14-6 main picks

10-3 in Goofy Games

Boy, off of this nice start, I wish I felt better about this card.  All sorts of game where I just don't understand the lines and/or the movement thereof.   Even the lines for the Goofy Games seem about right.  Anyway, let's see what we can make of this mess:

California -2.5 at Nevada - I think I've seen this movie before.  There's a scene in one of the Indiana Jones films (I think) where a guy does all sorts of martial arts crap and generally looks menacing, and then Indy just shoots him.  That's sort of how Nevada works.  They have this really fun offense with all sorts of misdirection and weird formations, and it all works just great until the run into somebody with size and speed.  Air Wolf meet California.   41-23.

Houston -3 at UCLA - There might be five defenses in the country that would shut down this offense , and the Bruins don't own one of them. Cougs actually play a little defense these days, and a little is generally all you need against what's left of this program.

Mississippi State +7.5 at Louisiana State - Halley's Comet shows up more often than Tiger home conference covers. Dogs get a couple of extra days to prepare for the Tiger's one-two punch of terrible quarterbacking   and confusion in the defensive secondary  .  Bulldogs get this outright.

Florida State -10 vs. Brigham Young - A better BYU team faced a lesser FSU team in Provo last year and got annihilated.   I am at a loss to see why that should change here.

Colorado State +7 at Miami University - so let's see: You're terrible, but play a decent half on national tv against a Florida team that was unable to master the subtle nuances of snapping the football.  Then you're life-and-death at home that hasn't won a game since Chastity Bono was a girl, and you're a td fav against a team from the Mountain West?  I'm in.   

Oklahoma State -7 vs. Tulsa - not sure that the Hurricane has done over the last 18 months to merit this sort of line respect.  They'll get their punches in, but should have a terrible time getting off the field on defense. 45-31.

Goofy Games: 

New Hampshire -21 at Rhode Island - it's almost impossible to explain how bad Rhody is.

Syracuse -22 vs. Maine - Maine was shut out by Albany, which is probably all you need to know.  Orange have things pointed in the right direction and should name the score here.

Harvard -3 vs. The College of the Holy Cross (play of the week) - Fair Harvard damn near beat a much better Crusader team last year in Worcester.  The Crimson,  pre-season pick to win the Ivy, will return the favor under the lights along the banks of the Charles.

Dartmouth -4 at Bucknell - Bison apparently got very bad very fast. They've already lost to Duquesne and Marist.  Big Green won't be good, but should be way better than Marist.