The Guru still lives up to his name in the pro game, being 17-11 for the season so far.
Still not so hot with college though. 12-16-1 in a disappointing year so far.
Click here to see Jerod’s picks from earlier this week and then follow after the jump for this week’s college and NFL picks.
This Saturday, the 19th ranked Fighting Irish will take on their long-time rivals, the Navy Midshipmen.
Notre Dame’s game last week against Washington State was the first boring game the Irish have played all year as they swamped the Cougars 40-14. Even though it was a boring, one-sided game, I was happy.
For one time in the season the Irish dominated a team they should have dominated.
This week the Irish play the Midshipmen in a rival that began in 1927. The Irish have a 71-10-1 edge on the rivalry. The Irish had a NCAA record of 43 straight wins against the Navy, but that was broken in 2007 when the Midshipmen won in OT. Even though the rivalry has been one-sided both teams hold this game in high regard. Both teams respect each other, and that’s what gives this game a little extra meaning.
In Major League Baseball, teams in the race looking to make a late-season push will make a deadline deal to improve their roster. Case in point: the Phillies acquiring Cliff Lee.
In the NFL, teams looking to overcome longshot playoff odds get inventive with their playbook, like the Miami Dolphins did last year in using the Wildcat to power them to a playoff berth.
In college basketball, coaches will often loosen the reins on talented freshman during the second half of the season in an effort to unleash the potential of their teams, hoping it sparks a March run.
In college football, our national paragon of amateurism and integrity, schools and conferences hoping to achieve their postseason goals actually seek areas outside of their actual performance on the field to get a leg up on their competition.
Today’s example is Boise State, via the WAC, which has reportedly hired a PR firm to help the Broncos in their quest to make the BCS.
Standing at 4-4 on the season, the Lane Kiffin Project has been somewhat successful.
The Volunteers have put two different teams on the field this year: one has been reminiscent of last season’s mediocre squad, with a sputtering offensive attack; the other has been a motivated SEC contender that can play with any team in the nation.
A week ago, the Vols had a chance to knock off one of the top teams in the country in Alabama. Tennessee dropped the game 12-10 after a last second blocked field goal by Alabama’s gargantuan defensive tackle Terrence Cody. Finishing games in the fourth quarter has been an Achilles heel for Kiffin’s squad.
The plot is beginning to thicken, as they say, now that the calendar has turned to November.
Florida, Texas, and Alabama still appear to be the class of college football, with people still wondering exactly how good teams like Iowa, Boise State, and TCU really are.
And then there are the Oregons — teams written off because of an early season loss that have rebounded — who are charging up the top 25 and looking to play spoiler, if not outright BCS party crasher.
Let’s look ahead to Week 10 and the tv schedule and point spreads for Saturday, November 7th. LSU-Alabama is obviously the biggest game on the schedule, but there are some other ones that you’ll want to keep your eye on as well.
We’re a little light on the updates today, but we’ll have something special for you later this evening or tomorrow morning: an interview with Jimmy Traina of SI.com’s Hot Clicks.
As a preview, I want to highlight a great line a few minutes ago in a story that I found while making my way towards today’s Hot Clicks (starring the lovely Minka Kelly). The line is from SI.com college football Stewart Mandel and sounds like the kind of observation we’d hear in a Jerry Seinfeld stand-up routine.
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(Editor’s Note: The Sports Agent Corner is our periodic Q&A with Dallas-based sports agent Gary Glick of Synergy Sports, Inc. Learn more about Gary and see his list of past and present clients at the Synergy Sports website.)
MSF: Give us an update on your players currently on NFL rosters.
Gary Glick: Interesting year so far. We had several that were released and several doing well. One of the ones to watch is Mike Adams at Arizona (#27). He is small at 5’8” but has been very effective on special teams and is a very sure tackler.
MSF: How does the beginning of the UFL influence your landscape? Is this a place where you are going to actively direct your clients who cannot make it on an NFL roster right now? Is the UFL immediately on par, better than, worse than the CFL?
The college football Week 10 TV schedule and point spreads, for the week of Saturday, November 7th, have been posted!
Follow the link to view the college football TV schedule and point spreads for the week of November 7th.
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It’s time to look ahead to this Saturday with this weekend’s college football TV schedule and point spreads.
The majority of this weekend’s games will be played on October 31st, which is, of course, Halloweeen. With top teams like Florida, Iowa, and Texas all being favored by nine points or more, their fans are certainly hoping that Saturday does not turn out to be a night of terror.
Last week was picture perfect for the NFL going 3-0, with a record of 14-8 for the year. As for college…not so hot, in fact terrible, with 9 wins and 13 losses. We are still searching for our first huge week. Sorry for the short recap on the games this week, but here they are.
Last week, the ‘Stache (aka KVB) went 4-3 picking the most important games on the college football schedule. His biggest disappointment, of course, was Ohio State’s shocking loss to Purdue.
This week, we don’t have marquee matchups like Oklahoma-Texas and USC-Notre Dame, but there are some pivotal games across the country that will go along way towards deciding conference championships.
Among the games Jerod and the ‘Stache look at this week: BYU-TCU, Iowa-Michigan State, and Penn State-Michigan, among others.
In addition, they take a look back at Ohio State’s loss to Purdue and discuss the future of Terrelle Pryor, plus take a look at the opening BCS standings. And Jerod poses an important question: would the ‘Stache, a dyed-in-the-wool Buckeye fan, become a Michigan fan in exchange for a college football playoff.
You’ll have to listen to find out the answer, and to get your college football picks.
The college football Week 10 TV schedule and point spreads, for the week of Saturday, November 7th, have been posted!
Follow the link to view the college football TV schedule and point spreads for the week of November 7th.
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This past weekend featured a few surefire gems in Texas-Oklahoma and USC-Notre Dame. Neither game disappointed as both games were one possession away from the lead changing when the final buzzer sounded.
In all, there were five matchups between top 25 teams to keep college football fans excited.
This weekend? Not so much.
TCU-BYU highlights what is a pretty lackluster week of matchups. Of course, this will probably mean that Week 8 of the 2009 college football season will end up being the most dramatic; and it could be, if Mississippi State can upset Florida, or Tennessee can upset Alabama, or Missouri can upset Texas.
Of course, based on the point spreads, none of these upsets appears likely.
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Yesterday, I caught the following blurb on Pro Football Talk, in reference to “new developments” that CBS is promising in the ongoing investigation into Steve McNair’s murder:
CBS promises that Keteyian’s findings will expose “critical flaws in the police investigation and raises troubling questions about the events leading up to the two deaths.”
My reaction after reading?
“I wonder what Robert Littal has to say about this.”
And if you want to know why Robert’s name was the first I thought of, take a quick minute to review Littal’s coverage of the Steve McNair murder investigation at Black Sports Online (this post in particular).
So I asked Robert what he thought these “new developments” might be (obvious teaser: the former boyfriend?!?), and he graciously agreed to answer via the burgeoning MSF Podcast, with the resulting insight just a click away.
O.K so the GURU is surging with the Pro games after last week’s stellar performance. 11 wins 8 losses so far on the year.
Still struggling with the college picks though, with 7 wins and 9 losses. I firmly believe I can turn around the ship this week in the college.
Pro picks later today, college picks right now:
Last week, Georgia was supposed to walk into Knoxville, smack Tennessee right in the mouth, and walk out with a victory.
Apparently Lane Kiffin and the Vols didn’t get the memo.
Saturday is a huge day for the Notre Dame football team as they go against the 6th ranked USC Trojans. The Trojans have beaten the Irish seven years straight, and since the “Bush Push” the Trojans have won easily every time.
Still the Irish players believe they can beat the Trojans.
A win against the Trojans would elevate not only the Notre Dame coaches and players, but all their fans as well. The Irish have a stellar offense, but they haven’t seen a defense as good as the Trojans.
It will be a tough challenge, but one that means a lot to both teams.
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