The first week of the long awaited college football season saw a lot of exciting and crazy games. After watching a dozen or two, I hope I can come up with some winners this week after going 0-3.
There was a hard luck loss when UCLA fell by 4 with a missed extra point when I was taking +3½, but it is a long season. Notre Dame lost by a field goal, but that game was decided early when the Irish running back let the ball get stripped out of his hands only to have it run back 95 yards for a TD.
That reminded me of something John Heisman (he of the Heisman trophy) once said. “Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football.”
I watched with real zeal the Utah State/Auburn game. It looked like the Aggies were going to pull off the big upset but they let Auburn score two very late TD’s to salvage the home win.
Utah State head coach Gary Anderson was a gracious loser but that reminded me of something Knute Rockne once said. “Show me a good and gracious loser and I’ll show you a failure.”
I have a good opinion this week, but one thing I still can’t understand is some of the talking. That gets me back to Knute who also said, “It isn’t necessary to see a good tackle. You can hear it.”
There were some but I didn’t hear many. Maybe that’s because I just could not stand to listen to the TV talking heads so I just turned the sound off. Sorry, Knute.
Here is this week’s menu of things I like as I go looking for plenty of winners and a 10-team parlay.
Friday, Sept. 9
Fla Int +4½ at Louisville: I was very impressed with the Golden Panthers’ win over N. Texas and believe they can play with Louisville. FIU.
Saturday, Sept. 10
Oregon St +18½ at Wisconsin: I want no part of a team that could not beat Sacramento State at home in OT as the Beavers lost 29-28 last week at home. WISCONSIN.
Iowa -7 at Iowa St: The Cyclones have been hammered the last two years by the Hawkeyes and barely beat Northern Iowa last week 20-19. IOWA.
San Diego St -9½ at Army: The Black Knights got hammered last week by Northern Ill., 49-26, and now face another high powered offense. SAN DIEGO ST.
Toledo +20½ at Ohio St: The Buckeyes defense looks geared up for the season. Look for more of that smothering crew this week in Columbus. OHIO ST.
Rutgers +10½ at UNC: The Scarlet Knights had a nice prep for this game beating NC Central 48-0. The offense will keep this one close. RUTGERS.
Va Tech -19½ at ECU: The Pirates have a defense that can only be described as NO defense. Look for the visiting Hokies to score at will in Greenville. VA TECH/OVER.
Cal -4½ at Colorado: The Buffaloes did not impress me in their trip to Honolulu. The Bears had no problem with Colorado last year, beating them 52-7. CALIFORNIA.
Stanford -20 at Duke: I was surprised this number was this low as I made it 28. Lay the lumber before this line moves up to -24½. The Blue Devils couldn’t beat subdivision Richmond at home last week, losing 23-21. STANFORD.
Temple -14 at Akron: The Owls shut the Zips out last year 30-0. The Zips got zip at Columbus last week and may get zip again this week. TEMPLE.
Fresno St +28 at Nebraska: The Bulldogs players are wondering who made this schedule as they had to play Cal last week at Candlestick Park and now must travel to Lincoln. NEBRASKA.
Virginia -6 at Indiana: The Hoosiers lost last week at Ball State, 27-20, while the Cavaliers were winning 40-3 against rival Bill and Mary. VIRGINIA.
BC +6 at UCF: The Knights look to prove they are a real good team. They can make a little statement with a win here over an ACC team. UCF.
NFL
Sunday, Sept. 11
Steelers +2½ at Ravens (36½): This one hurts but Pittsburgh will be hard pressed to get a win here. These two teams usually play within a field goal so I just gotta lay the -2½ points. RAVENS.
My tip of the week is when a team moves from a favorite to underdog it is a high percentage play to bet the original favorite. This is especially true in the NFL.
Remember, there are a lot of football contests out there. One I just entered is at a great bar and restaurant called Gee Bee’s (8360 S. Las Vegas Blvd). And, the contest is FREE!
You all know how much I like free but I also love the slots and the great people that work there. Talk about loose slots. My brother Tom, who never wins, actually hit 7-out-of-7 playing their keno machine.
The contest is free, the food is great. Stop by and check it out. For more info check out their ad in GamingToday.
Record:
CFB NFL Overall Pct
0-3 0-0-0 0-3 —