Picks: Week 2

After a mediocre start to the season, going 2 for 4 in my high confidence picks and 3 for 8 overall, I’m looking to get back on track this week.  The way this works is that I have to pick all matchups between top 25 teams, all conference matchups in the ACC and Big 12 and then I can fill in with whatever other games interest me.  I have to pick a minimum of 8 games per week.  Once the season get rolling there will be significantly more each week.  Also I pick all games against the spread and straight up. 

I will star 4 picks each week that I would “bet” if I had the money.  These are my confidence picks and I will track them throughout the year.  Finally, I will also keep a record of my straight up picks in ACC, Big12 and top 25 games.  

Standings as of last week:

Confidence Picks: 2-2

ACC: 2-0

BIG12: 0-0

TOP25: 2-0

Here we go:

* North Carolina -10.5 over Wake Forest – North Carolina looked like they had their act together last week against Elon, while Wake struggled against Liberty.  Liberty is probably a slightly better team, but we are talking FCS here and a 62 point margin vs. a 3 point margin. I know this is the ACC and anything can happen on any week but I still think that this is an easy one, UNC wins running away. 

* Oklahoma State -10.5 over Arizona – At the rate OkState scores, the chances of this game being 10 points or closer seems very slim to me.  I could see Arizona challenging for the first half, but I think OSU pulls away at the end and stretches this to 2 or 3 scores with a few late TDs.

Penn State +10 over Virginia – I will give UVA the edge in this game straight up, but I think that Penn State fights back after getting embarrassed last week and makes this game closer than people expect.

Duke +15 over Stanford – I will ride the Duke train all year if I can.  I think that this team will play great against a Stanford team that struggled last week.  Stanford will pull away at the end, but win by less than 2 scores. 

Texas A&M +1 over Florida – This game has been hovering around EVEN for most of the week and I think that’s where it should be.  The real question here is if the cancellation of last week’s game for A&M will make them not ready for SEC play.  But then again, I don’t think a Florida team that struggled against Bowling Green will be able to really show true SEC football.  I think the home crowd gives the Aggies the edge in this one.  They win a close one.

* Georgia -2 over Missouri – I am high on Georgia this year and since I picked them to run the table in the regular season, I will pick them here.  While I think Mizzou will come out strong, they are just not ready for SEC football and will be outmatched by UGA. 

* Michigan -21 over Air Force – I am putting my money where my mouth is on this one in saying that Michigan will bounce back from the Alabama game and will have a great season after all.  I think Denard gets his act together and UM wins big in the Big House.

Kansas State -7 over Miami (FL) – Collin Klein will take care of business at home against Miami.  I don’t think that the Hurricanes have the weapons to score with KState or the defense to stop them.  I mean, they gave up 32 to Boston College… The Wildcats cover.