Picks of the Week: No. 13

Seriously, could I pick one upset this season? I'm telling you, 0-12 is humbling. Even my overall picks sucked last week. Thanks Rutgers. You couldn't handle Syracuse? Here's another attempt at perfection.

Connecticut (-13.5) over Syracuse
Both teams are coming off much-needed victories last week--UConn a 33-30 OT win at Notre Dame and Syracuse rolled Rutgers 31-13. The Huskies can still become bowl eligible and even close the season on a three game winning streak with a win Saturday and next week against South Florida. The Orange are playing for next season and if Doug Marrone can finish 5-7 and with two conference wins that will be a huge improvement over the Greg Robinson years. It's also the final game in Greg Paulus' one-year stint with the Cuse.
Pick: Connecticut 31, Syracuse 12

Arizona (-3.0) over Arizona State
The Sun Devils could really catch the Wildcats off guard in this one after that emotional 44-41 double OT loss at home to Oregon last week. Dennis Erickson's ASU team could erase some of the misery of the season with an upset, as well as end a five-game losing skid. A look at starting QBs is why I favor Zona. The Wildcats are going with veteran Nick Foles, while ASU is giving sophomore Samson Szakacsy his second start.
Pick: Arizona 27, Arizona State 17

Boston College (-6.0) over Maryland
Eagles RB Montel Harris will be tough to stop as he is averaging more than 110 yards a game, including an impressive 132 on 23 carries against a staunch North Carolina defense last week.
QB Dave Shinskie needs to rebound from a four INT game, though. The Terps are enduring their worst season under Ralph Friedgen and are fresh off a tough 29-26 loss to Florida State. Even a win here won't save Maryland's season, and possibly their coach's job.
Pick: Boston College 33, Maryland 19

Central Florida (-3.0) over Alabama-Birmingham
With a win UAB becomes bowl eligible. Both teams are still in the hunt for a title in Conference USA. UAB's best shot at winning is relying on versatile QB Joe Webb, who has rushed for 1,290 yards, and passed for 18 TDs. What scares me about UAB is its defense, which ranks as one of the worst in the nation. That opens the door for QB Brett Hodges and the running attack of Brynn Harvey and Jonathan Davis.
Pick: Central Florida 27, UAB 18

Upset of the Week
Ohio (+2.5) over Temple
The Bobcats are looking to reach its second Mid-American Conference championship game in school history, while it would be Temple's first. The Bobcats will pull off the upset at home in Peden Stadium because of a tough defense. Temple, which has won nine-straight, will need to find a way to replace starting RB Bernard Pierce, who was injured in last week's win over Kent State. This is arguably one of the biggest games played in Athens in a decade.
Pick: Ohio 30, Temple 28

Last Week: 1-4
Season Record: 30-30

Not quite end of year: Moments of 2009

There's no rhyme or reason to posting this now. But the 'Eye and 'Eer we're chatting about big moments from this season and decided to share them with you.

So here are our Top 10 moments so far in 2009.

10. Tim Tebow scores his 50th career rushing touchdown. There is no way to compare Tebow with Herschel Walker, who held the record at 49. The former Georgia Bulldog did it in three years, while Tebow scored a lot of short TDs as an H-Back playing QB. But it's still a milestone that can't be overlooked.



9. Moment of silence before WVU-UConn game. In a real show of class, West Virginia's fans helped pay tribute to Connecticut defensive back Jasper Howard, who was murdered a week earlier. It was an emotional day for the Huskies, but both teams and fans displayed an amazing amount of class.



8. Central Michigan upsets Michigan State on last-second FG. In the second week of the season, the Chippewas hung tough with the Spartans. Senior QB Dan LeFevour threw for 328 yards and led two late scoring drives for the 29-27 win.



7. FSU-Miami goes down to final play. This once proud rivalry has been pretty boring in recent years, but not in 2009. The defenses didn't show up and QBs Christian Ponder and Jacory Harris put on a clinic. The Seminoles appeared to be going in for the game-winner, but Ponder's pass on the final play of the game bounced off the face mask of WR Jarmon Fortson. The rivalry is back.



6. SEC officiating. So where do I start with this one? The Florida-Arkansas game has way too many bad calls, missed calls, etc. There was the bogus excessive celebration flag against Georgia's A.J. Green for excessive celebration against LSU. Now Urban Meyer has been fined $30,000 by the SEC for criticizing the officiating in the Florida-Georgia game. It hasn't been a banner year for the SEC.



5. Iowa scores as time expires to beat Michigan State. The Hawkeyes seem to do this every week, but this finish was wild and kept Kirk Ferentz' team undefeated. Iowa may not be the most talented team, but it sure is lucky this season.



4.Terrence Cody blocks FG to hold off Tennessee. The Volunteers outplayed Bama and should have left Tuscaloosa with the upset and Lane Kiffin's first signature win. But the oversized Cody busted through, gut and all, and helped the Tide remain in the national title hunt. Of course, there were some who felt he should have been flagged for removing his helmet. Way to go SEC officials.



3. Tim Tebow suffers concussion. As Tebow's head slammed into the knee of one of his lineman Urban Meyer crapped himself and Gator Nation wept in unison. The Gators had a big lead already against Kentucky, so the outcome was never in question, but Tebow has not played well since. Of course, he'll probably win the Heisman again because there's no legitimate candidate and because of this.



2. Oregon's LeGarrette Blount punches Boise's Byron Hout. The Ducks opened the 2009 season with an abysmal performance, only to top it off with one of the more embarrassing post-game performances. Hout mouthed off to Blount, who went all gangsta on him. Blount also wanted to go into the stands an take on 35,000 Broncos fans. This was not the way the NCAA wanted to open the season, especially with all of the hype surrounding sportsmanship week or whatever the hell they called it.



1. Oklahoma's Sam Bradford bangs up his shoulder in season-opening loss to BYU. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner was lost in the first half and the Sooners never recovered. This injury put a crimp in OU's season, as he was back for the Red River Shootout but hurt the shoulder again. He has since had surgery and plans to bolt for the NFL next year.

Big East shut out again

No Big East team is good enough to crack the AP Top 25 or the USA Today Coaches preseason polls. This once again proves how insignificant these polls are and how we should wait until the first week of October before a poll is released.

But now GQ is dissing the conference. In the magazine's America's 25 Douchiest Colleges not a single Big East team made the cut. Seriously GQ, have none of your editors or writers met anyone from UConn? And Matt Grothe alone should warrent South Florida consideration.

OK, Ohio State's inclusion is pretty funny, but how does the ACC's Virginia Tech and North Carolina not make the list?

$5 tickets a winner for me

Here are my Sept. 5 college football options: Liberty at West Virginia, Navy at Ohio State and UConn at Ohio U.

Going to see the Mountaineers is always a good option, but I'm passing on this one. I'd actually like to see the Buckeyes' defense get challenged by the Midshipmen offense (who scheduled this game with USC coming to Columbus the following week?). However, I'm not forking over the $85 for a ticket.

So I'm going to Athens, Ohio, to watch the Huskies face the Bobcats in a rare BCS conference school traveling to a Mid-American Conference campus. This game appealed to me well before I found out Ohio was selling $5 tickets for the game. So my wife, who is an Ohio University alum, and I will be on hand for the 7 p.m. kickoff.

Should be interesting to see Frank Solich in action as the OU coach, and the Bobcats should be much better after a disappointing 4-8 last season. The Huskies could have their hands full, and at $5 a ticket it should be a pretty nice crowd.

I guess I only have 82 more days until kickoff.

Preseason: Big East rankings

Ugh. The Big East: sucking the fun out of football for the past 10 years! Just kidding, just kidding. Mostly.
Okay, enough pestering. Prediction time. It should be a competitive race this year as I don’t see any team dominating.

1. Cincinnati
Key returners: QB Tony Pike, WR Marcus Gilyard, WR Dominic Goodman, DT John Hughes
Predicted record: 8-4
While I think UC ends up with a worse overall record than WVU, I think they take the conference, as long they can win the season finale at Pitt. Big losses on defense will hold the Bearcats down a bit early in the year, but Brian Kelly knows how to get his offenses to score points. Tony Pike is back at QB and Marcus Gilyard at WR. UC has a new defensive coordinator and is supposedly switching to a 3-4 look.

2. West Virginia
Key returners: QB Jarrett Brown, RB Noel Devine, RB Jock Sanders, OG Josh Jenkins, DT Scooter Berry, LB Pat Lazear
Predicted record: 9-3
While the ‘Eers wll miss Pat White, Jarrett Brown is a talented backup who might be a better fit in WVU’s post-Rodriguez offense. Noel Devine is a home run threat at running back, but should get a few more carries per game. Replacing four starters on the offensive line could hinder WVU’s offense. The defense has some experienced players back and should be solid. The book is still out on Bill Stewart, though.

3. Pitt
Key returners: QB Bill Stull, QB Pat Bostick, WR Jonathan Baldwin, OT Jason Pinkston, TE Nate Byham
Predicted record: 8-4
The Panthers could win the Big East, but not just yet. I know Pitt fans were celebrating the departure of OC Matt Cavanaugh back to the NFL, and for good reason, but the questions at quarterback are still there. With a good offensive line, good receivers and solid backs, there’s no reason Pitt’s offense shouldn’t excel regardless. But I’ve heard that before.

4. Rutgers
Key returners: OT Anthony Davis, LB Ryan D’Imperio, LB Damaso Munoz, RB Kordell Young
Predicted record: 7-5
Mike Teel is gone, leaving a big hole at quarterback that could be difficult to fill. That’s the bad news. The good news is eight players are back on offense including four starters on a good offensive line and RB Young. Rutgers also has a cake non-conference schedule with the exception of Maryland. I just don’t quite see the talent there for the Knights who are a year away from being back at the top of the league.

5. Connecticut
Key returners: RB Jordan Todman, DE Marcus Campbell, DE Lindsey Witten, LB Greg Lloyd
Predicted record: 7-5
Notre Dame transfer Zach Fraser was anointed the No. 1 quarterback in the spring, which unfortunately doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence for one of the worst passing offenses in college football last year. Donald Brown is also gone. Questions abound on offense and defense, but it’s tough to question Randy Edsall’s ability to at least get this team back to a bowl game.

6. South Florida
Key returners: QB Matt Grothe, WR A.J. Love, DE George Selvie
Predicted record: 5-7
Offseason coaching turmoil is rarely a good thing and Jim Leavitt brought plenty of that on himself with dissension among the assistants and a couple firings. The Bulls will once again start the year hot, but there is a tough non-conference schedule with FSU and Miami and too many trips north late in the year.

7. Syracuse
Key returners: QB Ryan Nassib, CB Dorian Graham, S Kevyn Scott
Predicted record: 4-8
Don’t get me wrong, the ‘Cuse is still bad. Despite the record, the ‘Cuse will tie Louisville for the bottom. New coach Doug Marrone isn’t a miracle worker. Rob Spence’s spread, short-passing offense could help the Orange be more efficient on offense. But this is another rebuilding year for Syracuse. Marrone might want to skip the games to recruit.

8. Louisville
Key returners: DE Greg Scruggs, WR Josh Chichester, RB Victor Anderson, S Richard Raglin
Predicted recorded: 3-9
I like Steve Kragthorpe. I think he’s a good football coach. But this whole Louisville thing has been a nightmare scenario from the start. It won’t get better this season, mostly due to the brutal early schedule. After opening with Indiana State, Louisville faces Kentucky, Utah, Pitt, Southern Miss and Connecticut. That’s a potential 1-5 start, a lame duck Kragthorpe and a serious bottoming out in the pizza place.

WVU lovefest again

West Virginia fans are too fickle for me. One good half against Auburn and a convincing 34-17 victory at home will do that. But is it justified?

Simply put, no. WVU may be clicking and could be the team to beat in the Big East, but that's what everyone was saying at the beginning of the season. Let's not forget how poorly the Mountaineers played in the first six games of the year. Sloppy against Villanova. Dominated by East Carolina (which isn't that impressive now). Poor decision making in a loss at Colorado. Tough wins against inferior competition (Rutgers and Syracuse).

Where the Mountaineers are headed over the final six games of the Pat White era will become a little clearer after WVU plays at UConn Saturday. If Bill Stewart can stay out of the way and West Virginia takes care of business then the rest of the season could be interesting. Don't think for a second that UConn isn't ready for this game. Just look back a year ago and you'll remember that the Huskies were whipped on a frosty afternoon in Morgantown 66-21. At the time, WVU looked like they were a lock for the BCS championship. Then came the Pitt game and the rest is history.

But if the Mountaineers pick up a good win on the road and all of sudden WVU becomes that team that no one wants to play because of the White-Noel Devine-Jock Saunders trio. And the Mountaineers are in the driver's seat with a 2-0 mark in the Big East and their destiny in their own hands. Stewart should be able to come up with horrible, cliche-ridden quotes over the next few weeks to describe the WVU situation.

My fear is the real WVU was what we saw the first six weeks, and maybe Auburn is just a bad team playing in a good conference. So what does that really say about WVU?

This is just odd

Sure, it's just September. But these conference standings are just odd, especially the teams on top. I know it won't hold, but still interesting.

SEC East
Vanderbilt (4-0, 2-0)
Georgia (4-1, 1-1)
Florida (3-1, 1-1)
Kentucky (4-0, 0-0)
South Carolina (3-2, 0-2)
Tennessee (1-3, 0-2)

Big Ten
Northwestern (5-0, 1-0)
Penn State (5-0, 1-0)
Ohio State (4-1, 1-0)
Michigan State (4-1, 1-0)
Michigan (2-2, 1-0)
Purdue (2-2, 0-0)
Minnesota (4-1, 0-1)
Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1)
Iowa (3-2, 0-1)
Illinois (2-2, 0-1)
Indiana (2-2, 0-1)

Big East
Connecticut (5-0, 1-0)
Pittsburgh (3-1, 1-0)
South Florida (5-0, 0-0)
Cincinnati (3-1, 0-0)
West Virginia (2-2, 0-0)
Rutgers (1-3, 0-0)
Louisville (2-2, 0-1)
Syracuse (1-4, 0-1)