The SoapBoxers

Much better weekend of games this week. Good thing I was not on record with picks last week as they would have been pathetic to say the least.

Texas looks like they will not be bowl eligible. Wow. National Title game to no bowl game.

Cam Newton still in the news although it has quieted down somewhat. Biggest football story of the weekend was Michael Vick’s performance in Monday night football. 6 Touchdowns…..who does he think he is? Gale Sayers?

Georgia State @ Alabama (-56.5) – Seriously who cares? Alabama 112,963 – GA State 4

 UCLA @ Washington (-2.5) – Which Bruins team shows up this week. A winning one! UCLA – 28 – Wash – 24

Friday

Fresno State @ Boise State (-30.5) –  Battle of states that don’t exist. Boise Needs style points on the smurf turf. BSU – 45- FSU – 14

 Saturday

Wisconsin (-6.5) @ Michigan – Power running vs small guy fast running. I take power running. Cheeseheads – 35- Mich – 28

Purdue @ Michigan State (-20.5) – Purdon’t covers! MSU – 31- PUR – 21

North Carolina State @ North Carolina (-2.5) – Battle of North Carolina. Give me powder Blue – NC – 21- NC State – 17

Stanford (-7.5) @ California – Andrew Luck for Heisman – Stan 21- Cal – 14

Thuh Ohio State (-3.5) @ Iowa – Buckeyes different on road, but Iowa is seriously overrated. OSU 28- IA 14

Virginia Tech (-2.5) @ Miami – Hurrigangsters different team at home. Upset special. Miami – 17. Va Tech 14

Illinois (-7.5) @ Northwestern – No Dan Persa, No Chance. Illinois 35- NW – 21

Mississippi @ LSU (-16.5) – Bengal tigers good one week not so good next but keep winning. LSU 12- Miss St – 9

Nebraska (-2.5) @ Texas A&M – Taylor Martinez 100%? More like 65% Blackshirts still good enough. Nebs – 31- A&M 21

Oklahoma (-7.5) @ Baylor – Boooooooomer Soooooner, they could still win the South. OU – 31- Baylor – 28

USC (-3.5) @ Oregon State – Ore St lost to Wazoo last week…..wowie. USC -32- Ore St 10

No picks this week as I want to go around the world of college football.

Coaching changes – Adios Dan Hawkins in Colorado. I guess we all figured out now who the real brains behind the Boise State empire was when you were still coaching there.  Too bad the Buffs athletic department did not figure that out sooner.  The last straw was the 35 point meltdown to the Kansas Jayhawks who rallied from that huge deficit for the 2^nd largest comeback win in NCAA history.

Cam Newton – This gets better every day.  First the $200,000 allegation.  Then the cheating allegation.  Now this morning the money allegation again.  Why does this type of thing always seem to pop up in the SEC?  Are their fans just so rabid that they have spies everywhere on everyone else’s campuses to get an edge when their team is down and some other team is up?  I call it the SEConspiracy theory.  What I still don’t get is how he goes from Florida to a Juco, before coming back.  I mean would sitting out a year somewhere have really been any worse … or … did he really need some academic help meaning the allegations of cheating at Florida could be true? Hmmmmmmmm.  Can’t wait to see what unfolds as this week progresses as news seems to come out daily on the current Heisman Trophy Front Runner.

Heisman – First it was all Denard Robinson’s to lose.  Now it might be Cam Newton beating various raps to keep the hardware.  Of course an Iron Bowl spoiler courtesy of the Tide could change a lot of voters minds in November.  Kind of reminds me of the year Deshaun Foster was running away with it and then got in trouble and suspended … along with his Heisman hopes.  This could be the year of the last man standing wins.

Big XII – The might South Division is struggling.  Bad losses last week by Oklahoma and Texas, well, I have thrown them under the bus for weeks now, more on that later.  Oklahoma State looks to be in control in the South, who the heck would have predicted that to start the year.  Also thanks to the Missouri Tigers who once again show they have no coaching, abandon the running game and get throttled in the last three quarters for a horrible loss at Texas Tech. Merry Christmas Nebraska, you just won the North.

Texas – I have been piling on for weeks, it will get worse.  Does anyone think they are going to stop Oklahoma State this week?  Texas is in SERIOUS jeopardy of not being bowl eligible.  From BCS title game to not even making the Motor City Bowl.  Wow it must really be bad to be a Longhorn fan this year.

Oregon – These guys are Playstation 3 football.  Can anyone hold them under 50 points?  Does anyone want to play them at all?  The weird thing is when you watch them play they really don’t look that good, they just score fast, play fast and wear other teams out.  Wonder when someone figures out how to stop that from happening.

TCU to the Big East – Horned Frog Officials are indicating they want the all or nothing package.  They are not just going to jump ship for football, where they would roll, but they want the mighty basketball program to travel thousands of miles each week to get their butts kicked in the biggest thug ball conference in America.  Good for you for standing up to your beliefs.

This is one of the worst weekends for college football this year.  Due to many traditionally good teams struggling there are not a lot of meaningful games this week.  I will be back next week with picks, but if you want a short list…..Take Oregon, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and until next week, good luck!

Normally each week I just make my picks, but there is way too much to talk about in the world of football in the Republic of Texas. The Dallas Cowboys were hyped to become the first team to play in a Super Bowl in their own stadium. Guess someone forgot to tell the players. The Cowpokes have struggled mightily all year long, with the last straw being the loss of starting Quarterback Tony Romo for the year. Now John Kitna gets the privilege of facing the Giants who are known to sack qb’s about 15 times a game. Good Luck this week Cowboys.

The Longhorns are in total disarray. Now I will give all the UT fans the “scoreboard” call as my beloved Huskers got smoked at home where they played their worst game of the year. Nebraska looked inept in that game, especially in the first quarter, and the Longhorns did just enough to win that game. Problem is they have not looked like a football team since that moment in time. Horrible home losses this year to UCLA, Iowa State, and Baylor must be causing a horrible uprising in Austin. Blogs are calling for Mack Brown’s firing. Offensive Coordinator Greg Davis has a variety of “Fire Greg Davis” Blogs up and running. Even the beloved Will Muschamp would be wise to look into taking a head coaching job somewhere else as I would think he would not want any part of this hot seat … maybe back to his native state of Georgia? Perhaps to LSU where he was also an assistant coach as the natives there appear to be restless with Les Miles?

Big XII Commissioner Dan Beebe must be hating his job about now. The Commish starts the pre-season by setting an ultimatum to all the universities and in particular Missouri who was rumored to be leaving the Big XII and Nebraska … “We need to come to terms with that. We’re going to head into our meetings in Kansas City and I think we need to have a very frank conversation about where we’re going and who’s going to be on the plane when we take off.” Mr. Beebe said. “I will be very direct and talk about that with our membership and want to find out. It would be a shame, given that all boats have risen with this tide that’s been created in the Big 12, for anybody to think they’re going to have a better future somewhere else.” .

Well the Big 10 said “No Thanks” to Missouri, said “Hello” to Nebraska, and Colorado bolted to the Pac 10 Conference, which frankly is a better fit for the laissez faire attitude Buffs fans.

Nebraska took their ball and went home, effectively leaving the weaker North schools scrambling hoping the Texas … errrrrrr Big 12 conference would keep it together. So far so good, but one has to wonder with the problems of the quote “centerpiece “ football program and the “all controlling university that wears burnt orange, where does the future of the conference lie?

I think that BYU going independent may be part of the future of the Big XII. BYU has a strong following much like their counterparts of the Catholic background in South Bend. I still suspect that BYU is not a large enough of a power to pull off their own TV deals and such on their own. Getting out of their current affiliation lines them up well for a future North division team in the old Big XII. The problem is finding one more team. Wyoming? Nope, Colorado State perhaps? Maybe. Quite frankly there is not a lot to choose from.

The biggest issue might be that phone conversation taking place between two folks already mentioned in this article. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Big 12 Commish, Dan Beebe. Since the Big 12 will no longer have 12 teams, they will no longer be able to host a conference championship game. Jones had recently inked a 3 year deal to have the game at the Jerry Dome in Dallas. I would love to be a fly on the wall for this phone conversation:

Jerry: Beebster, you have GOT to get two more teams in, you signed the contract for three years, I don’t give a damn if Nebraska and Colorado left the conference, get someone else in here.

Dan: The NCCA has told us we can’t have the game unless we have twelve teams in the conference.

Jerry: I don’t care! I was going to sell 100,000 seats for each of those games and think of all the booze sales! Plus those eager fans will come through and do the tour ahead of time and we charge $20 bucks a head for that as well. You are costing me a lot of money!

Dan: Have you looked at the division one football programs in the upper Midwest? Who am I going to get? South Dakota State?

Thursday

Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech(15.5) – Do the Hokey Pokey. Va Tech 28- GT- 14

Saturday

Maryland @ Miami (-4.5) – Is Harris out? Won’t matter. Hurrigangsters 28- Freiders Fighting Turtles – 14

Illinois @ Michigan (-1.5) – Michigan has to cover sometime. MEEEEEECHIGAN – 28- Ill 21

Baylor @ Oklahoma State (-6.5) – This could be for all the marbles in the South. OSU – 35- Baylor – 31

Washington @ Oregon (-28.5) – Oregon is good every week. Ore 56- Washington – 21

TCU (-4.5) @ Utah – Frogs defense just too much…..TCU 35- Utah 17

Nebraska (-17.5) @ Iowa State – Corn wins but Cy covers. NEB 35- Clones 21

Northwestern @ Penn State (-6.5) – JoPa gets 400. Penn St – 28- NW 21

Oklahoma (-6.5) @ Texas A&M – One week wonder for A&M last week, back to reality this week. OU – 35- A&M 14

Arkansas @ South Carolina (-3.5) – one of the better games of the week. Ark – 21- SC – 17

Oregon State (-7.5) @ UCLA – which UCLA team shows up? The one that loses…..Ore St 28- UCLA – 14

Missouri (-7.5) @ Texas Tech – Mizzou stinging after beatdown at hands of huskers. Tigers – 35- TT – 21

Alabama (-6.5) @ LSU – Roll Tide, LSU is way over-rated. Tide – 28 LSU – 13

Texas (-6.5) @ Kansas State – Why would I stop piling on the longhorns now? Mack Brown circled the wagons last week and THAT went well didn’t it. Goalposts come down in the little apple. KSU – 28- Hook em – 24

What a bad time to be a top ranked team. First the tide does not roll. Then thuh Ohio State gets housed by the cheesy road graders from Wisconsin. MIZ-ZOU buries the Sooners at home. What next?

And the end all of end all is Texas gets smoked at home by THE IOWA STATE CYCLONES. How the heck did my beloved Huskers get beat by THAT team….Can’t wait to hear the presser from Coach Brown this week after Baylor knocks them off in Austin.

Thursday

Florida State (-4.5) @ North Carolina State – Free Shoes U!. FSU 27- NC St 20

Saturday

Oklahoma State (-4.5) @ Kansas State – Aggies are boiling after losing high scoring homecoming against the cornshuckers. OSU – 44- K St. 28

Clemson (-7.5) @ Boston College – Uncle Clem gets er done again. Clem – 28- BC -17

Tennessee @ South Carolina (-17.5) – Vols are bad. Nothing else to say. SC- 28- Tenn 14

Kansas @ Iowa State (-14.5) – Let down game for the cyclones…maybe but Kansas is worse than Tennessee. ISU 31- Kansas 7

Tulsa @ Notre Dame (-10.5) – Irish got whooped by Navy last week. Welcome home touchdown Jesus. ND- 28- Tulsa – 20

Arizona (-8.5) @ UCLA – yuk, and I suppose this is the late game of the week on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain. AZ – 28- UCLA – 17

California @ Oregon State (-3.5) – Cal is rolling, but Corvallis is tough to play at…..Ore St 24- Cal 21

Texas Tech @ Texas A&M (-6.5) – New QB in place at College Station. A&M 28- TT- 21

Michigan State @ Iowa (-4.5) – Hawkeyes are due! Iowa – 21- Mich St – 20

Missouri @ Nebraska (-6.5) – I hate to pick against Nebs but….Mizzzzzzzz- 31- Neb – 28

Auburn (-7.5) @ Mississippi – Masoli should be in jail. Auburn – 31- Ole Miss 14

Stanford (-7.5) @ Washington – Jake Locker the great disappearing quarterback get smoked again this week. Stan – 35- Wash – 17

Baylor @ Texas (-9.5) – R.G.III! Texas loses again at home. Withdraws from Union! State Fair Moved to Abilene! Baylor 24- Texas 21

Utah (-5.5) @ Air Force – Frogs beat up the Cadets last week, Utah just piles on more. Utah – 35- AF – 21

Oregon (-7.5) @ USC – Two Words…Playstation Football. Ore 52- USC – 21

Michigan (-3.5) @ Penn State – The Dennard Robinson show starts back up this week…if he is healthy! Meeeeeeechigan – 35- JoPa’s Warriors – 14

Thursday

UCLA @ Oregon (-21.5) – Oregon…each and every week until proven otherwise. Ore 52- UCLA 21

Friday

South Florida @ Cincinnati (-8.5) – Da Bulls, Da Bulls, Da Bulls, Da Bulls. Natti – 28 – SFU – 21

Saturday

Purdue @ Ohio State (-27.5) – It’s good to be home again, but no energy this week. OSU – 31- Purdon’t – 17

Michigan State (-8.5) @ Northwestern – Northwestern catches em on a sleeper. Mich St 24- NW – 21

Rutgers @ Pittsburgh (-8.5) – Rutgers is playing better. Pitt 17- Rutgers – 14

Notre Dame (-4.5) @ Navy – the Middies streak ends this year. ND – 28- Navy 21

Maryland @ Boston College (-4.5) – BC will conquer the turtles. BC- 28- Maryland- 20

Nebraska (-3.5) @ Oklahoma State– Huskers won’t drop 9 passes this week. Corn 35- OSU 28

LSU @ Auburn (-4.5) – War Eagle! Auburn 21- LSU – 10

Wisconsin @ Iowa (-6.5) – Wisconsin cannot get the karma going again on the road this week but will cover. IA – 24- Wisco – 21

Arizona State @ California (-1.5) – Who Cares? ASU – 35- Cal -31

Georgia Tech @ Clemson (-5.5) – Clem gets back on track this week…Dabo..dabo Doooooooo!. Clem – 31- Ga tech – 21

North Carolina @ Miami (-7.5) – The gangsters are better at home. Miami – 28- NC – 14

Air Force @ TCU (-16.5) – The Cadets stinging after last week, not a good week to make up for it. Frogs- 35- Fliers – 14

Oklahoma (-6.5) @ Missouri – Mizzou gets a taste of what it is like to finally play someone good. OU – 42- Mizzou – 21

Washington @ Arizona (-4.5) Jake Locker looking like a Heisman candidate again? AZ- 28 – Wash – 27

Thursday

Kansas State (-4.5) @ Kansas – Wildcats still stinging after the Husker beatdown last week. Kansas is T-R-B-L terrible. KSU- 28- KU 17

Saturday

Illinois @ Michigan State (-9.5) – Let down after big win last week. Illinois 21- Mich St 20

Missouri @ Texas A&M (-3.5) – A&M is better than advertised, Mizzou, not as good as advertised. A&M 28- Mizzou 27

Pittsburgh @ Syracuse (even) – One of these weeks the panthers get it done for me. Pitt 31- Syracuse 21

Minnesota @ Purdue (-6.5) – gophers are ticked off after Wisco goes for two late in a blowout last week. Won’t matter. Purdue 28- Minn 14

Texas @ Nebraska (-8.5) – Too many points, Texas has had an extra week but still have worst head coach at a major college program. Corn – 27 – Horn 24

Iowa (-3.5) @ Michigan – Bounce back at the big house. MEEEEEECHIGAN 28 – Iowa 21

California @ USC (-3.5) – I love it when USC loses. USC 31- Cal 28

Arkansas @ Auburn (-2.5) – Match up of the weekend. Ark 21- Aub 19

Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech (-3.5) – Red Raiders have less defense than the cowboys, but are tougher at home. OSU 42- TT 35

South Carolina (-6.5) @ Kentucky – Hanogver after big win. Kentucky 21- SC 17

THE Ohio State (-6.5) @ Wisconsin – Wisconsin running game gets on track WI – 24- OSU 20

Iowa State @ Oklahoma (-23.5) – Clones get rolled for 2nd straight week. OU – 35- ISU 10

Baylor @ Colorado (even) – three words. R – G – 3. Baylor 35- Col 17

Oregon State @ Washington (even) – Why are people still Jake Locker Believers? OSU 31- Wash 20

Rough week last week for Johnny as lot of upsets spoiled my record against the spread. A bunch more toughies again this week.

Nebraska (-10.5) @ Kansas State – The Children of the Corn will either win big or lose. I go with the former. Huskers 35- K- State 17

LSU @ Florida (-9.5) Les Miles is the only coach at a major program in American worse than Mack Brown. FLA- 21- LSU 14

Minnesota @ Wisconsin (-22.5) – Lot of points here, but I think WI is ticked after last week. WI – 35- MN – 10

Indiana @ THE Ohio State (-28.5) Hoosiers have looked decent but OH St is a different team at home. OSU – 35- IN 10

Baylor @ Texas Tech (-3.5) Tech loses to IA St last week….eeeeeesh…..Robert Griffin is much better than Austin Arnaud. Baylor 35- TT 31

Alabama (-10.5) @ South Carolina – The Ol ball coach in a cover. Bama 27- SC 21

Arkansas (-7.5) vs Texas A&M – Aggies looked like dog last Thursday night. Ark 35- A&M 28

Michigan State @ Michigan (-5.5) – Denard Robinson for Heisman, unfortunately their defense is horrible. Mich 28- Mich St 27

Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame (-8.5) Wow, ND still stands for no defense. Pittsburgh is not exactly an offensive juggernaut. Pitt 17- ND 14

Clemson @ North Carolina (-4.5) – North Carolina finally getting some players back. NC – 28- Clem 21

Utah (-4.5) @ Iowa State – My five star game of the week. Utah 42- Ia St 21

Colorado @ Missouri (-9.5) – Blaine Gabbert rolls! Mizz – 35- Col 14

Florida State @ Miami (-7.5) Remember when the entire country used to care about this game every year. Jacory at home is way better than Jacory on the road. Hurrigangsters 28- Fla St 21

USC @ Stanford (-7.5) – Both teams smarting after bad losses last week. USC has no defense, Stanford is better. Stan 28- USC 18

Arizona State @ Washington (-3.5) Who cares? Pitchforks up! ASU – 28- Wazoo 13

Thursday

Texas A&M @ Oklahoma State (-3.5) Could be a shootout, I like the home team. OSU – 35- A&M 28

Saturday

Miami (-3.5) @ Clemson – Take the Hurrigansters until proven otherwise. Miami – 31- Clem 20

Virginia Tech (-3.5) @ North Carolina State – wow…both of these teams are bad. Va Tech 27- NC St 17

Northwestern (-4.5) @ Minnesota – Wildcats eat Gophers. NW – 28- MINN 21

Navy @ Air Force (-7.5) – Gimmie the home team in a cover. AF 24- Navy 23

Texas vs Oklahoma (-4.5) – Red River shootout lost its luster after the Horns got cooked by Skippy Nuhiesel last week. OU – 35- Tex 20

Wisconsin @ Michigan State (even) – John Clay for Heisman! WI – 24- Mich St 20

Arizona State @ Oregon State (-6.5) – This one is not on the Smurf Turf. Ore St – 27- ASU 14

Georgia (-2.5) @ Colorado – The Buffs are Horrid. GA- 40- CU 14

Texas Tech (-4.5) @ Iowa State – Tech goes wild in Ames. TT- 35- IA St 17

Florida @ Alabama (-7.5) Florida Came alive last week. This one will be close. FLA 24- Bama 21

Washington @ USC (-11.5) – The Huskies are even More Horrid than the Buffs. USC – 46- Wash 21

Notre Dame (-1.5) @ Boston College – ND cannot stop anyone. Not even another Catholic School. BC 21- ND 20

Penn State @ Iowa (-7.5) – Like the Hawks. But not to cover. Iowa 21- Penn St 17

Stanford @ Oregon (-6.5) – The ducks are like watching a live version of Madden 2011. Ore 45- Stan 35

Week off for Johnny last week as I was on vacation, I will say that I would have had a huge week, and since you cannot see any of my picks (since I did not publish an article) you will have to just take my word for it.

Things we learned last week:

• There is a muddled mess in the rankings, teams like Oklahoma, Texas, and others look really good one week and really average the next
• Nebraska’s red-shirt Freshman QB looked really good and the Huskers defense just cost Jake Locker a bunch of money
• Michigan and Notre Dame have absolutely no defense

Thursday

Miami (FL) @ Pittsburgh (-1.5) – Big East battle. I like the canes. Miami – 28 – Pitt 21

Saturday

Virginia Tech @ Boston College (-2.5) – Virginia Tech has to start playing better one of these days. Va Tech – 21 – BC – 17

Central Florida @ Kansas State (-7.5) – Daniel Thomas for Heisman! K St – 28 – Central Fla – 20

UCLA @ Texas (-21.5) – Wow, where did THAT UCLA team come from last week? Texas is overrated but UCLA has QB issues. Texas 31- UCLA 7

Stanford (-1.5) @ Notre Dame – ND stands for “no defense” Stanford – 34- ND 20

Wake Forest @ Florida State (-19.5) – Which Fla State team will show up? FST – 28 – Wake 10

Nevada (-2.5) @ BYU – Nevada looked really good last week, but this is in Provo….won’t matter. Nevada 35- BYU 20

Kentucky @ Florida (-16.5) – Florida due to get on track – FLA 35- Kentucky – 14

Northern Iowa @ Iowa State (-6.5) – Clones game was closer than indicated last week, but this is the super bowl for UNI gimmie the Clones! IA St 28 – UNI 17

Alabama (-4.5) @ Arkansas – Roll Tide! Bama 28 – Ark 20

South Carolina @ Auburn (-1.5) Lattimore for Heisman! The Frosh looks good! SC – 24 – Auburn – 21

Oregon State @ Boise State (-16.5) Wow big spread, I like the Broncos but not to cover. Boise St – 30 – Ore St 20

West Virginia @ LSU (-5.5) – West Virginia can’t hang with the big boys….LSU 21- WV – 14

California @ Arizona (-4.5) – Will it be a let down week for zona…don’t bet on it. Ari – 28 – Cal 21

Oregon (-10.5) @ Arizona State – Oregon is like watching video game football. Ore 49 – ASU – 17

Johnny went with a LOT of upsets last week and that was a mixed bag. Still a good start for the Goodman.

Straight up –11-4
Against the Spread – 9-6

College

South Florida @ Florida (-18.5) Gators have to bounce back this week after poor showing in the opener. FLA – 35- South Fla – 10

Georgia Tech (-9.5) @ Kansas – Wow Kansas looked HORRRRIBLE. GT-28- KU -7

Georgia @ South Carolina (-3.5) Early SEC Matchup…gimmie the ol ball coach. SC- 21- GA -17

Idaho @ Nebraska (-25.5) – Wake up call for Huskers before they head to Washington next week. Nebs – 35- Idaho – 21

Florida State @ Oklahoma (-8.5) – Sooners were sleepwalking last week waiting for this game. OU – 42 – FLA St – 28

Iowa State @ Iowa (-14.5) – The Battle of the cornbelt….Gimmie Herky!. IA- 28- ISU – 10

Michigan @ Notre Dame (-4.5) – might be the most interesting game of the day. MICH – 45- ND- 41

Miami (FL) @ Ohio State (-10.5) – Too tough at the horseshoe – Bunkeyes 24- MI – 21

Penn State @ Alabama (-13.5) – Roll Tide! Bama 31- Penn St – 14

Oregon (-8.5) @ Tennessee – They won’t score 70 this week but it will be enough – Ducks – 35- Tennessee – 20

NFL

Vikings @ Saints (-5.5) – Just like last year, Who Dat!?!?!? Saints 30- Vikings – 17

Oakland @ Tennessee (-6.5) Titans are way better dan da raiders….Titans 28- Raiders 10

Atlanta (-2.5) @ Pittsburgh – Steelers Defense wins this one. Pitt – 17- Atlanta 14

Baltimore @ NY Jets (-3.5) Revis Island won’t matter against the much improved Ravens attack. Balt – 21 Jets 14