SCOOPS' PICKS: 11/1/08 "AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME!"

Last Week: 4-6
Season: 48-40
Net Gain/Loss: + $187.50

You can’t win ‘em all. I knew the “all road favorites” was going to roll last weekend in the Big Ten, but sometimes you have to lose money until you’re shown with your own eyes. Kind of like how St. Cloud State could have the greatest hockey team and be undefeated going into the NCAA’s. I’m still not going to wager on them until they prove they have the ability to not choke in an NCAA game.

MINNESOTA (-6.5) over Northwestern: If you would have told me before the year that Minnesota would go to Purdue and not give up a TD, I would not only have taken that bet, but probably put my left testicle as the wagering stick. Don’t know what I could have gotten in return, but clearly I would have lost. Now, Minnesota has confidence and Northwestern is banged up with Sutton out the rest of the season and Bacher having a bum hamstring if he is able to go, which will hurt his mobility and take a big part of what he adds to the Northwestern offense.
SCOOPS’ PICK: MINNESOTA 27, NORTHWESTERN 16

PURDUE (-2) over Michigan: Personally, I think both teams should just kick each other in the nuts and call it a day. The reason I go with Purdue is, despite the stats saying how bad they are, I was impressed with Purdue’s defense, particularly their DL. And I don’t get the stats. They say they’re awful, but they didn’t give up an offensive TD at Ohio State, held Penn State to 20 points, and had Oregon down for a long time. I suppose it just takes a few games like Notre Dame & Northwestern to ruin a stat sheet. Anyway, Michigan was lucky to be within 2 TD’s of Michigan State last week. I give the edge to the defense I like and the home crowd.
SCOOPS’ PICK: PURDUE 20, MICHIGAN 17

Iowa (+125) over ILLINOIS: Clearly, Illinois misses Mendenhall as they don’t have a running game which Juice feeds off of, and he’s forced to make plays through the game. He’ll get yards, but he’ll also make mistakes if he has to do it through the air. Meanwhile, Iowa is simply getting better, they have a solid defense, and a running game that is hammering teams right now.
SCOOPS’ PICK: IOWA 23, ILLINOIS 20

MICHIGAN STATE (-4.5) over Wisconsin: Will there be a letdown against Wisconsin this week for Sparty On? I think they’ll build off of it since they won. Meanwhile, although Wisconsin won, things aren’t all rosey as Beckum was lost for the season. The Badgers have TE depth, but it’s not explosive enough. And the road environment won’t be kind to Dustin Sherrer.
SCOOPS’ PICK: MICHIGAN STATE 27, WISCONSIN 17

INDIANA (-3) over Central Michigan: Not much to say about this one, other than Indiana is coming off a Big Ten win and the offense showed a bit of life. With a defense that isn’t completely inept, that should be enough to beat a MAC team.
SCOOPS’ PICK: INDIANA 30, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 24

Texas (-4) over TEXAS TECH: The Showdown in the Big XII. I correctly thought Texas Tech would walk Kansas and they are a different Tech team than the usual bunch, but Texas can score and be efficient as well. They’ve seen Daniel & Bradford and were able to fend off a good Oklahoma State team. Plus the walk-on kicker that won the kicking contest is a great story (my dream actually), but it’s the kind of thing that doesn’t help you in a game against the #1 team in the country. Make sure all the bulbs in the scoreboard are working!
SCOOPS’ PICK: TEXAS 48, TEXAS TECH 41

Georgia (+6) over Florida [@ Jacksonville]: I think they officially disallowed it to be called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party due to the apparent nature of college football fans in the south enjoying alcohol. Either way, we return to the scene where one year ago Mark Richt challenged his team to show some emotion and they acted with the greatest post TD celebration in the history of mankind where the entire team stormed the field after the Dawgs took a 6-0 lead early in the game, saying “hell with the 15 yard penalty,” which caused Urban Meyer a great deal in anger simply because he hadn’t thought of this brilliant idea first. Georgia’s offense got on track at LSU, but so did Florida’s two weeks prior to against LSU. Two damn good teams, and just going with the points in this case.
SCOOPS’ PICK: FLORIDA 20, GEORGIA 17

OLE MISS (-6) over Auburn: Wow did Auburn look awful last Thursday night at West Virginia. They are a program in turmoil and usually you go one of two ways: rally around the coach or fold up and get taken doggy. In the SEC, rarely do you right the ship simply because you want it more. Lots of angry men running around a football field down there. I say I say….emancipate from Tommy Tuberville!
SCOOPS’ PICK: OLE MISS 31, AUBURN 17