Posted by Double M & ADMohr
This is the 11th installment where ADMohr (of ADMohr twitter fame) and I bet guess who wins against the spread of some intriguing (some only to us...and some not even to us) college football games of the weekend. As always, he'll focus on football and I'll focus on other stuff. If you want/need more description, see original post, but if you can't figure it out then you probably struggle at life.Well, the football season is slowly winding down and I just need a good week to guarantee being over .500 on the season. Like I said, last week I went to the Nebraska/KSU beatdown. Side note: here is K-State's tunnel walk. I waited to post this all week...
That thing is awful. They should have just shown a video of Prince getting fired - the fans would have been way more psyched up for that. Anyway, since I was at the game, I missed a couple of other games and didn't realize until I saw the highlights that Stanford scored a TD on the last play of the game to beat the f-ing spread. I could have been 8-2! Here's the results from last week.
ADMohr: I just haven't been thrilled with my performance this year, so this week I'm going to try a totally different approach, one that really doesn't have much to do with actual performance or predictive skill at all. I figure I'm not bowl eligible at this point, so it may as well be time to try out some new methods. This week's method is in the spirit of "Oprah's favorite things," which is a marketing concept that I've never really been able to wrap my head around - that one person's 'favorites' is enough to constitute actual purchasing habits in other individuals is, well, baffling. So this week I'm picking games based on Admohr's favorite things, and by no other criteria.
Michigan (+20.5) @ Ohio State 11:00 AM ABCADMohr: It'd be easy for me to go against Michigan in this one purely because (they suck) they're one of my more hated schools & programs, for reasons that range from a shared national title with the huskers, to occasional individuals I've encountered from the University. But this week is about Admohr's favorite things, not my most hated things, and one of my favorite things about Ohio State was their 1996 juggernaut featuring the greats Stanley Jackson and Joe Germaine at quarterback, a team that rallied from behind to beat Jake the Snake in the rose bowl. Way back when as a kid growing up, I thought that team was amazing, so in the spirit of ex-coach John Cooper, the Buckeyes win and cover in this one.
MM: A couple years ago, people thought this game was going to decide the national championship (Kirk Herbstreit even pushed for a rematch in the title game! And people wonder why he's hated...). Now it is an 11:00 am Big 10 game (that means its not important!). Michigan is having its worst season in years and there was no way in hell that Ohio State was going to be in the title chase after getting beat down by USC. The sad part about this is that I won't be able to bet against them for the 3rd year straight. FYI, if Rodriguez finds a way to win this game, all the bitching from Michigan has to stop. Tressel knows this and OSU wins and covers and I still hate that they put a "teh" at the start of their name.
Michigan State (+15) @ Penn State 2:30 PM ESPN/ABCADMohr: One of my huge favorites right now is the Big Ten Network commercial which features all big ten coaches sitting in a fictional living room, trying to get the viewer to be "recruited" to watch the university's games, on the big Ten network, or something. It's one of those commercials that work even if the premise is lost. Anyways, Admohr's favorite things includes the clip at the very, very end which features a completely-crazed Joe Paterno screaming "Come to Penn State" through
his gritted teeth, looking completely like he's having a heart attack. It's brilliant, and frankly it's pretty cool that Joe Pa is a part of it. The Nittany Lions win this one, thanks to the spirit (check that, still alive) of the Joe Pa.
MM: I'm assuming every Penn State fan will be wearing all white to the game. I'm pretty sure that if there was a "white-out" in a southern stadium (like Georgia or Arkansas) its entirely possible that some really racist stuff would happen at the game. I'm also fairly certain there is a 0% chance any African-American would walk into that stadium... Michigan State covers but Penn State wins.
Boston College (+2) @ Wake Forrest 2:30 PM ESPN/ABCADMohr: I've always liked how these schools compete with a variety of competitive disadvantages - school size, location, private schools, etc. But one of Admohr's favorite things is quarterback of the Demon Deacons, Riley Skinner - because it's a name that sounds suggestive, even though (I'm pretty sure) it isn't. So Skinner & Wake covers the spread in this one.
MM: Boston College has been all over the map this year, but I think they may have turned a corner last week in that their big win over FSU last week. Unrelated side note, I just heard Mike Tirico call Kirk Herbstreit a "fool" on the radio. That in itself doesn't sound ridiculous, but the phrase "put that foo' on tha phone" was uttered and that was awesome. BC wins outright and beats the spread.
Boise State (-6.5) @ Nevada 3:00 PM ESPN2ADMohr: Oh man, watch out. One of Admohr's absolute favorites is the boys in Blue up in the Northwest, for a variety of reasons. They support their team and program with an intense, local-identity driven passion. They've created a recruiting advantage by just playing incredibly sound, strong football, and always offering the possibility of crashing the BCS party like Ian Johnson so famously did a couple of years back. They gave birth to the gift that is the Dan Hawkins disaster, and while I'm not crazy about the Blue Field - they have a bowl game in the middle of Idaho in January. The fact that they even pulled that off speaks to some major persuasive, lobbying power - and you have to respect that. So Boise wins this one and beats the spread, en route to one game away from potentially the BCS again.
MM: As much as I love the Big 10/Big East/ACC struggles, this is what happens when those teams suck. ESPN2 ends up picking games like this to fill the afternoon slate. I'm disappointed that this isn't in Boise because I haven't seen the blue turf in HD and I'd like to see it. Anyway, Boise wins and covers even though they know deep down it doesn't matter because they aren't going to the BCS and so they are going to be in a shitty bowl regardless.
BYU (+7.5) @ Utah 5:00 PM MTNADMohr: Ah yes, the huge game that absolutely nobody will see, much like every other Mountain West game of significance this season. That conference needs to get their exposure figured out, it's like the opposite of the Big Ten which gives us too many games that Nobody wants to see - this conference consists completely of games that everyone wants to see but Can't. It's taken me some time to come up with ANY favorite things I have associated with either of the schools, but I did remember how I do love that very attractive man named Urban Meyer (side note - Urban, that's a pretty rare name right? I'm struggling to think of anybody else that has it off the type of my head, and to my knowledge, it's not exactly catching on either). Urban of course made BCS-crashing cool before it ever was, so in that spirit, Utah wins and covers in this one.
MM: Hot Mormon on Mormon action! On the Mormon Television Network*! This is Utah's last game of the season. Win this and its off to the BCS (undeservedly...although I'd much rather have them instead of Ohio State, because that's who it would be). With that in mind, Utah wins the game, but BYU keeps it close and covers the spread. Side note: Did you see that Mormons are pushing to get
pole dancing included as an Olympic sport? They should talk to LSU, apparently they've got pole dancing down to an art.
Oregon State (+2.5) @ Arizona 6:00 PM VersusADMohr: Lots of favorite things to go around in this one. I've always been partial to the Beavers' performance in Omaha, essentially crashing a party generally owned by traditional powers in southern schools. I also have ties to Zona and ex-coach Lute Olson, as I saw Miles Simon and Mike Bibby and the 97 Championship team in the 97 Final Four. But Admohr's most favorite thing in this matchup goes no further than potentially keeping USC out of the BCS - which, believe it - could actually happen. Of course the scenario for that to happen involves Mizzou winning the Big 12 championship, while somehow Texas Tech and another Big 12 school keep the #1 and #2 spots in the BCS. Far-fetched, but come on, chaos is in season. So Oregon State wins this one and moves one game away from crashing the Rose Bowl.
MM: Did you know that Oregon State controls the Pac-10? If they win out, they, not USC, win the automatic BCS berth (the only Pac-10 loss they have came against at Stanford to start the season). That alone should give you a clue as to how bad the Pac 10 is, but to make it worse Arizona is actually favored in this game. Last week I correctly picked Arizona because they alternated wins and loses over the last few weeks. Last week they lost. I actually think they lose again this week. Oregon State wins outright and beats the spread.
Pittsburgh (+6) @ Cincinnati 6:15 PM ESPN2
ADMohr: I've always had a special place in my heart for Pitt people who sat in the stands with us and watched one of the worst football games ever played (thanks Joe Dailey!) while their personal property floated on down the river thanks to Hurricane Ivan. In fact, one of my favorite memories is myself, DoubleM, and DG sharing some Iron City Brew (well, not from the same bottle) in the pregame for this one. So this one goes to the 'stache courtesy of some fine hospitality in the face of disaster a couple of years ago.
MM: Wannstache! If Pittsburgh wins this, they probably take the lead in the Big East. This means that Steve Pederson would have been fired from Nebraska for creating a mediocre football team (and because people didn't like him), taken a job at a floundering football program, and cruised all the way to a BCS game. Incredible isn't it? Doesn't happen. Cincinnati wins and covers and Brian Kelly begins packing his office in preparation for a slew of offseason job offers.
Florida State (-1) @ Maryland 6:45 PM ESPNADMohr: Lots of favorites abound in this game. I'll always have a special place in my heart for the Charlie Ward team that beat TO before Nebraska became great (thanks Barron Miles for the late hit that arguably cost them the game) and if it seems weird that I have a special place in my heart for a team that beat one of my teams, you forget about the reign of success that soon followed. That game was the coming out party for the Huskers nationally, and if they hadn't lost that game close, well then Nebraska wouldn't have had "Unfinished Business" to take care of the following season (although, 95's best-college-football-team-of-all time's slogan was "Finished Business" so maybe marketing slogans for a school's sport that already has all the games sold out isn't all that important after all). Long story short, Bobby Bowden has always had traits that have always reminded me a bit of my late-grandfather, and he is certainly one of Admohr's favorite things so thus this one is going to go to the Seminoles, even though I actually kind of hope Maryland wins.
MM: This is a Bobby Bowden pregame speech. Prepare to be psyched up...
Would you bet on that guys team? On the road? No. Maryland beats the spread and wins outright. Side note: Maryland's basketball team did this a few weeks ago. I. Don't. Understand.
Texas Tech (+7) @ Oklahoma 7:00 PM ABCADMohr: Plus Seven! Man there is nothing this nation fears more year in and year out than a possibly-good OU team. Weather doesn't look to be too significant of a factor for Saturday night... oh wait we're almost looking act meaningful information there. Not the point of this week. I've always had mixed feelings about OU - they used to be like the Nebraska of the south - but they're really not anymore. Stoops is easy to love and easy to hate, and that's just talking about actual OU fans' feelings about them. But one of Admohr's favorite things is patience in college football. In an age where new head coaches get about 2.5 years to prove that they can motivate, scheme, recruit, not recruit bad kids, be a parent, be an advisor, and actually deliver on promises to the student body, the recruits, the parents, the donors, the AD, etc. etc etc - I respect a program that builds its success with patience and dedication to a plan. A lot of people are talking about Texas Tech this year like this is a new thing - but Tech has been famous for this system since at least 2001. For years it has looked like Leach's system is one that will always be a few players away from beating Texas and OU, from not having a break down in a game where they shouldn't, and from having a respectable defense. Tech on the national stage this year has looked
so dominant, so mistake-free, so ruthlessly efficient - Lubbock, TX has been patient enough to have earned this type of performance on this type of stage. So for every program out there that fires head coaches when only giving them a handful of years - just know, that sometimes - these things take MORE than just a couple of months to really come together. Texas Tech wins this one and is one step closer to the National Championship game. Because in a week where Pirates are in the news, it means everything is coming up Leach.
MM: Easily the game of the week (thank's for playing nobody this week SEC!). I can't believe the spread is 7 points. I have watched both of these teams a lot this year and I saw Nebraska's blah offense put up 28+ points on both of these defenses. The only difference is that Tech's defense has gotten better since then (it was their first "real" game), Oklahoma's has been that bad all season. I'll take Tech to cover the spread and actually win outright. And Texas Tech will celebrate!
That's it for the week. Here's the chart:
Have a good weekend.
Posted by Wheezy
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Posted by Double M
Posted by Royalcow
Alright, I have given you 2 days. At this point you should have watched 24: Redemption (aka 24: The Movie aka 24: Exile aka 24: Africa aka 24: Bauer Defeats The HIV aka 24: Bauer Fights for a Political Cause) because it was on Sunday night. If you haven't, the 1:27 (that's one hour and twenty-seven minutes) of Bauer action are presented (with limited commercial interruption by Chili's!) on Hulu. Click here to watch it. Go ahead. I'll be here when you get back.
Speaking of not funny, the next skit was a commercial for Dale Britches' Down Home Phony Phone Calls. It was basically non-funny prank phone calls. Not on Hulu, you'd be wasting your time watching it.
Posted by Wheezy
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Posted by Ross
Posted by Double M & ADMohr
ADMohr: I've always had a special place in my heart for Pitt people who sat in the stands with us and watched one of the worst football games ever played (thanks Joe Dailey!) while their personal property floated on down the river thanks to Hurricane Ivan. In fact, one of my favorite memories is myself, DoubleM, and DG sharing some Iron City Brew (well, not from the same bottle) in the pregame for this one. So this one goes to the 'stache courtesy of some fine hospitality in the face of disaster a couple of years ago.
MM: A couple of weeks ago, MajorLB posted her Avatar Challenge (Side note: As much as we all love her avatar here at IR, she wants something else, so I say she takes it.) To me, the best part of that post was a reference to the Megan Fox as Wonder Woman photo. While Megan Fox is apparently not going to be Wonder Woman, the topic did make us all wonder, for one fleeting moment, who would wear Wonder Woman's costume. Then, an article came out where Beyonce said she wanted to be Wonder Woman saying, "A black wonder woman would be a very powerful thing."
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