Week One Recap

Look, I never claimed to be an expert at this. My Week One closed with just one correct selection, SMU over Arkansas State, worth only 3 points. I will have a steep hill to climb to catch up with the Week One winner who made three correct pick for a massive opening total of 33 points. It was a strong showing across the board as we only had four entrants throw up a goose egg, and two of those tried to sneak in Hawaii on submissions made after the Warriors had already dispensed with Arizona (nice try, but the form responses are timestamped :) ). Upsets elsewhere: Mack Brown danced over South Carolina in his UNC debut, Boise remained sufficiently hydrated in a comeback win in Tallahassee, and absolutely no one thought Georgia State could handle the big stage of Neyland Stadium but the Panthers knocked off the Vols in Knoxville. Did you make our Top 10 Leaderboard? I certainly did not:

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Week Two Picks

Week 2 is always one of the toughest weeks to peg – are these lines overreactions to results from Week 1 or do we already know enough to alter our pre-season assumptions?

1. Colorado (+4) vs. Nebraska – The Corhuskers were an off-season darling, projected to take a major leap forward in Scott Frost’s 2^nd season in Lincoln with lots of talk about Adrian Martinez being a Heisman candidate and Nebraska finally contending for the B1G West. Big Red opened the season in lackluster fashion, outlasting South Alabama but without putting up any of the offensive fireworks. Colorado on the other hand smashed rival CSU in Denver, without even needing to truly unleash superstar wideout Laviska Shenault. Before the season, these teams were considered miles apart and yet in Week 2 the Buffs are only 4-point ‘dogs. Has the ‘Husker hype already faded or is Colorado actually good?

2. San Jose State (+6.5) vs. Tulsa – These two teams are probably both bottom 25 FBS programs right now, so I am not sure how the road team in this match up could be projected to win by a TD. Sure, the Golden Hurricane kept it close with Michigan State in Week 1, but think they’ll be looking ahead to the local rivalry game with OK State next week and will get kicked in the chest by the Spartans for the 2^nd consecutive week.

3. North Texas (+4) vs. SMU – I’m thankful to the Ponies for booking my only correct upset selection last week, but they return to welcome Mason Fine and the Mean Green to Dallas. Seth Littrell is a few years ahead in Denton than Dykes is at SMU and clearly has the better offense and the better QB. It’s to be determined if UNT has the defense to back up their scoring, after giving up 31 points to Abilene Christian last week, but think they can do enough to overcome SMU.

4. Ohio (+6) vs. Pittsburgh - This is a strength vs. weakness game. Pat Narduzzi’s Pitt will surely put a stingy defense on the field and Frank Solich’s Ohio produced one of the most prolific offenses last season. Bobcat QB Nathan Rourke kept it rolling in a romp over FCS Rhode Island last week. Whose weakness will be too weak to overcome? Pitt snuck into the ACC Championship last season and will probably scare some top opponent, but is another team in a prime look-ahead position coming off a nasty loss to Virginia and with a trip to Penn State on deck.

5. Vanderbilt (+7.5) vs. Purdue – Yes, I have fallen into the Vanderbilt trap. This line surprised me - Purdue took a bad loss at Nevada last week and Vandy got churned up, but not embarrassed, by UGA. This game will feature legit superstar offensive talent for both squads – the Commodores feature a trio of Seniors that will be top NFL picks in WR Kalija Lipscomb, TE Jared Pickney, and Nashville’s own RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn; and everyone knows the show that Purdue’s Rondale Moore can put on. Frog fans will be looking for a Purdue victory to give our signature non-conference foe an SEC win, so my choosing this game here just made that more likely. Also, if you happen to need a trial account to watch next week’s TCU-Purdue showdown, maybe start your 2-week clock early and enjoy this treat on Saturday morning.

Your Picks

Week 2 has ample upset opportunity and TCU fans get the week off to sit back and watch the carnage ensue. Fill out your selections in the form below or click HERE if your browser doesn’t show the form on this page. Remember to get your picks in before the start of games you select – Week 2 Schedule. Good luck!