Week 9 - Now or never

After last week's debacle, maybe it isn't the plethora of upsets this season. Maybe its me. After all, I have no job, I'm still finishing my research project that I started in June, and now I'm 15-25 on the season. Things couldn't get much worse. At least I still have the Red Sox. In honor of the Olde Towne Team making it back to the Fall Classic (which yes, Dane Cook, we know there is only one of them), I'm picking 5 games this week with a New England-related theme. Plus I'll be throwing in my two cents when appropriate. Work with me here - I need more mojo to win games than Tony Pena does to get the Yankee managerial job.

Maurice Clarett nominee of the week:

Not necessarily a dumb arrest this week (since the person who did it hasn't been caught), but Florida State coach Bobby Bowden woke up on Sunday morning to find that someone had placed a large FOR SALE sign outside his home during the night. Bowden, whose Seminoles blew a fourth quarter lead to lose to in-state rival Miami, was good natured in his response to the incident, as reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. I'm just wondering why more people didn't pick up on the joke sooner and had to ask coach Bowden to clarify whether he was moving or not. I mean, can you really sell an entire nursing home that easily?


On to the picks

Home team in BOLD

#8 Virginia Tech -3 #2 Boston College

The obvious connection here is the Boston one. Boston sports are great right now - the Patriots are undefeated, the Red Sox are in the World Series, the Bruins are a stunning 5-3 with the best goalie in all of hockey. Throw in the impending reign of the Celtics' new Big Three, and things seem to be on the up-and-up for fans in the Hub. However, the oddsmakers think otherwise. VA Tech, one of the best 1 loss teams in the country, doesn't know who will be starting at QB, the Eagles have one of the top signal callers in the country in Matt Ryan (17 TDs, 2100+ passing yards), and oh yeah, they're still undefeated. I know this is a home game for the Hokies, and BC lost in their last trip to Blacksburg, but unless one of the Vick brothers decides to come back and suit up this week, it doesn't look too promising for the Hokies' offense. I'm going with Boston College and the points against Virginia Tech.


#10 South Florida -5.5 #23 Connecticut

So everyone knows that UConn is in New England, but how many of you know that USF has two DB's that grew up minutes from the Red Sox' Spring Training home in Fort Meyers? Yeah, I didn't either until I looked at the roster. After watching the Bulls lose to Rutgers, I'm not sold on their ability to finish on top of the Big East by season's end. That being the case, the Huskies' only "quality" win was against an overrated Louisville squad, and despite what my cousin David (who is in his first semester in Storrs) says, QB Tyler "I'm not related to Jared" Lorenzen and UConn definitely won't finish the year a Top 25 team. In fact, they could lose four of their last five games (USF, Rutgers, WVA, Cincy) and I wouldn't be surprised. I think that trend starts this week. I'll take South Florida on the road giving 5.5 points to UConn.

By the way, Joe Buck just informed me that Colorado Rockies' starter Jeff Francis' favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption and his favorite food is "a good hamburger." I'm glad you specified that for us Jeff - they're aren't too many of us that prefer bad hamburgers. Maybe if you were concentrating less on hamburgers and more on pitch location, Kevin Youkilis wouldn't have scored from first on a David Ortiz double.

Tim McCarver added this piece of wisdom - "When the runner hits third base, the next stop is home." Thanks for letting us know you're there, Tim. Where would we be without you?

Michigan -24 Minnesota

The first two I get, but Michigan-Minnesota? Two Big Ten teams? How does this fit in with the theme? I'm so glad you asked. Not only did David Ortiz start his career in Minnesota, but the Golden Gophers have a RB named R.J. Buckner. A bit of a stretch, yes, but so are Minnesota's chances against Big Blue in Ann Arbor. Not even the Gopher with the best last name in college football, Logan U'u can save them this week. Well, maybe if he convinces his teammates to wear I-AA uniforms this week. That seems to intimidate Michigan fans. Michigan is playing for their 7th straight win, a meeting Ohio State next month for the Big Ten championship, and (gulp) a chance at a BCS game in January. Minnesota is playing for . . . well they're just playing. Poorly. I'm going to take the Wolverines giving 24 points this week. By the way, this game is airing live on ESPN Classic. The irony is not lost on me.

Just in case you were wondering, there may still be only one . . . Oc-TOE-ber. We're waiting on Dane Cook for confirmation.

#11 Florida -10 #18 Georgia

My cousin Erin, the biggest Gator fan I know, is having her 30th birthday party at the biggest outdoor cocktail party I know. Even she would agree that Tim Tebow is doing a good job making people forget about Chris Leak by racking up 17 TDs passing and another 10 rushing. With Tebow at the helm, Florida is averaging 40+ points a game. Despite their back-to-back losses to Auburn and then #1 LSU, Florida could win this week, beat South Carolina in two weeks, and face LSU for the SEC title. Tebow has been limited in practice this week with a sore shoulder, but as I just mentioned, he's run for 10 TDs this season. Even if he can't air out the long bombs, Tebow will find TE Cornelius Ingram, brother of Red Sox 1B Yukon Cornelius, (above) who has 21 receptions for 5 TDs. For Georgia, the key to this game is their defense. They're holding opponents to under 20 points this season, something that has happened to the Gators only once this year (in their loss to Auburn). I can't imagine that Georgia will be the second team to do it. Not even with Peabody, MA native (my hometown) Brad Arsenault on the Bulldogs defense. However, Florida is 4-9 against the spread in their last 13 road games. Florida giving 10 points seems a bit much, so I'll take Georgia getting 10 from the Gators.

In-Game Update: The Red Sox have batted around in the fifth, and 6 straight batters have reached against Rockies reliever Franklin Morales. I guess you could say Morales low right now for Colorado. Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.

#4 Arizona State -3 #12 California

I guess when you're 7-0, you get the benefit of the doubt in the BCS rankings and the computer can somehow justify a #4 spot to a team whose opponents are a combined 20-31. Dustin Pedroia's alma mater isn't as good (in my opinion at least) as their #7 AP ranking - in fact I don't even think they're the best team in the PAC-10. This weekend will clear up a lot of things, the least of which will be which of the 5-7-9 teams in the nation have the best shot at a conference title, and which will drop out of the top 10. the Sun Devils Safety Troy Nolan is tied for third in the nation with 5 INT's this year leads a defense that has allowed more than 3 TDs only once this season. They'll have their hands full with Cal who is Hell-bent on winning after two straight losses (including last week to the Bruins of UCLA) all but crushed their shot at a January bowl game this season. Look for QB Nate Longshore who threw 3 TDs against UCLA to come out gunning in Tempe. I like the Golden Bears getting 3 points on the road.

One final note, if you had told me last week that not only will Eric Gagne be added to the World Series roster, but that there is a very good shot that he will come on to pitch a perfect inning to close out Game One of the series I would have thought you were crazy. I guess that only goes to show that there is only one . . . Octooooooooober!