Picks: Week 3

After another poor performance last week, lets see if I can get back on track this week.  I have nine picks this week.  We finally have few top 25 matchups to preview after just 2 in the first 2 weeks combined.  

Also, I just want to brag on mrs. dallas hokie before I get going.  Yesterday, I was asking her opinions on these games just to see what she was thinking.  I started with the TCU Kansas game and asked her, "how much do you think TCU wins by?" Her response, "3 TDS" ... (see the 21 pt spread below).  I giggle a bit but don't really think anything of it.  I then ask her "how much do you think Georgia Tech wins by?" Her response this time "oh... a touchdown and a field goal" and I'm amazed (see the 10 pt spread below).  Way to go girl, you should go to Vegas! 

* Virginia Tech -10 over Pitt – Pitt has looked terrible this season.  While I think that they probably will stay close early (because VT is notorious for letting teams stay in the game early).  However, I think VT pulls away late and wins by 3 scores. 

Alabama -20 over Arkansas – I had this as Arkansas covering until I heard this morning that Tyler Wilson won't play.  Because of that, Alabama wins big.  

USC -8.5 over Stanford – While USC has had some scares an upsets in Palo Alto in the past, I think this one is different.  USC wins big.

* Michigan State -6 over Notre Dame – ND hasn’t impressed this season and MSU is probably the best team in the Big10.  MSU by a TD. 

Florida +3 over Tennessee – Florida impressed me last week with their win in College Station and I think they win again in Knoxville.  Florida covers and wins.

Wake +28 over FSU – That is way too many points for the unpredictable ACC.  FSU still wins big, but not by more than 28.

Georgia Tech -10 over Virginia – UVA looked sloppy in their win over Penn State last week and won’t be able to slow down Georgia Tech’s running game.  Plus the game is in Atlanta. 

* TCU -21 over Kansas – Kansas is as bad as usual and loses big to Big12 newcomer TCU.

* Northwestern -3.5 over Boston College – Here is your bonus pick of the week.  I don’t know how this line is this close.  Northwestern has beaten Syracuse and Vanderbilt already this year, two teams that are comparable to BC.  Plus this game is in Evanston.  Wildcats by a TD.

Click on the picks page for weeks 1 and 2.  

Notre Dame to the ACC

This morning it was announced that Notre Dame is going to join the ACC in all “non-football sports”, or should I say all money sucking sports plus basketball.  Anyways, joking aside, I think this is a good move for the ACC and here are 4 reasons why.

1) Any association with Notre Dame is good publicity.  Notre Dame is one of the most respected and admired schools in the country.  Before you go all crazy on me hear me out.  This isn’t because they are the best school or have the best athletic department or are particularly relevant recently; it’s actually just a simple issue of supply and demand? Any chance you remember learning that in college? Well, that is what is happening here.  Notre Dame has been and will continue to be the most demanded school in college sports solely because no one can have them. They're football program is "not for sale". And, this has caused their value to soar through the roof.  Today, that value remains high because no conference (including the ACC) has yet to “own” their football program.  But, they do have their other sports and 50 million+ buyout.  The ACC will have the Notre Dame association for a long time and Notre Dame will continue to be valuable making the ACC more valuable. 

2) The addition of Notre Dame will bring in more money.  I saw it written today that the ACC expects each team to earn an extra 1-2 million dollars by adding the Irish.  I’d do that in a heartbeat! I would bet that money could be well used in funding a few cool new facilities around campus or to pay a top level coach.  More money is always good and will be good for the schools in the ACC.

3) The ACC will get to play Notre Dame five times each year in football.  A game with Notre Dame is a huge coup for any school and will draw a lot of media attention to the ACC.  I do realize that this is really only one more game per year for the ACC, but the best part is that teams like Clemson, Florida State, and Virginia Tech will get a chance to play another nationally televised game.  Also, many lesser teams will have a chance to host the Irish, dramatically increasing average ticket sales for non-conference games. 

4) Non-football sports will be better.  Notre Dame has been traditionally good in many sports, particularly men’s and women’s basketball, women’s soccer and lacrosse.  The addition of another quality opponent will both help current ACC schools to perform better as well as increase the public perception of the ACC overall.

The Eye Test: Week 2 Reaction

College football these days is all about perception.  Come the end of the season people will be asking things like how bad was that loss? And, how good was that win? A decision in the minds of the voters will have to be made as to which team “looks” the best and those perceptions are already being built in this young season. Thus, it is so incredibly important for conferences to perform well and for teams to win big and not struggle.  You have to pass the "eye test".

In this post, I’m not going to talk about how good Alabama or LSU or the SEC look, because they are already at the top of public perception.  Nor am I going to talk about how bad the Big East looks, because well everyone expects that.  I want to point out some trends that I think will be important to keep an eye on as time progresses. 

Picks: Week 2 Reaction

With week two in the books, the craziness of college football is once again evident.  My picking ability this week seemed to reflect that un-predictability.  After struggling in week one, I went 3-5 overall and 1-3 on my confidence picks.  Check out the original post here.  

Power Rankings: Week 2

The Dallas Hokie Power Rankings - Week 2

1)     Alabama (Prev. 1)

2)     USC (2) 

3)     Oregon (3)

4)     LSU (4)

5)     Georgia (5)

6)     West Virginia (6)

7)     Florida State (8)
8)     Oklahoma (9)

9)     Clemson (10)

10)   South Carolina (11)

11)   Michigan State (12)

12)   Virginia Tech (13)

13)   Kansas State (NR)

14)   Ohio State (NR)
15)   Michigan (15)

Dropped From Rankings: Arkansas (7), Nebraska (14)

On the verge (in no particular order) – Texas, TCU

This past week we saw our first dose of upsets, with Arkansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Oklahoma State losing.  With those loses Ohio State and Kansas State both jumped into the standings, passing Michigan due to their close call to Air Force.  Other than a that, there were limited changes, with teams just moving up 1 spot or remaining in their same position.  

NFL Preseason Picks

With the NFL season about to get underway (it actually already started but whatever), I wanted to get my Division winners, wild card, and super bowl predictions up on the blog.  Also, I’m being a huge homer here and picking my Cowboys!

AFC:

East: New England

South: Houston

North: Baltimore

West: Denver

Wild Card: San Diego & Buffalo

NFC:

East: Dallas

South: Atlanta

North: Green Bay

West: San Francisco

Wild Card: Philadelphia & Chicago

Super Bowl: Dallas over Houston

"Most Likely": Week 2

I've got a new weekly post I’m starting this week called “Most Likely”.

I will be asking the same 5 questions each week about my personal top 15 teams concerning their upcoming games. Hopefully, It will be a fun way to preview the games each week. 

Note: Preface each statement with “The team most likely to…”

Get upset (must be a 10+ point line): SOUTH CAROLINA – I really wish that I had Wisconsin in my top 15 because that would be the easy pick here, but since they aren’t I am going to have to go with the Gamecocks.  They are playing ECU this week and I've seen what ECU can do early in the season against the big boys.  This could be a possible game to keep an eye on. 

Pull the starters in the 2^nd quarter:  FLORIDA STATE - This is an easy one this week with FSU playing Savannah State who lost to OSU last week by  84. 

Look worse than their ranking: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – They are flying across country and will be playing at 11:30 AM PST.  Syracuse is coming off of a rough loss and will be hyped for this game.  USC will lose ground this week to Oregon in the rankings. 

Look better than their ranking: GEORGIA – People are thinking that Mizzou will be out for blood this week against the Dawgs, but I think Georgia impresses this week and shows everyone that they are the team to beat in the SEC East.

Climb into the top 15: OKLAHOMA STATE – While I really don’t see anyone falling out of the top 15 this week, if anyone does OSU will be there to take their spot.  I see them winning big against Arizona.  If one team were to fall out, it might be Nebraska with having to go to UCLA and already being on the cusp at #14.  

Check out my week 2 picks here!