This weekly wagering contest will reward the best football prognosticator with a $100 gift certificate from a meat/steak company. New guys can still join in any time and you don't have to make a pick every week. You can post your plays any time, but they must be posted before a game you are playing kicks off. You must make your picks in this thread and you must provide at least one reason for each pick. Minimum 50 picks to qualify by the end of the contest.

..........................This Week.....Season...........%
Mitch Cumstein.........6-2...........39-15-4.........72
buryman..................4-1.............9-5.............64
Bud Dude...............10-3...........24-15-1.........62
Nas..........................3-2...........30-24-3.........56
Mustang Rob.............0-0...........15-14-2.........52
Hawkeye Vince.........8-4...........25-24-2.........51
Evergreen Tommy.....3-3............3-3..............50
At Large...................2-2.............2-2.............50
good dolphin.............0-2...........23-24-1.........49
Chus......................13-15........107-117-6.......48
FarveFan..................6-0...........26-28-3.........48
schmitty1211............7-5...........21-23-2.........48
Gloopan Kuratz.........4-4-1........15-17-1.........47
a retard....................2-1...........11-13-1.........46
Irish Boy..................1-0...........38-46-4.........45
reents......................5-8...........40-52-6.........43
BD..........................1-0..............3-4.............43
newper....................0-0.............7-10-2..........41
Boilermaker Rick.......0-0...........14-21...........40
muman89.................2-2...........13-23-1.........36
donspiracy................0-0...........12-22...........35
hootmon...................0-0...........9-18-2..........33
Darren-Tinley Park....2-4...........13-30-1.........30
Chuckle Nuts.............0-0............2-7.............22
Coasttocoast.............0-0............0-2..............0


Overall__________501-559-42_______47.3%
Three Week Trend_
NFL Week 8_______79-58-1_________57.7%
NFL Week 7_______93-87-1_________51.7%
NFL Week 6_______72-87-11________45.3%

_________________
CSFMB: Home of the small minded

Pinnaclesports.com

Green Bay +1 over Kansas City
If GB can take care of denver on the road on a MNF game, Im not worried about this one. Packers front 7 contains LJ, and KC wont move the ball through the air.

Panthers +4 over Titans
Panthers are 4-0 on the road, 0-3 at home. I think they almost keep the streak alive, and lose 21-20.

Jaguars +3 over Saints
This line is silly. Im still not a believer in the Saints, and I see the Jags winning by 3-4.

Bills +1 over Bengals
The Bills have been covering lately and its realistically time to realize the Bengals just arent that good.

Chargers -7 over Vikings
Chargers are rolling now. Im a bit worried about LT facing that stout run D, but I think the Chargers offense will be too much.

Browns -1 over Seahawks
Two potential playoff teams, Ill take the AFC contender over the NFC contender every day of the week.

Patriots -5 over Colts
Patriots/Colts OVER 56.5
Im cautiously optimistic about the Colts but I would feel like an idiot if I took the Colts and the Pats won like 48-21 again.

Cowboys -3.5 over Eagles
Another silly line. The Eagles have struggled all year, and the Cowboys have looked really good and are coming off a bye. They should easily take care of business.

_________________
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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

FF, no reasons? That's the best part so when you look back and see how wrong poeple are about how the game will go. Like my CMU-Clemson game two weeks ago when i said CMU would hang in there. They got beat 71-14. Good stuff there.

Pats - Colts - Over 56.5 points. I am just hoping and praying for a shootout for the aspect of a fun game to watch with lots of winging it around. I am also not playing anyone in fantasy with wither of those stud QB's.

Panthers - Titans - Over 36 points. A lot of early games in the mid to high 30s which is tempting to parlay them all but i won't. These teams can put up points even with Titans strong defense.

Jaguars - Saints - Jags win by more than 3.5. I like the Saints of this year showing up and not last year Saints who we saw last week. Sorry W_Z. I don't care who QB's the Jags.

Bengals - Bills - I'm offically on the Bills bandwagon and they will win the 1.5 points. JP Losman is not the answer but Bengals will emplode even more this week. Ocho-Cinco turns into TO this week.

Seahawks - Browns - Under 47 points. I see a 28-14 type game in the future. No real explanation just popped out at me.

Pats - Colts - Wish i would have gotten it earlier but like i said before don't stop riding the train. Pats win by more than 6 (gulp).

Georgia Tech -2.5 against Virginia Tech
UNDER 40

Tech's defense was greatly aided by that rain last week. When the rain stopped BC always seemed to move the ball. I don't like VT offense at all. I'll take the home team giving less than 3 here.

The play on this one is the under. GT with top two RBs out. VT incredibly unimpressive on O. Two good Ds.

Temple +7.5 at Ohio

The Owls are slowly moving back into football respectability. They have a nice young defense that keeps games close. The hook is key.

Iowa +1.5 at NU

Well, starting out 1-2. As pointed out in the Sun Times this week, NU is 8 points away from being 1-7 this season. Their offense has not been impressive against questionable Ds the last couple of weeks. I think Iowa shuts them down here.

Navy +3 at ND

I'm all about history being broken. It's one of those situations where you say, if navy will ever beat them this will be the year. If you have the ability to do so, take the money line.

ASU +7.5 at Oregon

The ASU D alone should be able to keep this within 7. I love it with the hook. Maybe a small play if it goes to 7.

Ohios St -16 against Wisconsin

It's the Big 1 and little 10 this year. There is nothing impressive about Wisconsin. I think this one will be about 41-10.

Boston College -7 against Florida State

I was very impressed with the resiliency of BC last week. They took a beating and should have lost. Then, boom went the dynamite, and they put up a 10 spot in 5 minutes on the road against a defense that is very, very good. This is under double digits only because of reputation. Put this one down as my play of the day.

Steelers -9 against Ravens

This is to get over .500 this week. I don't see how the Ravens are going to score points in this game. The Raven D is living mostly on reputation. I think Pitt will be able to run on them.

Arizona State +7 1/2
Sun Devils' stellar defense comes up big late at Oregon where AZ State has won its last two games. Carpenter will play and have a big game.

Colts/Pats Under 56, Pats -5 1/2
Sure there's been a lot of scoring from these two teams but in many cases these teams' opponents haven't had very good defenses. It'll be close but I'll take this high number. Been on the Pats for awhile and they cover yet again.


Ohio State -15 1/2
Wisconsin just isn't getting it done on the road and Hill may or may not play. Buckeyes cover a number that may rise before kickoff.

Bills +1
At home with Losman starting the Bills offense finally comes alive.

Lions -3
Tough loss last week for Denver and I don't see them recovering quickly enough on the road with its injury problems. Lions win by a touchdown.

Ravens/Steelers Over 36
Both teams are known more for their defensive prowless but under the lights Monday night they'll manage 40.

Bills +1 I'm on that Buffalo bandwagon too, especially at home.

NE -5.5 No one has been even close to the Pats.

Bal +9 Off a bye playing the simple Steeler offense, coming off a bad loss at the aformentioned Bills.

Purdue +7 I'm hoping that the Boilermakers play big against a big team for once.

Mich -4 Can't believe this small spread.

U of Washington -3 Harbaugh gets his lunch handed to him.

Va Tech +2.5 Line seems lite here too

Holy shit Cumstein!!!

That is a remarkable percentage. Especially considering the volume of games you've picked.

You should start a 900 gambling phone service.

And start giving it a little earlier in the week so that we may all enjoy the benefits of your knowledge. I may just follow all of your feelings this weekend...well, at least your football feelings.

Cumstein should stop, he's past the 50. Law of averages says he's going to regress.

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

Don,
are you keeping track of the CSFMB total ?
Looks like Mitch & Darren cancel each other out

_________________
“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

I don't know if we have to repost our picks, because I did it last week's topic, becuase this wasn't up yet but for tonight I went with

Virginia TEch +2.5

Thurs Nite

Over 40.5 VT/GT

Last three between these two the lowest pts scored was 54. This year the lowest pts scored in a VT road game has been 55. VT D not as dominant away from home.

Lemme run the numbers.

_________________
CSFMB: Home of the small minded

I posted this in last weeks topic by mistake, but I'll take the hit on Ga Tech....

----

Ga Tech -2.5 -- Virginia Tech is overrated in my book (Boston College is as well, so you can't use last week as any guide.) Beating Virginia Tech is relatively straightforward... don't turn the ball over and you'll win. With the exception of the BC game, Ga Tech has outgained every team they've played this year.

Mizzou -3.5 -- Colorado is one of those hot and cold teams. Mizzou is one of those hot and hot teams. I like hot better than cold, and I don't mind giving up the points here.

ASU +7 -- I've been watching Arizona State all year, and I have become slightly enamored with them. This pick is more of an "I hope you can cover" pick, but it wouldn't shock me either.

UCF -14 -- Marshall has all but given up on the season. UCF should dominate this game from start to finish.

----

NFL

New Orleans -3 New Orleans has been really heating up lately and Jacksonville is going to discover that you can only run the ball so much in a game before you have to throw. And Gray can't throw.

Detroit -3 Detroit should be able to cover at home with the pretty bad looking Broncos coming into town.

Green Bay +3 KC still hasn't made me a believer yet... if they win this one, they might. Yes, they have no running game, but they are still able to get it done through the air.

week 2 for me... yahoo sports.com

College

Bowling Green -7
I love home team in this conference

Nevada -6.5
Gives me a reason to watch

Georgia -16
Troy, really, is this a misprint...middle of SEC play and GA get Troy??

Virginia even
I love this virginia team...fun to watch

Clemson -16
I love this Clemson team...they are on fire!!

Michigan -4
I just hate State...

NW -1.5
Hopefully a high scoring game

Iowa @ NW O/U46
Over
see comment above



PRO

SF AT ATL O/U 37
Over
I don't like either defense..

Dallas -3
There will be no win one for the gipper...gipper is in jail...Andy runs his household as if it was the Bungles...

Indy +5
I love home dawgs...especially when we are in week 8 and they are undefeated...

Washington -3.5
They let me down last week...so this should be a bounce back game

Hey ... my 2 - 4 record last week was an improvement from prior weeks . Now that you think about it ... you might have a point there Rob .

Here we go again folks (thegreek.com):

Rutgers +1 over Connecticut
It's the first game listed on Saturday so I figured, what the hell.

Florida -14 over Vanderbilt
Florida is a little pissed off after last week

Illinois -11 over Minnesota
I'm finally taking the Illini for the win

San Diego -7 over Minnesota
It's a bad week to play for Minnesota

Washington -3.5 over NY Jets
The Jets are a B-A-D football team

Oakland -3 over Houston
I like the Oakland defense - just hope McCown doesn't try to do too much.

Detroit / Denver over 45.5
I don't know if either team can stop the other.

UConn -1 over Rutgers UConn has proven itself at home.
Arizona State +7 1/2 ASU marches into Oregon and wins by 3.
Illinois -11 over Minn Bounce back win, and they win big by 21.
Wisconsin +16 against OSU Badgers finally figure it out on road and lose by 3 in a heartbreaker.
Packers +2 1/2 over Chiefs Favre doesn't fall for trap games. Pack wins big.
Broncos +3 at Detroit Detroit isn't good. The Bears are just bad.
Chargers -7 at Viqueens LT and Chargers are rolling. They continue to roll after a stomping of the lowly of lowly viqueens.
Redskins -3 1/2 over Jets Skins have played tough (minus the NE game) expect Kellen Clemens to struggle against this defense.

lines provided by www.thegreek.com

Temple +10 (-115)

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

NCAA
Temple +10 L
Arizona State +7.5 L
Central Florida -14 W
Florida International +17.5 W
Georgia -16 L
Alabama +7 PUSH
Iowa +1.5 W
UCLA -1 L
Louisiana Tech -3 W
Tulane +7 L
Ball State +7 L
Cincinnati +5 W
San Jose State +26 L
Troy/Georgia under 58 L
Illinois/Minnesota over 57.5 W
SMU +19.5 W

NFL
Jacksonville +3.5 L
NY Jets +4 W
Kansas City -2.5 L
Arizona +3.5 L
Carolina +5 L
San Francisco +3.5 L
Detroit -3 W
Buffalo +1 W
Minnesota +7.5 W
Houston +3 W
Philadelphia +3 L
Baltimore/Pittsburgh over 35 W

NCAA: 7-8-1
NFL: 6-6
Week: 13-14-1

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Arizona State +7.5
Central Florida -14
Florida International +17.5
Georgia -16

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

SOUTH Carolina +5.5 vs Arkansas-I still think South Carolina is one of the best SEC teams and Arkansas hasn't played great as last year, so the Game Cocks should keep it close or pull out the win.

Purdue +8 vs Penn State- If Purdue shows up they can win, but Penn State is not a great team, but coming off a loss and Morelli struggling, Purdue starting to show something, can they keep it up.

Alabama +7 vs LSU- Lsu hasn't showed their top team since they beat Virginia Tech and this is a big game for Alabama, bigger if this was in LSU, but I see Alabama keeping this a close game.

Michigan State +4 vs Michigan- A big rivalry game and at home for the Spartans, have struggled a little lately coming off a tough loss, Michigan not playing up to the best, I see Sparty if not winning only losing by a field goal.

Missouiri -3.5 vs Colorado- Missouri is looking to Kansas and winnning the Big 12 North, I don't think Colorado is that good Missouri gets this one easy.

12 plays again:

Ball State +7 @ Indiana LOSS
Buffalo @ Miami Ohio OVER 47.5 WIN
Eastern Michigan @ Toledo UNDER 63 LOSS
Troy +16 @ Georgia WIN
Michigan -4 @ MSU PUSH
NC State @ Miami UNDER 46 WIN
Texas Tech -20.5 @ Baylor WIN
FSU @ Boston College -6.5 LOSS
Wisconsin + 16 @ OSU LOSS
LA Tech -3.5 @ Idaho WIN
Colorado State @ BYU -21 LOSS
Tulsa @ Tulane UNDER 69 LOSS

5-6-1 week: That's a poor effort folks.

From WSEX:

BUF -1 vs CIN
I too am circling the Buffalo bandwagons.

DET -3 vs DEN
Broncos deflated from Monday night loss vs. Pack.

ATL -3 vs SF
The "West coast teams struggle in the Eastern Time Zone" theory has paid off twice this year. Going back to that well twice this week.

From 5Dimes

CLE 0 vs SEA
Seahawks forget to pack their 12th man.

Alabama +7

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Iowa +1.5
UCLA -1
Louisiana Tech -3
Tulane +7

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

THE Ball State University +7

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Cincinnati +5
San Jose State +26

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

0-1 so far this week. Sat CFB

Wake Frst Pk over Virginia

Visitor 10-1 ATS in this series. After losing their 1st two Wake has won six straight.

Penn St -8 over Purdue

Penn St 7-1 ATS in this series. Also their final home game and they are 13-3 ATS in those. After losing to Ohio St last week I think they win this one going away today.

Maryland +2.5 over North Car

Maryland 7-0 ATS in this series. They should be a slight fav in my opinion but back to back home losses make this a good line.

Arizona St +8 over Oregon

Both teams undefeated and the dog has won the last four SU. I will take the points in what should be a good one.

Florida St +7 over BC

I think this line should be 4 so getting a TD good value. Fla St 5-1 ATS as a dog of more than 2.5. Flor St did win here two years ago by 11.

Duke +17 over Clemson

Home team 7-0-1 ATS and Duke has covered the last five at home vs Clemson. Clemson is 0-8 ATS as a double digit road fav.

Texas Tech -20.5 over Baylor

Tech won the last two at Baylor by 48 and 28. I came across this stat last year, Baylor is now 4-28 ATS over their last 4 games of the year.

Troy/Georgia under 58
Illinois/Minnesota over 57.5

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way