SCOOPS' CFA PICKS: BOO!

Last Week: 4-7
Overall: 31-38-1
Win/Loss: - $64.06

DOWN BY 2 TOUCHDOWNS AT HALFTIME…TIME TO MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS.

Some highlights & lowlights from the past week. Along with the picks that I offered last week, I also was like a kid in a candy store making another 7 bets during the games on Saturday.

Highlights:
-After Cincy covered against South Florida on Thursday night, I put up some insurance on the parlay by taking Indiana +3 over Illinois, so I would not have a loss. Naturally, Ron Zook took over and Indiana ended up winning by 13 points.
-The Victory Bell Sandwich: Having Minnesota in a tease at +22.5, I banged Penn State at -17 (which I kind of thought was a bit high). Nevertheless, the ineptitude of the Gopher offense provided the 20-0 win giving me both victories.
Lowlights:
-The freaking Ohio State University: They lost me 3 freaking bets. All they had to do was beat Purdue for me to not lose 2 of them. The Jim Tressel offensive era, everybody!
-Navy not covering -7 at SMU due to a 3 point overtime win.
The ULTIMATE LOWLIGHT:
-Trying to make some money back, I invested in the 2nd Half of Fresno State/San Jose State with Fresno being -7.5. Fresno opens up with a TD, and kicks a FG with 5 minutes left in the game. San Jose drives down and is picked off in the end zone with 2 minutes to play. Touchback and most likely a victory. Fresno runs the ball 3 straight times, punts, and Fresno takes over at their own 30. Backup QB & RB are in for San Jose State. They run it 2 plays in a row, so they want out as well. And then? A 70-YARD TOUCHDOWN PASS WITH 9 SECONDS LEFT TO GIVE SAN JOSE STATE A 20 POINT LOSS BUT TAKING THE 2ND HALF LINE! This may begin a debate about what gambling loss was worse: this or the first half Super Bowl under involving James Harrison running 100 yards on an INT.

Onto my weekly picks: (And Again, all picks this week involve REAL money, as stated last week)

Minnesota (+18) over OHIO STATE: Don’t know where to go with this one, so I’m taking the points. Ohio State is either going to be pissed off and win by 35 points, or a T. Pryor turnover will cause the boo birds to be out in full force and it should be a rather safe bet. Knowing Tressel & his offense, I’m taking the points, despite the complete buffoonery of the Minnesota offense.
SCOOPS’ PICK: OHIO STATE 24, MINNESOTA 10

OHIO STATE (-900) over Minnesota: Along those lines, there’s NO F-ING WAY MINNESOTA IS WINNING THIS FOOTBALL GAME! So I want to make a couple of bucks.

Illinois (+11.5) over PURDUE: Why do I keep trying to pick Illinois? Because Purdue, despite their win last week, shouldn’t be 11.5 favorites over ANYBODY in the Big Ten. Taking the points.
FINAL SCORE: PURDUE 24, ILLINOIS 17

Indiana (+4.5) over NORTHWESTERN: Nice backdoor cover last week by Northwestern for me, but Indiana is playing with a bit of moxy, minus the Virginia game. Taking the points again.
FINAL SCORE: NORTHWESTERN 27, INDIANA 24

MICHIGAN (+5) over Penn State: Noticing a trend here? Taking the points again. Penn State’s offense isn’t quite good enough to explode on Michigan, especially given their history at the Big House.
FINAL SCORE: PENN STATE 31, MICHIGAN 27

Iowa (-0.5) over MICHIGAN STATE: Iowa toyed with Wisconsin in the 2nd half. Their defense is good enough to win in any stadium in the Big Ten, and while Michigan State is rebounding a bit from the non-conference start and should make a solid run at a mid-level bowl, Iowa takes care of business and makes all BCS proponents even more scared.
FINAL SCORE: IOWA 24, MICHIGAN STATE 13

Ohio State/Nebraska/Notre Dame/Cincinnati/Southern Miss/Florida/Fresno/USC/Boise Money Line Parlay: Ohio State lost me two of them last week, so one of the other bets I made was instantly doing it all over again with all the other team involved as soon as OSU lost, so I at least got that bet win (although Florida was making things dicey). I’ll try it again, and actually getting better potential payout this week as Notre Dame is not a huge money line favorite over Boston College, so it would be a quality win if this is pulled out.

Georgia Tech (-0.5)/Iowa (+5)/LSU (-1.5) teaser: LSU has Auburn at home, so I like defense to rule the day, and Georgia Tech is smelling a potential conference title after last week’s big win versus VA Tech…no let down vs. Virginia.