Worst NFL Game of the Week – This one is a no-brainer – it’s Jacksonville at Detroit. The Jaguars just lost to the freaking Bengals, and the Lions are as pathetic as a team can be. One of these teams is going to score more points, but neither of these teams are going to be winners. This is football at its worst.
Best NFL Game of the Week – There are several to choose from. Buffalo at New England is a huge battle for divisional supremacy. Indianapolis at Pittsburgh could be good if the Colts can manage to show up two weeks in a row. The Giants at Philadelphia is another big one from a divisional perspective. My choice, though, is Tennessee at Chicago. The Bears are much better, and more fun to watch, than most people thought. Tennessee just keeps finding ways to win. It should be fascinating.
Game With Teams With The Most To Prove – This one would be Green Bay at Minnesota. Both teams are underachieving, and both need to win to be competitive in a wide open division. They both have strengths, but both need to overcome some consistent problems if they still want to be standing eight weeks from now.
Oddest Line – Given what happened to the teams last year – one team made the playoffs as a division winner yet again, and the other won one game – how odd is it to see the Dolphins favored by 9.5 over the Seahawks? It’s a reasonably sound line, but it shows just how quickly things can change in this league.
Best College Game – For once this one doesn’t feature Texas, but it is still from the incedibly entertaining Big 12. Oklahoma State and Texas Tech – which upstart will survive? Using some basic algebra, the Red raiders have a slight edge – they beat Texas and Oklahoma State, playing their best, didn’t. Plus Texas tech is at home. THe game is as close as one can be – the three point spread is entirely explained by the home field. This could be yet another classic from the conference.
Filling Me With Dread – Michigan plays Minnesota this week. It’s in Minnesota. My Wolverines will lose badly. I’m resigned to the inevitable.
Four Interesting Games Between Unranked Teams – Louisville (+6.5) at Pittsburgh. The Panthers can play when they want to, and they can disappoint with regularity, too. It will be interesting to see which team shows up with the conference title in their grasp. Wyoming (+25) at Tennessee. How will the Vols play in their first game with a lame duck coach? Under normal circumstances they would win in a walk, so anything less than that indicates problems. Stanford (+13) at Oregon. The Cardinal were ridiculously dominant against Washington State last week. Some of that can be explained by how awful the Cougars are, but some comes dow to a promising team starting to find their stride. This game will be a good measure of how far Stanford has progressed. NC State (+4.5) at Duke. College basketball is just around the corner, but until it arrives we can make due with this game between basketball schools. Beyond that, the interest here is to see whether Duke can do the impossible and become bowl eligible.
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Allen Iverson is my favorite NBA player, and he has been wasting away in Denver (and Philly for a few years before that, for that matter), so I am very happy to see him get moved today. Despite my bias, I have to say that the trade of Iverson to Detroit for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess is a very good one for both teams – one with a chance for a real win-win scenario. Here’s a look:
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Tulsa (-7) at Arkansas – This one is simple. If Tulsa wins this one they will be in the driver’s seat to go 13-0. This is their last big test, and it is only a test because it is an SEC team. The Golden Hurricane should be fine here, and if they are then they could be a headache for BCS fans. They’ll be undefeated and they’ll want into the party. It will be interesting to see if they are allowed to play. It will be esppecially fun if these guys and Utah and Boise State were all to make it through unscathed.
Continue reading “College Games To Watch – Yes, Texas Is Here Yet Again”
There’s a lot to keep in mind as we head into a big weekend of college and NFL action:
The Bills will be without three starters. The biggest loss in wide receiver Josh Reed. I’m kind of excited by his injury, though. I like him just fine, but I’m very interested to see James Hardy get the chance to see more action. This is a rookie I really like.
Worst NFL Game of the Week – There are obvious reasons to look towards the Lions at the Bears. My favorite Lions stat – all but one opposing quarterback has set a career high for quarterback rating. Ouch. That one won’t be as bad, though, as Jacksonville at Cincinnati. Jacksonville is disappointing and full of problems. Cincinnati is so bad that T.J. Houshmanzadeh talked publicly about the possibility of a winless season. He guaranteed it wouldn’t happen, but still – If he is publicly addressing the possibility of imperfection then things are really bleak.
Best NFL Game of the Week – The Patriots at Indianapolis should be a lock for this honor, but there are too many issues on both sides to give it to them. I did like, though, how Bill Belichick talked trash about the Colts. Green Bay at Tennessee could be a good one, as pretty much every game with an undefeated team is this late in the season. Dallas at the Giants is a good old fashioned divisional grudge match. My choice, though, is the MNF tilt between Pittsburgh and Washington. These are two tough, well coached teams that will take this one to the trenches. It won’t be explosive or flashy, but it should be good fun for those of us who like hard-played football.
We’re going to delay our regularly scheduled programming a bit this week in recognition of the start of the NBA season. I don’t generally bet on the NBA as much as other sports – I get most of my hoops fix from the college ranks – but I do love the league, and I look for intriguing betting opportunities daily. As the season gets underway, here are ten things I will be keeping an eye on as a bettor:
1. The Big 12 is amazing. At the top, at least. Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas Tech all won in impressive style. The latter three were explosive offensively, and Texas got a hard fought win over another impressive Big 12 squad in Oklahoma State. If this conference can manage not to cannibalize itself then it could do some real damage. The winner of the Texas – Texas Tech game this weekend should manage to make it to the championship game without a loss. Then it gets tough with the conference championship, but that’s another story.
There are some very interesting games to watch on Saturday. No real barn burners that are guaranteed classics, but several that will teach us more than a little abut high profile teams. I won’t be watching any of them – I’ll be at the Breeders’ Cup watching Curlin run into history. At the very least you should watch some of the racing as you watch football. It will be worth it. Here are the games that stand out to me:
Texas Tech (+1) at Kansas – The Red Raiders need to keep winning to keep pace with Texas and give themselves a shot at an improbable Big 12 championship. Kansas can’t afford a loss if it wants to maintain any chance of conference relevance. The stakes are high. That always makes for a fun game.
Oklahoma State (+11.5) at Texas – It is no exaggeration to say that this is the biggest game in the history of the Oklahoma State program. A win here would be spectacular. There could be a chance of a letdown for Texas – this is the third straight week that they have played the biggest game of the weekend.
Georgia (+1) at LSU – Both teams have encountered speed bumps along the way, but if they keep winning they could be in position to pick up the pieces and end up in a very big bowl game. Neither team has been flawless at handling pressure, so they will have to show somethiing they haven’t been able to consistently.
Wyoming (+30.5) at TCU – TCU is coming off a dominating, shocking win against BYU last week. Now they play a team they can beat in their sleep. How they perform will be very illuminating – can the coach keep them focused, or will they be too busy reading the headlines to play as well as they have shown they can?
Worst NFL Game of the Week – There are two solid possibilities here. Seattle plays at San Francisco. The Seahawks are terrible, and they seem to be in a spiral. The Niners are almost as bad, though there may be a bit of a boost thanks to the new coach. It certainly helped the Rams. Instead of that one I will go with one that is almost certain to stink – Cincinnati at Houston. The Bengals are awful, and Houston, though they have potential, have been inconsistent. The Texans are favored by 10, which is a sign of just how bleak things are in Cincinnati.
Another week of football. That means another week of lessons learned. I’m on vacation in California leading up to the Breeders’ Cup, so the biggest lesson I learned today is that Joshua Tree is a really, really cool place. Crossroads Cafe – best bacon cheeseburger in the state. I haven’t tasted them all (though I would love to), but I am still confident of the claim. Despite the trekking through the desert and the eating of burgers, I did manage to fit some football time in, too. Here’s what sticks out:
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