we all know that the SEC referees have been working like they take an evelope from some guy in a trenchcoat named Guido, but then the replay Crew did not overturn it. NCAA rules state that one foot has to be inbounds. Peterson got both feet in. At least the SEC cannot fine me 30k for saying outloud how awful their officiating is.

Notre Dame loses to Navy. The lynch mob is back after Charlie Weis's neck. We already heard the Jon Gruden and Brian Kelly rumors, but ND fans should think about one thing. If Weis is canned, kiss Jimmy Clausen goodbye to the NFL. He might bolt to the NFL anyway, but there is no way Clausen sticks around for one season to learn a new playbook. Clausen stays, the Irish are a pre-season Top 5 program.

-Now, onto Week 9 of the NFL season. I have to get one thing off my chest before I get into any of the games, and yes, my hatred will be shown.

The Patriots showed how much of a cutthroat, classless organization they are when they mocked Joey Porter on the big screen at the end of their home game. It is one thing for Tom Brady to grab a mic from Rachel Nichols and trash Joey Porter. It is entirely different when a franchise is alright with publicly displaying how a certain player had a subpar game. An organization has to at least come off as appearing above nonsense like that.

Ladies and Gentleman... I called the Bengals being a tough team from jumpstreet. I did not think they would be 6-2 at the cut off point, but I knew they had a stingy defense that started showing up in the 2nd half of last season. Now, they are 4-0 in their own divison, smacked up the Ravens twice and have a win against the Steelers. Their offense is now rolling to the point where Chad Ochocinco is back having fun on the field. Watch out for this team...

I also said I thought the Texans would be the darkhorse team, and although they really should be, have failed me miserably. This team is actually 2 goal line stands and a missed FG from potentially being 8-1. They are just a team that cannot finish, kinda like Brian Fuentes looking like he just saw Freddy Kruger when taking the hill in the 9th inning of a postseason game.

How scary has this season been when the Giants looked like gangbusters and dropped like a middle aged woman's chest? They have looked awful, but the coaching might even be worse. They miss former Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Tom Coughlin is making some bonehead decisons in the Red Zone.

Hey, look at that, Vince Young is 2-0 as a starter this season. Making the Titans have to make a big decison in the offseason. Stay tuned to this one.

Finally, the game of the week was the Cowboys-Eagles tilt on Sunday Night. Whether the NFC East is perhaps on a down year or not, they always give a smashmouth game. I came out of watching this game thinking three things:

1. Andy Reid is the best dumb coach of all time. It is amazing that he has won this much, with the way he uses clock management, timeouts, and short yardage situations.

2. Tony Romo can win a big game. It looks like without TO, Romo can be himself and spread the ball out. It is working.

3. The Dallas defense is for real. Holding that high powered offense to 16 points on their turf is very impressive.

College Football Picks for Week 4

We finally had a solid week, going 7-3 in the picks last week. I am still stunned by the USC upset. I still cannot believe SI.com's Stewart Mandel hit that one big time. That should count as 4 wins on your record there.

Before the picks, another top 15 team falls on a Thursday night ESPN game. This is really becoming the trend nowadays huh? Last night's victim as Mississippi, who could not move the ball on South Carolina. I guess the Old Ball Coach Spurrier still has some magic left in him afterall. Alabama is the big threat to Florida in the SEC clearly now, not Ole Miss.

Now, onto the dreaded picks. SportsTown is 17-14 overall now on the season. It will be a quick rundown this week.

Ohio St. 38, Illinois 17 - Fightin Iliini are just creampuffs.

North Carolina 16, Georgia Tech 10 - Zero confidence in GT after getting embarassed.

TCU 20, Clemson 9 - Big win for the BCS Buster.

Miami Fla. 28, Virginia Tech 27 - Sets up a monster game with Oklahoma.

Alabama 41, Arkansas 28 - Tricky game for The Tide, as Arkansas will keep this one close.

Notre Dame 31, Purdue 27 - I might be running the Jimmy Clausen for Heisman campaign real soon.

Stanford 23, Washington 20 - Back to Earth for the Huskies after last week's miracle.

California 31, Oregon 20 - Speaking of the Heisman, RB Jahvid Best is making a case for it as well.

Georgia 41, Arizona St. 13 - The Bulldogs are scoring big now, I do not see the Sun Devils stopping them.

Penn St. 24, Iowa 10 - JoePa gets his revenge from last season's loss. Vaults Penn St. ahead in the polls.

And, my favorite game of the week....

Houston 52, Texas Tech 45 - This game is going to have an Arena League Football feel to it. 74 is way too low of an Over/Under for this game. The Merry-Go-Round starts at 9:15 pm est., on the ESPN family of networks.

College Football Picks of the Week

After a horrendous 4-7 first week, we got back on track slightly to have a 6-4 week, and are now 10-11 overall. I wish we picked College Football like we do the NFL. (Little hint, alot of bragging on the NFL picks).

A couple of big games this week, as Nebraska clashes Virginia Tech, Florida St. tries to right the ship against darlings BYU, and Texas has a shot at their revenge from last year against Texas Tech. All are good matchups, but the most anticipated game of the week is Tennessee-Florida.

After all the hand grenades that were tossed between the sides in the offseason, now the Volunteers, and new Head Coach Lane Kiffin has to go into The Swamp, and mess with Urban Meyer's dynasty. I have a funny feeling that Coach Meyer is going to have the Gators foot on the Vols throat by the 2nd quarter... and he will not let it go until after the final whistle is blown. Gotta love potential video game football!

This might be the closest parody to The Karate Kid Part 2, when Daniel is supposedly fighting to the death with Sato's nephew, has him by the back and of the head, and gives him choice of living or dying. Only in this reality, Meyer would be Daniel, and he would not just honk Lane Kiffin's nose, it would more resemble a Mortal Kombat fatality move.

Now, on to the picks of the week:

Boise St. 45, Fresno St 17 - No, it is not on the blue grass, but no one in the WAC can really handle Boise this fall. An imporvement for Fresno St., after last season's ambush.

California 38, Minnesota 21 - After their cross-country loss last year at Maryland, Cal. came into Minnesota earlier in the week to adjust to the time zone. Shame Minnesota will not be able to adjust to RB Jahvid Best.

Oregon 28, Utah 17 - Yes, the winning streak ends in Eugene. If Utes RB Matt Asiata were playing, my pick might of been a bit different. I also just cannot see the Ducks getting slapped around by two BCS Busters in a month.

Texas 51, Texas Tech 34 - Think Colt Mccoy and company want this game? The Red Raiders essentially cost the Longhorns a shot at Florida last year. Mccoy and crew will get their revenge, and then some.

USC 27, Washington 9 - I read CNNSI.com's Stewart Mandel's picks and he has Washington pulling off the uber-upset. I usually like and respect Mandel's work, but he went Waco on this prediction. Keep up the good work though.

Nebraska 24, Virginia Tech 17- Here is my upset pick of the week. The Cornhuskers, and basically the entire Big 12 can score. They will play just enough defense to win this game. I just have no confidence in Va Tech's defense after Bama shredded it.

Cincinnati 38, Oregon St. 31 - Have you seen the Bearcats offense? It is no-huddle madness! QB Tony Pike and WR Marty Gilyard will hook up plenty of times in this game, and that will edge what OSU RB Jacquizz Rodgers will do. Big win for the Big East and Cincy.

Notre Dame 45, Michigan St. 20 - Poor Michigan St., they get smacked at home last week to little brother state school Central Michigan, now they get a pissed off Irish offense that can score on anyone. QB Jimmy Clausen is going to pad some Heisman stats in this game.

BYU 27, Florida St. 13 - I know the Seminoles most likely have more talent, and could easily win this game, but I just cannot see them scoring much on a defense that basically shut down Sam Bradford. BYU continues on the BCS march.

and, finally....

Florida 63, Tennessee 10 - Like I said earlier, foot to the throat for the entire game. I would not be shocked if Tim Tebow is doing play-action pass bombs in the 4th quarter of this game. Welcome to the SEC Lane Kiffin. Next time, keep your mouth shut.

Tomorrow, the NFL picks (cough, went 13-2 last week, cough).