Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Vindy's Picks Week 12-2017

SECRET BRACKET REVEALED 
 
MOSCOW, Russia (BBC)…Ending a run under Barack Obama, Donald Trump passed-up a February request to indulge in a whimsical presidential-tradition of filling-out a NCAA Tournament bracket for ESPN. Recently-declassified files by the FBI show Vladimir Putin “stood-in” for the Komrade-in-Chief” on the down-low, tendering a completed 2017 “Big Dance card for the World Leader. No surprise that Putin had Kremlin University edging Stalingrad State for the national championship, while penning-in Duke and the Vandals of Moscow, Idaho as Final Four also-rans. Early-on, Leningrad U. made the Soviet leader’s field-artillery of 64! BTW, despite an overall losing-record, the Stalingrad State Blue Borscht got a bid by winning the Soviet Union Konference (SUK). 
 
Fer inquiring-minds that wanna' know, yer humble host spent the off-week healing injuries to his wallet and breaking-down film of da' bookies. Regularly turning it over on a shotglass- violation, it's... 
 
THE WEBER KID'S WEEK 12 FORECAST 
(Already pumping artificial-Christmas-tunes-noise into da' sportsbook during practice!) 
 
THURS. NOV. 16 
 
Tulsa (+23) over #23 SOUTH FLORIDA: Best guess for "wish" pick. Bulls took last Saturday off, but might still look past Tulsa to date in Orlando vs. Group of Five front-runner and AAC East leader UCF. We like Golden Hurricane's chances more than we liked Illinois, who lost here by 24. USF has four wins by this margin or better (Maryland, Illinois, East Carolina and Cincinnati). Tulsa has lost by this margin or worse three times (Oklahoma State, Tulane and last week to Memphis). "Under 68" wouldn't be a bad call either..The Second-Best Team in Da' Sunshine State 34 Tulsa 24 
 
SAT. NOV. 18 
 
Mercer @ #1 ALABAMA: No line. In general, we wouldn't dare question Tide's scheduling, but an FCS-club in mid-November? Glorified scrimmage. Why not just play a split-squad game?!! 
 
Virginia @ #2 MIAMI ("under 50 ½"): Da' U. 34 Cavs 10 
 
#3 Oklahoma (-36 ½) over KANSAS: Wouldn't be a bad choice for 'lock". This is about maneuvering for position in the playoff rankings (and maybe bolstering Baker Mayfield's Heisman-journey). Don't expect West Virginia's presence on the horizon to be enough of a distraction to keep the Sooners, who have a limited number of strings to sub on the road, from lighting-up the Jayhawks. Oklahoma's MOV the past three years has been 37, 55 and 51. Sooners are peaking, while UK is already embracing hoops-season. Viewer-discretion is advised...OK 57 Blue Birds 7  
 
Citadel @ #4 CLEMSON: No line. 
 
#5 WISCONSIN (-7 ½) over #19 Michigan: It's mid-November and this is the lone match-up of ranked-squads this week? Last April, da' Wolverines arrived in Italy for Spring practices. The venture included an audience with Pope Francis, who watched the team go through their paces, running in place among tires filled with grapes and pushing the Tower of Piza on a makeshift sled as part of blocking drills! Badgers get a rare- (and much-needed) chance to bolster a weak-resume with a win over another Top 25 foe (and could use some style-points). Wisky dropped Iowa, whose only points came on pair of pick-sixes. Assuming better-focus given its last remaining serious-challenge to an undefeated regular season (and improved ball-security following 4-TO snafu last week)Cheeseheads 27 Big Blew 13 
 
Louisiana-Monroe (+37) over #6 AUBURN: Trap/letdown-game for the Tigers, in sandwich between pounding of Joja' and visit from Crimson Tide up next. "War Eagle" inserts next three-strings early to give the starters a breather...Auburn 41 Warhawks 17 
#7 GEORGIA (-21 ½) over Kentucky: Joja' 42 KY 17
 
Illinois (+40 ½) over #8 OHIO STATE: Buckeyes 52 Illini 23
 
Navy (+18 ½) over #9 NOTRE DAME: Irish, in 41-8 loss to Miami, haven't been that transparent since Manti Te'o's imaginary girlfriend! Notre Dame will wear faux old-time apparel honoring Knute Rockne in this one. The name on back will be "Rockne". Countering the nostalgic-move, Da' Fleet will don jerseys paying tribute to former-Middie and NBA-star David Robinson. The moniker on the posterior will be "Robinson". Boat People edged ND 28-27 last year after losing by 10 and 17 the previous two seasons!...Our Lady 34  Sinbads 28 
 
Kansas State (+21) over #10 OKLAHOMA STATE: LOCK OF DA' WEEK. Wildcats haven't been granted a handicap this big since bein' here as +20 in 2011, a match in which K-State lost in 7-point shoot-out. KSU needs victory here or next week hosting Dust-Devils to get bowl-eligible. History does not support the SU win, but Purple Persians have covered 15 of last 24 getting points (2-2 in 2017 to-date), winning 8 outright. This series has shown Cowpokes walking-off the gridiron by 6 & 2, following 34-point demise in 2014. Factoring-in fatigue of Okie State's three-straight contests vs/at ranked-opponents...Oklahomer State 34 Felines 27 
 
#11 Texas Christian (-7) over TEXAS TECH: TCU 31 Tech 20
 
Ucla (+16 ½) over #12 USC: Troy 29 UCLA 20
 
Nebraska @ #13 PENN STATE ("under 57"): Can't see the Alma Mater, yielding just north of 10 ppg in Happy Valley, getting up for this one, having played itself outta' 1) the CFP, 2) the Big Tent-Peg Championship (unless the unthinkable happens en masse) and 3) possibly outta' a New Year's Six bowl (as perhaps evidenced by non-cover last week at Rutgers). At 4-6 SU, Huskers need to win here and vs. Iowa next (or at least a split and solid academics) to avoid missing the post-season for first time since 2007. We think UN +26 would be worth a gander as well since victory would be of more-importance for the Lincoln Logs... Lions 34 Corncobs 13 
 
#14 Central Florida (-14) over TEMPLE: Golden Knights 34 Owls 16 
 
15 Washington State: IDLE
 
Utah (+17) over #16 WASHINGTON: UDUB 41 Utes 27 
 
#17 Mississippi State (-12) over ARKANSAS: Bulldogs actually moved up a notch in the AP Poll after becoming just second team to finish within single-digits of 'Bama on the season! Bacon is 2-7 ATS thus far and we're still tryin' figure out how Pork Chops beat Old Missed by one on the SEC-tarmac. State will prolly crawl outta' the locker room after almost takin'-out Crimson Tide, but will pull-away sufficiently in the second-half...MSU 31 Ham Hocks 10
 
#18 MEMPHIS (-11 ½) over Southern Methodist: Ponies come into this off 43-40 loss to Navy, in which both sides matched-up against the triple-option. Tigers, 4-0-1 ATS in past five games, have blown Sudden Methadone off the field in each of the last three years and have improved this season while SMU has held mostly-steady...Memphis 44 Hobby Horses 30 
 
California (+16) over #20 STANFORD: Trees 27 Bears 17 
  
TENNESSEE (+15 ½) over #21 Louisiana State: Bengals 17 Vols 8  
 
#22 MICHIGAN STATE (-15 ½) over Maryland: Spartans 33 Box Turtles 13 
 
Texas @ #24 WEST VIRGINIA ("under 55 ½): Steers gotta' cop a win to go bowlin'. Seven of the 'Horns' games have ended below this total. 'Eers can play (and win) at this pace as well, showing four games "under" this too. Cattle beat ISU by 10 earlier (17-7). Dust Devils fell by 4 (20-16) to the Mounties afterward. Initial-thought was to lay 3 ½ with the Morganbillies. You have been duly-advised...WVU 28 Texas 10 
 
#25 NC State (+1 ½) over WAKE FOREST: Oh, haillllll no! Wolfpack *plus-one-and-change*???!!! Over-reaction to recent turn-of-events! Wake has pocketed 3 of 4 outright in Winston-Salem, but State's two defeats came at South Bend and vs. currently-CFP #2 Clemson. We're gonna' regret not tagging this one as "lock of da' week"! Thought about the "under"...'Pack 27 Deacs 18  
 
BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS 
 
BTW, we admit we had the University of St. Petersburg Sputniks makin' da' Sweet Sixteen in the East Region of our 2017 Tourney bracket and Da' Big Red Army of Nebraska winning the Midwest! 
 
If yer scoring at home, Vindy registered a 9-7-2 in Week 10, bringin' the season-record one-dubya-shy of the century-mark at 99-81-3 (.550). 
 
If Nebraska meets Game of Thrones would the House-motto be..."What is Big Red can never die."???!!! Would a famous sequence in the GoT series have involved the "Big Red Wedding"???!!! 
 
We offer some notable trends at this point in the year...ATS-skids: Ball State 0-7, Hawaii 0-7-1, Colorado State 0-5 and Vandy 1-6. ATS-runs: Mizzou & South Carolina 6-0, Boston College 6-0-1, LSU & Northwestern 5-0. "Under": Duke 8-1, FSU 7-1-1, NC State 6-1, Middle Tennessee State & Purdue 8-2; Fresno State, TCU & Wyoming 7-2; "Over": Auburn 7-0, Arizona 7-2; SU losses ("Is it basketball season yet?"): UTEP 0-10 (and with Weeziana Tech at home and UAB on da' road, we predict 0-12), Joja' Sudden 0-9, Kansas 0-9 FBS (lone victory came vs. FCS SE Mizzou) and Charlotte, Coastal Carolina & Rice 1-9. 
 
Last week, the spouse of Buccaneers' DB Brent Grimes claimed Da' Raiders' O-line intentionally let QB Derek Carr get injured in the midst of Oakland's earlier-season contest vs. Washington. This revelation came on the heels of Miko Grimes' lesser-publicized assertion that Vindy's preseason-forecasting strategy team methodically-abandoned the prestigious prognosticator's safety during his Week 1 debacle against the bookies! 
 
The Minnesota Vikings' offensive-players indulged-themselves with a post-TD game of Leap-Frog in the first-half against. Washington on Sunday. Vindy plans to enlist the aid of fellow-bettors to do likewise inside the sportsbook next time he wins a college football-wager! 
 
In June, Senator John McCain threw ex-FBI Director James Comey for a loop with his questions about Russia, ie. "I get the incense from Twitter that my offensive-line of questioning went over-under people's heads or tails...maybe I shouldn't stay up late watching the Diamond (running) Backs' night games."
 
On da' Big Screen...a Johnny Depp movies series about marauders on the high seas meets a 1970's NY Knicks star in..."Pirates of Da' Caribbean: Da' Curse of the Earl Da' Pearl"! (Raise yer hand if yer old-enuff to remember Earl Da' Pearl!) 
 
With the 2017-18 NCAA hoops regular-season tipping-off last Friday, we ask...if Tom Selleck’s 1980’s adventures in Hawaii had met an important college basketball metric, would the TV series have been called...Magnum, R.P.I”??!! 
 
BTW, every time Vindy makes his picks, a Corona gets its lime! 
 
"Wish We Had It Back": We called it! We'd like a second-chance on Week 10 call regarding Notre Dame-Wake Forest for changin' our original selection from "Deacs +13 ½" to "under 55"! 
 
"Locked in a Box": UMass continued its string of respectable-losses in Week 10 at Mississippi State, lowering the lock-record to 7-2-1 (.778) 
 
Black Shirt: Our Week 10 obsidian tee went to New Mexico State K Dylan Brown fer goin' 1-fer-1 on FG tries and 6-fer-6 on PATs, allowing the "best bets" Aggies (-9 ½) to win by 10 at Texas State!  Honorable-mention to back-up A&M QB Nick Starkel for two TD-passes, enabling those other Aggies to push vs. Auburn.  
 
Shoppe Talk: Ye Olde Taxidermy Shoppe gets a little less-crowded this week, as only West Virginia and Notre Dame remain onsite, both at 1-5 (.167). 
 
Vindy's Week 12 Best Bets: Week 10: 2-2   Season: 20-20-1 (.500) 
 
Boston College-UConn "under 51", ARKANSAS STATE 26 over Texas State, Joja' Tech –6 over DUKE, UMass +5 over BYU, Syracuse +13 over LOUISVILLE 
 
 
 

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