Posted Sunday, September 06, 2009 07:08 AM
NCAA YTD: 6-4 (-6.6 units)
NCAA POD: 2-1 (0 units)
Midre Cummings' Concrete Special (3-4 unit): 1-2 (-4.8 units)
Alpine Winners ( 5 unit): 2-2 (-1 unit)
Last play: Sat. night Bama -6.5 W 34-24
Random fact: Abraham Lincoln had a very vivid premonition of his death. Ten days before he was assassinated he dreamt he was in the East Wing of the White House where people were mourning. When he asked a soldier who had died, he was told "The President".
Pretty wild isn't it? Makes you want to follow your gut when betting says this observer. And avoid plays titled: Our American Cousin.
Betting wise I was a timid loser yesterday. Three plays I fell in love with, including Stanford, BYU and California and refused to pull the trigger. Instead, the trigger was pinned back on me.
Rule no. 39: Scared money seldomly makes money.
-----------------------------------Alpine asswipes-------------------------------------
Memphis +17.5 (5.5 to win 5 units)
---------------------------------Midre Cummings--------------------------------------
Memphis ML (2 units to win $1600)
Colorado State +10.5 (4.4 to win 4 units)
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See you in the funny papers.
(2008) Final numbers
NCAA: 80-59-5
NCAA POD: 23-12
Fausto Carmona Special (Bigger): 20-8-1
Alpine Winners ( Biggest): 15-4--1
Fausto has been retired but make way for the brand new (bigger) play to start this wonderful football season. See below..
NCAA YTD: 0-0
NCAA POD: 0-0
Midre Cummings' Concrete Special (3-4 unit): 0-0
Alpine Winners ( 5 unit): 0-0
Welcome back friends! It's been a while, but God bless , we are all back for another college football season.
90% of the world enjoys college athletics for the joy of the game. That leaves the money part for the other 10% of us.
Before I get into my first picks of the season, I want to remind everyone that Big East Stock Report will be kickin' for football season as I did every week for bball. I'll try to catch you up as much as I humanly can on everything Big East football for the year.
---------------------Midre Cummings' Concrete Special-------------------
North Carolina State -5 (5.5 to win 5 units)
It makes me happy that I can find a game like this to start the season off.
Let's talk South Carolina to start with here.
This slinky on an escalator offense is, in essence, going nowhere. They started out and ended the same way last year. Other than Billy Stull (Pitt) I've never seen a quarterback actually get worse in a season like Chris Smelley. And it wasn't like he had a great running game to bail him out. In fact, USC's ground attack averaged just under 100 yards per game which was just three teams away from being the worst in D-1 football. And now you take away two of your best linemen, including Jamon Meredith. So I don't know what is worse, Mike Davis graduated or Eric Baker still there, defecating on what used to be a solid Gamecocks ground game.
BELIEVE ME, when I tell you, from reading all about their camp and the off season, that USC WILL do worse then the 316 yards they averaged last year. This offense, is utterly, embarrassing. Don't expect more than two touchdowns from this crew.
But flip the coin and you find NC State with a sub-par offense and USC with a very solid defense that thrived on their secondary.
But then I see cornerbacks Captain Munnerlyn, Carlos Thomas and Stoney Woodson and safety Emanuel Cook all graduated. And they face one of the more confident quarterbacks in the ACC in Russell Wilson. Spurrier is going to be rotating PLENTY of corners and safeties for this game, evaluating. Looks too me like Russ' is going to rip right through this anything-but-concrete secondary. And I see Jarvis Williams catching most of those passes.
Look forward to the very confident Wilson, who had an impressive 17/1 TD to INT ratio last year lighting up the air in this game, and the season.
The only scary department, which keeps me from betting this under, is NC States defense, which was DEAD LAST in overall stats in the ACC last year. But remember, you have seven starters returning and facing one of the more weaker offenses in their season.
With that being said, a rugged defense is just not enough to keep me from taking NC State tomorrow night.
NC State 31, South Carolina 7
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Bowling Green +7 (2.2 to win 2 units)
Boise State -3.5 (2.2 to win 2 units)
Quick trivia question for you degenerates
How many Final Four appearances has John Calipari had in his coaching career?
A. Zero
B. One
C. All of the Above
As some of you might remember, I did this every week in the college basketball forum.
Obviously this is the first week, so everything is level. As the season progresses, each team gets ranked by stats, injuries, wins, losses, etc, etc, etc. Basically, week one is a VERY brief summary of what each team is working with after camp, and what to expect, for the most part, in the first week of action.
*Stats used this week are from the 2008 season unless otherwise noted.
**As the season begins, stats will be from this, the 2009 year.
***Stock for all teams is level before the season starts.
1. West Virginia 0-0, (0-0), Stock: LEVEL
2008 final record: 9-4, (5-2)
Last game: (2008): W 31-30 in Meineke Car Care Bowl vs. North Carolina
Next game: Sept. 5 vs. Liberty
Strong Point: The Mountaineers return the best running back in the Big East and a Heisman candidate in Noel Devine. The junior Devine rushed for 1,289 yards and four touchdowns. He helped WVU to the 2nd best running game in the Big East in 2008.
Area of Improvement: The irreplaceable Pat White has graduated and WVU will be turning to senior signal caller Jarrett Brown. The problem is, Brown got just 30 attempts under center last year, passing for 114 yards, lacking experience.
Overall Analysis: West Virginia had a bend but don’t break defense last year, giving up just over 300 yards a game. The great news is they return eight starters and three more with fantastic experience, including cornerback Brandon Hogan who led the secondary in tackles and interceptions a year ago. The main reason the Mountaineers don’t find themselves ranked, however, is an unproven offensive line, in which one starter is back, and a very inexperienced quarterback. The first three weeks of the season should be a clear indicator of where this new offense is going.
WOW! This is the first time I've got to sit at home and clamor and yell football with you cats.
I've been to so many damn AAU circuits from Akron (LBJ skills) to Cleveland (King City Classic) to South Carolina (Peach Jam) and soo many more I couldn't bare to speak of because I'd run out of room and patience.
But now that I'm back home, and have been attending the past (and first) three days of Pittsburgh Panthers training camp, I guess it's time to break down the conference I know best for this season.
We'll start with the most polished terd, the Pittsburgh Panthers. Because let's face it, all you are doing is dusting off the best dingleberry with this, the worst of the BCS conferences.
I'm going to profile ONE TEAM A DAY, as these will get very long with quotes, misc info, stats, blah, blah, blah. Gotta go all out to gain the best advantage/perspective of what to expect and be prepared for this season.
(Order of how I VOTED in the 2009 preseason Big East poll)
1. Pittsburgh
2008 results
RECORD: 9-4
BOWL GAME: Brute Sun Bowl L 3-0 vs. Oregon State
Total points/points against: 352/279
BEST WIN: West Virginia 19-14 @ Heinz Field
Turning point in season good/bad: The pinnacle awful moment came in the August 30th opener at Heinz Field in a 27-17 loss to Bowling Green. The Panthers boasted a 14-0 lead within one minute in the second quarter, but would be melted down to a three point advantage, 17-14, by the half. Curious playcalling, including running down the clock to four seconds to settle for a field goal would prove most lethal in the mental department of Pitt, who basically told Bowling Green: "we're scared of your defense." Pitt would cease to score another point, tallying up less than 120 yards in the second half, including crucial mistakes from quarterback Billy Stull and the Panthers defense, who gave up over 200 yards in the two quarters.
KEY DEPARTURES: FB Conrdge Collins, G C.J. Davis, DT Rashaad Duncan, WR Derek Kinder, K Conor Lee, RB LeSean McCoy, LB Scott McKillop, LB Austin Ransom, RB LaRod Stephens-Howling, S Eric Thatcher, T.J. Porter (suspended-permanent), DE Tommie Duhart (suspended-permanent)
KEY RETURNEES: QB Billy Stull, CB Dom DeCicco, DE Greg Romeus, WR Jonathan Baldwin, CB Aaron Berry, CB Jovani Chappel, C Robb Houser, G John Malecki, OT Jason Pinkston, WR T.J. Porter, DE Jabaal Sheard, OT Joe Thomas, WR Oderick Turner, LB Greg Williams, DT Mick Williams
2008 Pitt Panthers Team Stats:
- Rushing Offense: 139.08 (65th in nation, 6th in conference)
- Passing Offense: 203.38 (68, 5)
- Total Offense: 342.46 (77, 7)
- Scoring Offense: 27.08 (50, 3)
- Rushing Defense: 124.15 (29, 4)
- Pass Defense: 193.00 (38, 4)
- Total Defense: 317.15 (27, 3)
- Scoring Defense: 21.46 (35, 6)
- Turnover Margin: -.23 (73, 4)
- Sacks: 2.46 (30, 2)
- Sacks Allowed: 2.46 (101, 8)
(excerpt's from my column)
The Panthers 2008 campaign was something out of a Rodney Dangerfield act. They really did get no respect. But did they even deserve it?
Despite the fact that the entire Pitt fan base scored just as many points in a pitiful Sun Bowl performance as the Panthers' offense did, a lot was accomplished by the blue and gold last fall.
Head coach Dave Wannstedt, now entering his fifth year at Pitt, did earn his first bowl berth, a 3-0 shutout loss to Oregon State in El Paso, TX. The Panthers did finish with nine wins, including an always important win over rival West Virginia. It was a step-by-step showcase, and according to the building blocks, this year could be another leap forward.
Any leap ahead, of course, will have to come with some serious effort, as the Panthers lost two of their most important pieces, one on each side of the ball: tailback Shady McCoy and linebacker Scott McKillop.
The Shady-less offense will operate, most likely, through the hands of returning starter and senior quarterback Bill Stull, as junior Pat Bostick seems to have gained no ground toward earning the starting nod. Last season, Stull was mediocre at best, throwing for just over 2,300 yards and a sketchy touchdown/interception ratio of 9/10. In his last game, the Sun Bowl shutout against Oregon State, Stull went a dismal 7 of 24 for 52 yards and one interception.
The bright side for Stull is a solid and talented receiving core, which includes Cedric McGee, Oderick Turner, Aundre Wright and one of the more dangerous deep threats in the Big East, Jonathan Baldwin. In his freshman campaign last season, Baldwin led the group with 404 receiving yards and a touchdown.
With McCoy in the backfield for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Panthers will be turning to youth this season. The current favorite for No. 1 tailback spot is Dion Lewis. A freshman, Lewis-who averaged over 12 yards per carry at Blair Academy (NJ)-will square off against redshirt freshman Chris Burns and redshirt sophomore Shariff Harris in camp. Harris has the most experience/carries in the Pitt backfield from a year ago. He had just 13 carries.
The new backs and Stull will have the luxury of four returning starters on the offensive line, headlined by tackle Jason Pinkston.
(CON'T)
Thanks to Pitt media relations for this press release.
2009-10 PITT MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
(as of August 6, 2009; schedule subject to change)
Date Opponent (TV) Location Time
Saturday, Oct. 3 BASKETBALL FAN FEST Petersen Events Center 1-4 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 1 SLIPPERY ROCK (Exh.) Petersen Events Center TBA
Sunday, Nov. 8 COKER COLLEGE, S.C. (Exh.) Petersen Events Center TBA
Friday, Nov. 13 WOFFORD Petersen Events Center TBA
O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Tuesday, Nov. 17 BINGHAMTON (ESPN2) Petersen Events Center 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 19 EASTERN KENTUCKY Petersen Events Center 7 p.m.
O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic Semifinals and Finals (Kansas City, Mo.)
Monday, Nov. 23 vs. Iowa, Wichita St. or Texas (ESPN2) Sprint Center 7:30 p.m. or
9:50 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 24 Consolation Game (ESPN-U) Sprint Center 7:45 p.m.
Championship Game (ESPN2) Sprint Center 9:50 p.m.
vs. Iowa, Wichita St. or Texas
Saturday, Nov. 28 YOUNGSTOWN STATE Petersen Events Center TBA
Wednesday, Dec. 2 Duquesne (CBS-CS) Pittsburgh, Pa. TBA
Friday, Dec. 4 NEW HAMPSHIRE Petersen Events Center TBA
Jimmy V. Classic (New York, N.Y.)
Tuesday, Dec. 8 vs. Indiana (ESPN) Madison Square Garden 9 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12 KENT STATE Petersen Events Center TBA
Saturday, Dec. 19 MOUNT ST. MARY’S Petersen Events Center TBA
Tuesday, Dec. 22 OHIO Petersen Events Center TBA
TBA ROBERT MORRIS Petersen Events Center TBA
BIG EAST GAMES (to be released at a later date)
Home Games
DePaul, Georgetown, Louisville, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Villanova, West Virginia.
Away Games
Cincinnati, Connecticut, Marquette, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Seton Hall, South Florida, Syracuse, West Virginia
Tue.-Sat., March 9-13 at Big East Championship (ESPN) New York, N.Y. TBA
March 18-21 NCAA First & Second Rounds (CBS) TBA TBA
March 25-28 NCAA Regionals (CBS) TBA TBA
April 3-5 NCAA Final Four (CBS) Indianapolis, Ind. TBA
All Times Eastern. All home games in CAPS and BOLD. Television games in parentheses. All game times are subject to change.
*indicates Big East Conference games.
All home games played in the Petersen Events Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus. For ticket information, please call (800) 643-PITT or (412) 648-PITT.