Week 9 NFL Panel

We have a tie atop the leaderboard after Rick Caswell finally caught Jon Saia. Bob Schreiner closed the gap between himself and the lead by a game, passing Rob Jentsch in the process. I moved up to fifth making a small dent in the gap between myself and the lead.

STANDINGS:

Jon Saia: 79-37

Rick Caswell: 79-37

Bob Schreiner: 78-38

Rob Jentsch: 77-39

Bobby Schreiner: 71-45

Kristina Rukavina: 70-46

Katie Noone: 62-54

 

 

 

 

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Week 10 College Football Predictions

Week 1 Picks: 14-11-0

Week 2 Picks: 14-20-2

Week 3 Picks: 15-25-0

Week 4 Picks: 17-22-1

Week 5 Picks: 19-23-0

Week 6 Picks: 20-22-0

Week 7 Picks: 7-9-0

Week 8 Picks: 18-21-0

Week 9 Picks: 23-24-0
 

Season to Date: 147-177-3

Top 25: 72-69-2

Big East: 16-19-0

Big Ten: 22-27-0

Everything Else: 54-79-1

38			34
BYE			BYE
48			13
BYE			BYE
20			16

Here are my predictions against the spread for all of the week's games listed on Bodog.eu as of Friday evening:

PITT +3.5 over Cincinnati

#24 West Virginia -13 over Louisville

Top 25

#1 LSU +5 over #2 Alabama

#3 Oklahoma State -21.5 over #14 Kansas State

#4 Stanford -21.5 over Oregon State

#5 Boise State -42 over UNLV

#6 Oklahoma -14 over Texas A&M

#7 Arkansas -7 over #9 South Carolina

#8 Oregon -16.5 over Washington

#10 Nebraska -17.5 over Northwestern

#13 Houston -28 over UAB

#15 Michigan -4 over Iowa

#17 Michigan State -28 over Minnesota

#18 Georgia -32 over New Mexico State

#19 Arizona State -9 over UCLA

#20 Wisconsin -27 over Purdue

Texas Tech +14.5 over #21 Texas
#24 West Virginia -13 over Louisville

#25 Southern Mississippi -8.5 over East Carolina

Big East

#24 West Virginia -13 over Louisville

Pitt +3.5 over Cincinnati
Connecticut -2 over Syracuse
South Florida -3 over Rutgers

Big Ten

#15 Michigan -4 over Iowa

#17 Michigan State -28 over Minnesota

#10 Nebraska -17.5 over Northwestern

#20 Wisconsin -27 over Purdue

Ohio State -28 over Indiana

Everything Else

Central Michigan +1.5 over Kent State

Colorado +21 over USC

Ball State +2.5 over Eastern Michigan

Florida -14 over Vanderbilt

Virginia -3 over Maryland

Iowa State -14 over Kansas

NC State +3.5 over North Carolina

TCU -19.5 over Wyoming

Duke +16 over Miami

SMU -26 over Tulane

Kentucky +2 over Mississippi

Air Force -17 over Army

Rice -1 over UTEP

Navy -7 over Troy

UL Lafayette -5 over UL Monroe

San Jose State -8.5 over Idaho

Florida International -3 over Western Kentucky

Arkansas State -17 over Florida Atlantic

California -10 over Washington State

Utah +4 over Arizona

Baylor -2.5 over Missouri

Tennessee -21.5 over Middle Tennessee State

Notre Dame -14 over Wake Forest

San Diego State -35 over New Mexico

Louisiana Tech +3.5 over Fresno State
Utah State +3.5 over Hawaii

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Week 8 NFL Power Rankings

I'm putting these up a little later than I wanted, but I'd still love to hear what you guys think. Maybe the Saints should be higher than the Steelers? Just asking?

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Around the NFL: Steelers Terrorize the Patriots

Do you hear that? Just listen. Nothing? It's no surprise you don't hear anything because finally the critics both in Pittsburgh and beyond have been silenced. It's amazing what beating the Patriots can do for the way a team is perceived. Heck, isn't everything about perception nowadays. The Eagles are still a bad team at 3-4, but everyone suddenly considers them a playoff contender. Meanwhile, the Giants are 5-2 and most write them off as an early round playoff exit if they even make it that far. Let this be a lesson that things aren't always as they seem. Right now most will consider the Steelers the class of the AFC. If they lose to Baltimore next week everything will change. So while it's nice to not have to defend the quality of the Steelers for a week, enjoy it while it lasts. You know I will as I go around the NFL.

STEELERS 25, Patriots 17

• The Steelers, after years of having Tom Brady toy with them like they were a Pop Warner team, finally learned how to stop the Patriots - don't line the corners up ten yards off the receivers. I've only been saying this since... Dick LeBeau took over as defensive coordinator. Had the Steelers employed this strategy in the Super Bowl (as they should have), "Sixburgh" would be an outdated term for the city.

• Even without key starters, the Steelers continue to impress and actually may be even more impressive than when they were healthy. As Mike Tomlin says, "The standard is the standard." I and all of the other NFL teams would agree, but nobody follows that more than the Steelers have in the last season and a half.

• I've given the secondary credit every week, but it's astonishing to me that nobody else has given this group the attention they deserve. How many times do they have to keep the league's top receivers in check before somebody mentions them? If they were playing poorly we'd hear nothing but how bad they are playing.

Around the NFL

• I was told last week that the New Orleans Saints were better than the Pittsburgh Steelers because the Saints destroyed the Indianapolis Colts and the Steelers barely beat them. Then the St. Louis Rams beat the Saints without Sam Bradford. Somebody better tell me what to think this week!

• Is it a stretch to say that Kevin Kolb is the league's worst quarterback? He is the reason the Arizona Cardinals blew their game against the Baltimore Ravens and he's the reason the Cardinals are only 1-6.

• I guess the Washington Redskins can be written off this year. They could be considered the worst team right now, if not for the winless teams left.

• There is no such thing as a college-style offense contrary to what the Denver Broncos tried to say this week. There is a pro-style offense which is the general idea of how an NFL offense is run. Then there are variations of offenses that college teams use such as the University of Houston's "Let Case Keenum throw the ball 60 times a game" style offense that they use. What the Broncos ran was not any of those things. Tim Tebow is a really good quarterback if you let him play his game, but the Broncos aren't doing that. Let the guy run. Run options, run quarterback draws and sweeps, run anything. So what if he gets hurt? Then you turn to Kyle Orton. But while Tebow is healthy you're going to have a darn good team that a lot of teams will struggle to stop.

• The San Francisco 49ers and homefield advantage should not be allowed in the same sentence, but for some reason it keeps coming up.

• The Seattle Seahawks aren't very good, but the Cincinnati Bengals looked mightily impressive against them. I still don't think they're ready to make the playoffs, but just maybe...

• Well it looks like the Philadelphia Eagles are back on the map. It's unfortunate because I was under the impression that they took this season off because I haven't seen to many mentions about them in my Facebook feed this season. Let's just say the weather is starting to look pretty fair for these fans...

• The San Diego Chargers must have been playing a meaningful game this week. Of course they were, because they lost to the division rival Kansas City Chiefs and with a very appropriate ending to boot. Now they are no longer in first place in the AFC West and if Carson Palmer plays well for the Oakland Raiders, third place may be realistic.

Week 9 College Football Roundup: Pitt Loses Three Key Players, PSU Wins Another Nail-Biter, WVU Holds Off Rutgers

PITT 35, Connecticut 20
- Well, well, well. Pitt is back in contention and can anyone really write them off right now. The way the rest of the Big East is playing, this is more like an NFL division than an NCAA conference. How even these teams are is astounding. I'm not going to put all my eggs in Pitt's basket, but there can't be anyone left saying that West Virginia or Cincinnati is the class of this conference.

- Boy, when Tino Sunseri runs the ball he looks fantastic. I've been saying that for a while now, and I'd still like to see him run more. He looked infinitely more confident in the dulled down offense and maybe we'll see more 300 plus yard passing days.

- Cam Saddler and Matt Rotherham went down with season-ending injuries and that's highly disappointing. But nothing may change the course of Pitt's season more than Ray Graham going down for the year. The silver lining, if any, is that maybe we'll get to see him one more year and that would be huge for this program.

-I guess there may be another positive if Tino Sunseri plays the same way all year without Ray Graham. That was one of the best games at the quarterback position that I've ever seen from Pitt and it was reflected on the stat sheet.

WEST VIRGINIA 41, Rutgers 31
- West Virginia's loss to Syracuse was definitely an eye-opener to everyone including themselves. I thought they'd bounce back with a strong performance, but they looked horrible against Rutgers. Luckily they were the more talented team and still eked out a win. 

PENN STATE 10, Illinois 7
- Why in the world would you go back to a two quarterback system? I knew coming into the game that they probably would, but I still couldn't believe it when I saw it. You know what? It doesn't matter. They won and as Mike Tomlin says, no style points are given. A win is a win.

- I know they have some really difficult games left, but if they can get two wins, they'll be in the Big Ten championship. Even one win may get them there. I like their chances either way.

- Just throwing this out there, but if Penn State wins out, are they in the BCS National Championship? It's been a weird season for them, but I'd have to imagine 12-1 gives them as good a shot as anyone else. I don't see it happening either, but I just thought I'd ask.

DUQUESNE 16, Monmouth 0

Sacred Heart 27, Robert Morris 15

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