First off, I would like to enthusiastically second Chas’s condemnation of Ron Cook’s column in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Cook is almost as light on the facts as the New York Times was when they accused Maurice Clarett of academic fraud (as opposed to the lying to the police and the NCAA investigators about the car theft, which justifiably earned Maurice a suspension). Of course sensationalist hacks never have let the facts get in the way of a chance to accuse somebody else of hypocrisy. I entirely blame the one-too-many-bong-hits journalism school professors for this.

Seriously though, you suck, Cook.

Now, on to putting my 3-1 record against the spread from last week on the line. Unfortunately, this is a rather boring week coming up in college football. Only three games really interest me…

Kent State (+30.5) at Pittsburgh: OK, so this game doesn’t actually interest me (or anybody else) beyond the fact that I’ll be there and have to find a parking spot near the suddenly sold out Heinz Field (bandwagoners). I’m not quite sure how to pick this blatant of a sucker bet. Let me try playing a quick round of rock-paper-scissors with the pair of scissors laying on my desk.

Damn. I took paper and lost. So I’ll take the points here. Pitt always starts out slow, Rod Rutherford will probably be at least something of a distraction, and 30.5 points is a @#*% of a spread.

Boston College (+10) at Penn State: Jeez. I don’t know which one of these teams disappointed me more last week… Oh wait. I do know. Boston College disappointed me a lot more.

Penn State’s offensive line and running game, featuring the intriguing Austin Scott, will be too much for Boston College over four quarters. Likewise, Penn State’s defense, especially its secondary, should slow the Eagles unreliable passing attack to a near halt. I think that the Big East is gonna take another one on the chin thanks to the Chestnut Hill gang. I’m regrettably taking Penn State and giving the points (and hoping that I turn out to be wrong).

Florida (+14.5) at Miami: This will be the big game of the week nationally. What I saw of Florida’s offense last week looked a little more impressive than last year’s version. And underdogs are always tough in the Florida cross-state games. So for no real defensible reason, I’ll take the Gators and the points here.

Hail to Only Having Four Days Left