CEREAL GIANT GOES BOWLING TO AVOID CUTS
BATTLE CREEK, Michigan (UPI)…Facing a 7% worldwide reduction-in-force due to sagging (soggy?) sales, Kellogg’s will be able to retain its employees in light of a contract to sponsor a post-season college football game, heretofore known as the Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Bowl. The opportunity will afford the cereal manufacturer additional marketing-exposure and the ability to showcase its better-known mascots…on every “Snap”, while hoping to go undetected as players try to dodge flags for “Crackle-back blocks” and pads “Pop”!
We enjoyed our Sunday-morning meal after registering a 10-7 (92-86-4, .517) record for Week 11, and we’re following that up by pouring the milk and sugar on a big bowl of…
THE WEBER KID’S 2013 WEEK 12 FORECAST
(Part of every champion’s breakfast!)
WED. NOV. 13
#20 NORTHERN ILLINOIS (-7) over Ball State: Always a fan of the ‘dog first, we looked for a reason to back Da’ Birds here. Cardinals QB Keith Wenning is #4 nationally in passing yardage, behind some kid named Manziel, and shows mighty-fine TD-to-pick ratio of 27-5 squaring-off vs. #107-ranked pass defense, but much of that likely had to do with Huskies’ ability to open sizable leads early, forcing teams to give-up on the running attack. Collectively, these clubs are 18-1 SU in 2013, with BSU’s only defeat coming at pretty-good North Texas by 7 (Mean Green however, does show a loss by 6 at MAC East contender Ohio U. and a surprising 3-point defeat at Tulane). Unless NIU, who avenged last year’s 18-17 loss to Big Tentacle’s Iowa Hawkeyes 30-27 in Ames and pummeled said-conference’s Purdue Boilermakers ahead of whacking MAC opposition, loses dual-threat QB Jordan Lynch (#9 in total offense) to injury or the November-that-favors-underdogs rears its ugly head, we think the Sled Dogs win and cover in de facto Mid-American West Division title game…Northern Illinois 44 Ball State 31 (This one’s already underway as we go to press)
THURS. NOV. 14
Georgia Tech (+10) over #8 CLEMSON: UPSET ALERT. Crunch-time for da’ Bees, who’ve gone 2-2 SU/1-2-1 ATS on the road, in particular, losing by 15 at Miami and by 18at BYU in consecutive weeks, but GT can burn clock (#3 nationally in time-of-possession at 34 minutes/game) with #5 rushing offense (better than 311 ypg) in an effort to steal a victory to keep one-game advantage over Virginia Tech (to whom it lost earlier) atop the Coastal Division to get a shot at Florida State in the ACC Conference Championship tilt. Tigers’ only stumble was vs. aforementioned ‘Noles and have beaten the remainder of their ACC opponents by at least a dozen, other than Boston College (24-14 win)…Tigers 28 ‘Jackets 24
FRI. NOV. 15
#13 UCLA (-3) over Washington: Bruins 38 UDUB 28
SAT. NOV. 16
#1 Alabama (-24 ½) over MISSISSIPPI STATE: Whether Nick Saban or any of his charges would admit it, the word “letdown” is in Tide’s vocabulary, as evidenced by 25-point victory/spread-loss over Colorado State following somewhat-closely-contested game vs. the Aggies. Unfortunately for the host, Tide coasted in second half vs. LSU. Bulldogs lost by 18 to Oklahoma State on a neutral site, by 4 at Auburn, by 18 at South Carolina and by 10 last week at A&M. Aggies’ defense let MSU close the gap in 4th Quarter with 20 points, having been up 47-20 thru the first 45 minutes. ‘Bama’s been ignoring any historical trends against them this year, have a limited number of strings to substitute on the road and have only Chattanooga waiting next Saturday. MSU has hit the board for almost 30 ppg, but haven’t faced a defense like this…’Bama 44 State 16
#2 FLORIDA STATE (-38 ½) over Syracuse: FSU 48 ‘Cuse 7
#3 Ohio State (-32) over ILLINOIS: Guess which wide-receiver, after blabbing to reporters, that his team would “wipe da’ floor with ‘Bama or Florida State”, will spend the rest of da’ season wipin’ toilets in the Buckeyes locker-room ...with a cocktail napkin??!!!...State 45 Illini 10
#4 BAYLOR (-27) over Texas Tech: Bears 54 Tech 24
#5 Stanford (-3) over USC: We attribute the very-minimal spread to Stanford’s road loss to Utah and 8-point win at Oregon State as much to Trojans’ resurrection (having won 4 of last 5 since sending Lane Kiffin to LAX) under new coach. First Top 25 foe for USC, who lost half its six defeats in 2012 by single-digits and 2 of 3 this season by same margin-range. Can’t fathom Cardinal not rushing its way to covering a FG…Stanford 21 USC 15
Utah @ #6 OREGON: OFF (Yep…Utes beat same Stanford club that took out the Drakes last week, and made Arizona State sweat, but were smoked at Arizona and at USC. 2012 was Utah’s first SU losing season since 2005, but at 4-5, Utes might be staring at a second one. Stanford’s rushing game vs. the Ducks was damn-near perfect, but Utah own’s the 8th-ranked ground game in the conference and even if QB Mariota is still ailing a bit, he should still be able to manage perimeter, short-passing game that saw some success vs. the Trees…Mallards 35 Utes 20)
#7 AUBURN (-3 ½) over #25 Georgia: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. ‘Dawgs back in the Top 25 this week after edging fading-Florida in Atlanta and whackin’ FCS Appalachian State. Since his return from injury, Joja’ RB Todd Gurley has contributed to UGA’s success with 175 rushing yards and 99 yards receiving, but just a lone TD. War Eagle continues to roll toward Top 10 clash with ‘Bama. Bulldogs have outscored Tigers 83-7 the past two seasons, but Aubie will gouge Georgia defense with huge rushing game should QB Marshall be ineffective…Auburn 34 Joja’ 27
#9 Missouri: IDLE (next @ Kentucky)
#10 Texas A&M: IDLE (next vs. LSU)
#11 South Carolina: IDLE (next vs. Florida)
#23 TEXAS (+2 ½) over #12 Oklahoma State: MINOR UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK. Multiple game-stat reasons to like the visitors, but it’s hard to ignore Longhorns’ momentum. After early disasters, Steers have righted the ship and managed to beat West Virginia, in Morgantown, in extras. Cowpokes lone defeat came vs. those ‘Eers. State on 5-0 SU/4-1ATS run, but ‘Horns are surging and have beaten better competition of-late. A win by OKSU would put Baylor in the driver’s seat for the conference crown. We’ll stay on hot Austin team that will utilize a slightly-better ground attack to secure a home-win…Cattle 34 OKSU 31
#14 Michigan State (-6) over NEBRASKA: Sparty took a little R&R after denying Big Blew access to Paul Bunyan’s Ass..er..um… Axe…again! Huskers could tie MSU for Legends Division lead with a victory and low total (44 ½) is not surprising since State shows 6-2 to the “under”, while five of Corn Cobs’ last seven have finished below the total as well. Spartans also have allowed grand total of 9 points over past three contests. In fact, MSU is giving up, on average, 9 fewer ppg in Big Tenderfoot play than Chiltlins of Da’ Corn. Taylor Martinez needs to lead NU in this one because RB Abdullah won’t get much space on the turf…Michigan State 29 They Who Walk BehindThe Rows 19
TEMPLE (+16 ½) over #15 Central Florida: Having knocked off the only two conference challengers (Louisville and Houston), Golden Knights simply need to win-out to garner automatic BCS berth. UCF defended well last week as Houston, who had a chance to pull out the upset in the waning seconds, failed late. Owls’ only outright triumph came vs. Army, but they’ve been competitive in most of their defeats…UCF 24 Temple 13
#16 Fresno State: IDLE (next vs. New Mexico)
#17 WISCONSIN (-21) over Indiana: Changed our mind here and may regret it, but…Badgers 44 Indy 20
#18 LSU: IDLE (next @ Texas A&M)
Houston (+15 ½) over #19 LOUISVILLE: Coogs trying to make a splash in first year of former-Big Least play and made UCF defend for 60 minutes in tough 19-14 loss in Orlando. Cardinals gave up the backdoor cover to UConn, but did little with five Huskies miscues and scored 14 of its 31points on defense and special teams?! UH gets another shot from us to cover vs. Cards team on 1-4 ATS slide…Da’ Ville 31 Houston 24
Oregon State (+13 ½) over #21 ARIZONA STATE: Pitchforks 34 Beavers 27
Iowa State (+24) over #22 OKLAHOMA: Faux-klahoma 29 ISU 9
#24 Miami (-3) over DUKE: The absence of a running game glares for Miami, but it was special teams that handed the Hokies an upset. Scary stat of da’ week…Blue Devils, after putting 5th straight in the win-column, (4-2 ATS, including 13-10 triumph over Virginia Tech) got votes in both polls! Dukies are already in line for second consecutive post-season berth and a victory this week would all but lock-in back-to-back ACC Coach of Da’ Year plaques for David Cutliffe! ‘Cane-Train is down to the caboose and Pelicans’ 4-point win at UNC and three-point victory over Wake makes us think Duke can cover or win. But Devils are doin’ it on defense, ‘cause nothin’ about the O jumps out except WR Jamison Crowder is within a C-note of 1000 receiving yards. Look for Da’ U to regain a little composure…Miami 23 Duke 16
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, we prefer Post cereals and there’s two scoops of Vindy’s Picks in every box of Raisin Bran!
UCLA, for its game vs. UDUB, will bust-out a special uniform that includes a pair of gloves, which when held side-by-side portray a picture of the Los Angeles skyline. We’d like to see the concept taken a step further and put pieces of the skyline on the jerseys and force Bruins players to line-up in the correct order to show the accurate picture or face a penalty for “illegal formation”. In addition, new personnel entering the game must sport the same parts of the picture on their unis as the folks they replace or be flagged for “illegal substitution”
Futility bowl of 2013: Florida International (1-8 SU/3-5 ATS, including three shutouts and lone win by 1 point at Southern Miss [currently 0-9] @ UTEP (1-8 SU/1-8 ATS, with only victory by 21 at New Mexico State [1-9 SU, with win over FCS Abby Christian]). Almost selected the Miners -5 ½ over FIU as a “best bet”!
A proposal was made last January that includes a new stadium for Rebels football and an on-campus event center that could annually host the last weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Our first thought was…”Caesar’s Palace Final Forum Shops”???!!!
If a certain Kansas Jayhawks hoops coach only takes ego-centric photos for the rest of the world to see, would they be Bill “Selfies”???!!!
Dennis Rodman got cozy with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un last February. No word as to whether or not the Communist leader has been seen sporting piercings, a wedding dress or a turtle-shell ‘do since then.
In related news, the CEO of GOOGLE called upon North Korea for “Internet openness”. We’ve known from da’ git-go that Kim Jong Un has always secretly wanted access to Vindy’s Picks!
If ya went to the ‘book counter with any our Week 11 preferred selections (“lock” or “best bets”), yer a happy camper ‘cuz those babies collectively finished 5-0 ATS!!!!
Black Shirt: The coveted ebony tee goes to UCLA LB Myles Jack, who recovered a Wildcat fumble in his own end zone, then later scored da’ Bruins’ winning TD to finish our weekend with a forecast dubya and stop the “lock of da’ week” bleeding! Honorable mention to UConn back-up QB Casey Cochran for tossin’ the covering TD vs. Louisville with 35 seconds to play, giving Vindy a 2-1 record going into the weekend.
“Locked in a Box?”: We’re doin’ the happy dance after UCLA beat Arizona to give us our first “lock” dubya in eight freakin’ tries, boosting the tally to 4-6-1 (.400).
Shoppe Talk: We’re roastin’ Stanford Cardinals at the Shoppe as SU ends Week 11 on 1-5 slide. Fresno continues to the bane our existence recently at 0-5!
Vindy’s Week 12 Best Bets: Last Week: 4-0 Season: 35-19-1 (.648)
Marshall -13 ½ over TULSA (Thurs), West Virginia -6 ½ over KANSAS, BOSTON COLLEGE -7 ½ over NC State, Purdue +21 over PENN STATE, GEORGIA STATE +21 over Weeziana-Lafayette, Texas Christian +10 ½ over KANSAS STATE
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