Thursday, September 3, 2009

NCAA '09 Football: Week 1




College football 2009 starts tonight with a full state of games and by Sunday night there will be folks already crying their season’s ruined and in truth one loss can cost a team a chance at BCS Bowl so it might be a little more justified than some would think.

First, our disclaimer, we profess no expertise on college pigskins. We’re only in it for the fun. Second, there are some network big shots who are going to be every bit as off target as this humble amateur presentation. So strike up the band, smile for the cheerleaders, and let the games begin.

We’ve picked seven games this week. Here are our picks and a little commentary.

Oregon State (#16) at Boise State (#14) [-3]
Do not adjust your set, this is for real. Bronco stadium really does have blue artificial turf and it’s very annoying when watching a game. The game will be televised nationally on EPSN tonight. We’ll go with the dominant mascot theory and consider Broncos stronger than Ducks, but the home field advantage should prevail enough to give Boise the slight edge.

Towson at Northwestern
Hooray for the local alma matter, Towson, playing a big conference, the Big 10, but a team not figured to go anywhere. No point spread is posted for this game. We’ll go with the Towson Tigers because we love ‘em.

Georgia (#13) at Oklahoma State (#9) [-5 ½]
This is a hot one matching the SEC against the Big 12. Oklahoma State got lost in the shuffle with Oklahoma and Texas last year and should prevail over a good band of Bulldogs.

Brigham Young (#20) at Oklahoma (#30) [-22 ½]
Oklahoma will win this game with ease seen as a possible contender for the National Championship, but they’re not three touchdowns plus better than a decent Brigham Young.

Virginia Tech (#7) at Alabama (#5) [-6]
Virginia Tech is the ACC’s best hope for a BCS bid this year and Frank Beamer is one heck of a resourceful coach up against the dominant defense of ‘Bama. We’ll give the Hokies the upset win.

Maryland at California (#12) [-21]
This is the kind of game that Maryland usually falls down on playing but occasionally looks brilliant. While they should beat the three touchdown spread, California wins this.

Miami FL at Florida State (#18) [-6]
This is the game conference brass were dreaming of when the ACC raided the Big East expanding to 12 teams with Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College. Since moving to the ACC, Miami has lost its Mojo and Bobby Bouton’s boys have been far from dominant as well. It used to be Florida State and everyone else in the ACC. Not any more. While both programs try to establish their dominant ways, Florida State is clearly better than Miami and will win by a touchdown at least.








No comments: