Back in the saddle. That's all I can say. I thought last week was good for me, but it was even better for Scoopsie...nice work, buddy. Jimmy the Greek would be proud.

Last week - 6-3-1
YTD - 21-20-1

Anyway, onto Peoria's picks this week. And sorry about the lack of a Throwdown. The good news it that we are in talks with Tony Mandarich's mother for an interview, hopefully we can get it done next week - stay tuned.

Oklahoma by 6 vs. Texas. Last week I said I was going to pick Oklahoma until they stopped covering. Their O-Line is amazing, and Sam Bradford is quickly becoming the next Josh Heupel...except Bradford is even better. Plus, I like Bob Stoops waaaay more than Mack Brown. On a side note, do you think that Mack Brown might end up being relegated to Mike Shanahan territory someday after the rest of his teams fail to win a title without Vince Young (a la Shanahan-Elway)? The real question right now is figuring out how Mack got Vince to play every week...when Dr. Phil retires, my vote to replace him is Mack Brown. They sound the same, so why not? Oklahoma 48, Texas 31.

The OVER at 61 on the TEXAS A&M/Kansas St. Game. I think the last time K-State won in Collegeville a barrel of oil cost $1.56 and women still couldn't vote. I would love to pick the Wildcats here, but the point is this...Miami put up 52 on the Aggies, and K-State can score. I LOVE the over on this game. If I were into lead pipe things, I would lock this one down. Aggies 38, Wildcats 35.

Vandy by 2 at MISSISSIPPI ST. If the Bulldogs were a piece of military strategy, they would be the pillbox. Tough to break, but completely immobile and lacking any semblance of offensive capability. If Sly Croom is oil, then Mike Leach is water. This game very well might end up being close, but the Bulldogs simply will not score on offense. Barring six blocked punts for TD's, Vandy wins this game going away. Vandy 24, Bulldogs 3.

The OVER on the Notre Dame/UNC game at 46.5. I seem to have these two teams in my picks every week, and why not? They are both exciting, both have great uniforms, and both have interesting head coaches. Captain Clausen seems to be getting the hang of things, although I'm not quite sure why every throw he makes seems to be of the Jeff Blake variety. UNC found a replacement for Yates at QB, thank god, since Mike Paulus still has a 33% completion percentage. Although I still think that might be better than Spurgeon Wynn's numbers when he was with the Vikings. Notre Dame 28, UNC 21.

MISSOURI by 13.5 vs. Oklahoma St. In case you don't have anything to do on Saturday night, keep this in mind...the Over/Under on this game is 79.5 That is not a typo. This should be on of the most fun games to watch this season, unless you are related to Sly Croom, Woody Hayes, or the Slowskys from the Comcast commercials. Missouri will score at will, and I just don't think that the Cowboys can keep up. Mizzou 52, Oklahoma St. 28.

Penn St by 5.5 at WISCONSIN. NEWSFLASH: The Badgers are NOT BCS contenders..they just are not that good. The Ohio State game was closer than it should have been given the talent disparity on the field. Penn State has a vastly underrated defense, and Wisconsin's offense is more of a one-trick pony than William Hung. With budding stars on the Nittany Lion offense coupled with a lunch-pail defense, I like Paterno to increase his lead over Bowden with this win. Penn State 31, Wisconsin 13.

Louisiana State getting 6.5 at FLORIDA. Oh Tim Tebow, where have you gone? Maybe you weren't that good to begin with. Or maybe the talent level around you on offense just isn't that good. Or maybe, despite the "offensive genius" of Urban Meyer (a la Todd Olson), the reality is that winning in the SEC is hard to do without a running back worth his weight in mortgage backed securities. Keep in mind that these days, mortgage backed securities are worthless...which shows you how bad the Florida RB's are. LSU finally found a QB two weeks ago, and their defense is flat out better than Florida's. LSU 24, Florida 20.

The OVER at 48 on the Ball State/WESTERN KENTUCKY grudge match. Scoops told me that Ball State could chuck the ball around the field, and they have been proving it every week. Western Kentucky has shown that they can put loads of points on the board against mediocre defenses, and they should only need to score about 14 points to make the over. Ball State 35, W KY 17.