Maurice Clarett nominee: Another tough one this week - especially following in the footsteps of both Miami and FIU, but UConn has done it again. Quickly becoming the Thug U of the northeast, UConn has another player in the news, this time backup guard Donald Thomas. Thomas was arrested after starting a fight inside Wings Over Storrs, a campus restaurant. I'm not sure any of you has been to a "Wings Over (insert your local college town here)," these restaurants are a dime a dozen (well not really - but a dozen wings for a dime would be amazing) and late nights they're usually filled with students whose hunger has been, "chemically induced." I took a look at the menu for this place, and you can actually order 6 pounds of boneless wings for $58, 120 wings for $63, or if you really want to have a coronary, you can order Two Full Racks of Ribs, 60 Wings, 40 Boneless wings, 2 large french fries, 2 large coleslaw, and 3 - 2 liter sodas for a mere $100! Well worth fighting over, Donald! On to the picks.
Last week: 5-0
This season: 21-18-1
MIZZOU -2 Oklahoma
Last week Oklahoma proved that they could still compete without Adrian Peterson. Well against Colorado anyway. This week the Sooners take on Missouri and QB Chase Daniel who has thrown for 19 TDs this season and rushed for another 3. On the flip side, Oklahoma's defense is giving up only one passing TD per game this season, and held Colorado to 39 yards passing last week. Sounds like the perfect "unstoppable force meets the immovable object" game. The only thing that concerns me is that though the Tigers are 5-0 at home this year, they've only beaten Oklahoma once in the last 22 years, and I'm pretty sure Jason White had something to do with at least half of those games. What this boils down to is whether or not OU's defense can keep up their recent success against one of the top air attacks in the nation. I say they can. Oklahoma and the points will beat Missouri.
Vanderbilt -9.5 DUKE
I'm sure you're all saying, "Seriously, Lee, you're picking the Vandy / Duke game?" Yes - When you're Lee Lubarsky and you have your own pretend weekly football column, you can pick whatever games you want. But for now, you'll have to deal with my picks. To be honest, the only reason I'm picking this game is because its Halloween weekend, the Devils are 0-7, and strange things happen with Devils on Halloween. Yeah, it sounded dumb to me too, but if Duke can put up 13 points in a quarter against Miami's JV squad, they might be able to come within 10 of a team that lost by 18 to Steve Spurrier last week. And when I lose this game you can say you told me so. I'll take Duke and the points.
Penn State -3 PURDUE
This game very well could be one of the best matchups all season. No, seriously. Penn State has lost three games this season to top 5 opponents (two of which - Ohio State and Michigan - will likely compete for the national title, and Notre Dame, who still thinks that they deserve a shot at the championship, just ask Charlie Weis). Likewise, Purdue has only lost to Notre Dame, Iowa and Wisconsin, all top 25 teams. Even with their 5-3 record, the Boilermakers are still only managing a margin of victory of 0.5 points per game. While Purdue has a solid QB in Curtis Painter (13 TDs, 2405 yards), their defense has been less than stellar, giving up an average of 29 points per game. The bottom line is that Purdue's passing game has been great all season minus last week's debacle against Wisconsin. I don't think Penn State can keep up with the Boilermakers' passing game, especially not on the road. Plus it always makes me laugh when Joe Paterno does that slow jog off the field at halftime. Watching 79 year-old men run is funny. I'll take Purdue with the points in this one.
FLORIDA -14 Georgia (at Jacksonville)
Ah yes, the artist formerly known as the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. This game is always my favorite to pick. I mean, with that many people getting drunk, how can anyone lose? Florida is still smarting from their embarrassing loss to Auburn, and with Georgia coming off a 27-24 win against Mississippi State, this game has all the makings of an upset. Yeah, not so much. I really have no big comment for this game other than the fact that if Georgia loses this game, they likely won't beat anyone else except Kentucky this season. Florida should have no problem in this one, and then they can go off and celebrate at the World's Largest Outdoor Non-Alcoholic Beverage Party. Florida covers the spread.
Notre Dame -13 NAVY ( at Baltimore)
This is always my favorite game to pick, the "Jesse Martineau Classic," so named for Jesse's love of both Notre Dame and the Navy. I'm really torn on this game, and I'll tell you why. Charlie Weis historically has not been one to run up the score against teams (Notre Dame is 1-9-1 ATS in their last 11 games), and Brady Quinn and his offense have shown flashes of greatness this season (5 TDs @ Michigan State), as well as glimmers of futility (5 sacks allowed against UCLA). However, Navy is the type of team that has given their opponents fits this season and their only losses have come two weeks ago against Big East Champion-to-be Rutgers, and a 1 point overtime squeaker against Tulsa. Plus, the Midshipmen will start QB Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada. That alone should be enough for Navy to overcome 42 straight losses to the Irish. Alas, it won't happen this week, and though Notre Dame is notorious for playing down to their opponents this season, I see them winning by more than 2 TDs. I'll go out on a limb and pick Notre Dame to cover the spread. Maybe a good outing from the Irish will stop Charlie Weis from crying about the rankings in his press conference this week.Until next week . . .
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