If last weekend was billed as “Separation Saturday,” I suppose that would make this weekend “Sedation Saturday.” Unlike last weekend which featured a boatload of great games, this weekend will be a little bit calmer in terms of hype. When the big games for the weekend are Michigan State/Notre Dame, Ohio State/Penn State and Michigan/Wisconsin, it certainly leaves much to be desired..especially if you don’t live in the Midwest.
Unrelated Chatter: My new addiction as of late has been the show “The Jeffersons.” With the exception of “Entourage,” “Lucky Louie,” “South Park” and “My Name is Earl,” I don’t ever watch regular TV. A great deal of that has to do with the fact that I am addicted to sports but a lot of it has to do with how awful regular TV has become and has been for the past few years. I never got into the whole reality craze so that right there eliminates half the options on television. Nonetheless, for anyone from my generation or younger who has not seen “The Jeffersons,” do yourself a favor and either rent it on DVD or watch it on TVLand. Aside from being probably the funniest show ever made, each episode is essentially a sociological experiment in race relations, which is my personal specialty…I gave into temptation and purchased the new Fruity Cherrios. I’m still somewhat undecided on them as they pretty much just taste like healthier Froot Loops. If you are looking at health go with the Cherrios variety but if you want pure taste then I would recommend going with Toucan Sam and his delicious Froot Loops.
Related Chatter: If I hear one more thing about the Oklahoma/Oregon game, I am going to lose my mind. I have become so sick and tired of Oklahoma fans complaining that they have lost all respect from me. Yes the officiating was terrible but perhaps if they played some defense it would have never come down to that. Seriously guys, man up and admit that your team had a great deal to do with the loss. Bad calls happen all the time, that’s life…The Rutgers pimp machine continues here at Campus Chatter. The Scarlet Knights are 3-0 and with 1-AA Howard up next, Rutgers should be 4-0 heading into it’s Big East opener at South Florida next Friday on ESPN2. Hell, I might even take the 2 hour ride to Tampa just to cheer them on…University of Florida defensive tackle Marcus Thomas has been suspended indefinitely by the school for a 2nd positive test of marijuana. This is a huge blow to the Gators’ national title hopes as he is essentially their best player on defense. The fact that drugs are involved and not an off-campus incident make this a big deal as he may now be looking at a 5 game suspension. I find it funny how you can assault someone outside of a nightclub and get suspended for a game or two yet you smoke weed and miss half the season…
And last but not least, it’s prediction time. Last week I went 4-3 against the spread improving my record on the year to 23-18. And not to pat myself on the back or anything but I did go 7-0 in picking teams outright (alright fine I patted myself on the back Barry Horowitz style on that one).
Week 4 Picks (Spreads courtesy of wsex.com)
(Season Record vs. The Spread: 23-18, Last Week: 4-3)
#1 Ohio State at #24 Penn State (+16.5): I don’t think Ohio State is going to have much of a problem against Penn State but I also don’t think Penn State is going to get blown out at home. Ohio State is far and away the best team in America right now but the Nitany Lions are always tough in Happy Valley. I think this is going to be one of those games that is a blowout but does not quite reflect it on the scoreboard. PSU QB Anthony Morelli should look a little more comfortable at home in a pressure environment than he did against Notre Dame but the Ohio State defense is just too much to overcome. The fact that the spread is 16.5 and not 17.5 is driving me nuts because I think Ohio State will win by 17 but I will go against my instinct and say that Penn State finds a way to cover.
Ohio State 34 – Penn State 20.
Wisconsin at #6 Michigan (-13.5): Not to pat myself on the back again but before the season started I did list Michigan as one of my national title sleepers. A lot of the experts are saying that Wisconsin might catch Michigan sleeping here but I just don’t see that happening. I do not like Lloyd Carr as a game strategist but I think he knows how hot the hot seat is and just for that reason will not allow his Wolverines to take this game lightly. Wisconsin freshman RB and Queens, New York’s own PJ Hill should get his first test against a big time defense this weekend but I don’t think he is going to like the results very much.
Michigan 38 – Wisconsin 13
#22 Arizona State (+8.5) at #21 California: Two teams that really don’t do much for me but it just goes to show how shallow the pool is this weekend in terms of solid games. Before the season started I was all about the Cal Bears as national title sleeper but I have cooled on them a great deal since. It escapes me where I read it so I apologize for not providing credit but I read somewhere recently that Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter is 0 for 10 in games in the state of California since he took over as coach at Arizona State, OUCH! Arizona State has a ton of California natives on their roster and there is no doubt that the seniors would like to win one in Cali before they are forced into their 9-5 jobs. My upset pick of the week is Arizona State walking into Berkeley and emerging victorious.
Arizona State 37 – California 33
UCLA (-3) at Washington: Two Pac-10 games in one column with one game featuring no teams from the top 25? Wow, it must be a boring weekend. What drew me to this game though was the fact that everyone is starting to hop on the Washington bandwagon following their victory of Fresno State last week. Fresno State really has not proven to be much thus far and UCLA is a lot better than people are giving them credit for. The 3 point spread is way too low, which ofcourse means that Washington will cover and make me look like an idiot. Either way I am not an idiot until proven guilty…
UCLA 44 – Washington 24
#12 Notre Dame at Michigan State (+2.5): All the media outlets seem to be hyping this one as the game of the day but I am pretty sure no one really cares, myself included. I won’t be watching this game as I will be at Kentucky vs. Florida, but I can’t say that I would even want to be home watching it. From my initial column here at Inside Pulse I have been telling anyone who would listen that Notre Dame is not that good of a football team. Thus far they have struggled against Georgia Tech, beat an overrated Penn State team and got throttled by Michigan at home. Michigan State defeated them last year and I don’t see anything different happening this time in East Lansing. Quite a war of words has been going on between these two teams but I think Drew Stanton is a little hungry to show that he is a much better quarterback than Brady Quinn. A much better quarterback…
Michigan State 31 – Notre Dame 27
With the slate so awful this weekend I am choosing to do only 5 games because any more and I would just be picking blowouts. Next weekend there are a few decent games but I really consider these next two weekends as the calm before the storm on October 7th. That’s all for now, have a great weekend.
