Well after watching the first couple games of the Big 12 weekend I was wondering whether I should simply quit writing this column and making my predictions since it seemed I couldn't get a single game right. Luckily a few Big 12 teams got me some wins this weekend, while not a stellar weekend of picking it was much better than the opening weekend.
So down below are the games, their spreads, my predictions and the actual results. Please feel free to make any comment you want about any of the games and/or my picks.
Please note the spreads I use come from the website www.vegasinsider.com and I try to use the most common spread listed amongst the different sports books assuming there is a variance.
Iowa State Cyclones at Connecticut Huskies - UConn is a 4.5 point favorite at home
Friday - 7:00 Central - ESPN2
MY PREDICTION: A tough game right out of the box here with an Iowa State team who is coming off a triple OT victory over in-state rival Iowa but now has to travel to the East Coast to take on UConn on a Friday night. My small knowledge of the Huskies this year is that they pretty much stink on offense but their defense is very good. These Friday night games always seem to favor the home team and with the travel and the expected let-down by Iowa State I am going to say UConn wins this one and covers the spread. I will say though that I wouldn't be surprised one bit if Paul Rhoads keeps his team from having the presumed letdown, I think he is a damn good coach and one Iowa State is lucky to have in charge.
RESULT: Iowa State 24 - UConn 20
Very impressive come from behind win by the now 3-0 Cyclones who tried to bury themselves early but a combination of strong Iowa State defense along with a putrid UConn offense allowed them to stay close and eventually pull this one out. My prediction of a UConn win and cover looked promising when Steele Jantz was throwing picks like crazy but that UConn offense is horrible.
0-1
Kansas Jayhawks at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - GTech favored by 15 points
Saturday - 11:30 Central - FSN
MY PREDICTION: For a team that is 2-0 and looking fairly proficient on offense it doesn't appear that the oddsmakers are giving the Jayhawks much respect. KU won in a matchup last year between these two teams but with it being an out of conference matchup I can't see Georgia Tech really harboring any major feelings of revenge here. I'll be honest I have not seen a single second of action of either team this year so I am really looking forward to watching this game. Jordan Webb from all indications has been very impressive and he has some talent to work with in the backfield with Darrian Miller. The Jayhawks will be short two WR's though as Daymond Patterson and JaCorey Shepherd are both injured and ruled out for Saturday. Even though I don't think KU will be able to stop much of anything with their defense, especially after losing John Williams on the defensive line, this spread is too high in my opinion and I am going to go with the Jayhawks and the points here. Even though I think KU will probably lose the game I don't think Georgia Tech covers this spread.
RESULT: Georgia Tech 66 - Kansas 24
Another game where I felt fairly good about my pick all the way up to halftime and then it got ugly in a hurry. I don't even know what to say here other than my first time watching the Jayhawks this year was not a pleasant viewing experience as a Big 12 fan. On the bright side for KU, Darrian Miller is a stud now and going to be fun to watch for awhile. So anyways KU did not keep Georgia Tech from covering the spread so another loss for me.
0-2
Texas Longhorns at UCLA Bruins - Texas favored by 4 points on the road
Saturday - 2:30 Central - ABC
MY PREDICTION: I will be perfectly honest this is a game where if I were in Vegas and actually placing my hard earned money down on a few games, I would avoid this one. I think it could go either way since I don't really know what to expect out of Texas at the QB spot. For now the starting role appears to be Case McCoy's with Garrett Gilbert finally relegated to the bench. UCLA only had a 10 point victory last week against San Jose State but they do get Kevin Prince back at QB after he was knocked out of the opener vs Houston with a concussion. Since I am not quite sold on the Longhorns being fully back I am going to take the safer bet in my opinion by taking the home team here getting the points. My guess is either an outright UCLA win or Texas wins by a field goal margin.
RESULT: Texas 49 UCLA 20
Well I am not fully on the Texas bandwagon but I am darn close I would say after watching a good portion of this game yesterday. The Longhorns trio of Case McCoy, Malcolm Brown & D.J. Grant all had big days and UCLA looked nothing like the team that traveled into Austin and won last year. I thought the safe bet here was taking the home team getting points but I couldn't have been more wrong.
0-3
Texas Tech Red Raiders at New Mexico Lobos - Tech favored by 20 points on the road
Saturday - 2:30 Central - No TV
MY PREDICTION: The Red Raiders were off last weekend following their 40 point opening victory over Texas State. The Lobos of New Mexico meanwhile only wish they had last weekend off as they traveled to Arkansas and were pummeled by a score of a 52-3. This followed up their opening weekend loss to Colorado State so with the reported turmoil already hanging over the New Mexico program there is a chance the Lobos already throw in the towel. I know this game is on the road but I have to believe that Tech should be able to go in and win by at least 3 touchdowns. I am going to pick Texas Tech to win this game and cover the spread.
RESULT: Texas Tech 59 New Mexico 13
Seth Doege threw for 401 yards and five touchdowns in this one as Tech led by a score of 38-7 at halftime and 52-7 after three quarters. Finally a game that I got correct as I didn't think a New Mexico team coming off a 49 point loss should be able to compete with the Red Raiders.
1-3
Western Illinois Leathernecks at Missouri Tigers - Tigers favored by 30.5 points at home
Saturday - 6:00 Central - FSN pay per view
MY PREDICTION: Another early season contest where an FCS school comes in to get beat down and collect their check. As everyone knows Missouri is coming off a tough loss at Arizona State in OT but at least in that game James Franklin played at a much higher level than he did in the opener. The Tigers are dealing with numerous injuries and Gary Pinkel even talked of moving wide receiver T.J. Moe into the backfield to get some carries. I for one love this idea since I have Moe on my college fantasy football team and could use the easy points. As for this game even though 30.5 points is alot I am going to have to pick Missouri to win the game and cover this spread.
RESULT: Missouri 69 Western Illinois 0
Well I don't really know what can be said here as Missouri simply trashed the Leathernecks and got some positive momentum on their side. Henry Josey had a great fantasy football day as he ran for 263 yards and 3 touchdowns which begs the question why Gary Pinkel wasn't getting him more carries before the other running backs got hurt. Even though I thought the spread was big at 30.5 points clearly it wasn't even close but I did get this one right as I thought the Tigers would cover.
2-3
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks at Baylor Bears - NO line listed
Saturday - 6:00 Central - No TV
MY PREDICTION: Well pretty much any line they would put here I am most likely going to lean on picking Baylor to cover it. Robert Griffin and Kendall Wright are simply sick.
RESULT: Baylor 48 Stephen F. Austin 0
This game was called early due to lightning and the final was still 48-0, enough said.
Idaho Vandals at Texas A&M Aggies - Aggies favored by 35.5 points
Saturday - 6:00 Central - FSN pay per view
MY PREDICTION: Another one of these games where you know the Aggies are going to win by a wide margin but simply a guess on how much they run it up. In their one game this year A&M defeated SMU by a score of 46-14 with Cyrus Gray having a solid effort with 132 yards and 2 TD's. I think the final score of this game might fall somewhere in line with the opener so I am going to gamble and take Idaho and the points here and say the Aggies won't quite cover.
RESULT: Texas A&M 37 Idaho 7
A nice backdoor cover for me here as A&M was leading 37-0 late in the fourth quarter before Idaho scored a TD with 2:18 left to go to make my prediction correct. As for the game Cyrus Gray went over 100 yards again along with 2 td's. Up next for the Aggies is a battle with Oklahoma State.
3-3
Kent State Golden Flashes at Kansas State Wildcats - Wildcats favored by 17.5 points
Saturday - 6:00 Central - FCS
MY PREDICTION: Well talk about a must see game here it is (sarcasm). You have K-State who barely snuck by the powerhouse that is Eastern Kentucky taking on 0-2 Kent State who is coming off a loss at the hands of Louisiana Lafayette. As is the case with so many of these "preseason" games in college football you never really know much if anything about the opponent that the major team is playing as is the case here with Kent State. I know the Golden Flashes are under a new head coach this season and they are coming off a 5-7 season and that is pretty much about all I know. One thing to watch in this game is the play of starting QB Collin Klein for KSU as another mediocre to poor performance could lead Bill Snyder for the third straight season to start juggling quarterbacks. I do think this a game where K-State gets some of their confidence back as they prepare for their next game against Miami so I am picking KSU to win this game and to cover this spread. ** PS the list of former Kent State players or alumni in the NFL is pretty impressive: Jack Lambert, Antonio Gates, James Harrison, Joshua Cribbs and Julian Edelman are a few of the names.
RESULT: Kansas State 37 Kent State 0
This game and cover was completed by halftime as K-State led 34-0 nothing at intermission before putting on the brakes and finishing up with the shutout. I expected the Wildcats to come out with a much better effort and this is exactly what happened. Colling Klein was solid for K-State at QB but Bryce Brown did not play with what Bill Snyder described as a minor injury aka he is in the doghouse.
4-3
Oklahoma State Cowboys at Tulsa Golden Hurricane - OSU favored by 13.5 points
Saturday - 9:00 Central - FSN
MY PREDICTION: Another very interesting game and a tough one to place your money down and be confident about your selection. The Cowboys have been very impressive so far behind Justin Blackmon and Brandon Weeden, not to mention stud young RB Joseph Randle. I do believe Tulsa is a better team than what was shown when they traveled to face OU the first week of the season and got blasted by a score of 47-14. This game will be at Tulsa with a start time of 9 P.M.central time so the crowd should be fully lubed up and the atmosphere should be crazy. I have to think that the Tulsa players will be amped up emotionally and will throw everything they have early at the Cowboys so I think this game will be closer than what some people think. While I think Oklahoma State is the better team they will get tested and must prove their toughness here. I am going to pick the Cowboys to win the game but not cover this spread.
RESULT: Oklahoma State 59 Tulsa 33
Well I did not stay up late enough to watch this game as it didn't get started, yes started, until after midnight due to weather. From what I read it appears that Brandon Weeden and the Cowboys had little trouble in this one as Tulsa lost their starting qb to injury and Tulsa's defense could not stop anything. I thought this game would be fairly close, so I definitely missed the boat here and thought too highly of Tulsa.
4-4
Oklahoma Sooners at Florida State Seminoles - Sooners favored by 3 points
Saturday - 7:00 Central - ABC
MY PREDICTION: Here we have the best game of the college weekend as the #1 ranked Sooners travel to Tallahassee to take on the #5 Seminoles. Last year in a matchup of these two teams the Sooners absolutely demolished Florida State but I wouldn't expect that to happen again this season. The main reason for my belief that this game will be closer is that this game won't take place in Norman where OU almost never loses. On the road is a somewhat different story as OU's starting QB Landry Jones record as a starter in road contests is only 4-5 and he has turned the ball over more than Bob Stoops would like. All that being said I think the offense of the Sooners will be too much with Jones, Ryan Broyles & the return of Kenny Stills from suspension. I am going to pick OU to weather the storm early and come out victorious while also covering the spread.
RESULT: Oklahoma 23 Florida State 13
Well it wasn't easy but the Sooners come away from their toughest game so far with a solid double digit victory. The game and the cover was in doubt in the 4th quarter as it was a tie ballgame but Landry Jones hit Kenny Stills with a touchdown pass and the Sooners added a late field goal to salt away the game.
5-4
MY OLD RECORD AGAINST SPREAD THIS SEASON: 2-8
MY NEW RECORD AGAINST SPREAD THIS SEASON: 7-12
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