Okay, Lee has made his weekly picks. I’ve decided to go opposite him on each and every pick. Explanation to follow
Ohio State (+6.5)at Michigan. John Navarre is Michigan’s answer to Alex Van Pelt. For those who are unfamiliar with the name, and history, he was the Pitt QB from 1989 to 1992. He ended up starting as a freshman and by the time he finished, passed Dan Marino for most of the career passing records at Pitt, by the shear number of games he played. Van Pelt could throw, but he was error-prone and completely unreliable in the big games. I think you see where I’m going with this.
I am rooting for and against Ohio State.
For: because it will help make more of a mockery of the BCS. Everyone knows that USC is better than OSU, but the BCS system now has OSU ahead. An Ohio State win cements that, and finally the BCS “fails” to get the consensus #1 versus #2 match-up. This is the kind of problem the BCS couldn’t handle — a bunch of one-loss teams where who’s better/best is subjective. Of course anything that hurts the BCS helps Pitt and the Big East right now.
Against: I live in Ohio. Everyone roots for OSU and it gets on my nerves. Even my wife, a Cinci grad roots for Ohio State if she watches the game. It is like dealing with the Penn State thing in Pennsylvania.
That said, Ohio State and Jim Tressel are in the Wolverines’ heads right now. Michigan knows they should win. They are expected to win. Even the most loyal Buckey fans are bracing for losing. Michigan looks like the better team. But they expected to win the last 2 years.
All of the pressure is on Michigan. I can see Michigan losing this game outright, but since I have points, let’s just say Michigan wins by a field goal.
Pitt (-15) at Temple. Who is more down following the loss last week? Pitt after being humiliated in the second half by their rival team, facing a line-up shake-up, but still having the possibility of being Big East Champs with Miami a week later. Or is it Temple, who gamely came back to tie VT, only to lose in OT when their kicking game failed them — again. I see a pissed off Pitt team, that will pound the crap out of Temple and be able to run against this bad team. For a day, at least Pitt will be able to kid itself about its running game.
Pitt and give the points.
Penn State at Michigan State (-5). I wonder if even people in East Lansing care about this game when the Ohio St.-Michigan game is going?
Lee knows better. He picked Penn State. Now as much as I’d like to see the Nittany Nation convince itself that things aren’t so bad for a little longer, and not have to hear about the poor Penn Staters as I stare a roadie to the family for Thanksgiving in the face; I can’t.
Michigan State has looked worse each week in their 3 game skid. But if there is ever a rebound game this is it. So, Penn State pasted Indiana. Uh-huh. After losing to Northwestern. Penn State peaked in their squeaker loss to Ohio St. If John Smith is half the coach he seemed before the skid, MSU will pound PSU.
West Virginia at Syracuse (+2). Um, let down for West Virginia after the Backyard Brawl? Okay, even I don’t really buy that with Rich Rodriguez as their coach. All I can say about this bizarre line, is that ‘Cuse gamblers have more money to spend than Hoopies. Analysis-wise, West Virginia further depleted its defense during its beatdown on Pitt. Surely Paul Pasqualoni will ride Reyes the entire game, and not try to throw so much like he did against Pitt. Right? Right?
