Week Three - Now things get interesting

Welcome back to Lee's picks. Lots of excitement as we gear up for week three. Police officers at the East Carolina game overshadowed the upset of West Virginia as allegations of excessive force were raised, Charlie Weis did his best Obama impression by inadvertently offending Michigan fans with a "to hell with Michigan" comment (though maybe he meant Hell, Michigan), and Ike has already canceled the Texas-Arkansas game as well as the McNeese State-Cal Poly game.

Note: I'm just not in the mood to make a hurricane joke, and its tough to find a funny one. Thanks Katrina.

Bonehead of the week - Hoppy Hoffman

Not so much a bonehead move, as something that completely backfired. Hoffman, who owns The Design Shoppe in Jonesboro, Arkansas offered Arkansas State fans a discount on apparel based on the number of points the Red Wolves win by each Saturday. Unfortunately for Hoppy, Arkansas State won last week by 73 points. According to ESPN, "We had a ball with it," Hoffman, who owns The Design Shoppe, said. "It was so much fun yesterday." Uh, yeah. Yesterday may have been so much fun, but I'm sure the end of the fiscal year won't be a barrel of laughs.

On to the picks - let's try it without the gimmicks this week.

Buffalo -6 Temple

I'm confused about this Temple team. They destroyed Army in Week 1, and nearly pulled off an upset against UConn last week. This is the team that went 4-8 last year, including a 42-7 loss to Buffalo, right? The same Buffalo team that features QB Drew Willy, who has passed for 220+ yards in each of his first two games this year (and 5TDs to boot).

I've eard that Temple coach Al Golden, despite his career 6-20 record in Philly, has the Owls headed for a turn-around. I'm not sure I see it happening. Then again, I thought the Huskies would have no trouble dispatching Temple last week, so what do I know?

I'll go with the Bulls giving 6 points.


Marshall -3.5 Memphis

From one questionable spread to another, Marshall is favored (?!) this week over Memphis. Hmmm. After beating Illinois State in week 1, the Herd jumped out to a 14-0 lead over Wisconsin last week. And then proceeded to give up 51 straight points .

On the other hand, Memphis is . . . well they're just bad. After giving up 41 points to Mississippi, they gave up 42 to Rice. At least they're consistent. And they have QB Arkelon Hall. What's so special about Arkelon Hall? Umm, his name is Arkelon Hall!! That just sounds badass.

Badass enough to lead the Tigers to victory? I don't think so. I'll take Marshall giving three and a half.


Michigan -1.5 Notre Dame

Oh what the Hell, I'll take the Irish getting the points. Michigan is on the road with a new coach, the Irish are coming off an emotional victory against SDSU (though any victory for this team is emotional), and Lou Holtz will be honored at halftime. Why not break out the green jerseys while you're at it and have Dan Ruettiger do the coin toss?

Did I mention that Notre Dame has a WR named Golden Tate? Not as cool, as Arkelon Hall, but give me a week, and I'll come up with something.


USC -10 Ohio State

Matt Cassel is finally getting the start this week. Unfortunately, he skipped over starting in college, and is going right to starting in the NFL. I'm sure his first start since high school coming against a future Hall-of-Famer in the biggest media market in the country will go smoothly. Sure. Good luck, Patriots.

On the other hand, USC takes on a Beanie Wells-less (who is on my college football fantasy squad) Buckeyes team in prime time in Los Angeles this weekend. USC has a question or two at QB since Mark Sanchez won't likely repeat his opening performance against #1 Ohio State.

This game will come down to defense, with OSU's James Laurinaitis at linebacker vying for dominance on defense with the Trojans' Rey Maulaluga. When it boils down to it, even though Laurinaitis' dad could probably beat up Maulaluga's, I don't like the Buckeyes' chances if they must rely on their passing game. Even though I'm not comfortable with a ten point spread, I'll take USC to cover at home. Sorry Jim Tressel, your sweater vest isn't going to help you against college football genius Pete Carroll.

A quick aside - do the executives at GEICO really think the caveman ad campaign is a good idea even though the tv series was a total flop? Can't you guys stick to the lizard? Its making me want to switch to All State.

Oklahoma -20 WASHINGTON

After losing on a blocked extra-point attempt last week, University of Washington president Mark Emmert instructed fans to "take it easy" on coach Ty Willingham. Seriously? You know you're in trouble when your university president has to come to your defense. Throw in a hot Sam Bradford (I mean he's had two good performances in a row - I don't have a man-crush on him or anything like some people I know . . .) and it doesn't look good for the Huskies. Who knows, maybe Notre Dame will decide to trade coaches with Washington after their teams suffer through another disappointing season.

This should be the week that Oklahoma can solidify their spot as a contender this year, and with Georgia and USC both facing the prospects of an upset, there exists the potential for the Sooners to claim the top spot in the nation. And yes, Zambutos, I only added that last part in for the two of you. I will take the Sooners giving 20 points here since I see the MVP of my NCAA fantasy football team "Coral Gables Study Hall," QB Sam Bradford having another monster game and leading Oklahoma to a 3 TD margin of victory over Washington.

That's all for this week . . .