Iowa?!? Are you serious?

So I decide not to even watch the Iowa game this morning.  I'm gonna focus on the Ole Miss vs. Auburn game and just not care about Iowa.  Its just Indiana, they will take care of business.

All of a sudden, the bottom line comes out and I see Indiana 14, Iowa 0.

SERIOUSLY?!?!  Ok, this game will at least be worth staying on the last channel button

21-7 at halftime!  Ok, this is good.  We're gonna have a shakeup this weekend.

Iowa Quarterback Santzi throws a pick on FIVE STRAIGHT DRIVES in the 3rd quarter?

This game is over!  Back to the increasingly one-sided Auburn vs. Ole Miss game

oops


4 straight touchdown drives in the 4th quarter led by Stanzi

AND THEY COVERED THE SPREAD!!!!


Wow, just wow

Week 9 The Bye Week

Alabama's bye week gives me a week to just watch the games for the sake of watching them and not strategically trying to figure out how I'm gonna get to watch Alabama play.

Here are some of the best games at each time slot:

The morning:  11:00-2:00 start time:
Indiana @ #4 Iowa

This should be a huge win for the Hawkeyes.  More importantly though, this will give the nation a chance to finally get a good look at the team.  Nationally, we saw them defeat Penn State early in the season, but that was before anyone thought Iowa had anything to give this season.  That was all about the Penn State choke, not the Iowa win.  Now, with Iowa sitting at Number 4 in the BCS, we need to be shown that they deserve to be there.  As 17.5 point favorites, they need a dominating victory to show they belong,  Iowa's brand of football will not give the this type of victory though.  And they have a history of playing down to their competition.  I see Iowa winning to the tune of 24-17.

#25 Ole Miss @ Auburn 11:21

Which Auburn team is going to show up this weekend?  The one that dominated Tennessee (the team that nearly beat #2 Alabama) or the team that loses to Kentucky?  Frankly, which Ole Miss team is going to show up?  The team from last week that physically dominated Arkansas, or the one from the rest of the season that hasn't looked very good.  Ole Miss is getting 5 on the road at Auburn.  I think Auburn gets it done at home on the strength of the running game and defense 20-13.

The Afternoon:  2:30 - 4:30 start time
Georgia vs. #1 Florida (Jacksonville) 2:30

Amazingly enough, there isn't much going on in the afternoon slot this weekend.  This game is always a battle though.  Florida's offense has been sputtering as of late, and they are getting tired.  Tebow isn't the same Tebow as in years past.  He is probably still not right after his early season concussion.  Their running game can't get it done consistently, and their receivers are just not stepping up.  But Georgia also hasn't looked great this year as of yet.  They got SMOKED by Tennessee a couple weeks back, but also should have beaten LSU were it not for that horrible excessive celebration call.  Florida is getting 15.5 in this one.  I do see a Gator win, but I don't see it by that much.  Pick Georgia by Vegas, but pick the Gators head to head 35-24.

Evening:  5:00 - 700

#22 South Carolina @ Tennessee 6:45

Tennessee is a lot better than their 3-4 record indicates.  But I don't think South Carolina is as good as their 6-2 record.  USCe is getting 6.5 in the game, but I'm picking Tennessee out right.  Jonathan Crompton might finally be coming out of his shell as a quarterback.  A couple of good games back to back could be a trend.  The gamecock defense is very good though.  They only allowed one offensive touchdown to Alabama, and that was late in the 4th quarter.  I still see the UT win but close 17-14.

#3 Texas @ #14 Oklahoma State 7:00

Big time statement game for the Longhorns.  Their toughest competition of the season, Oklahoma, is down this season with the loss of Bradford.  Okie State is going to be without Dez Bryant it looks like for the rest of the season however.  Bryant was by far the biggest play maker on the team.  Texas is giving 9.5 in the game, but I see a much bigger win than that.  Colt McCoy needs this game to really secure his Heisman front runner status, and Texas needs it to maybe even overtake the SEC teams as the top team in the nation.  A two touchdown win over a top 15 could just do that.  If State jumps out to an early lead, don't worry about it.  They do that almost every year against Texas, and Texas finds a way to come back.  Old fashioned shoot-out in the southwest.  Texas 49-35.

#5 USC @ #10 Oregon 7:00 GAME OF THE WEEK

USC always has a hard time on the road in the Pac-10.  But they already have their hiccup against Washington behind them.  Oregon is always very tough at home too.  They have more than recovered from their opening week egg laying against Boise State.  USC needs a statement victory if they want to stay in the national title race.  With four major conference undefeated teams ahead of them (five if you want to count Cincinnati) they need some help to get into the title game.  Or, they need a huge win over a top ten opponent.  USC is giving 3 in the game, which sounds about right.  I do expect a cover, but not by much.  Maybe a seven point win 27-20.

Week 4 Games of the Week:

Week 3 is in the books, so now it's time for the Week 4 Games of the Week!

Last Week: 4-1:  Season Total 4-1


5.  Texas Tech @ #17 Houston 8:15 p.m CDT Espn2
If you are a fan of offense and not so much of defense, this game will be for you.  The scoreboard operator is likely to have a heart attack in this game.  Houston has had two weeks to prepare for this game after their stunning upset of then #5 Oklahoma State and is averaging 50 ppg.  QB Case Keenum has a 7-1 TD/INT ratio in just two games with 725 yards passing.  This is the toughest game left on the Houston schedule so if they can pull it out, a BCS bid is possible.  They still have Road games @ Mississippi State, Tulsa, and UCF along with Southern Miss and Memphis at home, but Texas Tech is by far the toughest contest remaining.  Speaking of Tech, they aren't doing too bad themselves on offense.  The Red Raiders are "only" averaging 39 ppg, but QB Taylor Potts has taken over the offense just fine.  Potts has 1,281 yards in three games carrying a 12-4 (3-1) TD/INT ratio.  And three of those four picks were in the first game which was his first career start.  In the Texas game, Potts looked great too.  Its at home for the Cougars and they have had two weeks to prepare---I give it to Houston 49-42.

4.  Iowa @ #5 Penn State 7:00 PM ABC
This game really should have been played last week were it seemed as though every game was a revenge game.  Iowa gave the Nittany Lions their only regular season loss with a last second field goal destroying their BCS Title chances But this game wasn't totally on my radar until it was announced that College Gameday would be attending the game in Happy Valley.  Penn State has look about as impressive as any top team.  But when you're best opponent is at toss-up between Akron and Syracuse, we don't know anything about you yet.  RB Evan Royster is playing well finally and QB Daryll Clark has looked very efficient with an 8-3 TD/INT ratio.  Iowa comes in 3-0 but hasn't looked very good doing it.  The Hawkeyes had to block the last second field goal of Northern Iowa on opening weekend not once but TWICE to preserve the victory.  They did destroy Iowa State on the road and had a quality victory vs. Arizona last weekend, but they just don't "feel" like a 3-0 team.  I think Penn State exacts revenge for last season and wins BIG over Iowa 35-6

3.  Arkansas @ #3 Alabama 2:30 CBS

The SEC schedule opens for Alabama this weekend with the Razorbacks coming into town.  Alabama looks unstoppable on offense this season with an efficient quarterback in Greg McElroy, and any of three running backs that could be considered a starter on most teams.  Mark Ingram leads the way with 297 yards over 3 games and a 6.8 YPC average, but Freshman Trent Richardson isn't far behind with 215 yards and is leading the team with a 7.4 YPC average.  Ingram actually leads the team in receptions with 10.  Sophomore Julio Jones should be ready to go against Arkansas giving McElroy the probably 3rd best receiver  (Dez Bryant, A.J. Green) in the NCAA back to throw to.  Jones hasn't gotten into the endzone since the Georgia game last season and will be hungry to get back there now.  Arkansas looked pretty great against Georgia last weekend though scoring 41 points on what is supposed to be a great defense.  QB Ryan Mallett, a Michigan transfer, is so far living up to his lofty projections coming out of High School with 717 yards in just two games with a 6-0 TD/INT ratio.  But he hasn't faced a defense as strong as Alabama's yet.  Senior RB Michael Smith hasn't shown much yet this year in limited attempts, but with Mallett at QB this is a pass first defense.  Alabama typically dominates that type of team, so I look for a 27-14 Alabama victory on Saturday.

2.  #6 California @ Oregon 2:30 ABC
This game looked a lot more appealing in the preseason when people actually thought Oregon was going to be a true contender.  But a miserable showing and LaGarrette Blount punch later, and Oregon is reeling a little bit.  RB LaMichael James is doing his best to fill in for the suspended Blount but he's just a freshman and it will take time.  Although he did have 152 yards against Utah last weekend.  QB Jeremiah Masoli hasn't looked good however so he either needs to improve dramatically or the running game really needs to be that dominant.  As for Cal, they have looked impressive.  The Maryland win may not be as impressive given that they have since lost to MTSU for the second straight year, but convincing wins over Eastern Washington and on the road @ Minnesota convince he that was more a product of how good Cal is, not how bad Maryland is.  QB Kevin Riley has this offense clicking with an efficient passing attack and a 5-0 TD/INT ratio.  But the Golden Bears really live and die by the play of Jahvid Best.  Best has played better than expected so far this year aleady collecting 412 yards and 8 touchdowns with an astonishing 7.8 YPC.  Best is no longer just a fringe Heisman candidate, he may be the leader early in the season.  The game is in Oregon, but that won't be enough for the Ducks to hold off the Golden Bears 35-17

1.  #9 Miami @ #11 Virginia Tech 2:30 ABC

The only game of the week feature two top 25 teams against each other has to be the game of the week.  Why College Gameday isn't there I'll probably never know --- they didn't respond to my tweet ----- but it is my pick for game of the week for sure.  The Hokies are just 2-1 on the season, but that loss was to a then #5, now #3 Alabama team.  It did take a last second touchdown to get past Nebraska however, so they could well be 1-2 on the season.  Maybe that's why Gameday isn't up in Blacksburg?  Tyrod Taylor hasn't looked great so far only achieving a 50% completion percentage once on the year (Marshall week 2) but he doesn't turn it over often with a 3-1 TD/INT ratio.  Ryan Williams does have back to back 100 yard games on the ground though.  Miami comes in looking as good as they have in years.  All the analysts said if the Hurricanes could come out of the start of the season with a 2-2 record it would be a victory for the program.  Well, they have guaranteed that already starting out 2-0.  Jacory Harris, one of the Miami Northwestern High School 8 from a couple years ago, has looked simply fantastic from the quarterback position hitting on 41-of-59 passes with a 5/2 TD/INT ratio Graig Cooper and Javarris James carry the load at running back.  The running back is a slight issue for the Canes because there is no true standout back there, but if Harris has progressed as much as he looked like he has it shouldn't matter.  If Miami can keep the Hokies from making a big play on special teams, they should win this game.  And I think they will do it in a slugfest 24-17.

That's it for the picks this week.  Check in tomorrow for my top five picks against the spread.