Vindy's Picks Week 11-2010 The Sequel

#16 Virginia Tech over NORTH CAROLINA giving 3 ½: Illness and injury to both sidelines make this an interesting game. Carolina’s missing its leading rusher, who was hurt in the Florida State game. Hokies will go without RB David Wilson, who also ran back a kickoff for a 90-yard score that gave Tech a victory (and another Thursday night “L” to the Weber Kid). ‘Heels managed nifty upset of the Injuns last week, won 20-17 last year and have won 17 of last 24 home games outright (3-1 in 2010)...VT 20 UNC 13

#18 ARIZONA over Southern Cal giving 5 ½: Trojans eased past Arizona State 34-33 last week to beat just their second conference opponent all season. ‘Cats, who ran into a vengeful Stanford buzz-saw, have made the money in four of last five vs. USC, but were getting at least seven points in each of those. Nick Foles should be healthier and more mobile this Saturday. Good enuff for us.... AZ 21 USC 13

Texas Tech (GASP!) over #19 OKLAHOMA taking 16: We just have no faith in the Sooners to exceed a line of this size against Raiders squad that spotted Mizzou a 17-3 advantage then went to work for a seven-point triumph. For this putrid prophet, Texas Tech has become the NCAA football equivalent of the Kobayashi Maru, the unwinnable Starfleet Academy training scenario from Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, which was beaten just once...by James T. Kirk, who cheated by re-programming the computer. Maybe we could re-program the scoreboard... OK 31 “Guns Up” 23

Kansas State over #20 MISSOURI taking 12 ½: This got a long, hard look for lock. Tigers got better than half their 260 rushing yards on a pair of real long totes for touchdowns in the first quarter, then seemingly went to sleep on Texas Tech in 24-17 loss. K-State’s rather-convincing win over Texas gives us confidence it can hang around within two scores long enough here. Wildcats appear to be returning to scoring-production levels of ‘07 and ‘08 at current 32 ppg following 2009's mere 23 ppg average. Meanwhile, usually-stout Mizzou has yielded average of 27ppg to last three opponents...Tigers 28 KSU 24

#21 Nevada over FRESNO STATE giving 9: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Reno lost at Hawaii, but has blown away most of its other competition and had not one, not two, but three players over 100 rushing yards last week. Don’t be fooled by Bulldogs three-game SU win streak as those victories came vs. New Mexico State, San Josie State and Weeziana Tech, who have a combined record of 4-21 vs. FCS foes (and one of NMSU’s wins came vs. San Josie!). Wolfpack won big the past two years and Fresno continues to be plagued by turnovers...minus-30 from 2007-2009 and minus-4 thus far this season...UNR 41 Fresno State 20

#22 South Carolina over #24 FLORIDA taking 7: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. The Swamp has held no pleasant memories for the Gamecocks, but SEC East title on the line here and this is the best chance the Poultry will have in a few years to unseat Florida as East champ. Gators’ home victims in 2010 have been Miami-Ohio, South Florida and Kentucky. Tim Tebow signed on with Jockey to be an underwear spokesman. Rumor has it the waistbands will contain references to Bible passages ...KFC 27 Gators 24

#23 Texas A&M over BAYLOR giving 3: We expect nothing worse than a push here. Bears got some mileage outta’ win over Kansas State, then beat fading Longhorns in Austin, but were exposed in bad loss at Oklahoma State. Congrats to Baylor on seven SU victories and what will likely be its first post-season appearance since 1994, but Robert Griffin clearly can’t carry the load all by himself. Aggies lead the conference in rushing defense. That should be enough of an edge to cover the small number on the road...Aggies 37 Bears 31

#25 CENTRAL FLORIDA over Southern Miss giving 7: Knights provided the only ticket we cashed in Week 10 and get their first-ever spot in the rankings. UCF has compiled 7 straight spread wins since dropping one to a pretty good NC State Wolfpack in early September and now show 21-8-1 ATS in C-USA the last three-plus seasons. Both these teams have scored an average in the 40's over their last five games this year. Knights get the nod on defense... UCF 44 SoMiss 34

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
Given the pre-requisites, we guess San Fran ain’t seein’ McDonald’s Happy Meal toys faves, such as Beanie Babies, Hello Kitty and My Little Pony anytime soon (though My Little Parlay is a distinct possibility!).

On a serious note, we wish all our servicemen and servicewomen past, present and soon-to-be...a very Happy Veterans Day! We acknowledge the Utes wearing camouflage-style unis vs. TCU to benefit the Wounded Warriors program was a nice tribute. Unfortunately in the end, Utah looked more “wounded” than “warrior”.

The Madden NFL 11 video game incorporates real-life stats into game-play as the actual season moves along. We’re wonderin’ why Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft hasn’t done that!!!

WVU hoops coach Bob Huggins took a tumble in his undisclosed Sin City hotel room during a “recruiting trip” last June and busted seven ribs. Seven??!!! What did he fall on....a Madonna-impersonator sporting the infamous conical bra at the Imperial Palace???!!!

A May ish of ESPN: Da’ Mag noted three Butler seniors played for the Washington Generals against the Harlem Globetrotters. With the three-team expansion approved, the Generals could make one of the play-in games for 2011 NCAA Tournament!

Queen Elizabeth II recently got herself a Facebook account and declined Vindy’s “friend request”. Oh sure...see if we help Her Majesty with her fish, farm or mafia! In fact, we’ve convinced the Royal Bookie to entice the Queen Mum into a nice expensive parlay involving our picks on Ohio State and Texas Tech!

A rare Honus Wagner baseball card belonging to a nun recently brought in $262,000 at a charity auction. For that kinda’ dough, the sisters can have their holy water delivered in five-gallon jugs by Sparkletts!!!

Have ya seen photos of 14-year-old, 7-foot-somethin’ Indian hoops phenom Satman Singh Bhamara???!!! Slap some metal on the kid’s teeth and he’s an instant remake of Richard Kiel’s “Jaws” character from the James Bond Moonraker flick!

Black Shirt: The ebony undergarment will look just fine this week on Sue Paterno, who stood by JoePa through 400 victories (and almost as many years of coaching!).

“Locked in a Box?”: For the first time all season, Vindicator tanks back-to-back lock picks with some help from Texas Tech (GASP!) to fall to 4-6 (.400).

Shoppe Talk: The aforementioned Red Raiders continue their residence at Ye Olde Taxidermy Shoppe at 0-3 on season, but 3-16-1 in last 20. Joining Tech are the Pork Chops of Arkansas (2-5).

Vindy’s Week 11 Best Bets: Last Week: 2-3 Season: 19-27-1 (.413)
Wyoming -5 over UNLV, Rice +4½ over TULANE, Utah State -4 over SAN JOSE STATE, NC STATE -19 over Wake Forest, Army -1 over KENT STATE

And now back to...”$#*! My Bookie Says!”...already in progress.