Th Epic Path to the Meineke Bowl - Vol 2, Number 2

Week 1 was rough; 1-3 is no way to go through life. Thank god i threw in the "week 1 is dicey" disclaimer, otherwise my credibility would be shot. Hopefully you listened to the critics and stayed away from Michigan...check that - stayed away from the entire Big 10. It sickens me to see these stats, but 1 for 7 is pretty bad:

Conferences ATS, Week 1 (does not include inner conference matchups)

• SEC 6-2
  
• Pac-10 3-1
  
• Big 12 4-3
  
• ACC 2-4
  
• Big 10 1-6
  
• Big East 0-4

The only way I can interpret this is A) Play the SEC; B) Gerry DiNardo will be covering the Big 10's #3 from Detroit in late December; and C) bet your child's college fund against Dave Wannestedt at Pitt's home opener next year.

This is David vs. Goliath week; I'm putting my stones on Goliath

Georgia -24 vs. Central Michigan
The Bulldogs are the consensus #1 team in the land, and the SEC is on another level. What else is there really to say? Central Michigan is a nice MAC team, but just because they took Purdue to the wire in the "Motor City Miracle", don't expect the same against the hedges. Look more towards their 52-7 throttling at Kansas last year as a barometer. This one's over at halftime.

Georgia 56, Central Michigan 14

Arizona -22.5 vs. Toledo
The Wildcats sport a dynamic offense, led by QB Willie Tuitama,an O-line that returns 4 starters, and a stable of receivers. Last week they posted 70 on Idaho, and could have done more damage. It's yet to be seen how they'll fare against real foes, but Toledo doesn't fall into that category. Toledo has a new coach, a new defense, and a transition period is inevitable. They do have a solid QB in Aaron Opelt, but that won't be enough. Lay the points, and think about parlaying the over, which is sitting at 60.

Arizona 63, Toledo 21

Michigan State -21 vs. Eastern Michigan
I know what I said about the Big 10, but welcome back Spartans! I expect year 2 of the D'Antonio to be more of the same as a year ago - good solid defense a strong running game, and the ability to closely cover the spread. Javon Ringer is one of the Big 10's best running backs, and Mark Dell appears to be the next stud Spartan wideout. After a tough loss last week on the west coast, expect the Spartans to please the home crowd with a blowout win over one of D-1A's worst squads.

Michigan State 38, Eastern Michigan 10

Hurricane Hanna Parlay

Northwestern @ Duke, Over 45

Mississippi @ Wake Forest, Over 50

These two games all depend on the weather; if the rain and winds aren't beating down on the state of North Carolina, take the over in both of these. Northwestern returns QBs CJ Bacher and RB Tyrel Sutton to lead an offense than ranked #32 last year and throttled Syracuse last week. Duke has new offensive minded head coach in David Cutcliffe and a 3 year starter at QB in Thaddeus Lewis. Playing at home at night never hurts either, plus Duke beat NW in Evanston a year ago today.

The Deacons have been one of my favorite squads to bet on, and a new spread offense combined with an experienced Riley Skinner at the helm should equal a lot of points. Houston Nutt is at the helm now at Ole Miss, and if that means anything, he'll be creative enough to pull his weight for the over. Last week's thrashing of Memphis and fresh stable of running backs should be enough of an indication of that.

Weekly Pick'Em Results - Last Week;YTD
Dave 6-4; 6-4
Webmaster 6-4; 6-4
Lee 6-4; 6-4
Stasko 6-4; 6-4
Freeman 3-7; 3-7

Games this Week

WAKE FOREST -8 vs. Mississippi
BOSTON COLLEGE -7 vs. Georgia Tech
EAST CAROLINA +8 vs. West Virginia
PENN STATE + 16.5 vs. Oregon State
WASHINGTON + 9.5 vs. BYU
FLORIDA - 21.5 vs. Miami
WASHINGTON ST+13.5 vs. Cal
ARIZONA STATE -14 vs. Stanford
MICHIGAN -14.5 vs. Miami (OH)
DUKE +6.5 vs. Northwestern

Dave: Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, West Virginia,Oregon State,BYU, Florida,Cal,Arizona State,Michigan,Duke

Lee: Wake Forest,Georgia Tech,West Virginia,Penn State, Washington, Miami, Cal,Stanford,Miami(OH), Northwestern

Webmaster: Wake Forest, Boston College, West Virginia, Penn State, BYU,Miami, Washington State,Stanford,Michigan, Northwestern

Freeman: Wake Forest, Boston College, West Virginia, Penn State, BYU,Miami, Cal,ASU,Michigan, Northwestern

Stasko: Wake Forest,Georgia Tech,West Virginia,Penn State, BYU,Miami,Washington State, Arizona State, Michigan,Northwestern