Vindy's Picks week 12-2008 Regular Edition

CAPITOL SWAP-OUT TO IMPACT COLLEGE SPORTS

WASHINGTON, District of Columbia (AP)....A White House transition meeting this week between outbound President Bush and President-Elect Barack Obama will include discussion of resolution of the failing U.S. economy, withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and implementation of a college football playoff for the Football Bowl Subdivision. Not enamored with the current BCS system, Obama hinted he could employ an executive order to bring about the playoff. Speaker of “This is Our House” Nancy Pelosi vowed to help the new Commander-in-Chief reach across conference lines, in particular, to the Big Ten and PAC-10, to achieve the new post-season format. Meanwhile, gun enthusiasts were stocking up, fearing tougher gun laws with the Democratic president and party in power. In fact, team mascots’ weapons-of-choice in college towns such as Lubbock, Laramie and Knoxville are expected to now be Louisville sluggers and light sabers!

Opening 0-3 through Friday’s games and losing picks like U.S Airways loses luggage (2-10 thru the first dozen finals), Vindicator rallied, going 6-2 down the Saturday night stretch and salvaged a final result of 8-12 (97-96-1, .502). With the crystal ball having followed the HD-ready TV out the second story window in the closing seconds of the Penn State game, the Sin City Soothsayer busts out his toolbox and grabs a dartboard, Magic 8-Ball and Aunty Entity ‘s wheel from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome to bring his loyal readers...

THE WEBER KID’S 2008 WEEK 12 FORECAST

TUES. NOV. 11
#14 Ball State over MIAMI-OHIO giving 17 1/2: Vindy’s still picking pieces of his Michael Jordan -autographed Hanes out of a deep, dark place following the atomic wedgie he got for picking Northern Illinois to upset Ball State last week, as the Cards ripped the MAC’s premiere defensive team for 45 points while suffering zero turnovers and a like number of flags, and serving up four passing touchdowns to four different receivers. Cardinals are now 7-1 against the spread on the year and still undefeated, but 1-3 ATS the past 4 vs. Miami-Ohio, including last season’s opening 14-13 loss (despite a +2 turnover margin). BSU has won and covered all four road games in ‘08 and updating a stat from Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com, is now 8-1 ATS in the first of back-to-back road games (covering at Akron and Toledo earlier) and looks to go 9-1 in that role with away trip to Central Michigan following this one. Redhawks lost to Buffalo by 20 points despite punting only twice in that game. Miami-O did manage to bottle up a strong Bowling Green offense a few weeks ago to get a nice road win, but are on a 2-4 ATS slide and have already equaled last year’s SU loss total and need to cover this one and remaining two games to improve on the spread record from last season. Redhawks currently minus-10 in turnover ratio and opponents are scoring at better than 91% clip inside the red zone, while averaging only 16 ppg themselves against I-A foes. Miami has yet to cover a home game this season, losing by 21, 18 and 27 points. State still has a remote shot at a BCS bowl should Utah and Boise State falter and will keep pedal-to-metal for now...Ball State 49 Miami-O 17 (This one’s already in the books as a forecast loss as BSU quit pressing with ten minutes left and only won by 15).

FRI. NOV. 14
#22 Cincinnati over LOUISVILLE giving 3 1/2: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Vindy’s 6-13picking weekday games this season, including 0-3 on Friday nights, so consider yourselves advised, but we have a few Euros on this one. Bearkats nearly wasted a 13-point advantage in the final minute of the OT upset over West Virginia, but until the defeat a few weeks ago at UConn, Cincy’s only SU loss was at Oklahoma. Redbirds have won this one straight-up five years running and have taken the money in five of last seven against ranked teams...UC 23 Birds 10

SAT. NOV. 15
Mississippi State over #1 ALABAMA taking 19 ½: Bulldogs have beaten ‘Bama outright two of the last three and nearly took out Kentucky two weeks ago. State’s on an 0-3 spread run this year, but rewarded bettors 10 of last 13 vs. the Tide. Alabama’s finding its offense more lately, but it was still an interception-return for touchdown that turned around a 14-7 first-half hole at LSU, and Tide kicker missed a pair of field goals as well...’Bama 20 MSU 7

#2 Texas Tech: IDLE (Yeah...and we’re freakin’ crushed about that too!) (next @ Oklahoma)

#3 FLORIDA over #24 South Carolina giving 21: Carolina’s only SU loss in its last seven games was by a touchdown to LSU. The Poultry has gone 5-1-1 in last 7 vs. ranked squads and are on 4-1 spread run. Four of last six in this series were decided by 8 or fewer points, but Gators won by 20 last year. ‘Cocks have recently lost a third player to a bizarre series of scooter injuries. “Scooter” injuries?! Apparently, the automobile has not yet been invented in Columbia, but we have it on good authority that Ford plants in South Carolina will soon be rolling the Model-T off the assembly lines! Just Citadel on-deck for UF, so no need to yank the starters early...Florida 45 Nuggets 20

#4 Texas over KANSAS giving 13: We considered this for lock. Kansas seemingly never fully-recovered from loss at South Florida, in which it had the Bulls on the ropes early. Still, the Fightin’ Manginos are 3-3 ATS vs. the rest of the Big 12 and 15-7 ATS against conference opponents the past three seasons. ‘Horns have dropped three straight against the line (with a commensurate 0-3 forecast tally), but are still in the BCS title game competition. Kansas already has six victories, but has lost three of last four, yielding 45 points or more in the defeats. We like the ‘Horns to end the spread slide and avoid being the guests-of-honor at an upcoming Bobby Flay throw-down event on the Food Network at Vindy’s request this week...Steers 38 Birds 16

#5 Oklahoma: IDLE (next vs. Texas Tech)

STANFORD over #6 Southern Cal taking 22 1/2: The line movement in favor of the Trojans suggests USC will run it up in retribution for last season’s huge upset by Stanford, who got better than 40 points and reflects Troy D that’s been lights-out of late. Problem is that the Trees bring back the highest number of returning starters in over a decade and have been competitive in every game except loss at Arizona State, including a win over Oregon State team that would beat USC a few weeks later. No repeat for the Cardinal, but...USC 31 Stanford 13

#7 PENN STATE over Indiana giving 34: ***CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED*** **CENSORED***...Nitwit Lions 49 Hoosiers 10

#8 Utah over SAN DIEGO STATE giving 28 1/2: Horned Frogs kicker missed two medium-range field goals in the 4th Quarter in a 4-point loss vs. the Utes last week???!!! Check’s in the mail! Nonetheless, Utes need to maintain focus and some style points wouldn’t hurt the effort to keep Boise State at bay in the BCS Buster race. SDSU is just a shadow of the team that lost 23-7 last year at Salt Lake, averaging a mere 9 ppg...Utah 41 Razz-Tecs 6

#9 Boise State over IDAHO giving 34 1/2: Generally stalwart at home when it comes to covering the line, Broncos have also gone 4-0 ATS on the asphalt this season. Last week’s win (and cover) vs. Utah State featured a total of nine turnovers and a combined 237 penalty yards! Idaho on 3-1 spread run, but gave up 45 to San Diego State and lost by 32 at Weeziana Tech. Vandals have already doubled last season’s SU win total (1). Idaho is fairly adept at protecting the football (just 8 TO on the year). That won’t matter here...BSU 51 Idaho 9

#10 Ohio State over ILLINOIS giving 10: Vin watched three quarters of Buckeyes game at Northwestern before turning it off in disgust, as the Wildcats shot themselves repeatedly in the paw with poor tackling and allowing conversion of 3rd-and-holy crap! (BTW, an announcer in that game, after watching freshman QB Terrell Pryor scramble for a big gain, inadvertently said, “Ya can’t coach that. You can only hope to contain it!”. Frankly, if I’m coachin’ the young man...I don’t wanna’ contain him!). State hasn’t covered back-to-back games all season. Illini won 28-21 in 2007 over then-top-ranked OSU. Both teams on interesting spread win-loss-win-loss pattern. Gut reaction was to take State. Fine...Buckeyes 23 Illini 10

#11 Oklahoma State over COLORADO giving 17: Just too many offensive weapons for CU to handle, even in the thinner, colder air. Referencing an earlier “note to self”, we enthusiastically scribe...Do not back the Buffaloes! Do not back the Buffaloes! Do not back the Buffaloes!...Cowpokes 51 Bison 20

#12 Missouri over IOWA STATE giving 26 1/2: A victory sends the Tigers to the Big 12 championship game. State actually won the last meeting (here in ‘06) 21-16. Tigers on 1-4 ATS slide, but if Chase Daniel can quit piling up interceptions, they can cover. An unidentified Cyclones player was overheard quoting a line from the movie “300": “Tonight...we play football...in Hell!”...Mizzou 48 Dust Devils 20

AUBURN over #13 Georgia taking 8: War Eagles haven’t beaten the line since season-opener over Weeziana-Monroe and haven’t recorded an outright triumph since 2-point squeaker in September over now-invisible Tennessee. Still, Aubie can extend its season into December with an upset here or against hated-rival Alabama. Kentucky almost toppled the ‘Dawgs by holding onto the ball nearly 10 more minutes than Joja’. Tigers capable of doing likewise ... Georgia 13 Auburn 8

#15 TCU: IDLE (next vs. Air Force)

AIR FORCE over #16 Brigham Young taking 4: Mormons have dropped six straight against the line and squeakers over UDUB, UNLV and Colorado State give USAF hope that they can win this outright as the Flyboys continue to far-exceed preseason expectations. The Falcons have arranged for Prince William to land his chopper, unannounced, in the middle of the BYU huddle if the game does get outta’ hand!...Pilots 17 Coogs 16

#17 North Carolina over MARYLAND giving 2 1/2: This grabbed initial thoughts for lock too. Even without the 14 points scored off Georgia Tech turnovers, ‘Heels still would’ve beaten the Bees 14-7. UNC is outscoring opponents by an average of 12 ppg, Maryland by just 2 ppg. In a common-foe comparison, North Carolina lost at Virginia 16-13 in extra innings, while the Box Turtles lost in Charlottesville 31-zippo. During a tour of his soon-to-be new digs at the White House this week, Obama discovered a secret garden, a hidden basketball court and a tunnel that leads to the middle of the Terrapins locker room in case of nuclear war!...Carolina 27 Terps 20

#18 Michigan State: IDLE (next @ Penn State)

Troy over #19 LSU taking 19 1/2: We originally had LSU “idle” this week, but this is one’s a make-up of earlier season match postponed by the hurricane. Bengals just fighting to stay ranked at this point and could be flat initially after blowing chance to beat the nation’s #1 team last week. Troy won’t be intimidated by the atmosphere, having lost in Baton Rouge just 24-20 a few seasons back. This is, however, Troy’s seventh road game (though it covered five of the previous six, including game at Ohio State)... Bengals 24 Troy 7

Boston College over #20 FLORIDA STATE taking 7: No confidence in this one as we changed our initial pick a couple times before settling on BC. Eagles have allowed the fewest points of any ACC team (three shutouts over Kent State, Rhode Island and the Frightenin’ Irish will do that!). A victory here would still leave BC a game behind the Injuns in the Atlantic Division. Seminoles tied atop that division and need a win here and a loss by Wake Forest to these same Eagles next week...FSU 24 BC 19

#21 Pittsburgh: IDLE (next @ Cincinnati)

#23 OREGON STATE over California giving 3: Should be a great game. Bears lone FG was enough to cover last week vs. USC and Cal was still in the game until late. Beavers have already beaten the Trojans and only Penn State has kept OSU below 27 points. Not too shabby for a team that returned only 10 starters from 2007. BTW, budget crunches have led the Governator to mandate State employees of California to take a day off each month without pay...and teams within the Cal-State University system to give up a pair of bye weeks each season!...Beavers 17 Bears 13

HOUSTON over #25 Tulsa taking 5 1/2: Hurricane just 2-2 ATS in its last four and only SU loss was at Arkansas just before last week’s bye. Cougars’ D remains a problem and UH needs one more “W” to go bowlin’. They’ve got a better shot to get that victory hosting UTEP next week, but we think they’ll keep this one fun long enough. Track meet...Tulsa 52 Houston 49

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
The Weber Kid’s Week 11 upset picks, Northern Illinois and Northwestern, got their collective ass handed to them by Ball State and Ohio State, respectively to the tune of 90-24! OUCH!

As we welcome the start of the new college basketball season, Vindy recalls Maryland’s #4 women’s hoops team beating #12 Duke in February’s rematch of the 2006 National Championship game (also won by MD in OT) just hours after Terps coach Brenda Frese gave birth to twin boys. The Box Turtles were so excited that a couple of players climbed a ladder in Frese’s hospital room to cut down the umbilical cords!

There has been much speculation since the election regarding what’s next for Sarah Palin. We think the winsome Alaskan governor takes advantage of her background to spend some time on TV and hosts a show in which beauty pageant contestants lace up the skates and strut their stuff in the neutral zone and between the pipes....“Miss America: Reality Hip-Check!”

Just a thought for Mrs. Palin’s potential presidential campaign motto in 2012...“Tip-drill, Baby, Tip-drill!”

Sarah Palin spent this weekend sorting thru clothing to be returned to the RNC after the party shelled out 150 G’s to re-do her wardrobe. Among the apparel in question were pads, helmets and a Washington Capitals jersey! Maybe she can “accidentally” include the unis for the Oregon Ducks and BYU Cougars??!!

The unclassified code names given to the members of the new first family by the Secret Service were revealed this week. The president-elect and his wife will be “Renegade” and “Renaissance”, respectively while daughters Malia and Sasha were tabbed “Radiance” and “Rosebud”. OK...which agent had the intestinal fortitude to name the youngest sister after a mysterious sled that was the plot centerpiece of the movie Citizen Kane???!! We’d like to bail the young lady out by recommending a change to something more sports-minded, like...”Raven”, “Rocket”, “Razorback”... maybe even...”Radio”! Or at least something cool or in line with her daddy’s code name, such as “Ricochet” or “Rapscallion”. While we’re on the topic, the Vice President’s family all got secret monikers starting with “C”, which means had Mrs. Palin been on the winning ticket, her code name coulda’ been...”Caribou”! (Or acknowledging that country she can see from her home ...”Comrade”).

If customers who skate for half-hour with the NHL’s Canadians while awaiting delivery of Domino’s pizza are captured on tape, could the resulting exercise video be sold as “30-Minute Habs?”

Black Shirt: Vindicator’s highly-coveted ebony tee goes this week to Kansas State WR Brandon Banks for scoring not one, but TWO touchdowns (one receiving, one rushing) in the final 1:11 of the match at Mizzou to bring in one of the Weber Kid’s eight forecast wins in Week Eleven!

“Locked in a Box?”: The Sooners dipped into the sixties to bash A&M and raise Vindicator’s bet-da’-ranch pick record to 9-2 (.818).

Shoppe Talk: Red Raiders maintain their grip on a title shot and on Vindy’s post-season “Grill-Master Supreme” “honors” at 1-7. The Mormons return at 2-6. And dropping by just to mock your putrid prognosticator...Thursday Night (4-7)!

Vindy’s Week 12 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-2 Season: 31-19-1 (.620)
Duke +11 ½ over CLEMSON, SYRACUSE +10 over UConn, NAVY +3 over Notre Dame, UTEP -10 over Southern Methodist