Four out of five sure ain’t a bad way to start the season. Believe me….I’ve had much worse. I pinned down all of my picks except for South Carolina-Vanderbilt. I had Vandy winning 17-10. It looked like that was pretty close to happening before the Commodores unflatteringly shit the bed. West Virginia, Florida State, Houston, and Texas A&M all won and covered. I warned you guys to stay away from Tennessee-App. State, Northwestern-Western Michigan, and clearly Las Vegas knew something about Texas that we didn’t. Overall, a pretty solid week for Big Natural.
After what was without a doubt the greatest opening weekend in college football history, it’s imperative we don’t overreact to what we saw in week one. Tennessee is still a contender. Ole Miss is still a prolific offensive team. Oklahoma still gets to run through the Big 12, and Texas isn’t back just yet. Let’s hold our horses before we’re planning parades in Austin, Houston, and Madison.
Football is in full swing now, with the NFL kicking off last night and the rest of the games taking place Sunday and Monday. All is right with the world….well, unless your fantasy opponent this week started CJ Anderson…as happened in three of the four leagues I’m in. We’ll save that for another column: sour grapes.
On to the picks!
NCAAF: Duke -5.5 vs. Wake Forest – Wake Forest failed to score more than seven on a weak Tulane team in week one. Meanwhile, it doesn’t look like much has changed at Duke, who defeated lowly North Carolina Central 49-6. The Blue Devils are at home, finely tuned, and ready for the first ACC showdown of the season. Heaven help the Demon Deacons.
NCAAF: Kentucky +16 at Florida – Don’t sleep on Southern Miss. That’s a quality program and a dark horse Group of 5 contender for the New Year’s Six. Kentucky should have beaten the Golden Eagles soundly, but fell apart and allowed the monstrous rally. On the other side of this equation is a Florida team that struggled to put away UMass. A 16-point spread is a bit of a knee jerk reaction here – the Wildcats know they can’t fall to 0-2, while the Gators are still trying to figure things out. Kentucky may not win, but I don’t think this game gets more out of hand than 14 points.
NCAAF: Tennessee -11 vs. Virginia Tech – Were the Vols ready for that #9 ranking? One might say so after the result of the first game, but I’m not one to panic. Appalachian State is a quality team that is built to beat teams like Tennessee. It’s that easy, plain and simple. Virginia Tech was actually down to Liberty before depth eventually took its toll and the Hokies pulled ahead. That won’t happen in a raucous environment at the Battle at Bristol. Vols take over late in the fourth quarter and put it away 35-20.
NCAAF: NC State -5.5 at East Carolina – East Carolina may be a dark horse contender in the American Conference, but I’m not ready to buy in after a big win over Western Carolina. Boise State transfer Ryan Finley will pick apart the Pirates defense. Watch out for the Wolfpack this season.
NFL: Cincinnati -3 at New York Jets – I’m high on Cincinnati this season. Why? God knows. They’ve proven to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Dazzling during the regular season, but stale and flat in the playoffs, when the games matter most. Still, the AFC is wide open. New York is a well-balanced team, but considering this Bengals regime’s tendency to start hot, I like them an awful lot at -3.
Interesting lines
NCAAF: Penn State +5 vs Pittsburgh – Meeting for the first time in sixteen years, I just don’t know where to go with this one. Convincing arguments to be made on both sides – so, what do you do when you can’t settle in on a gut prediction? You stay the hell away.
NCAAF: Mississippi State -7 vs. South Carolina – Tempted to suggest the Bulldogs here. I still don’t think South Carolina is going to be very good, and the Bulldogs should be out for hard justice after the devastating, season-ending loss to South Alabama. Still….South Alabama…..think I’ll sit this one out.
NCAAF: Illinois +8 vs. North Carolina – I’m a big fan of Illinois this season. I think they can hang within a touchdown of the Tar Heels, if not win outright. I still want to see it before I believe it, though.
NCAAF: Utah -3.5 vs. BYU – This is the perfect spot to catch an overrated BYU squad, but Utah looked a little sluggish on offense in week one. Four points seems like easy money here, but I don’t particularly trust the Utes enough to make that call just yet.
NFL: San Diego +7 vs. Kansas City – I’ve told whoever will listen that the AFC West is going to be completely flipped around this season. Judging by last night’s performance, I don’t think Denver is going to be as bad as I initially predicted, but I still think there’s a lot of talent in Oakland and San Diego to make this the most competitive division in the NFL. I like the Chargers here, but as I’ve said before in this column, I want to see it to believe it.
Season Record: (4-1)
Last Week: (4-1)
’til next week!
Stoney Keeley is the editor of the SoBros Network, Tennessee Titans Featured Analyst for Pro Football Spot, and covers the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley,@PFSpot, @WrestlingNewsCo
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