Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Vindy's Picks Week 7-2016


GAMBLING MECCA EMBRACES PROFESIONAL HOME-ICE
LAS VEGAS (MSNBC)…This past summer, Las Vegas was granted an NHL franchise. The team-moniker is yet-to-be-announced, but options appear to include “Black Knights” in reference to owner Bill Foley’s Alma Mater, West Point, which has aficionados of Monty Python & the Holy Grail salivating at the prospect because hockey is the only sport in which loss of a limb is truly-considered to be “only a flesh wound.” As well as “Vegas Vorhees”, after the goalie-mask-wearing killer Jason. Home-games will feature pucks made of over-sized casino chips! Tourists and locals alike cannot wait to play the slot-machines that pay-out in hockey pucks rather than coins and hear TV broadcasters call…”Slot, save! Slot, save! Slot…scorrrrrre!”. In addition, offending-players will spend two minutes in the penalty box for Gaming Control Boarding!

Week Six saw Vindy enter Saturday in the hole on the fortnight (down 0-2 after Boise blew out the Lobos and Clemson-BC went waaaay over the total) for the first time this season. We also dropped our Friday night best bet Tulsa -17 over SMU and early-Saturday best bet as Sudden Mist (-16) was beaten outright by the Roadrunners of UTSA. Enter a wild 45-40 ending between Texas and Oklahoma in the Red River Shoe-Horn by noon Pacific Time to get us en route to just our second above-board finish at 8-6 (46-53-3 (.465). Let’s face it…the only menacing-clown in Sin City currently is the one who penned…

THE WEBER KID’S 2016 WEEK 7 FORECAST
(As published in this month’s issue of Better Home-Games and Gridirons!)
THURS. OCT. 13

#25 Navy @ EAST CAROLINA: Postponed til 11/19
FRI. OCT. 14

#7 LOUISVILLE (-35) over Duke: Cardinals 57 (Black &) Blue Demons 17
SAT. OCT. 14

#9 TENNESSEE (+12) over #1 Alabama: Again, Tide’s tendency is wins, not covers. The rabbit’s foot finally fell off the Vols’ collective neck in double-extras-defeat to A&M, but Rocky Top’s ongoing tenacity suggests it will do Halloween as the Energizer Bunny!...’Bama 29 Vols 24
#8 WISCONSIN (+10) over #2 Ohio State: LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Yes, da’ Buckeyes have thwarted us four times in five tries. We even yielded to “if can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” philosophy last week, backing State laying four touchdowns vs. Indy after multiple weeks supporting OSU’s opponents…and we still failed! Cue-up Joan Jett & da’ Blackhearts…”We hate ourselves for pic-kin’ youuuuuu….”. Most-recent pairing was 2014 conference championship, won fitty-nine (GASP!)-nada by State en route to ultimate National Title. Only other DD-loss by Wisky in last three-plus seasons was 2015 opener to ‘Bama on a neutral site. OSU has walked off with 15 road-triumphs in a row…State 19 Badgers 16

#3 CLEMSON (-17) over NC State: Tigers 37 NCSU 12
#4 Michigan: IDLE (next vs. Illinois)

#5 Washington: IDLE (next vs. Oregon State)
#6 Texas A&M: IDLE (next @ Alabama)

#10 Nebraska (-4) over INDIANA: Money comin’ in hot and heavy on da’ Hoosiers after closer-than-it-appeared three-score loss to the Buckeyes. Rested Corn Pops get bowl-eligible with a sixth straight victory here. In its defense, Indy was mere 6-18 SU in previous 24 B10 tilts before dropping Michigan State (after home-loss to Wake Forest) and show decent 3-1 ATS home-dog run, but…Nebraska 27 Indiana 17
Kansas (+35) over #11 BAYLOR: Last week, Kansas, 0-fer-12 SU in 2015, had chances to pull major upset over TCU and…didn’t. We think Bluebirds, outscored 185-35 over past three years against Baylor should be sponsored by GEICO because “finding ways to lose…it’s what they do.” Bears enter this off a bye week after escaping the Dust-Devils by 3, showing 1-3 spread record and having progressively-lowered their final ATS tally in each of the previous three seasons. BU has now covered just 3 of last 8 FBS contests back to last year and will peek ahead to date in Austin…Bears 51 KU 24

#12 Mississippi (-7 ½) over #22 ARKANSAS: Rebels 41 Tenderloin 27
#13 HOUSTON (-21) over Tulsa: In March, Bob Dylan sold his personal archive of notes, draft lyrics, poems, artwork and photos to the University of Tulsa. Among the sale-items-in-question were such classics as… “Forever Vince Young”, “Mr. Tambourine Lineman (“Draw up a play for me”)” “Substitution Home-Game Blues” and “Lay, Lady, Lay Da’ Points”. (Is it just us, or has Vindy’s Picks featured a distinct musical-flavor this year?!). Hurricane’s faced one team with a defense…and lost by 45…Coogs 51 Tulsa 20

Wake Forest (+21) over #14 FLORIDA STATE: We expect a slight letdown from the ‘Noles, having needed to block a PAT to submit rival Miami (for the seventh straight season. Demon Deacons lookin’ good with five SU victories in six tries so far after putting just six of previous 24 in the dubya-column. Third-year HC Dave Clawson has 17 starters back from squad that lost by mere-8 to FSU in 2015…Da’ Chop 31 Da’ Forest 19
Colorado State (+31) over #15 BOISE STATE: State gains nominal edge over now-one-loss Houston fer Group of Five berth in a money-bowl (but see Western Michigan @ AKRON below) but have BYU on horizon just five days following this match. Colorado State beat common-opponent Utah State last weekend by 7. BSU won by two TDs vs. da’ Aggies. Marc Lawrence’s Playbook.Com does not portend the Broncos excelling in this spot. We’ll look for a backdoor-cover of-sorts… Broncos 41 CSU 17

North Carolina (+8) over #16 MIAMI: ‘Canes 37 UNC 31
#17 Virginia Tech (-19 ½) over SYRACUSE: Hokies 34 L’Orange 10

Missouri @ #18 FLORIDA (“under 50 ½”): Second choice for “lock”.  Tigers were on a scheduled week-off while Gators got the unexpected “bye” when Matthew cancelled the LSU game. Mizzou-LSU totaled 49 points with UM managing a lone touchdown (now single digits for Missouri in six of previous eleven I-A contests). UF has limited four of five opponents to 7 or less to-date. Tigers are getting nearly two TDs vs. the Crocs, but figuring one week of rest doesn’t fix Gators’ offensive difficulties, we’ll just call it…Florida 28 Mizzou 3
Kansas State (+10) over #19 OKLAHOMA: UPSET PICK OF DA’ WEEK…Wildcats 31 OK 24

TEXAS TECH (-1) over #20 West Virginia: Guns Up 45 Mountaineers 39
OREGON STATE (+10) over #21 Utah: Utes 31 Beavers 27

#23 Auburn: IDLE (next vs. Arkansas)
#24 Western Michigan (-10 ½) over AKRON: Broncos have been a bit under our radar, but Phil Steele predicted WMU would be in it for a New Year’s Six post-season berth if they took out Northwestern in the opener. They did just that and beat Illinois by 24 on the road as well. A regular-season-ending date in Kalamazoo against Toledo awaits, but they should cruise into that one. Zips are 4-2 SU, but had just 7 total starters back and lost at home to App State by 7…Western Meeshigan 42 Akron 28

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
BTW, registered domain names in August for the new local hockey club included “Desert Knights”. Given the smorgasbord of pastries and other sweets found on any decent buffet-line in our humble berg, we think “Dessert Knights” would be equally apropos! (And if yer old enough to remember a certain animated segment of the Saturday morning “Banana Splits” TV show, we say…”Siiiiiize…of a cheesecake!”)

Even one of the commentators at the Steers-Sooners game stuttered announcing the contest as the “Red River Shoe-Down”!
The home of the Golden Hurricane also acquired the drink-coasters upon which Dylan scribed the words to “The Time-Outs They Are A-Changin’” and “It Ain’t Me, Tay”!

Followin’ a three-“game” stretch that saw Rutgers get outscored a hunnerd-fitty to seven by a trio of conference teams, da’ Scarlet Letters got excommunicated from da’ Big Tendril. Showing one SU victory in last eleven Big Tenor tilts and an inability to activate bulbs on da’ scoreboard, RU has been relegated to…Scarlet Nite-Lites!
New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton was at the 142nd Kentucky Derby and issued da’ command “Riders Up!”, which was immediately followed by the playing of “My Old Kentucky Home-Field”!

Tim Tebow’s first official game in the Arizona Fall League this week didn’t go as planned. The former Heisman QB stepped into the batter’s box, surveyed the defense, used a hard-count to try to draw the infield offside, then had to call a time-out!
“Wish We Had It Back”: We’d like a mulligan for…calling New Mexico +17 over Boise State after noting a couple of straight-up defeats to Rutgers and NMSU and near-collapse vs. San Josie did not bode well for the Lobos.

“Locked in a Box?”:  The Sled Dogs of Washington far-exceeded our expectations, pounding Oregon to run the “lock” tally to 4-2 (.667).     
Black Shirt: Goes to the officiating crew at the Texas-Oklahoma Red River Shoo-Fly for missing a blatant 1st Quarter pass-interference call vs. the ‘Horns that ultimately led to a Texas FG and for throwing an unnecessary roughness flag only on the Sooners’ player involved later, eventually resulting in a Texas touchdown. Honorable mention to ‘Bama CB Minkah Fitzpatrick for a 100-yard pick-six that would enable Tide to cover -14 vs. Arkansas.

Shoppe Talk: Texas A&M and Tennessee, facing each other last week, linger at 1-4 (.200) and 1-4-1 (.200), respectively and are accompanied by the return of the Ohio State Suckeyes, also at 1-4 (.200)
Vindy’s Week 7 Best Bets:       Last Week: 3-4   Season: 19-16 (.543)

Iowa-PURDUE “under 50”, GEORGIA TECH -10 over Joja’ Southern, South Alabama +4 ½ over ARKANSAS STATE, Unlv-HAWAII “over 54 ½”

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