Vindy's Picks Week 3-2007

NASA BACK IN REPAIR BIZ?

HOUSTON, Texas (ITAR-Tass)...The Vegas Vindicator was in town this week at the Johnson Space Center to talk with NASA engineers about options for repairing a sizable gouge in his Week Two forecast. Scientists suspect the damage was first done during launch of Vindy’s Picks on Thursday night in Louisville by a piece of foam insulation that fell from the fearless forecaster’s beer cozy, creating a divot in the underbelly of the prognostication. Initially, just 3 1/2-by-2 inches, the gouge got larger as the picks orbited the rest of the country on Saturday, leading to Vindy’s 7-13 results (18-19, .486 season), a blown "lock of da’ week" pick and all four incorrect "best bet" selections! Possibilities for patching the hole include sending the forecast up on one of those zero-gravity jets, enabling astronauts to make a simulated spacewalk and bolt on a plastic sheet from a box of Shrinky-Dinks, simply painting the hole black or filling it full of Gummy Bears, which would set nicely under the heat of re-entry! No word was available on the final solution, though sources close to NASA say a deal may have been brokered offering the services of Lisa Nowak.

As Jewish football fans everywhere this week prepare to celebrate Rush Hashanah and your humble host heads off to watch illegally-shot videotape of bookies’ hand-signals, it’s...

THE WEBER KID’S 2007 WEEK 3 FORECAST

THURS. SEPT. 13
MARYLAND over #4 West Virginia taking 16: Vin watched this game last year and the final score was deceiving as Terps moved the ball at will on the Mounties D, but kept turning it over...’Eers 31 Box Turtles 21

SAT. SEPT. 15
#14 NEBRASKA over #1 Southern Cal taking 10: Nothing would tickle Vindicator more than seeing Trojans fall here. Not sure Huskers can run on USC defense, but former ASU gunslinger Sam Keller occupies the Nebraska backfield and has sufficient guys to throw to. Could be a "wish" pick as we can easily see a SoCal romp, but we like the defenses to dominate on both sides...USC 17 Nebraska 14

#2 LSU over Middle Tennessee State giving 40: Bengals haven’t faced covering a line this big since wrecking North Texas 56-3 in mid-season 2005 as 44-point chalk. Third straight away game for the Blue Raiders. We didn’t think Cal would let down after important victory over the Vols, but it did. We’ll stick with our initial instinct here though...Tigers 52 MTSU 3

#3 OKLAHOMA over Utah State giving 46: A missed extra point late in the UNLV game cost the Aggies (and Vindicator) the lead at the time and an ATS win. Maybe that shoulda’ been our first clue to taking State instead of Wyoming last week, costing our flabbergasted forecaster a "best bet" loss and the accompanying wager! Sooners seem to be rolling...OK Until Proven Otherwise 56 Aggies 5

#22 Tennessee over #5 FLORIDA taking 8: Other than back-to-back spread losses by Tennessee in ‘04 and ‘05, the ATS pattern for these two has been win-loss-win-loss. If the trend holds, the cover goes to the Gators. Florida’s pair of returning defensive starters fared well against provisional I-A newcomer Western Kentucky, but 31 points allowed by Sun Belt’s Troy can’t be comforting to Coach Meyer....Tennessee 23 Crocs 21.

CENTRAL FLORIDA over #6 Texas taking 19: Despite a 10-0 halftime edge, TCU played a sloppy, sloppy game against the Longhorns, yielding four turnovers and hitting the century mark in penalty yards on 13 flags. UCF bombed in Year Three under George O’Leary, but is off to a healthy start, winning outright at NC State as a 9-point doggie. Knights welcome former MIT dean of admissions Marilee Jones, who padded her credentials, as an assistant coach!... Steers 31 Central Sunshine State 14

Citadel @ #7 WISCONSIN: No line.

Louisiana Tech over #8 CAL taking 34: With Tennessee hangover done, Bears return to form and wallop Bulldog club off three-OT loss to the Aggies and traveling half-way across country. Bears defense is a concern though, giving up 14 points in last two minutes to the Rams to make the game interesting last week. Cal won win or cover many while allowing almost 30 ppg....Bears 37 LT 7

KENTUCKY over #9 Louisville taking 7: Cards have covered six of last eight in this series. ‘Cats face only four opponents this season who won less than 8 games last year and have covered 6 of last 7, going back to ‘06. KY was plus-4 in turnovers and out-rushed by about 60 yards in Kent State game. Wildcats got five rushing TDs against the Golden Flashes. Cardinals gave up 9.1 yards per carry to Middle Tennessee State. Hmmm...Redbirds 37 KY 34

WASHINGTON over #10 Ohio State taking 4 ½: Sled Dogs held mighty Boise O scoreless in the second half. Good sign for Huskies team that allowed 30.6 and 26 points-per-game-against in Coach Willingham’s first two years in Seattle. UDUB 24 Buckeyes 20

#11 Ucla over UTAH giving 13 ½: We considered this game for "lock". Utes came into 2007 having gone 32-16 ATS over the previous four seasons, but have already lost back-to-back games outright and against the line. Important match next week for Bruins versus the Huskies...UCLA 24 Utes 0

#12 PENN STATE over Buffalo giving 34: Weber’s alma mater is conducting its annual "Huddle with the Faculty" lecture series, in which Happy Valley professors present a topic before each home game. This week’s topic has something to do with race and ethnicity. If tied to the Lions’ weekly opponents, it coulda’ been a culinary discussion entitled, "The Ecology of the Perfectly-Grilled Spicy Wing!" JoPa showed little mercy against Florida International, allowing State to roll up a 59-0 lead before finally calling off the dogs with 14:05 left to play...Lions 48 Bulls 6

Norfolk State @ #13 RUTGERS: No line.

#21 Boston College over #15 GEORGIA TECH taking 7: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. UPSET SPECIAL. Golden Eagles appear no worse for the wear in wake of losing longtime coach Tom O’Brien to NC State, having won and covered both games to date (and both against conference opponents)! Bees flattened youthful Irish club then hammered a double-A team, so they really haven’t been tested...until now...BC 24 ‘Jackets 20

ALABAMA over #16 Arkansas giving 3: Razorbacks let Weeziana-Monroe score a virtually-meaningless touchdown with about two minutes left to play and blew the cover (costing Vindy a forecast win). ‘Hogs have also beaten ‘Bama straight up in three of last four (and three of those four). New Tide coach Nick Saban beat Arkansas 5 of 7 seven times while coaching LSU, covering five of those seven as well. Alabama has held a Top 25 ranking only a total of 9 weeks in last 4+ seasons. They’ll do so again after this one ends...Tide 20 Arkansas 16

South Carolina State @ #17 SOUTH CAROLINA: No line.

Ohio over #18 VIRGINIA TECH taking 20: Tech posted three consecutive spread losses in 2006, but hasn’t opened a season with three ATS defeats in over a decade. Maybe thrashing in Baton Rouge will provide the fire to get Hokies on the right track. Maybe not. Too much doubt in this forecaster’s mind to lay three scores yet, even in Blacksburg...VT 23 Bobblecats 6

#19 OREGON over Fresno State giving 16 : Ducks successfully broke out the "Statue of Liberty" play not once, but twice against Michigan... once for real and once as a fake. One play lead to a first down, the other to a TD. Bulldogs covering better than 80% getting more than a FG. Ducks have broght home the money in 8 of last 10 on the Pond. Annoyed by players’ banter and celebration of the win over the Wolverines on the Ducks’ flight home, Samuel L. Jackson stood up and said, "I’ve had it with these !@#*@$#*!! Drakes on this !@#*@$#*!! plane!"... Mallards 41 Fresno 20

Furman @ #20 CLEMSON: No line.

Western Carolina @ #23 GEORGIA: No line.

#24 Hawaii over UNLV giving 17 1/2: ‘Bows now 6-14 ATS over last 4+ seasons in games on the continental United States. Hometown Rebels have managed to go 1-0-1 against the number thus far this year, but might be beaten up after playing physical Badgers squad. UH flew to-and-from Weeziana, and now flies Eastward again this week. Wisconsin didn’t put it up nearly as often as Hawaii will...UH 44 Ve-gassed 20

Louisiana-Monroe over #25 TEXAS A&M taking 24: After going up 19-0 at the half, Aggies allowed Fresno to hang around longer than Sanjaya on this season’s American Idol! Might be a few too many to lay with inconsistent A&M. Not that it’s gonna’ come down to a winning FG try by Monroe, but if it did, in a parallel universe or the Twilight Zone,...ULM’s kicker Cole Wilson hasn’t missed in his last 14 attempts! ...TAMU 24 ULM 6

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, if Bowser and his band-mates from their 1950's doo-wop musical group suited up and took the field, could we call the holiday...Rush Ha-Sha-Na-Na??!!!

Anybody else out there wonderin’ how the folks at NASA, who might show up maybe once a season in Vindy’s Picks, are feelin’ about their second appearance in a span of three weeks???!!!

Given the success of the woman selling Michael Vick doggie-chewed cards on E-Bay, Vin wants to take it step or two further and offered cards that have been chewed, swallowed, uh... "processed"...and collected by the folks at Pooper Scooper! (And let’s face it...there are folks out there that would pay good money for those, even if just for the purpose of putting them in a paper bag outside quarterbacks door, setting it aflame, ringing the doorbell and yelling, "Fire!")

"Big Tentative?"- Of the 10 Big Ten conference squads in action against other I-A teams, 7 did not cover the point-spread! Hats off to Penn State, Iowa and (GASP!) Indiana for preserving some dignity!

Glad we ain’t pickin’ this one: Notre Dame and Michigan play this week with a collective record of 0-4 SU and 0-3 ATS! The only real question in this match-up is which "can-da’-coach" website gets more hits following the game... "SendCarrAfar.Com" or "PutWeisOnIce.Com"!!!!

Insiders say Rebel-backing gamblers this week contemplated knocking out the lights themselves at Sam Boyd Stadium in the 4th Quarter a la the 2002 "Blackout Bowl" just to preserve their winning tickets! Vin has it on good authority however, that the power in 2002 was actually cut by a confused Phillies fan who was trying to slow his team’s march toward 10,000 losses! Come to think of it, the Temple Owls tried the same tactic early in the first quarter of their 42-7 loss to Buffalo!

It’s only the third week of the season and we’re already showcasing some of those big, traditionally-heated rivalries, such as Michigan-Notre Dame, Florida-Tennessee, ‘Bama-Arkansas, Kid Rock-Tommy Lee (Oh wait...that Vols-Gators match ain’t that heated!). Hey... Vindy wouldn’t mind having that Pamela Anderson trophy on his mantle either...know what we mean?!

"Wish I Had That One Back": The Weber Kid noted in last week’s write-up that he changed his initial pick on the Buckeyes-Zips tilt!

"Locked in a Box?": The lock record drops to 1-1 as the ‘Bows still seem to be bothered by that whole Mainland thing!

Shoppe Talk: Vindy rips up the linoleum floor of the Shoppe and lays down a couple of nice tiger-skin rugs as both Clemson and Auburn each posted a 2nd forecast "L". No worries this week though as Bowden Jr. takes on a AA team and Aubie ain’t ranked! Hopping in late...the Froggies of TCU, who also finished on the wrong side of Vindy’s Picks in back-to-weeks! Thankfully, the Toads don’t possess a "#" this week either!

Vindy’s Week 3 Best Bets: Last Week: 0-4 (OUCH!) Season: 2-6 (.250)
Ball State +7 over NAVY, WASHINGTON STATE -26 over Idaho, Utep +6 over MINNESOTA, ARIZONA STATE -28 over San Diego State

Vindy's Picks Week 2-2007

RETURN TO SENDER
Pro Team-Wear Flops On Dark Continent

SIERRA LEONE, Africa (BBC)....An annual act of kindness blew up in the collective face of the NFL recently when it received an unexpectedly returned shipment of preseason shirts and caps bearing the emblems of the Oakland Raiders and Detroit Lions following what embarrassed officials are calling "a grievous clerical error". The National Football League donates nearly 300 pieces of "Super Bowl champions" logo-wear from the Big Game’s runner-up each year to underprivileged areas in Africa, including local villages here and those in Uganda and Niger. Speaking through an interpreter, one tribal elder said "our people, offended by the gear this year, repackaged it, pooled their ‘forever stamps’....and sent it back!" Tribesmen did hang onto one jersey, however, long enough to burn Randy Moss in effigy!

After a nifty 11-6 (.653) for the opening week, we torch our own Moss doll (Yeah, we know he doesn’t play by the Bay anymore. Work with me here!) and offer...

THE WEBER KID’S 2007 WEEK 2 FORECAST
(sponsored by Pamela Martin & Associates...for about $300 an hour)

THURS. SEPT. 6
#8 LOUISVILLE over Middle Tennessee giving 39: The Weber Kid thanks the soon-to-be-black-and-Blue Raiders for bringing home one of Vin’s best bets of Week One by losing substantially at Florida Atlantic! It’s all about the money, Honey as MTSU follows up that visit to a Sun-of-a-beyotch Belt champion contender with road tilts here and again next week in Baton Rouge. Cards probably not gonna’ reach 70's again, but trek into high 50's or 60's is not outta’ the question...Louisville 58 Middle Earth State 13

FRI. SEPT. 7
#15 RUTGERS over Navy giving 15 1/2: Knights have won and covered 5 of last 6, though none of those spreads were double-digits. The failed cover vs. the Omnipotent Owls leads Vin to side with the State Uni of NJ. Since the Sopranos vacated the premises earlier this summer, Knights players and coaches have been studying game-film in a backroom at the Bada Bing!...
Garden State Parkway Paladins 31 Middies 13

SAT. SEPT. 8
#1 USC: IDLE (next @ Nebraska) (Yeah...you guys just sit in that corner and THINK about what you didn’t do last week!)

#9 Virginia Tech over #2 LSU taking 12: The only certainty here is defense, defense, defense. Vin has watched this line fluctuate from 13 to 8 to 12. Yikes! Hokies managed all of 33 net rushing yards vs. the Bucs of ECU. Brandon Ore grabbed 70 on 23 carries and eight other rushing plays yielded some serious negative yardage. Tech likely won’t turn it over three times again. Huge game for both sides...Bengals 19 Hokies 13

#3 West Virginia over MARSHALL giving 23 ½: Second choice for "lock" pick. See Vindicator’s Week One write-up on WVU/Western Michigan. Mighty Mounties continued to press by scoring 10 points in the last 5 minutes of the game when they already had 52 points and a comfortable lead on the board ...’Eers 48 Herd 13

Troy over #4 FLORIDA taking 26 ½: Trojans beat the number last week on a touchdown as time expired (and those of us here at Vindy’s Picks thank them for that effort!) against run-first, grind-it-out Arkansas squad. Hogs turned it over three times as well. Crocs might just let Tebow run 50 times too. Sun Belt gets the nod anyway... Florida 42 Troy 20

#5 (tie) Wisconsin over UNLV giving 23 1/2: Volunteer UNLV coach Shane Steichen is just 12 credit hours short of a journalism degree and battled current Rebels QB Rocky Hinds for the position last year. Can’t ya just imagine Burgess Meredith, in his former film role as "Mickey", encouraging Hinds on the practice field, yelling "Eye of typewriter, Rock! Eye of the typewriter!"...Badgers 34 UNLV6

#5 (tie) OKLAHOMA over Miami giving 10 1/2: Local Las Vegas product RB DeMarco Murray certainly had his way against North Texas, scoring five touchdowns for the Okies in the first half. We think we also noticed the Sooners’ water-boy toting the rock late in Oklahoma’s 79-10 win. It’s a new dawn in Coral Gables, but.....Still OK 30 Miami 16

#19 Texas Christian over #7 TEXAS taking 9 ½: Auspicious start for the Steers, who were out-first-downed, out-rushed, out-passed and out-time-of-possessioned (we’ll look for that word in next year’s Webster’s Dictionary!) by Arkansas State. Toads got lotsa’ preseason love as this year’s edition of Boise State. We’re not sold on that, but we’ll grab the points anyway...’Horns 21 TCU 17

#10 California over COLORADO STATE giving 14: Possible letdown spot for the Bears. Cal QB Longshore overthrew wide-open receivers in the end zone on three straight plays at the end of the first half vs. Tennessee. State let rival Colorado off the hook late and lost in the extra period. Rams actually beat Cal 23-21 at Berkeley in ‘03. With loss to Buffaloes outta’ the way, Rams will focus more on upcoming Mountain Jest season...Bears 35 CSU 12

South Carolina over #11 GEORGIA taking 6: OK, we missed badly on Week One’s Oklahoma State upset call. Gamecocks owe Georgia for 2006 shutout in Columbia. A second consecutive forecast loss here by the Bulldogs and they become the season’s first guest at Vindy’s Ye Olde Taxidermy Shop! Geez, we’re stubborn, aren’t we???!! South Carolina 19 Joja’ 17

#12 OHIO STATE over Akron giving 28 ½: Your flustered forecaster changed his initial pick (never a good sign!), but Akron has a bunch of new linemen on both sides of the ball and turned in its first losing SU record in four years last season with one of those third-year coaches at the helm and 16 returning starters...Buckeyes 42 Zips 8

Brigham Young over #13 UCLA taking 7 ½: One of two games for each team that stands between it and an undefeated season. Cougars will probably need the same strong defensive play they got against Arizona. Hopin’ for a classic... Bruins 28 Mormons 24

#14 PENN STATE over Notre Dame giving 17 ½: Irish offense is so young (On three ...one..two..three...altogether now..."Howwwww younnnnng issss ittt?").. Irish offense is so young...Britney Spears’ baby was seen driving a blocking sled at practice sessions earlier this week in South Bend! Lions avenge last year’s 24-point defeat... State 29 ND 7

#16 Nebraska over WAKE FOREST giving 7 ½: Great spot for Huskers to fall on their faces, but Deacons better hope the five new guys on D can slow down the rushing juggernaut that ran 70 plays on the ground for 400+ yards against Reno. If Big Red doesn’t look ahead to USC...Nebraska 34 Wake 14

#17 AUBURN over South Florida giving 7: Bulls’ lackluster 28-13 "victory" over I-AA Elon doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. Given that final score, we could surmise South Florida a) was looking ahead to this one, b) was playing possum to not reveal too much for this week’s game-plan, c) was over-rated or d) believed there was a 10-point "mercy rule" in effect when playing Football Championship Division teams...Warhawks 21 USF 10

#18 Arkansas: IDLE (next @ Alabama)

#20 Hawaii over LOUISIANA TECH giving 28: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Vindicator apologizes for listing Hawaii as "idle" here last week when, in fact, the Islanders were actually beating the bejeezus outta’ Northern Colorado. With a weak schedule, ‘Bows know they have to garner votes with style points. Only two Bulldogs opponents scored less than 31 points last season.. Ten folks from that stench...er..um..we mean..."staunch" defense return...UH 61LT 24

Samford @ #21 GEORGIA TECH: No line.

WASHINGTON over #22 Boise State taking 3: We’ll just hope for a push here, but Huskies opened year with promise by taking care of business and whacking Syracuse. We heard UDUB has arranged for soon-to-be-former- Idaho Senator Larry Craig to meet the Broncos in the men’s room shortly after they debark at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport...Sled Dogs 28 Boise State 25

#23 TEXAS A&M over Fresno State giving 17: Gee, could the Aggies finally being playing up to the expectations we thought they’d play up to when Uncle Fran first took over as HC? Bulldogs first cover in ‘07 will equal its season total of spread wins from ‘06! In each of the past three seasons, A&M has had one lower opponent play it much closer than it should have. Might happen again this year, but not this week...Aggies 27 FSU 7

#24 TENNESSEE over Southern Miss giving 11: Erik Ainge played a mighty fine game in a gutsy effort vs. Cal considering he has a few broken digits! That’s a good sign for a nice Rocky Top comeback and victory over the Eagles...UT 27 USM 14

#25 CLEMSON over Louisiana-Monroe giving 24 1/2: No anticipated falter here for Clemson as the Tigers have won and covered three of last four tilts that followed the annual Bowden Bowl. ULM is still Vindy’s choice to take the Sun Belt conference, but it’s still just an appetizer for the Big Six squads...Clemson 41 Monroe 7

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
Revisiting last week’s lead story, we offer the following 12-hour rule possibilities for college hoopsters: "joint-to-point", "snort-to-court" and "merlot-to-freethrow" ("Paging Mr. O’Neil. Mr. Shaquille O’Neil..to the white courtesy phone, please."). BTW, drunken astronauts certainly gives new meaning to "I’ll buy, if you fly!"

During the Colorado State spring game, 4-year-old Caden Thomas wandered into the end zone, got tangled up with the receiver and broke up a potential TD pass. The referee ruled "incidental contact" on the play and the young man is probably headed for a future spot on the cover of a Madden video game!

Let’s hear it for the little guys! Sure, everybody’s heard about App State’s upset of Meeeechigan. How many of ya knew Rice fell to I-AA Nicholls State and I-A Bowlin’ Green toppled Minnesota as a 16-point doggie???!!!! The crowd chants, "E-lon, E-lon, E-lon, E-lon...!"

After the New Year, Michael Vick surrendered a water bottle with a compartment that contained a "small amount of dark particulate and pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana" to security at Miami International Airport We’re thinking he coulda’ got an endorsement deal for Evian bottled bong water!

In June, NIKE initially stood by its endorsement deal with Vick despite allegations of involvement in illegal canine activity. However, there’s no truth to the rumor the company was actually planning to change its motto to "just dog it".

Come to think of it, the NIKE swoosh does kinda’ look like a tail, doesn’t it???!!!

Also in June, Bjorn Borg withdrew from a tennis match after suffering injuries incurred while breaking up a fight between his golden retriever and a German shepherd. Big Mike reportedly had a couple of grand on the shepherd!

Later that month, shortly after reading Patriots QB Tom Brady’s quote likening receiver Wes Walker to a "Labrador", Michael invited the New England wideout to his home in Virginia!

When Mike gets incarcerated, the folks at Westminster can rest assured that his fellow inmates will vote him "Best of Show(er)"!

During a November interview, Meat Loaf told Rolling Stone that his performance style is "like a football team with music." Can’t wait for the singer/actor, known for his role in Rocky Horror Picture Show, to put out an album featuring such tunes as "Buckeyes By the Dashboard Light","Bat Outta’ Bucknell", "It’s All Come Running Back to Me Now" and the classic "I Would Do Anything for Lovey (Smith)"

In May, Texas Rangers 3B Hank Blalock agreed to undergo surgery to remove a rib. Uh oh...the last time some notable guy gave up a rib, we got...WOMAN!

On July 16, the Philadelphia Phillies recorded the 10, 000th loss in franchise history; the first pro team to do so. In addition to the dubious distinction, players, coaches and other team personnel received a set of steak knives and discount coupons for local businesses around the City of Brotherly Love!

"Locked in a Box?": The lock of da’ week record is off to a fine 1-0 start following LSU’s demolition of Mississippi State.

Vindy’s Week 2 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-2 Season: 2-2 (.500)
WYOMING -24 over Utah State, EAST CAROLINA -4 over North Carolina, VIRGINIA -16 over Duke, Toledo +3 ½ over CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Vindy's Picks Week 1-2007

NCAA ADOPTS NASA RULE

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (REUTERS)...Inebriated astronauts at lift-off?! Yep. NASA thought common sense would apply to pre-flight substance consumption, then had to explicitly bring that concept to the forefront. Why then couldn’t there feasibly be coked-up coordinators, looped linebackers or soused safeties come game time? The NCAA has considered the possibility and now implemented a minimum 12-hour pre-game, no-substance use policy similar to NASA’s "bottle-to-throttle" rule. College insiders are calling the new regulation "wine-to-sideline". Several new nicknames have since popped up on the Internet, including some tailored to specific positions or substances, such as "crack-to-sack", "grass-to-pass" and "weed-to-read".

Having spent this spring and summer squandering his drive-thru gym membership and fresh from completion of summer practices at Daddy Two-A-Day Camp with his pre-season forecasting strategy team of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Barack Obama, Ghost Rider, Sanjaya, deposed astronaut Lisa Nowak, "Scooter" Libby, voice-over guy Don LaFontaine; the Rutgers women’s hoops team, Hannah Montana, that guy who dumped Carmen Electra in the TV commercial, Borat, Daniellynn Stern, former Army Surgeon General Kevin Kiley, Fergie, Brett & Garrett Reid; former MIT dean-of-admissions Marilee Jones and NBA referee Tim Donaghy; our prestigious prognosticator is off-and-running with the bat on crack (somethin’ like that ) and presents...

THE WEBER KID’S 2007 WEEK 1 FORECAST
(now with 0% trans fat)

THURS. AUG. 30
#2 Louisiana State over MISSISSIPPI STATE giving 18: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Hmmm...scary line, but Bulldogs did beat ‘Bama away last year and nearly defeated Joja’ between the hedges. Still, the return of former starter Matt Flynn at quarterback for the Bayou Bengals should take the sting outta’ losing JaMarcus Russell to the pros...LSU 35 MSU 7

Murray State @ #10 LOUISVILLE: No line.

#16 RUTGERS over Buffalo giving 32: Bulls return 18 starters for the first time this century and should bolster the ATS record if not the actual straight-up win-loss record, but not here. Knights open the season ranked for the first time in their history. Buffalo actually toppled Rutgers in the not-so-distant past, but that was against the 2002 squad that went 1-11.... Paladins of Piscataway 44 Bulls 7

Weber State @ #24 BOISE STATE: No line.

SAT. SEPT. 1
#1 USC over Idaho giving 46: Trojans take on only three opponents that had losing records in ‘06. This is one of ‘em. "Citizens of Los Angeles...there is no cause for alarm. That ice floe appearing across the field from USC in the Coliseum is simply the five returning offensive starters for the Potato-Heads". USC has won last two openers by combined score of 113-31... Troy 55 Curly Fries 3

#3 WEST VIRGINIA over Western Michigan giving 23 1/2: It’s its 2006 opener, Vindy seriously underestimated WVU following the Marshall "Spy Gate" scandal. We won’t do that again here. Only concern might be the pass defense. Mounties are 7-1-1 ATS in last 9 matches in Morgantown. Half of our projected title game pairing wins going away...’Eers 42 WMU 13

Arkansas State over #4 TEXAS taking 40 ½: Indians are 3-1 ATS last four against ranked clubs. Excluding nifty 11-2 in 2005, Steers have covered only 30 of 63 since start of 2001 campaign. Assuming Arkie State can’t run effectively, they can put up enough through the air to stay within this line (even though 236 passing ypg allowed by UT last year was somewhat skewed by the 519 posted by Texas Tech) . Sophomore jinx for Mr. McCoy? ...’Horns 38 ASU 14
Appalachian State @ #5 MICHIGAN: No line.

Western Kentucky @ #6 FLORIDA: No line. (Tough spot for I-A’s newest entry against last season’s national champ.)

#7 WISCONSIN over Washington State giving 14: Badgers have lofty expectations to live up to this year. Rather smallish line suggests Wisky will rely on clock-eating running game and defense with a new man under center. Coogs have covered 8 of last 10 non-conference road tilts...Varmints 28 Wazzou 7

North Texas over #8 OKLAHOMA taking 40 1/2: Cue Kermit the Frog, who will entertain the visitors with a rousing version of "It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Mean Green"!...Sooners 44 UNT 10

East Carolina over #9 VIRGINIA TECH taking 24: Pirates are 18-6 against the number the last two years, though they only have 5 returning starters on offense (and 4 of ‘em are linemen). Taking the field should be cathartic for the Hokies, who will have a nationwide "12th Man" all season long. Huge game at LSU next for Tech...VT 27 ECU 6

Youngstown State @ #11 OHIO STATE: No line.

#12 CAL over #15 Tennessee giving 5 ½: Nice. A match-up of ranked teams right outta’ the gate. Bears were on wrong end of unexpected thrashing in Knoxville last year. There’ll be 13 Cal starters looking for some payback. Vols haven’t posted a winning ATS campaign since the ‘99 regular season...Cal 28 Rocky Top 16

Oklahoma State over #13 GEORGIA taking 6 ½: Like a lot of other folks out there apparently (this line opened at at 9), we’re thinking the Cowpokes offense will continue to be explosive under one of those third-year coaches, Mike Gundy, that Vin noted in an earlier post. State manages first upset on the season against Joja’s reasonably new defense...OKSU 31 UGA 30

#14 Ucla over STANFORD giving 17: Cardinal takes the field with its fourth coach in last seven seasons. Bruins traditionally have problems putting Stanford away, but did win by 21-0 and 31-0 in ‘04 and ‘06, respectively. UCLA is not-real-impressive 3-9 against the line in last dozen as road chalk...Bruins 24 Trees 0

#17 PENN STATE over Florida International giving 38: Good bet for the opening "wish I had it back" selection since multiple Lions suspensions for an off-season assault problem and JoPa’s tendency to not run it up on weak opponents makes this a risky pick. We’ll rely on the State defense to keep FIU off the board... THE ALMA MATER 42 Gilded Panthers 0

#18 AUBURN over Kansas State giving 13 ½: We prefer the Warhawks squad that belts teams it should traditionally over Wildcats team that typically debuts asleep at the wheel as evidenced by last season’s holy-crap-we-just-beat-I-AA-Illinois State 24-23. Some of KSU’s previous season opening victories weren’t real stellar either ... Tigers 41 K-State 20

#20 NEBRASKA over Nevada-Reno giving 21: Wolfpack’s a much better play at home than away. Nonetheless, we considered taking Reno and the points initially. UNR features sophomores at QB and RB and have covered only three of last dozen on the road. Big Red is 4-1 ATS in last 5 lined openers. A cover here would go a long way toward building respect and hopes for the Nebraska season many expect...Children of the Corn 38 Reno 14

Troy over #21 ARKANSAS taking 24: Trojans got an ugly September sked this year that includes two SEC teams on the road and a visit from Oklahoma State. We’ll ignore the whole "off-season issues distraction" thing, but we like the ‘Hogs to just handoff to Heisman-hopeful RB McFadden and thwart Troy on D...Arkansas 24 Troy 6

Baylor over #22 TCU taking 21: Bears have exactly zero bye weeks in ‘07, so they better take advantage of the energy they have for now. Only recent meeting of these two was last year’s 17-7 win by the Frogs. Toads are the chic pick to be this season’s BCS-buster. With trip to Austin on deck, we figure them to be conservative... Ribbit 21 Bares 7

#23 Hawaii: IDLE (next @ Louisiana Tech)

Montana State @ #25 TEXAS A&M: No line.

MON. SEPT. 3
#19 Florida State over CLEMSON giving 3: No faith in this pick and frankly...we’ll just take a push. Historical trends side with Tigers at home in general and as host vs. the ‘Noles. The elder Bowden broke out the broom and cleaned house of his assistants in the off-season. Can’t be any worse on offense. State has its highest number of returning starters (14, including the QB) since the ‘03 season. It’ll need the speed on defense to slow down Tigers running game. FSU goes in with revenge after Clemson took last two (and three of last four) outright. Combined, these clubs have been victorious in 34 of last 37 season premieres. Somethin’ has to give...so we’re givin’ the nod to the... Injuns 17 Clemson 12

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS

By the way, NCAA officials are applying the 12-hour policy to practice days as well, leading at least one anonymous coach to dub the ruling, "swill-to-drill"!

As a result of the aforementioned off-season, off-campus incident, JoPa will ensure the entire Lions team will be cleaning Beaver Stadium every Sunday following each game in Happy Valley. Coulda’ been worse. They coulda’ been tasked to change JoPa’s Depends every Sunday!

According to the May 7th ish of ESPN: Da’ Mag, a Florida woman got de-cleated from her personal water-craft by a leaping sturgeon. Said fish has since been offered a scholarship to play defensive back at Florida International!

This Fall’s must-see TV...America Ferrera stars in a dual role as both pitcher and catcher (No...not that kinda’ pitcher and catcher) for the local minor league baseball team in... "Ugly Battery". Also on ABC, Ferrera brings her glasses and braces into the sportsbook to make a few wagers on..."Ugly Bettor"!!!

Shoppe Talk: Vindy hopes to stave off last season’s Grill-master Supreme Award-winner, Notre Dame, who thwarted Vindy’s Picks nine times in a dozen opportunities!

Vindy’s Week 1 Best Bets: Last Week: 0-0 Last Season: 35-30-3
BYU -5 ½ over Arizona, WEEZIANA-MONROE +5 ½ over Tulsa, Virginia -4 over WYOMING, FLORIDA ATLANTIC -2 ½ over Middle Tennessee State

Up next...Vindy’s Picks welcomes back the NFL, "salutes" Michael Vick and recaps more events of the off-season!

Third Year Coaches for 2007

Professional handicapper Phil Steele has often extolled the value of having a coach in his third year with a team as a positive. Among the rationale offered is that players have had a couple of seasons to play within the new coach’s system and the coach has more of his own recruits on the team. While there is certainly a multitude of factors that account for the success or not-so-success of a team during any given season, just for fun, we crunched a few numbers for coaches who were in their third year with the same team for the 2006 season. There were eleven Division I-A coaches who fit the criteria. On average, those coaches had 8 returning offensive starters (more often than not having a returning starting QB) and 8 returning defensive starters. Of the eleven teams from 2006, five had at least one more straight-up win than the previous season, six clubs improved their ATS records by at least one more win.

Here are the 22 coaches starting this season in their third year with their respective clubs, last season’s SU and spread records and returning offensive-defensive starters (* indicates a returning QB) then and now:

‘07 3rd Year Coach ‘06 SU/ATS record (‘06 returning starters) ‘07 returning starters

Les Miles, LSU 11-2/6-7 (6*-5) (6-8)

Ed Orgeron, Ol Miss 4-8/5-4-2 (5-5) 9*-6

Urban Meyer, Florida 13-1/5-7-1 (6*-6) 6-2

Steve Spurrier, SC 8-5/9-3 (7*-5) 7*-10

Ron Zook, Illinois 2-10/5-6 (9*-10) 8*-9

Mike Gundy, OKSU 7-6/7-4-1 (9*-5) 8*-7

Ty Willingham, Wash 5-7/6-5-1 (6*-8) 6-6

Walt Harris, Stanford 1-11/3-9 (10*-6) 8-8

Dave Wannstedt, Pitt 6-6/5-6 (6*-6) 8-6

Greg Robinson, Syracuse 4-8/8-4 (6*-4) 7-5

Kyle Whittingham, Utah 8-5/7-4-1 (6*-7) 10*-6

Bronco Mendenhall, BYU 11-2/10-2-1 (8*-4) 6-7

Mike Sanford, UNLV 2-10/4-6-1 (7*-5) 8*-6

Mark Snyder, Marshall 5-7/4-7 (9*-6) 7*-7

Skip Holtz, ECU 7-6/10-3 (7*-6) 6-8

Brent Guy, Utah State 1-11/3-9 (7*-6) 8*-11

Hal Mumme, NMSU 4-8/7-3 (6-6) 10*-7

Dick Tomey, San Jose State 9-4/9-3 (7*-2) 7*-8

Charlie Weis, ND 10-3/4-8-1 (7*-9) 4-5

Bill Cubit, W. Michigan 8-5/8-5 (6*-8) 8-8

Frank Solich, Ohio U. 9-5/7-6 (9*-9) 5-6

Shane Montgomery, MI-OH 2-10/4-8 (5-2) 8*-6

Periodically, we’ll keep our readership notified of the progress (or regression) made (if any) of these squads. Stay tuned....

Comparison of 2007-08 Preseason Bowl Projections

A COMPARISON OF PRESEASON PROJECTED 2007-08 BOWL MATCH-UPS

Vindy offers a comparison of projected bowl selections from a multitude of sites/forecasters, including our humble host Vegas Vindicator, College Football News, Phil Steele, CBS Sportsline, College Sports Television, a couple of writers from ESPN (Ivan Maisel and Paul Schlabach) and The Sporting News, fellow forecaster DpD and the folks at Sports Illustrated. One or two sources only gave up their BCS game predictions (those girly men!). FYI...Vindy’s 2006-07 projections yielded a few correct individual post-season team placements, but exactly zero correct bowl pairings...

DEC. 20
SAN DIEGO CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA: MWC vs. Navy/At-Large
Vindy’s Picks: Colorado State vs. Navy
CFN: BYU vs. Navy
Steele: BYU vs. Navy
Sportsline: Utah vs. Navy
CSTV: Kent State vs. Navy
ESPN (Maisel): Utah vs. Navy
ESPN (Schlabach): Utah vs. Navy
Sporting News: Utah vs. Navy

DpD: Utah vs. Navy

SI: BYU vs. Navy

DEC. 21
R&L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL: Sun Belt Champ vs. C-USA
Vindy’s Picks: Louisiana-Monroe vs. Memphis
CFN: Troy vs. SMU
Steele: Troy vs. Tulsa
Sportsline: Louisiana-Lafayette vs. SMU
CSTV: Troy vs. SMU
ESPN (Maisel): Troy vs. Central Florida
ESPN (Schlabach): Troy vs. East Carolina
Sporting News: Troy vs. Central Florida

DpD: Middle Tennessee State vs. Marshall

SI: Troy vs. Houston

DEC. 22
PAPAJOHNS.COM: BE (or MAC) vs. C-USA
Vindy’s Picks: East Carolina vs. South Florida
CFN: South Florida vs. Southern Miss
Steele: Central Florida vs. Pitt
Sportsline: South Florida vs. Houston
CSTV: Central Florida vs. South Florida
ESPN (Maisel): South Florida vs. Memphis
ESPN (Schlabach): Cincinnati vs. Marshall
Sporting News: Tulsa vs. Pitt

DpD: South Florida vs. Southern Miss

SI: Cincinnati vs. Memphis

NEW MEXICO: MWC vs. WAC
Vindy’s Picks: Wyoming vs. San Jose State
CFN: Air Force vs. Nevada-Reno
Steele: New Mexico vs. Fresno State
Sportsline: Colorado State vs. San Jose State
CSTV: Utah vs. San Jose State
ESPN (Maisel): New Mexico vs. Fresno State
ESPN (Schlabach): Wyoming vs. Nevada-Reno
Sporting News: BYU vs. Nevada

DpD: Wyoming vs. Nevada-Reno

SI: Utah vs. Fresno State

PIONEER PUREVISION LAS VEGAS: MWC Champ vs. PAC-10 #4
Vindy’s Picks: TCU vs. Arizona State
CFN: TCU vs. Arizona State
Steele: TCU vs. Arizona
Sportsline: TCU vs. Arizona State
CSTV: TCU vs. Oregon
ESPN (Maisel): BYU vs. UCLA
ESPN (Schlabach): TCU vs. UCLA
Sporting News: New Mexico vs. Arizona

DpD: BYU vs. Oregon State

SI: TCU vs. Arizona State

DEC. 23
SHERATON HAWAII: C-USA vs. WAC
Vindy’s Picks: SMU vs. Hawaii
CFN: Marshall vs. Fresno State
Steele: UTEP vs. New Mexico State
Sportsline: Rice vs. Hawaii
CSTV: Houston vs. Hawaii
ESPN (Maisel): UTEP vs. Hawaii
ESPN (Schlabach): Houston vs. Hawaii
Sporting News: Hawaii vs. Oregon

DpD: Hawaii vs. Tulsa

SI: Hawaii vs. Marshall

DEC. 26
MOTOR CITY: B10 #7 vs. MAC
Vindy’s Picks: Troy vs. Ohio
CFN: Northwestern vs. Central Michigan
Steele: Northwestern vs. Toledo
Sportsline: Cincinnati vs. Central Michigan
CSTV: Notre Dame vs. Central Michigan
ESPN (Maisel): Michigan State vs. Miami-Ohio
ESPN (Schlabach): Minnesota vs. Central Michigan
Sporting News: Minnesota vs. Miami-Ohio

DpD: Cincinnati vs. Central Michigan

SI: Northwestern vs. Western Michigan

DEC. 27
PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY: B12 #3 vs. Pac-10 #2
Vindy’s Picks: Oklahoma State vs. California
CFN: Missouri vs. California
Steele: Nebraska vs. Oregon
Sportsline: Nebraska vs. California
CSTV: Missouri vs. UCLA
ESPN (Maisel): Nebraska vs. Oregon
ESPN (Schlabach): Nebraska vs. California
Sporting News: Nebraska vs. California

DpD: Kansas State vs. UCLA

SI: Missouri vs. UCLA

TEXAS: B12 vs. C-USA
Vindy’s Picks: Kansas vs. Tulsa
CFN: Texas Tech vs. Houston
Steele: Auburn vs. Houston
Sportsline: Texas Tech vs. Central Florida
CSTV: Kansas vs. Tulsa
ESPN (Maisel): Kansas State vs. Houston
ESPN (Schlabach): Texas Tech vs. Central Florida
Sporting News: Texas A&M vs. UTEP

DpD: Texas A&M vs. Western Michigan

SI: Kansas vs. UTEP

DEC. 28:
CHAMPS SPORTS: ACC #4 vs. B10 #4 or #5
Vindy’s Picks: Virginia Tech vs. Purdue
CFN: Boston College vs. Purdue
Steele: Clemson vs. Wisconsin
Sportsline: Miami vs. Iowa
CSTV: Georgia Tech vs. Iowa
ESPN (Maisel): Miami vs. Iowa
ESPN (Schlabach): Boston College vs. Iowa
Sporting News: Georgia Tech vs. Iowa

DpD: Kansas vs. Northwestern

SI: Miami vs. Iowa

EMERALD: ACC #7 vs. PAC-10 #5
Vindy’s Picks: Georgia Tech vs. Oregon
CFN: Clemson vs. Oregon State
Steele: Virginia vs. California
Sportsline: Clemson vs. Oregon
CSTV: Maryland vs. Arizona State
ESPN (Maisel): NC State vs. Arizona State
ESPN (Schlabach): Maryland vs. Oregon
Sporting News: Wake Forest vs. Arizona State

DpD: Florida State vs. Arizona

SI: Virginia vs. Oregon State

DEC. 29
MEINEKE CAR CARE: ACC #6 vs. BE
Vindy’s Picks: Boston College vs. Rutgers
CFN: Miami vs. Pittsburgh
Steele: NC State vs. South Florida
Sportsline: Wake Forest vs. Rutgers
CSTV: Miami vs. Rutgers
ESPN (Maisel): Clemson vs. West Virginia
ESPN (Schlabach): Clemson vs. South Florida
Sporting News: Miami vs. South Florida

DpD: Miami vs. Pitt

SI: Wake Forest vs. South Florida

AUTOZONE LIBERTY: C-USA Champ vs. SEC #6
Vindy’s Picks: Southern Miss vs. Arkansas
CFN: Tulsa vs. Alabama
Steele: Southern Miss vs. Tennessee
Sportsline: Southern Miss vs. Alabama
CSTV: Southern Miss vs. Kentucky
ESPN (Maisel): Southern Miss vs. Alabama
ESPN (Schlabach): Southern Miss vs. Alabama
Sporting News: Southern Miss vs. Arkansas

DpD: Houston vs. Tennessee

SI: Southern Miss vs. Alabama

VALERO ALAMO: B10 #4 or #5 vs. B12 #4
Vindy’s Picks: Ohio State vs. Missouri
CFN: Iowa vs. Nebraska
Steele: Purdue vs. Texas A&M
Sportsline: Purdue vs. Missouri
CSTV: Illinois vs. Kansas State
ESPN (Maisel): Purdue vs. Missouri
ESPN (Schlabach): Purdue vs. Missouri
Sporting News: Purdue vs. Missouri

DpD: Minnesota vs. Texas Tech

SI: Purdue vs. Texas A&M

DEC. 30
PETROSUN INDEPENDENCE: B12 #7 vs. SEC #8
Vindy’s Picks: Kansas State vs. Vanderbilt
CFN: Kansas State vs. Arkansas
Steele: Texas Tech vs. Arkansas
Sportsline: Kansas State vs. Kentucky
CSTV: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama
ESPN (Maisel): Texas Tech vs. South Carolina
ESPN (Schlabach): Kansas State vs. Kentucky
Sporting News: Oklahoma State vs. Kentucky

DpD: Oklahoma State vs. Washington State

SI: Texas Tech vs. Notre Dame

DEC. 31
BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES: MWC vs. PAC-10
Vindy’s Picks: Nevada-Reno vs. Arizona
CFN: Utah vs. Washington State
Steele: Utah vs. Oregon State
Sportsline: BYU vs. Washington State
CSTV: BYU vs. Arizona
ESPN (Maisel): Wyoming vs. Washington
ESPN (Schlabach): BYU vs. Oregon State
Sporting News: TCU vs. Houston

DpD: TCU vs. Oregon

SI: Wyoming vs. Oregon

SUN: B12/BE/Notre Dame vs. PAC-10 #3
Vindy’s Picks: Auburn vs. USC
CFN: Oklahoma State vs. Oregon
Steele: Oklahoma State vs. UCLA
Sportsline: Notre Dame vs. Oregon State
CSTV: Texas A&M vs. Oregon State
ESPN (Maisel): Notre Dame vs. California

ESPN (Schlabah): Notre Dame vs. Washington State
Sporting News: Notre Dame vs. Oregon State

DpD: Notre Dame vs. California

SI: Louisville vs. California

ROADY’S HUMANITARIAN: ACC #8 vs. WAC
Vindy’s Picks: Clemson vs. Boise State
CFN: Virginia vs. Boise State
Steele: Maryland vs. Boise State
Sportsline: Maryland vs. Boise State
CSTV: Clemson vs. Boise State
ESPN (Maisel): Wake Forest vs. Boise State
ESPN (Schlabach): ESPN (Schlabach): Wake Forest vs. Boise State
Sporting News: Clemson vs. Boise State

DpD: Boston College vs. San Jose State

SI: Clemson vs. Boise State

GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY: ACC vs. SEC #5
Vindy’s Picks: Miami vs. Florida
CFN: Florida State vs. South Carolina
Steele: Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt
Sportsline: Boston College vs. South Carolina
CSTV: Wake Forest vs. South Carolina
ESPN (Maisel): Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee
ESPN (Schlabach): Miami vs. Auburn
Sporting News: Virginia vs. South Carolina

DpD: Georgia Tech vs. Alabama

SI: Boston College vs. South Carolina

CHICK-FIL-A: ACC #2 vs. SEC
Vindy’s Picks: Florida State vs. Georgia
CFN: Maryland vs. Tennessee
Steele: Virginia Tech vs. Florida
Sportsline: Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee
CSTV: Boston College vs. Tennessee
ESPN (Maisel): Maryland vs. Kentucky
ESPN (Schlabach): Georgia Tech vs. South Carolina
Sporting News: Boston College vs. Alabama

DpD: Wake Forest vs. South Carolina

SI: Georgia Tech vs. Auburn

INSIGHT: B10 #6 vs. B12 #6
Vindy’s Picks: Michigan State vs. Texas A&M
CFN: Minnesota vs. Texas A&M
Steele: Illinois vs. Kansas State
Sportsline: Minnesota vs. Oklahoma State
CSTV: Purdue vs. Texas Tech
ESPN (Maisel): Northwestern vs. Texas A&M
ESPN (Schlabach): Oklahoma State vs. Indiana
Sporting News: Illinois vs. Texas Tech

DpD: Penn State vs. Nebraska

SI: Illinois vs. Kansas State

JAN. 1
OUTBACK: B10 #3 vs. SEC
Vindy’s Picks: Penn State vs. Alabama
CFN: Ohio State vs. Florida
Steele: Iowa vs. South Carolina
Sportsline: Penn State vs. Georgia
CSTV: Ohio State vs. Auburn
ESPN (Maisel): Ohio State vs. Auburn
ESPN (Schlabach): Penn State vs. Georgia
Sporting News: Ohio State vs. Auburn

DpD: Iowa vs. Georgia

SI: Penn State vs. Georgia

COTTON: B12 #2 vs. SEC
Vindy’s Picks: Nebraska vs. South Carolina
CFN: Oklahoma vs. Auburn
Steele: Missouri vs. Alabama
Sportsline: Texas A&M vs. Arkansas
CSTV: Nebraska vs. Arkansas
ESPN (Maisel): Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas
ESPN (Schlabach): Texas A&M vs. Arkansas
Sporting News: Oklahoma vs. Tennessee

DpD: Missouri vs. Arkansas

SI: Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas

GATOR: ACC #3 vs. B12/BE/Notre Dame
Vindy’s Picks: Maryland vs. Colorado
CFN: Georgia Tech vs. Rutgers
Steele: Miami vs. Notre Dame
Sportsline: Florida State vs. Oklahoma
CSTV: Florida State vs. Oklahoma
ESPN (Maisel): Florida State vs. Rutgers
ESPN (Schlabach): Florida State vs. Rutgers
Sporting News: Florida State vs. Rutgers

DpD: Clemson vs. West Virginia

SI: Florida State vs. Nebraska

CAPITAL ONE: B10 #2 vs. SEC #2
Vindy’s Picks: Michigan vs. Tennessee
CFN: Penn State vs. Georgia
Steele: Ohio State vs. Georgia
Sportsline: Ohio State vs. Auburn
CSTV: Penn State vs. Georgia
ESPN (Maisel): Penn State vs. Georgia
ESPN (Schlabach): Ohio State vs. Tennessee
Sporting News: Penn State vs. Georgia

DpD: Wisconsin vs. Auburn

SI: Ohio State vs. Tennessee

ROSE PRESENTED BY CITI: B10 Champ vs. PAC-10 Champ
Vindy’s Picks: Wisconsin vs. UCLA
CFN: Wisconsin vs. UCLA
Steele: Michigan vs. Texas
Sportsline: Michigan vs. UCLA
CSTV: Wisconsin vs. California
ESPN (Maisel): Michigan vs. Texas
ESPN (Schlabach): Michigan vs. Oklahoma
Sporting News: Michigan vs. UCLA
Lindy’s: Michigan vs. California

DpD: Michigan vs. LSU

SI: Michigan vs. Rutgers

ALL-STATE SUGAR: SEC Champ vs. at-large
Vindy’s Picks: Oklahoma vs. Louisville
CFN: Michigan vs. Hawaii
Steele: West Virginia vs. Hawaii
Sportsline: Florida vs. Louisville
CSTV: Michigan vs. LSU
ESPN (Maisel): LSU vs. Louisville
ESPN (Schlabach): Florida vs. West Virginia
Sporting News: Florida vs. Wisconsin

Lindy’s: Tennessee vs. West Virginia

DpD: Florida vs. Ohio State

SI: Florida vs. Oklahoma

JAN. 2
TOSTITOS FIESTA: B12 Champ vs. at-large
Vindy’s Picks: Texas vs. BYU
CFN: Texas vs. Louisville
Steele: Oklahoma vs. Louisville
Sportsline: Texas vs. Wisconsin
CSTV: Texas vs. Louisville
ESPN (Maisel): Texas Christian vs. Wisconsin

ESPN (Schlabach): Texas vs. Louisville
Sporting News: Texas vs. Louisville
Lindy’s: Texas vs. Wisconsin

DpD: Boise State vs. Louisville

SI: Texas vs. Wisconsin

JAN. 3
FED-EX ORANGE: ACC Champ vs. at-large
Vindy’s Picks: Virginia vs. Iowa
CFN: Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia
Steele: Florida State vs. Penn State
Sportsline: Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia
CSTV: Florida vs. West Virginia
ESPN (Maisel): Virginia Tech vs. Florida
ESPN (Schlabach): Virginia Tech vs. Florida
Sporting News: Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia
Lindy’s: Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma

DpD: Virginia Tech vs. Texas

SI: Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia

JAN. 6
INTERNATIONAL: BE/Notre Dame vs. MAC #4 or #5
Vindy’s Picks: Notre Dame vs. Western Michigan
CFN: Notre Dame vs. Miami-Ohio
Steele: Rutgers vs. Kent State
Sportsline: Pittsburgh vs. Ohio
CSTV: no pick
ESPN (Maisel): Pittsburgh vs. Toledo
ESPN (Schlabach): Pittsburgh vs. Ohio
Sporting News: Ball State vs. Maryland

DpD: Rutgers vs. Ohio

SI: Middle Tennessee vs. Ohio

GMAC: C-USA #2 vs. MAC
Vindy’s Picks: Houston vs. Toledo
CFN: East Carolina vs. Toledo
Steele: Memphis vs. Western Michigan
Sportsline: Tulsa vs. Western Michigan
CSTV: no pick
ESPN (Maisel): Tulsa vs. Western Michigan
ESPN (Schlabach): Tulsa vs. Ball State
Sporting News: SMU vs. Western Michigan

DpD: East Carolina vs. Akron

SI: Tulsa vs. Toledo

JAN. 7
BCS CHAMPIONSHIP: BCS #1 vs. BCS #2
Vindy’s Picks: West Virginia vs. LSU
CFN: USC vs. LSU
Steele: USC vs. LSU
Sportsline: USC vs. LSU
CSTV: USC vs. Virginia Tech
ESPN (Maisel): USC vs. Oklahoma
ESPN (Schlabach): USC vs. LSU
Sporting News: USC vs. LSU
Lindy’s: USC vs. LSU

DpD: USC vs. Oklahoma

SI: USC vs. LSU

Preseason Projected 2007-08 Bowl Match-Ups

Yeah, yeah...we’ve read all the blog comments about the absurdity of forecasting bowl match-ups out this far. Let’s face it..."expert" projections are made based on number of returning starters, coaching turnovers, expected decline/improvement of teams based on experience or lack thereof, players coming back from prior season injuries, increase/decrease in strength of schedule, yada yada yada. But you all know as well as Vindy does that there will be turnovers, upsets, blown officiating calls, injuries, off-the-field "issues"and possibly random acts of nature that will impact the anticipated progression of the season.

THE WEBER KID’S 2007-08 PRESEASON BOWL MATCH-UPS

(Selected via taping school names to the bottom of 119 rubber ducks and pulling them outta’ the bubbling jacuzzi at random until all 64 bowl slots were filled...OK, maybe we put a little more into it than that.)

DEC. 20
SAN DIEGO CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA:
Colorado State vs. Navy

DEC. 21
R&L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL:
Louisiana-Monroe vs. Memphis

DEC. 22
PAPAJOHNS.COM:
South Florida vs. East Carolina

NEW MEXICO:
Wyoming vs. San Jose State

PIONEER PUREVISION LAS VEGAS:
TCU vs. Arizona State

DEC. 23
SHERATON HAWAII:
SMU vs. Hawaii

DEC. 26
MOTOR CITY:
Troy vs. Ohio U.

DEC. 27
PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY:
Oklahoma State vs. California

TEXAS:
Kansas vs. Tulsa

DEC. 28
CHAMPS SPORTS:
Virginia Tech vs. Purdue

EMERALD:
Georgia Tech vs. Oregon

DEC. 29
MEINEKE CAR CARE:
Boston College vs. Rutgers

AUTOZONE LIBERTY:
Southern Miss vs. Arkansas

ALAMO:
Ohio State vs. Missouri

DEC. 30
PETROSUN INDEPENDENCE:
Kansas State vs. Vanderbilt

DEC. 31
BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES:
Nevada-Reno vs. Arizona

SUN:
Auburn vs. USC

HUMANITARIAN:
Clemson vs. Boise State

GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY:
Miami vs. Florida

CHICK-FIL-A:
Florida State vs. Georgia

INSIGHT:
Michigan State vs. Texas A&M

JAN. 1
OUTBACK:
Penn State vs. Alabama

COTTON:
Nebraska vs. South Carolina

GATOR:
Maryland vs. Colorado

CAPITAL ONE:
Michigan vs. Tennessee

ROSE PRESENTED BY CITI:
Wisconsin vs. UCLA

ALL-STATE SUGAR:
Oklahoma vs. Louisville

JAN. 2
TOSTITOS FIESTA:
Texas vs. BYU

JAN. 3
FED-EX ORANGE:
Virginia vs. Iowa

JAN. 6
INTERNATIONAL:
Notre Dame vs. Western Michigan

GMAC:
Houston vs. Toledo

JAN. 7
BCS CHAMPIONSHIP:
LSU vs. West Virginia

Tune in this December to see how we fared.....

Tune in later this month as we post a comparison of several sites’ post-season prognostications and even later when we put up thoughts on this season’s third-year coaches...and, of course, Week One’s Top 25 regular-season ATS picks (somewhere around August 28)!

Vindy's '06-'07 Bowl Recap

MAG NAMES ENTIRE DIVISION NATIONAL CHAMPS; EAGLES, CROCS BRING VIN CAREER POST-SEASON BEST
Thousands Garner Coveted Hardware; Vindy Snags 19 Bowl Wins

NEW YORK, New York (CNN)...BCS, Schmee-C-S....It didn’t take long for Time Magazine to apply the same logic to collegiate pigskin that it did to its annual "Person of Da’ Year" as the prestigious periodical named "All of Division I-A" as its 2007 national champion in college football. "If pick one, ya gotta’ justify it. If ya pick ‘em all ... no muss, no fuss!"quipped managing editor Richard Stengel. In the wake of the controversial January 9th issue, Time also announced "a ton of average joes" walked away with such preferred trophies as the MVP, Heisman, Vezina and Gold Glove awards! In fact, an unidentified Time staffer let it be known the Vegas Vindicator made #27 on the published list of 26 "persons that mattered". Apparently, the venerable, traditional magazine was too busy covering the war, the NASA Discovery mission and of course, Vindy’s Picks, to identify a single winner, noting "Hey...we pressed the ‘Staples easy button’ and this was the result!". In fact, only the "second chance"given by Donald Trump to Miss USA Tara Conners prevented Time from making the whole country a "Tiara City"!

Vindy wants to thank all the folks at Time that voted for him (most of which were bookies who pocketed big dollars from bettors who relied on Vindy’s regular-season picks) and for the multitude of others! The Weber Kid can’t wait to see his name engraved on the trophies... alphabetically behind thousands of others...FINE! In the immortal words of South Park’s Eric Cartman..."Those bastards!"

Meanwhile, back in Sin City, the Weber Kid got off to an auspicious start, going 1-2 through the first trey, but rallied nicely to post a 6-2 record through the first eight and 8-4 through the first dozen games. A 1-4-1 stint crossing January 1st and 2nd left our prestigious prognosticator feelin’ like the red Rock ‘em Sock ‘Em robot in the latest Ford truck commercial and led Vindicator to quote Johnny Depp’s character in Pirates of the Carribean, uttering, "Oh, Bugger!" But The Vegas Vindicator went on to record a career-high 19 college bowl spread wins behind the SoMiss Golden Eagles and those National Champion Florida Gators! The Weber Kid finished with 4-0 flurry and (five of da’ last six) to show a final 19-12-1 tally, a whopping 61.29% against the number and his first winning bowl season record since ‘02 post-season’s 17-11.

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS (brought to you by Cingular Wireless..."Stop the catbox...stop the catbox...")
In accordance with Macy’s desires to address safety concerns, Vindy’s Picks balloons flew at much lower altitudes during the Christmas Parade than in previous years!

The underdogs would go 16-14-1 (depending on whether or not ya had the Michigan/USC game as a pick ‘em at kickoff). Of the 16 covers, 9 were won outright by the doggie and the remaining seven covering ‘dogs lost by no more than three points each!

The Big Least took honors as the conference posting the most straight-up bowl victories at 5-0!

"A defense. Is there a defense in the house???!!" In a 24-hour span, the Gophers blew a 31-point 3rd quarter lead to Texas Tech, the Hokies tanked an 18-point halftime advantage to Joja’ and Vindy’s Nifty Lions escaped with a 129-111 hardwood victory over hoops juggernaut VMI!!!!!

Las Vegas Bowl concessionaires were disappointed with beer sales due to the influx of Mormon Cougars’ fans this year. Note to Pioneer and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce reps....invite the Stanford mascot next year even if the Cardinal ain’t playing in the bowl! Meanwhile, the Ducks covered the number in at least one category...as 15-drink chalk in the caffeinated-soda contest, Oregon covered easily as the Cougars mailed it in, electing to consume nothing but cans of Sprite and A&W root beer!

George Bush was busy handing out presidential pardons last month. Among those were....the Rice Owls for their dismal performance in 41-17 loss to Troy in the New Orleans Bowl!

Weber tips his helmet to his alma mater for toppling Tennessee as a 4-point ‘dog. By the way, Vindy’s Nifty Lions excel in the classroom too, standing 3rd among public institutions (behind only Kent State and Nebraska), 1st in the conference and 7th in Division I-A in football player graduation rate!

Speaking of Lions, Detroit ‘s coaching assistant Joe Cullen missed a recent game due to an arrest for taking his vehicle thru a Wendy’s drive-up window....au natural. We’re guessin’ a finger wasn’t the body part he found in his chili!

Elsewhere in the sporting world of fast food, two employees of a Boise, Idaho ice rink got canned in November after taking a Zamboni thru the Burger King drive-up. Is it just a matter of time before we see the ad featuring the King skating circles around two opposing wings, hip-checking a defenseman into the boards and letting fly a twisted wrista’ to put a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit in da’ basket!????!!! By the way, Janet Gretsky already has money on the "Whoppers" laying a goal-and-a-half over the Taco Bell squad!

Vindicator recently learned the last college post-season game played outside America’s borders prior to this year’s International Bowl was the 1937 Bacardi Bowl, played in Cuba. Castro was still just a water-boy for the local military academy team back then!

Troy Smith was awarded the Heisman. The last Buckeye to hoist that trophy was Eddie George, who got the middle finger bent as it went thru airport security. So actually, Michael Vick was simply striking the Eddie George Heisman pose when he allegedly flipped off the crowd earlier this season!

Just another suggestion for UNLV’s out-of-conference scheduling for football...University of Cal-Santa Claus! Actually, the Rebels did, in fact, make the post-season twice....the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl and the 1994 Las Vegas Bowl.

The Donald nearly took away Miss USA’s crown for "scandalous behavior", but gave her a reprieve and stripped Texas Tech, who was behind by 31 in the 3rd quarter to the Gophers before rallying for an OT win, of its bowl trophy instead! Miss Nevada 2007 lost her crown for previous photos including kisses with other women. At least now she’s eligible to be a Carolina Panthers cheerleader! Woo-hoo!!!!

Stanford has hired former Bears QB Jim Harbaugh as head coach. The Cardinal may not win a PAC-10 title, but it will lead the NCAA in team rap songs, goofy headbands and aviator shades in the red zone!

Florida International hired Miami assistant Mario Cristobal, who immediately started talking trash and initiated a brawl with other Golden Panthers’ coaches!

Unidentified scientists working for America’s intelligence network got grants for "unspecified" research activities from Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte. In a related story, Vindicator enters the world of cloak-and-dagger himself and is establishing a covert scholarship to be awarded to unnamed athletes to go to undisclosed schools and play classified positions! (Hint: look for the players wearing "007" as a number and having no name sewn on the backs of their jerseys!). One more thing....Vindy likes his bookies "shaken, not stirred!"

In the first hundred hours of the 110th Congress, House Democrats hope to pass legislation....1) relegating the NFL’s Raiders and Lions to the WAC and MAC, respectively; 2) sending the Texans’ 2007 draft picks to teams that will actually use them wisely; 3) adding four more bowls so a whopping 60% of Division I-A squads can play in the post-season, including provisions to invite the I-AA champ, runner-up or other squads like North Dakota State, Montana State and UC-Davis, who beat bowl division teams in the regular season, 4) requiring Notre Dame to finish on Vindicator’s predicted side of the spread in any given week; and 5) requiring congressmen to spend time with the "Men of the Square Table" passing lotsa’ "Man Law!".

The NBA’s Jalen Rose hosted his second annual poetry contest. We’re told the winning submission included, "Jalen Roses are red, Jalen Roses are blue..."

NASA’s latest Discovery mission was successful and returned safely to Earth in December...well...almost safely. Astronaut and former Swedish national frisbee champ Christer Fuglesang brought one of the popular flying discs with him on the mission. Fellow American ‘naut Sunita Williams was last seen being swept into orbit around the moon after diving to catch an errant throw as the Discovery engaged in a game of Ultimate Frisbee against the International Space Station crew!

In a related story, scientists haven’t ruled out an off-target pass by Georgia Tech’s Reggie Ball or Chicago’s Rex Grossman as the cause of the "very low impact" detected on Discovery’s left wing! While neither player has copped to the damage, both admit to being outside the tackle box at the time of the incident! (However, Weber immediately exonerates Da’ Bears’ QB because Grossman’s throw would’ve been picked off by an astronaut from an opposing country before making contact with the vessel!) The NCAA also called upon the shuttle crew to conduct an unexpected space-walk around the outside of the Boise State team bus to herd the Broncos players back inside following their wild upset win over Oklahoma.

The Coast Guard recently dropped its Great Lakes firing-range plan. Damn...Vin was hopin’ for an "accidental" Tomahawk missile "sail-by" of South Bend!

In honor of one of Britney Spears’ post-divorce outings, Vin will sport a kilt and go "commando" during his next visit to the sportsbook!

According to the December 25th ish of Sports Illustrated, Steve Spurrier’s better half committed a secondary recruiting violation by sending personal, handwritten notes to families of players who signed up to play for him. Annnnd?!... We happen to know Mrs. Spurrier is the one throwin’ the visor behind closed doors!

Sports headline yer not gonna’ see anytime soon..."Art Shell To Take Over At Louisville; Hopes to Lure Moss, Harrington Back to College Ball"

This April, America will watch athletes dressed up as 50's "greasers" go through the rigors of the Combine and vote to decide which players go to which teams in the 2007 NFL Draft. NBC executives are calling it..."You’re the One That I Want"!!!

On Wednesday, January 9th, ESPN had the unmitigated gall to televise the 2006 U.S. Scrabble Open. Does a player get flagged if a tile falls off the board and is the first letter to be touched to create a new word? Does a tile in each hand moving simultaneously toward the board constitute "illegal motion"? Can a "blank" tile check in with the referee and line up on the rack as a "vowel-eligible"? (Does Vindicator need a serious increase in the dosage of his medication?!)

"Locked in A Box!": San Jose State secured a "lock" win early in the bowl season as the Spartans overcame horrible kick-coverage team play and a missed extra point in the first half to basically whack New Mexico, who got an intentional safety and a meaningless trash-time TD late in the game. Vindy’s lock picks go 10-5 (66.67%) on the year!

Vindy’s Season Best Bets: Bowls: 2-2 Season: 35-30-3 (.538) (but throw in Vin’s "lock" record and his preferred plays went 45-35-3 [.562])

Leftover Hash! Vindy empties the rest of the clip and presents items that didn’t find their way into this column earlier!

Johnny Depp stars as the director of an offshore sportsbook that takes all its bettors to the cleaners in "Pirates of the Caribbean Casino: Spread Man’s Chest"

A May issue of Sports Illustrated reported Sooners coach Bob Stoops joined Kelly Clarkson in a ride on an FA-18 Hornet jet. Stoops said he wanted to hurl, but then the pilot asked the inaugural American Idol winner to stop singing ....and Coach was fine!

In April, the Las Vegas Sun asked the question: "Who was better and why: Willie (Mays), Mickey (Mantle) or The Duke? Hands-down, we give that one to John Wayne, who would’ve said..."I’m not gonna’ hit it...I’m not gonna’ hit it...The Hell I’m not!!!"

Albertson High School in Montana cancelled its football season following a hazing incident in which a player was taped to the ceiling of a school bus. What’s da’ big deal??!!...Ticket-writers in Vegas tape Vindy to the sportsbook ceiling every August while they stand around mocking his preseason bowl predictions!

Steven Spielberg will help design the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics...can’t wait to see how he works in the ‘droids and dinosaurs! No doubt, the American team flag-bearer will be an Imperial Stormtrooper!

Last March, local sportswriter Joe Hawk wrote about the NFL clamping down on end zone celebrations and asked "You’re a defense attorney and you’ve just won a big case. Do you grab the judge’s gavel and make like Tiger Woods putting on No. 18 to claim the Masters? You’re a parent whose child just captured first place at the school science fair. Do you jump onstage, grab the big blue ribbon and pretend you’re thrusting it into the ground, like the U.S. troops planting the flag on Iwo Jima...?" We’re thinkin’ if those actions made the daily highlight reel on SportsCenter...damn right!

The San Diego Chargers held an August walk-thru on the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan. No word as to whether George Bush showed up in pads and a helmet to declare "practice accomplished"!

The American Basketball Association fielded a new expansion team this season..the Vermont Frost Heaves...Vermont Frost Heaves???.... isn’t that what ya get after too many frozen margaritas?

The website Emerald Nuts.Com allows fans to spell out phrases using each letter of its brand name to spell out bizarre sentences. Vindicator submitted "Eagles Make End Runs Around Lunging Ducks Nibbling Umpires To Score". (Then our fearless forecaster dropped another tab of acid!)

Just FYI, to get driving directions to the sportsbook, it’s "Vin Vin" not "Tom Tom"!

Vindicator will spend the off-season hibernating in the Bud Light bunker and whacking Guinness Stout pinatas while rubber floors are installed in Vindy’s above-ground residence to prevent breakage of glass-fragile picks next season!

Not to worry, the Sin City Soothsayer will return in August to draw up X’s and "Oh, nos!" for next year’s campaign.

Until then...the Weber Kid leaves all his readers with a traditional Irish bookie blessing..."May the road dog rise up to beat you!" (Somethin’ like that!)

The V-Train has left the station....!!!!

Vindy's 2006-2007 Bowl Picks

SAPP ALLEGES INTENTIONAL FOOD POISONING
Lineman Reports Illicit Attempts to Keep Him Sidelined

OAKLAND, California (Reuters)...Raiders defensive tackle Warren Sapp told media he doesn’t eat out anymore when playing games away from home, citing deliberate efforts to keep him out of games by tampering with his meals. Sapp pointed to particular difficulty during pre-game culinary experiences in the City of Brotherly Love. "Come to think of it," reflected Sapp, "that last minute ‘team-mom’ substitute sure resembled McNabb’s mother. I never did like her and that whole ‘Chunky soup’ thing!" Shortly after Sapp’s meeting with reporters on the topic, a revised edition of "If I Did It" by O.J. Simpson hit the bookstore shelves and presented a hypothetical, detailed account of how the former Southern Cal Heisman-winning rusher would’ve poisoned Warren Sapp, had he actually done so. Investigators teased media with a little international intrigue, suggesting the alleged incidents may relate back to the Cold War and intimating the Russian government mistook Sapp for a KGB agent, with president Vladimir Putin ordering the tampering. The Kremlin has unconditionally refuted the charges as "Amerikan kapitalist horse-hockey!"

"Rocky Balboa" premieres on December 22nd. Insiders say a Cornish hen was hung on a hook in the famous meat-locker scene to protect Sly’s aging hands and it was made to look like a side of beef thru special effects (Can’t ya just hear Burgess Meredith yelling, "Eye of the lap cat, Rock! Eye of the lap cat!"??!!). In honor of the movie’s release, Vindy hung a parlay card on a hook as he trained for the bowl picks! Yeah...OK...so the card landed a couple of solid body shots! Vindy gets up off da’ mat before the ten-count expires, calls out "Adriannnnnnn (Peterson)" and offers...

THE WEBER KID’S 2006-07 BOWL PREDICTIONS
(Lines of December 14; over/under totals in parentheses)

DEC. 19
SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA: Northern Illinois over Texas Christian taking 12 ½ (47): Toads got "lock of da’ bowls" honors last season and failed miserably. The latest college football all-star game is being played in El Paso and being nicknamed "Texas vs. the Nation". Didn’t we already see this one when Frogs played in C-USA??!! These teams are evenly matched on offense. Edge on run defense goes to TCU, but Huskies have aerial options if once-Heisman-candidate RB Garrett Wolfe is ineffective...Ribbit U. 27 NIU 20

DEC. 21
PIONEER PURE VISION LAS VEGAS: #19 BYU over Oregon giving 4 (59 1/2): Decoys are a controversial officiating call away from 6-6. Mormon fans are not known for dropping dollars in Sin City and the Coogs’ first flag will be "delay of spending"! What is the motivation for the Drakes, who had visions of much loftier bowls? Ducks lost (and failed to cover) last four games away from Autzen Stadium. The "over" looks good here too...BYU 38 Mallards 29

DEC. 22
NEW ORLEANS: Rice over Troy giving 6 ½ (51 1/2): "Break up the Owls!" was sarcastically uttered by an announcer earlier this year in reference to Temple’s team, but Vin steals the phrase and applies it to the Rice contingent that reeled off six straight victories and seven wins in its last eight. Trojans have had time to rest after playing 8 of their 12 regular season games on the road. First Rice bowl (rice bowl?) in 45 years!...Rice 24 Troy 11

DEC. 23
PAPAJOHNS.COM: South Florida over East Carolina giving 3 ½ (43 1/2): This was a tough call. Vindy has been a big fan of the Pirates this season (and is tickled to see ECU alum David Garrard directing the offense for the Jags on Sundays!). USF humiliated the Bucs 41-17 in ‘04 regular season game and fell flat on its face in a 14-0 loss to NC State in its first-ever bowl game last season. Common foe for these clubs was West Virginia. Pirates lost 27-17 at home, while Bulls won 24-19 in Morgantown. We’ll take the second-best I-A team in the Sunshine State (this season, in this forecaster’s humble opinion)...USF 24 Avast, Ye Landlubbers 17

NEW MEXICO: San Jose State over NEW MEXICO taking 4 ½ (49): LOCK OF DA’ BOWLS. Few teams get excited to play in their own backyard during the post-season. Lobos are no exception. Spartans continue nice turnaround from last three seasons of 3-8, 2-9 and 3-8 by adding another Mountain Jest squad to the list of victims... SJSU 31 New Mexico 17

ARMED FORCES: Utah over Tulsa giving 2 (49 1/2): Rumors have Donald Rumsfeld showing up to this one just before kickoff to urge "adjustment" in Tulsa’s bowl strategy and to recommend pulling Golden Hurricane safeties and corners outta’ "vulnerable positions"! Utes found their second wind in late October and just missed upset of MWC champ Cougars in finale...Utah 30 Tulsa 24

DEC. 24
HAWAII: Hawaii over Arizona State giving 8 (74 1/2): ASU yielded only 17 ppg in final three matches after allowing 26 ppg through first nine. Two of the last three were in Tempe however. Other than contest against San Jose State, ‘Bows’ opponents with a pulse scored 30 or better. Collectively, these two teams brought back a total of nine starters on defense in the preseason. A nod to the "over"...Hawaii 44 ASU 35

DEC. 26
MOTOR CITY: Central Michigan over Middle Tennessee State giving 10 (51): Interesting to see a second Sun Belt team bowling other than conference champ Troy (32 bowls will do that!). Chippies are a nifty 11-2 against the line, though only 1-1 laying double-digits. Blue Raiders just 1-3 ATS getting double-digits (against bowl teams on all four occasions)... Central Michigan 31 MTSU 17

DEC. 27
EMERALD: UCLA over Florida State giving 4 ½ (40 1/2): Bobby Bowden put Drew Weatherford under center at the beginning of the Florida game after indicating QB Xavier Lee is better coming off the bench. Does that mean FSU has two quarterbacks, neither of whom is good enough to start, so Weatherford handled the opening possessions as the lesser of two evils because Lee is the better relief pitcher????!! Bad times in Tallahassee. Bruins clearly have the motivation to beat a traditional powerhouse and will carry momentum of huge win over then-#2 Southern Cal into this one...UCLA 24 Injuns 16

DEC. 28
INDEPENDENCE: Oklahoma State over Alabama giving 2 ½ (50 1/2): Tide averaged just over 22 ppg on offense this season and posted more than 2 offensive TDs in regulation only twice (vs. Duke and Florida International). Former United Nations Weapons Inspector Hans Blix is off to join the International Ski Federation Ethics commission. Maybe he can make a stop in Tuscaloosa and try to find ‘Bama’s offense (Vindy’s intelligence network tells him they keep moving it around on trucks or other mobile platforms to prevent detection)...OKSU 27 Hans Tide Behind Their Backs 20

PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY: #21 Texas A&M over #20 Cal taking 5 (51 1/2): Bears are playing in a lower-tier bowl...again...following uninspired efforts vs. Southern Cal and Stanford. Aggies are total of two points against both Big 12 Title game contestants away from 11-1 record. A&M has already beaten Texas and win this one too for Coach Fran...Aggies 20 Cal 13

TEXAS: #16 Rutgers over Kansas State giving 7 ½ (45): Knights know they have the commitment of Coach Schiano to stay in the Garden State. In gratitude, Rutgers struts its best ground attack and best defense on national TV and flattens K-State squad that upended Texas and Oklahoma State at home...Knights 34 Wildcats 14

DEC. 29
GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY: Clemson over Kentucky giving 10 (57 1/2): Wildcats are making nice strides and lighting up the scoreboard, but there are still too many issues on defense. Tigers’ average margin of victory, even disregarding 63-9 blowout of Temple, was still 40-9. The Clemson also rises...Tigers 44 KY 24

BRUT SUN: #24 Oregon State over Missouri giving 3 ½ (52): Tigers are Top 20 in pass D. Beavers will showcase WR Sammie Stroughter, who pulls in better than 5 catches for almost 100 yards per game. Mizzou lost of four of their final six-pack coming in but miraculously overcame an early three touchdown hole in last year’s Independence Bowl vs. South Carolina off a similarly slow regular-season finish. Beavers beat USC, Oregon and Hawaii en route to this game. Maybe Brut pitchman Broadway Joe will make an appearance... sober!...Oregon State 24 Missouri 20

AUTOZONE LIBERTY: South Carolina over Houston giving 7 (55 1/2): This will be determined by the play of the Cougars defense. A narrow regular season road loss and subsequent home win over Southern Miss support Houston’s chances here. Still, we have to take the stronger defensive team from the SEC...Gamecocks 31 Houston 20

INSIGHT: Minnesota over Texas Tech taking 6 ½ (66): If ya like the big "O", particularly lotsa’ passing, this game’s got your name written all over it! Together, Gophers and Raiders average nearly 60 ppg per game and better than 800 yards of offense, much of that through the air. In what figures to be a shootout, Weber gladly takes the points... Gophers 35 Tech 32

CHAMPS SPORTS: Maryland over Purdue giving 1 (52): In order to personally frustrate Kim Jong Il, the U.S. has imposed a trade ban on high tech toys, cigars and other luxury items the North Korean president has taken a shine to. In a related move, the Boilermakers have asked the NCAA to establish an embargo on Krispy Kremes to Terps coach Ralph Friedgen. Turtles beat five consecutive ACC foes, while Purdue’s conference wins were over the Big Ten bottom tier. Here, Coach...donut’s on the Weber Kid!...Maryland 28 Purdue 20

DEC. 30
MEINEKE CAR CARE: Navy over #23 Boston College taking 6 ½ (47): Middies have won and covered back-to-back bowls , garnering "lock" honors from the Weber Kid in ‘04 and lock consideration last season. As one would expect from a highly-disciplined group of Uncle Sam’s servicemen, the Boat People average only just over four penalties per game. Army did everything it could to hand Navy the cover of 20 ½ points, but the Midshipmen just weren’t havin’ any of it. Navy’s first completed pass in that game came on the last play of the third quarter. Something has to give here as BC has won and covered five straight bowls, including a defeat of Boise on its home blue turf last year. Middies lost starting FB on first play vs. Army and lost starting QB during Rutgers game...BC 23 Admirals 20

MASTERCARD ALAMO: #18 Texas over Iowa giving 11 (53): Hawkeyes quarterback Drew Tate was not permitted to accept a new car as a prize after completing a hole-in-one at a charity golf tourney this summer. Geez, do ya know how hard it is to throw a football 275 yards into a tin cup???!!! Vindicator obviously badly overestimated Iowa’s capabilities in the preseason...’Horns 38 Iowa 14

CHICK-FIL-A: #14 Virginia Tech over Georgia giving 3 (38): Dawgs finished with a small flurry, hammering Auburn on the road and beating rival Joja’ Tech after floundering earlier with outright losses to Vandy and Kentucky. VT allowed double-digits to only one of last six opponents, averaging only four points-against during that span...Hokies 24 Georgia Not On My Mind 9

DEC. 31
MPC COMPUTERS: Nevada-Reno over Miami taking 3 (43): ‘Canes, more or less, backed into this when Virginia lost in the finale to Virginia Tech. Have to figure less-than-"U"-standards season and pending loss of head coach Larry Coker will be distracting, even with former DC taking over as the new head guy. Not unlike Florida State, Miami may simply mail it in and look to next season. A Florida man recently repelled an attacker by pummeling his would-be assailant with a football helmet. Miami coaches immediately offered the man a scholarship. Winner gets a PlayStation 3 in place of an actual bowl trophy!... Miami 20 UNR 19

JAN. 1
OUTBACK: Penn State over #17 Tennessee taking 4 (41): Researchers from Montana State found dinosaur fossils this summer in the northeast part of the Las Vegas Valley. Reports note found items at the two-and-a-half mile site included elongated femurs, triceratops horns.....and a raptor-skin-bound high school yearbook signed by Joe Paterno! Rematch of 1992 Fiesta Bowl and 1993 Citrus, both won big by State...Nifty Lions 21 Vols 17

AT&T COTTON: #10 Auburn over #22 Nebraska giving 3 (44 1/2): Reportedly, the recently-auctioned junior-high book report by Britney Spears was acquired by an Auburn player who plagiarized it as his own project for one of those "directed reading" independent study classes (editor’s note: Vindy’s Hollywood spies tell him Spears is purportedly hopping on the publishing bandwagon and putting out (?) ..."If I Did It Again"!)...Tigers 30 Big Red 21

GATOR: #13 West Virginia over Georgia Tech giving 7 (49): Will Reggie Ball go out in a blaze of glory...or just go down in flames?!’Eers recovered well from untimely loss to South Florida by keeping Rutgers from the Big Least crown. Rich Rodriguez showed his loyalty to the team and the conference, turning down head coaching job at ‘Bama, and Vindy thinks we’ll the see the Mounties that were headed for the BCS Championship...WVU 29 ‘Jackets 14

CAPITAL ONE: #12 Arkansas over #6 Wisconsin giving 1 ½ (45): Special teams’ play killed the Pigs in SEC Championship match. Hard to go against beef of the Wisky lines, but we’ll favor the strength of schedule for the Razorbacks over that of the Badgers. Should be quick-moving, defensive battle with lotsa’ three-and-outs...Pigs 17 Wisconsin 13

ROSE: #3 Michigan over #8 Southern Cal giving 1 (47): Prompted by BCS snub to play rematch against the Buckeyes, Wolverines will come out loaded for bear and beat down a vulnerable USC team that squandered a chance to play yet again for the Grail. We like the "under" here too...Michigan 24 Trojans 13

TOSTITOS FIESTA: #9 Boise State over #7 Oklahoma taking 8 (51): Sooners get Adrian Peterson back for this one! Ian Johnson’s ribs should be better too for the Broncos attack. "Then Stoops said, with his playbook nervously spinning, ‘I must find a way to keep Boise from winning!’"...OK 30 BSU 27

JAN. 2
FED-EX ORANGE: #15 Wake Forest over #5 Louisville taking 9 ½ (52): Deacons ran for 19 TDs in 13 games, while allowing only 9 rushing scores (20 total, many opponents had to throw early being down big). Cards allowed 12 rushing TDs in 12 games and ran for 33 rushing TDs alone. No question...Louisville is an offensive juggernaut. It’ll be up to Wake’s defense to control the pace...Cards 24 Wake 20

JAN. 3
ALLSTATE SUGAR: #4 Louisiana State over #11 Notre Dame giving 8 ½ (55): Curt Schilling’s image was being used by online role-playing game EverQuest II to raise $$ to cure Lou Gehrig’s disease. Sony donated $5 for every player who beat Schilling during a three-day stretch in June. Curt would continue to make appearances in the game thereafter. Had it been Charlie Weis’ likeness, Vin would’ve gotten addicted and never left the computer...Bengals 42 Irish 20

JAN. 6
INTERNATIONAL: Western Michigan over Cincinnati taking 8 (41 1/2): Bearkats beat both the other MAC teams they faced this year (and covered both at home). Broncos lost by 8 at Tallahassee and have enough on offense to keep Cincy defenders busy. Played in Toronto, the McKensie brothers will perform their version of "12 Days of Christmas" (yes, well-after the fact!) And teams must adhere to CFL rules. Take off, you hoser!...Cincinnati 23 WMU 17

JAN. 7
GMAC: Southern Miss over Ohio giving 6 ½ (42): Eagles defense struggled against Houston’s powerful attack but have fewer concerns with Bobblecats ground game. Ohio probably needs to force a couple turnovers to stay close. USM owes Vindicator for posting Weber’s 100th bowl loss last season...Birds 31 Cats 16

JAN. 8
BCS TITLE: #2 Florida over #1 Ohio State taking 8 (48): During Spring practice, Coach Meyer threatened to go without a running back on offense if no one stepped up. Gators did manage to improve on ‘05 average of 144.7 rushing ypg to 160.3 and took the overall offensive yardage up another notch from 366.7 to 398.1. UF has chance to bring home national crowns in men’s hoops and football in less than 10 months. Maybe Joaquim Noah could suit up! He’d be a great target at wide-out for Chris Leak! Florida claims wins over 9 of this year’s bowl squads (combined record 71-39), while State has victories over 7 (54-30). Buckeyes boast more recent national title game experience with controversial 2OT triumph against Miami in 2002, as well as three Fiesta Bowls, including that one. State’s won and covered 4 straight post-season appearances. Obviously, Tressel has been here before. If any coach can keep pace with the X’s and O’s, it’s Meyer. Here’s hopin’ for another thriller. Scrooge said, "Ohio State is what it is. Florida is what it is. And the BCS...is a humbug!"...OSU 27 Florida 24

BETWEEN THE WHO-HASHMARKS ("Why...that coach even took the last can of Who-hash!")

Weber registered Championship Week totals of 10-7 and has been on a 20-12-2 "tear" last two forecast weeks (127-125-8, .504 season [or roughly equivalent picking winners by coin toss!])

"The games, Spirit...are they real or are they shadows?"
"The bowls are real. We are the shadows."

Prince is slated to do this year’s halftime show at the Super Bowl. The Purple One will warm up at halftime of the Texas Bowl in the K-State locker room!

Vindy caught the following headline in this week’s edition of Gaming Today..."Seminoles to Buy Hard Rock Chain". If ya can’t beat the spread, buy the rights to set the spread!

Last month, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb released his own clothes line, called Super Five. Former teammate Terrell Owens has had his own line out for several years. We believe it’s called ...Pampers (Maybe we can get T.O. adopted by Madonna or Angelina Jolie!)

To ensure safety, Olympic athletes’ food will first be fed to mice during the 2008 Games in Beijing. Maybe Mr. Sapp oughta’ play in the CFL (uh...that’s Chinese Football League!). Or get himself a road mouse!

In recent weeks, Art Shell accused a Raiders’ organization member of trying to undermine the team, saying the unidentified person made calls to media across the country and criticized coaches. Shhhhhhh....don’t tell Coach Shell, but that unidentified person is actually...Vindy!

Jags coach Jack Del Rio recently dispelled rumors he was leaving the team, saying "I love working for (owner) Wayne Weaver and I’m not interested (in leaving)". We think Wayne’s dry-cleaning Jack’s suits!

Also last month, Michael Vick had to shell out $20K for flashing the international sign for uh..um..."we’re Number 1" with both hands following heckling from a fan in the stands in the aftermath of the loss to the Saints. Upon further review, the fan was actually Italian soccer star Marco Materazzi, who was on the wrong end of a headbutt during the World Cup final. Too bad, it wasn’t the Super Bowl. Vick could’ve head-butted his antagonist in the chest and received nothing more than a red card! (We heard Materazzi told Vick his "mother bets with Vindy’s Picks!")

At the start of the December 4th Monday Night Football game, the Eagles and the Panthers took the wrong sides of the field following the opening coin toss. Just more evidence that the tools of ignorance are not sole-domain of catchers!

Weber showed his forecast to Paris Hilton, who responded, "Vindy’s Picks? That’s hot!" Then he showed them to those two old-time scientists in the Guinness beer commercials. They responded, "Vindy’s Picks...brilliant! ... Brilliant!"

Weber has also printed his own version of "If I Did It" with a detailed account of how he would pick Iowa and West Virginia to play for this season’s national title. Oh, wait....!

"Locked in a Box?": Now 9-5 following Troy’s cover over Florida International.

Shoppe Talk: The Joja’ Tech Bees were the only "flame-thrower" in action during the championship week and they posted a forecast win! (But the bowls cometh!)

Vindy’s Best Bowl Bets: Last Week: 2-0 Season: 33-28-3 (.541)
Michigan -1over USC, Navy +6 ½ over Boston College, Texas A&M +5 over Cal, Arkansas/Wisconsin under 45

Vindy extends his annual holiday greetings to all of his readers..."Pass on Earth. Goodwill toward linemen."