SLICKs PICKs – Pre-Turkey Week

A Guest Blog By Fanspeak Contributing Writer Matt (aka Slick)

Welcome back people.  Boy, we just missed a HUGE Sunday didnt we?  Sometimes you have all of the right picks, and they still dont go your way.  NYJ v CLE in OT?  How many overtime games dont end with a FG?  We lost the OVER in MIN/CHI by half of a point, and the UNDER in the JAX v HOU game on a hail mary as time expired.  Tough losses, but we already had 3 wins without sweating.  JAX – 3 (yes it was a last second TD, but JAX had that game in hand most of the day and should have made the GW FG a minute earlier), OVER in DEN/KC (i think we had it by halftime) and OVER in CAR V TB (another easy win).

Ok, Lets get back to what we know…and love.  College football Saturday.  The best part about late season college football is that there is literally a game on every night from Tuesday through Saturday night, and when Hawaii has a home game, we can even watch into Sunday morning.  The NFL takes care of Sunday and Monday (and now even Thursday) so it is understandable why wives has coined the phrase (Football Widow).  Too bad I have to work during the week, or I could be a full time blogger this time of year.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE TOTALS?  Ha.  I found one, I found one!

Take UNDER 58.5  in the UTAH ST V IDAHO game. Im sure you will all be watching, right?  Who doesnt love a good Vandal/Aggie matchup?  Ok, Idaho coming off of their “rivalry” game last week realized that they, well, are just not very good as they too experienced the Boise Beatdown.  time to call the emotional hangover hotline.  Sure, there will be points, just 58 or less.

Ok , I found another one.   Take OVER the 49 in the NORTHWESTERN V ILLINOIS game.  So, we are only allowed to go one way on offense in this game, so what youre saying is we are going to flip the field everytime possession changes?  nice.  What genius forgot the check the dimensions of the football field before they scheduled to play it at Wrigley?  Um, well, uh, they had a hockey game there, right?  IDIOTS!  So, yeah, take the OVER.  Well, I mean isnt it going to be like arena football now?  haha.  As quickly as IVY grows on that unsafe wall out there that seems to be just fine when baseball players go smashing into it while making running catches in the summer, they may just be playing from one side of the 50 by gametime.  They also may even be drawing up plays in the dirt…Look for points, dont be scared.

And yes, I found a few actual teams to pick, just dont count on anything to be on PRIMETIME.  Save that for your token SEC game.

Take CINCY -13 V RUTGERS.  This line is moving like crazy.  Get in before you have to lay even more.  Bearcats dominate early and often.  should be a smooth ride, and over by halftime.

Take RICE +8.5 V ECU.  As much as I wanted to just take the OVER in this game, I am trendy (im not talking about my fashion sense), and RICE is actually planning to show up tomorrow.  Yeah, the Pirates will probably put up 45, but Rice will add 40 themselves, and cover the spread.  Hang around in the game and remember that it is not over until its over.  We may need a late cover here, but if RICE avoids the deadly 14 point swings, they can keep it close enough to make SLICK happy.

Take CENTRAL FLA -18.5 V TULANE – oooohhhhh the green wave.  oooohhhhh, swept right out of the stadium.  Trendy McTrenderson.  Big movement = Big play.  Then I ask myself why I keep throwing units away on a Central Florida V Tulane game?   Lay the points, check the final score later.  Which is why I decided to pick the next one too….

Take ARKANSAS ST +12.5 V NAVY – Could have gotten more earlier this week, up to 16, but the handicappers caught up a litle too quickly for us.  Seriously SLICK?  ARK ST and NAVY?  YES!  You should know by now, I LOVE MY ARMED FORCES GAMES.  Navy a winner, Navy not a winner by very much.

How about a few teams we have actually heard of… OK!   Take MARYLAND +4 V FLA ST. My feel good team of the year, the TERPS.  Always a dog, always behind when the game ends, but always covering.  MARYLAND is GOOD, when you add the spread.  Ill take them again tomorrow, I even think they will win this one.  Man,  these picks are good.

You thought I forgot didnt you?  I could never forget.  Im still on the train, and I am riding it straight to “H-E-double hockey sticks”…ANN ARBOR or BUST.  How could I abandon them now?  MICHIGAN has lost 6 STRAIGHT VS THE SPREAD, they have to cover again dont they?  But, but, but, Wiscy dropped 83 on an Indiana team that took Michigan to the wire in a 42-35 thriller to open the big ten season.  Wisconsin punked the Luckeyes in Madison and were so good that even the refs couldnt bail out OhioSt that night.  And VEGAS has the AUDACITY to set the line at 4!!??  4 POINTS? They do know that WISCONSIN is playing MICHIGAN right?  Its not the Wisconsin-Milwaukees girls basketball team, its the actual WISCONSIN football team.  The only way this game is even close, is if the fix is in…it has to be.  4 points?  I am SHOCKED at how badly the college football world wants OHIO ST in a BCS BOWL.  If Michigan wins this game, its because and only because of the FIX, so Take MICHIGAN +4 v WISCONSIN and get on VEGAS’ side.  I trust VEGAS way more than I trust myself.  and so should you.  Take MICHIGAN, go with the fix.  4 POINTS.  4 MEASLEY POINTS?  for some indescribable reason, i think you may not even need them.  TAKE THAT, VEGAS!

ENJOY…. SLICK loves you…and FANSPEAK, and the Shoups are kind of cool too.  (sorry about the skins – getting UP for a Monday night game is probably starting to get tougher and tougher).