NCAA
BANKING ON “BOGO” OF DIFFERENT KIND
INDIANAPOLIS,
Indiana (UPI)…College football officials are implementing an innovative BOGO program akin to the retailers’ “Buy
One, Get One” deals. Under the new regulations, teams that block field goals
are then awarded the three points-in-question. The change is expected to result
in more-heavily recruitment of defensive-players, even by such offensive
juggernauts as Oregon. Alternatives discussed included teams making the block
the chance to pocket the stop for second-blocks at the time of their choosing
later in the game, known as “Block One, Get One”. NFL, NHL and NBA, as well as
college basketball teams, are also
reportedly exploring similar options in their own leagues.
Elsewhere, in Sin City, the dreaded regression-formula
caught-up to our humble host in a big way in Week 2, resulting in a
very-pedestrian 7-9-1 (17-15-1, .531 season), though we did hit our second upset pick
in three tries and called the exact 51-14 final score of Michigan's dubya over Central Florida. Failing more-often than a North Korean
missile launch, it’s…
THE
WEBER KID’S 2016 WEEK 3 FORECAST
(“Not
criminal, just careless”)
THURS.
SEPT. 15
CINCINNATI
(+7 ½) over #6 Houston: There’s more pressure on the Coogs
to win this one than on Cincy. In addition, QB Ward Jr. may not be 100% after
sustaining injury in Week One (though he did sit out Houston’s win over Lamar).
‘Cats are in a rare home-dog role and look for a little redemption after losing
33-30 last season. Cougars have been money as road-faves the past three years,
but…Houston 38 Cincy 34
FRI.
SEPT. 16
RICE
(+30 ½) over #21 Baylor: We watched Rice take it to Western
Kentucky early-and-often in the opener, but unnecessary flags negated
otherwise-conversions on 3rd Downs. Demoralized by that, Barnyard
Fowl eventually succumbed and ‘Toppers would do what they do best in the rout.
Visit by highly=motivated Oklahoma State up next and Coach Grobe has been
dismal as outta’-conference chalk layin’ more than a TD (per Marc Lawrence). Owls 0-2 vs. da’ spread to-date,
but…Bears 34 Owls 17
SAT.
SEPT. 17
#1
Alabama (-10) over #19 MISSISSIPPI: Not a true revenge game since last season’s defeat
didn’t stop Tide from grabbin’ a national title anyway, but it was the only stain on an otherwise
pristine W-L record…and the second loss to the Rebels in as many years. ‘Bama’s
won a total of six games by single-digits over the past three campaigns, with
the rest of the tilts being double-digit victories or…SU losses. So two options
here…lay the points with UA or take Old Mist to win it outright for the
hat-trick…Tide 33 Mississippi 16
#2
Florida State (-2 ½) over #10 LOUISVILLE: This is a game
we’d rather simply watch than pick (and we certainly
ain’t droppin’ no dollahs on it).
Changed our mind a couple times on this selection. ‘Noles’ rout of then-FCS Top
Ten Charleston Southern is maybe a little skewed given suspensions of more than
dozen CS players for that game and FSU hasn’t won a road contest by this few
since 2009, while the remainder were victories by at least four points or outright
defeats. Cards boast Heisman-hopeful QB Lamar Jackson. We almost settled on “over
65 ½” and might wish we had…Tribe 41 Redbirds 38
#3
Ohio State (+1) over #14 OKLAHOMA: Coaching advantage and
maybe talent ad to OSU as
well…Buckeyes (hey, whatta’ we got to lose?!
See Shoppe Talk below) 31 Sooners 27
Colorado
(+20) over #4 MICHIGAN: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. There was some published-chatter last week about Wolverines maybe
peeking past Central Florida ahead to date with the Bison, but we think UM actually takes Colorado lightly in lieu of upcoming
conference-opener against da’ Alma Mater! Smoldering in Boulder, beneath those
2-to-4-win seasons, was some very-quiet improvement by UC, including reduction
of points-allowed last year by a dozen ppg and some tough losses to Oregon,
UCLA and Southern Cal. Buffs came out showing some early moxie, blasting rival
CSU (after some close contests in years-past) and an appropriate whipping of
FCS Idaho State…Wolverines 34 Colorado 24
SC
State @ #5 CLEMSON: No line.
Southern
Cal (+8 ½) over #7 STANFORD: Trees 23 Troy 19
Portland
State @ #8 WASHINGTON: No line.
#9
WISCONSIN (-34) over Georgia State: Badgers 41 Joja’ State
6
#11
Texas (-7 ½) over CALIFORNIA: Bares cost us a “best
bet” pick, hangin’ long-enough with revenge-minded San Diego State last week,
but Steers are also targeting squads that beat ‘em last year. According to Marc
Lawrence’s Playbook.Com, Cattle fair better off consecutive SU defeats in this
situation, but have a pair of victories in as many tries to-date. We’ll shade
Berkeley again here, noting 2015’s 45-44 track-meet win by da’ Bears…Texas 42
Ursa Minor 31
#12
Michigan State @ #18 NOTRE DAME (“under 51 ½”): Best
guess for “wish we had it back”. We have sucked dirty pond-water tryin’ to
guess correctly on totals rather than sides thus far, but Vindy’s a
slow-learner. Spartans followed unimpressive 15-point victory over I-AA Furman
with a bye week. Our Lady has at least had two live-fire contests to work out
some bugs. State opened 0-fer-6 ATS in 2015 and didn’t come to close to -39 vs.
the Paladins. Bulletin board material might include the fact that the
most-recent meeting between the two was a 17-13 win by the Irish in 2013…da’
Spartans’ only defeat that season. Can’t wait to see Melania Trump on ESPN’s Not Top Ten segment attempting to lead
the Frightenin’ Irish players in a sideline-chant of “Ruuuuby, Ruuuuuby,
Ruuuuuby, Ruuuuuby” or “Roooomie, Roooomie, Roooomie, Roooomie!” …Leprechauns
24 MSU 17
North
Dakota State @ #13 IOWA: No line. Hawkeyes host the winner
of the last five FCS national titles.
Bison are 2-0 thus far with both victories coming in extra-frames, including
last week’s 50-44 win over E-DUB team that toppled Wazzou in Week One! Not
gonna’ be shocked to see Iowa go down. Maybe the Big 12 should consider adding NDSU!
Ohio
(+27 ½) over #15 TENNESSEE: Rocky Top 44 Bobblecats
20
#16
Georgia (-6 ½) over MISSOURI: A sports-journalist
hailin’ from The A-T-L pointed-out that at least one apparel-vendor, ahead of
the Georgia Tech-Boston College tilt
in Dublin, on da’ Emerald Isle was hawkin’ a tee promotin’ the game as “Georgia
vs. Boston”. We can only speculate how
fans of the ‘Dawgs from Athens and Terriers of FCS Beantown Terriers felt about
that. (BTW, the helmet-colors on said- undergarments looked more like Penn
State vs. Da’ Cleveland Browns!). New Joja’ head coach Kirby Smart was da’ Man
on D at ‘Bama. He needed every ounce of that knowledge as UGA narrowly-dodged
the upset by I-AA Nicholls State last Saturday. Tigers posted single-digits in
six games last year and in 5 of last 7 and were held to 11 in opener at West
Virginia …’Dawgs 27 Mizzou 13
AUBURN
(-3 ½) over #17 Texas A& M: Tigers 38 Aggies 31
Mississippi
State (+13) over #20 LSU: Tigers show solid 7-3 ATS record
giving points in Baton Rouge. MSU lost by 2 last season, but opened 2016 with
shocking defeat by South ‘Bama. Nonetheless we’re just not comfortable coughing
up almost two touchdowns with LSU in conference (and division) play yet…Bengals
28 Bulldogs 17
NEBRASKA
(-1) over #22 Oregon: Corn Cobs 31 Drakes 27
#23
FLORIDA (-36) over North Texas: Vols on-deck for the
Gators, so no faith in this pick. Last weekend, UF renamed its playing surface to Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Honoring
the fiery coach further, the logo at centerfield featured a giant visor…Crocs
45 Mean Green 6
Texas
State (+31) over #24 ARKANSAS: Pigs 47 Bobblecats 20
#25
Miami (-3 ½) over APPALACHIAN STATE: Oh hell no! Second choice for “lock”. Yeah, ‘Eers shoulda’ taken-out
Tennessee. They didn’t. Pelicans will
be on full-alert...’Canes 29 Application State 20
BETWEEN
THE HASHMARKS
BTW, if da’ PGA goes all-in on the above concept,
will it be “Birdie One, Get One” rather than “Bogey One, Get One”???!!!!
In related news, golfers in Rio hit the Olympic links for the first time in over
a hundred years. Medalists took the stand to receive the gold, silver and…five-iron?! Meanwhile, advocates of PPGA
(Professional Putt-Putt Golf Association)/miniature golf are now petitioning
for a provisional spot in the 2020 Games in Tokyo!
Da’ Little Guys Strike Back (some mo’!): The lower
division posted triumphs again last week on the road facing I-A competition…#24
NC A&T 39-36 over Kent State, unranked and no votes in the poll Eastern
Illinois 21-17 over Miami Oh-No! and (GASP!) #9 Illinois State 9-7 over
Northwestern! Closer than expected…Arizona 31-21 over Grambling State, Bowling
Green 27-26 over North Dakota, Hawaii 41-36 over Tennessee-Martin and (GASP!)
Joja’ 26-24 over Nicholls State!
Last May, Wheel of Fortune finished in a tie for
the first time in more than a decade. Adopting college football OT rules, each
contestant then got possession of Vanna White at the 25-yard line and tried to score!
“Gotta’ catch ‘em all”…not Pokemon Go, but the credo of every college and pro WR and TE!
Suspended QB Jimmy
Garropolo was spotted in Sin City at the Cosmopolitan, which reportedly has up
to a dozen Pokestops or Pokegyms and four-score more within about a mile
radius!
NFL meets Reservoir (Under) ‘Dogs meets Pokemon Go…”(Cleveland) Browns to da’ left of me, jokers to my right…here I
am…stuck in da’ middle Pikachu.”
Da’ Seahawks’ contest at
L.A. will be broadcast in semi-live, semi-animation
as the Birds will be led by the “Son of Jim
Zorn!”
During Sunday’s
Giants-COWBOYS game, we heard Eli Manning checking to different plays at the
line-of-scrimmage, barking “Oriole…oriole!” Fer da’ Game of Thrones fans, maybe that was
code for “Send a raven! Send a raven!”??? Maybe he was actually calling “Oreo…oreoooo”???!!! Or hallucinating
about a certain underwater Disney
princess…”Ariel…Ariellllle!”???!!!
Hours after the U.N. Security Council levied new
penalties on North Korea in wake of recent missile tests back in March, the
communist nation launched a barrage of short-range projectiles into the sea.
Upon further review, they were actually badminton shuttle-cocks!
“Locked
in a Box?”: Da’
Badgers’ D did its job, holding Akron to 10, but the O went “over” the total
itself, droppin’ the ”lock” record to 1-1 (.500).
Black
Shirt: Goes to Sooooeeeeey Pig QB Austin Allen for the 5-yd
TD-run in 2OT that validated our Arkansas over TCU “Upset Pick of da’ Week”
over TCU! Close-second to Michigan DE Chris Wormley for blocking a pair of UCF FG-tries,
preserving the Wolverines’ predicted-cover!
Shoppe
Talk: The Suckeyes of Ohio State solidify their presence
here at 0-2 (4-9-1, .308). Joining them
at 0-2 (.000) are the Vols of Tennessee.
Vindy’s
Week 3 Best Bets: Last Week: 3-3 Season: 7-5 (.583) Vanderbilt +6 ½ over
JOJA’ TECH, South Florida -14 over SYRACUSE, Buffalo +11 over NEVADA, Weeziana
Tech +12 over TEXAS TECH, Navy-TULANE “under 43 ½”
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