UNH over Dartmouth 45-20.

Ohio State over Minnesota
Clemson over Maryland
Michigan State over Indiana
Duke over Virginia
Pittsburgh over Syracuse
Ball State over Kent State
Northern Illinois over Eastern Michigan
Iowa over Northwestern
North Carolina over Miami (FL)
Florida over Mississippi
Texas A&M over Army
Boston College over Rhode Island
Ohio over VMI
Temple over Western Michigan
Arkansas State over Memphis
Texas over Arkansas
Wisconsin over Michigan
Auburn over Tennessee
East Carolina over Houston
Fresno State over UCLA
Colorado over Florida State
Rutgers over Morgan State
West Virginia over Marshall
Cincinnati over Akron
Kansas State over Louisiana-Lafayette
Purdue over Notre Dame
Wake Forest over Navy
Central Michigan over Buffalo (This is a very good game…in the MAC)
Bowling Green over Wyoming
Rice over North Texas
California over Colorado State
Oregon over Washington State
Oklahoma over Texas Christian
Kentucky over Western Kentucky
South Carolina over UAB
Tulsa over Central Arkansas
Oklahoma State over Troy
Toledo over FIU
Louisiana State over Mississippi State
South Florida over North Carolina State
Illinois over Penn State (I’m not a believer in the Nittany Lions yet)
Utah over Weber State
Virginia Tech over Nebraska
New Mexico State over New Mexico
Central Florida over Texas El-Paso
San Diego State over Idaho
Stanford over Washington
Nevada-Las Vegas over Nevada-Reno
San Jose State over Hawaii

Game of the Day: Alabama over Georgia: I keep picking the upset in the game of the day and I keep getting it wrong. All week I’ve been leaning to Alabama. They played Georgia tight last year. I’m flip-flopping here. I’ll root for the Tide. But I can’t see John Parker Wilson outperforming Matthew Stafford in Athens. Dawgs roll the Tide 24-14.

Sidebar: Jason sent this to me because he is currently at work. That sucks for him. I am picking Georgia over Alabama – for obvious reasons since they are the more awesome team. Also, their mascot, way better. I’ll be more than upset if Lee picks the elephant head over the bulldog head – I’ll be devestated if they use the helmets again.

Last week, I went 40-11 overall. (I’m not going to count my weekly UNH pick, which I got right last week).

I got a lot of big games wrong last week (Ohio State, Fresno State, Michigan). I’m hoping to turn that around this weekend. We’ll also try something new. We’ll have the Amanda Silva picks after mine. Then we’ll see that Amanda can pick college football games better than me. Lovely.

Let’s get the ball rolling with a UNH victory over Albany (though I’m slightly concerned) 42-28. Oh defense.

Jason’s Picks:
Ohio State over Troy
East Carolina over North Carolina State
Penn State over Temple
Georgia Tech over Mississippi State
Florida Atlantic over Minnesota
Iowa over Pittsburgh
Purdue over Central Michigan (This will be a great game. Seriously)
Ohio over Northwestern
Alabama over Arkansas
Clemson over South Carolina State
Central Florida over Boston College
Maryland over Eastern Michigan
Akron over Army
Missouri over Buffalo
Brigham Young over Wyoming
Northern Illinois over Indiana State
Tulane over Louisiana Monroe
Arizona over UCLA
Florida over Tennessee
Oregon over Boise State
Colorado State over Houston
Michigan State over Notre Dame
North Carolina over Virginia Tech (This is, in ACC terms, a HUGE game)
Syracuse over Northeastern (This is the Toilet Bowl game of the day. NE could beat Cuse).
Miami (FL) over Texas A&M
Rutgers over Navy
Southern Mississippi over Marshall
Utah over Air Force
UAB over Alabama State
Idaho over Utah State
South Florida over Florida International
Texas over Rice
Texas Tech over Massachusetts
Wake Forest over Florida State
Kansas over Sam Houston State
Ball State over Indiana
Western Kentucky over Murray State
Mississippi over Vanderbilt (The SEC’s under-the-radar game today)
Washington State over Portland State
Kent State over Louisiana-Lafayette
Middle Tennessee over Arkansas State
Louisiana Tech over SE Louisiana State
South Carolina over Wofford
New Mexico over Tulsa
Western Michigan over Tennessee Tech
Cincinnati over Miami (OH)
Georgia over Arizona State
Memphis over Nicholls State
Texas Christian over Southern Methodist
Fresno State over Toledo
Stanford over San Jose State
Iowa State over UNLV
Texas El Paso over New Mexico State

Game of the Day: LSU @ Auburn. I can’t see this game being a shoot-out. No one can. These are two great defenses. It’s about the offense. Auburn has their own version of Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State) as a backup QB. His name is Kodi Burns. He can’t hit the side of a barn with a football if he was standing inside the barn. Look for him though to spot starter Chris Todd and pick up some big yards on the ground. I’ll take the Tigers of Auburn over the Tigers of Louisiana State by a final score of 14-12.

Amanda’s Picks: (All comments are direct quotes.)
Ohio State over Troy
East Carolina over North Carolina State
Penn State over Temple
Georgia Tech over Mississippi State
Florida Atlantic over Minnesota
Iowa over Pittsburgh
Central Michigan over Purdue
Ohio over Northwestern
Alabama over Arkansas
Clemson over SC State
Boston College over UCF
Maryland over Eastern Michigan
Akron over Army
Missouri over Buffalo
Brigham Young over Wyoming
Indiana State over Northern Illinois (She has no idea who these teams are).
Louisiana-Monroe over Tulane (See above).
Arizona over UCLA (Take that Murshed).
Florida over Tennessee (Wooo! Gators! Wooo!)
Oregon over Boise State (O)
Houston over Colordado State
Notre Dame over Michigan State
VA Tech over North Carolina
Northeastern over Syracuse (Some hometown love)
Texas A&M over Miami (FL)
Rutgers over Navy (Jersey Roots…Global Reach)
Marshall over Southern Mississippi (We Are Marshall)
Utah over Air Force
UAB over Alabama State
Idaho over Utah State (Udaho)
South Florida over Florida International
Texas over Rice
Texas Tech over Massachusetts (537-3)
Wake Forest over Florida State
Kansas over Sam Houston State
Ball State over Indiana (Love Ball State. Balls. Awesome.)
Murray State over Western Kentucky (Murray State with the upset)
Vandy over Ole Miss
Washington State over Portland State
Kent State over Lousiana Lafayette
Arkansas State over Middle Tennessee
Louisiana Tech over SE Lousiana State
Wofford over South Carolina
New Mexico over Tulsa
Tennessee Tech over Western Michigan
Miami (OH) over Cincinatti
Georgia over Arizona State
Memphis over Nicholls State
TCU over SMU
Fresno State over Toledo
Stanford over San Jose State
UNLV over Iowa State
New Mexico State over UTEP

Game Of The Day: LSU over Auburn 21-17. I don’t know, LSU’s tiger looks that much more tougher.

This will be a new thing to look forward to on most Saturdays. My college football picks. I’ll pick every FBS game, plus whatever game UNH is playing, I’ll pick them to win. Let’s go:

UNH over URI (27-10)
(I’ll do these in time of start order)

Air Force over Houston
Cal over Maryland
Illinois over UL-Lafayette
Florida Atlantic over Michigan State
Minnesota over Montana State
Navy over Duke
Clemson over North Carolina State
Buffalo over Temple
Toledo over Eastern Michigan
Northwestern over Southern Illinois
Iowa over Iowa State
Tennessee over Alabama-Birmingham
Missouri over Nevada
Ball State over Akron
TCU over Stanford
Oklahoma State over Missouri State
Central Michigan over Ohio
Kent State over Delaware State
East Carolina over Tulane
Miami (OH) over Charleston Southern
Wyoming over North Dakota State
Oregon over Purdue
Penn State over Syracuse
Brigham Young over UCLA
Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech
Georgia over South Carolina (Though I’ve been going back and forth on this. Seriously.)
Michigan over Notre Dame
Florida State over Chattanooga
Oregon State over Hawaii
Western Michigan over Idaho
Auburn over Mississippi State
Alabama over Western Kentucky
Texas Tech over SMU
Middle Tennessee over Kentucky
Mississippi over Samford
Nebraska over New Mexico State
Vanderbilt over Rice
Memphis over Marshall
Southern Mississippi over Arkansas State
Troy over Alcorn State
Connecticut over Virginia
Oklahoma over Washington
LSU over North Texas
Utah over Utah State
San Diego State over San Jose State
Boise State over Bowling Green
Arizona over New Mexico
Arizona State over UNLV
Fresno State over Wisconsin

Game of the Day: #5 Ohio State @ #1 USC (8 p.m. ABC)
-It’s the game of the year. On paper. Last night’s South Florida/Kansas game will likely be a better game on the field than this one will be. With that said, there’s great anticipation around this game because of the history. Most experts think it’ll be a USC blowout. I do not. I’m taking Ohio State in a bigger upset than it looks on paper. I think Beanie Wells, despite what coach Jim Tressel says, will play in this game. The key to me is USC’s inability to defend mobile quarterbacks who can run. Todd Boeckman is not one of those. However, Ohio State’s backup, Terrelle Pryor, is one of those. He can run a 4.3 40-yard dash. People keep talking about how good USC’s defense is. Ohio State’s is just as good. Mark Sanchez is not the second coming of Matt Leinart. He played well in one game against Virginia. The key matchup will be USC’s receivers against Ohio State’s secondary. I’ll take the more experienced Buckeyes. Ohio State beats USC 31-27. We’ll see how wrong I was tomorrow morning.

Yesterday, the Baltimore Ravens announced that Quarterback Joe Flacco would start in place of Troy Smith. Smith has undergone a bout of tonsilitis recently and has lost about 15 pounds. With that said, please knock two wins off of the Ravens projected total. With that said, please move the Cleveland Browns into the sixth playoff spot in the AFC, where, like the Ravens, they’ll be eliminated in the Wild Card Round. Thank you.

Alright, kids! It’s stretch run time! One month from now (and a day) and we’ll be soaked up in the MLB playoffs. Here’s where we are in baseball, if the playoffs began today: (A * indicates Home-Field Advantage Throughout League Play)

AL:
Tampa Bay Rays* vs. Chicago White Sox
Los Angeles Angels vs. Boston Red Sox

(To me, that’s an ALCS that starts the new rivalry in the American League between the Red Sox and Rays).

NL:
Chicago Cubs* vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
New York Mets vs. Milwaukee Brewers

(To me, that’s an NL Central Showdown in the NLCS).

Here’s my quick awards for the two leagues:

AL MVP: Kevin Youkilis (1B/Boston Red Sox)
AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee (SP/Cleveland Indians)
(K-Rod finishes in 2nd in both categories)
AL Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria (3B/Tampa Bay Rays)
AL Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon (Tampa Bay Rays)

NL MVP: CC Sabathia (SP/Milwaukee Brewers)
NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb (SP/Arizona Diamondbacks)
NL Rookie of the Year: Geovany Soto (C/Chicago Cubs)
NL Manager of the Year: Fredi Gonzalez (Florida Marlins)

There’s obviously one winner here that will raise some controversy, but I feel it’s an easy one to justify. Sabathia has been so valuable to the Brewers since coming over from Cleveland. He hasn’t been the best pitcher in the NL this year though. That could change if he continues averaging 8 innings per start and shutting out every team in the league. He has probably 4 or 5 more starts this year. If he’s 13-0 or 14-0, I think he has to win the Cy Young AND the MVP. But I’m an extremist. Until that point, you give the Cy Young to the best pitcher in the league for the entire year, who at this point has to be either Brandon Webb or Tim Lincecum.

I admit that I’ve fallen out of the baseball loop recently, what with the Olympics and now college football coming back. I blame this partially on ESPN. Give me more Rays baseball and less Yankees baseball. Give me more Mets and less Red Sox.

I am currently trying to turn myself into a fan of the Washington Nationals. I would like to become a partial season ticket holder next year and would like to root for the team. I’ll keep you updated on how that goes.

I’d like to quickly mention that I picked Oregon State to play in the Rose Bowl and they lost to Stanford in their first game of the season. However, I also said that Clemson would not be as good as the experts say, Alabama would be the second best SEC West team, and Duke would win some games and what do you know? Clemson got creamed by the Crimson Tide and the Blue Devils won their second game in the last 3 years. And yes, it was against James Madison, but anything counts when you’re Duke.

I’m not going to do a silly 3 part NFL preview. I will however, do a not-silly 1 part, quick preview featuring a sentence or two of analysis of each team. Here that goes:

AFC East
1. New York Jets 10-6
(I believe in Brett Favre. Even if I hate him)
2. New England Patriots 8-8
(I’m concerned enough about Tom Brady’s foot and their lack of a backup)
3. Buffalo Bills 8-8
(Trent Edwards continues to improve)
4. Miami Dolphins 6-10
(Chad Pennington provides some improvement. Some.)

AFC North
1. Pittsburgh Steelers 11-5
(Rashard Mendenhall becomes a household name.)
2. Baltimore Ravens 9-7
(I really think Troy Smith can manage a game like Trent Dilfer did.)
3. Cleveland Browns 9-7
(Still can’t get over the playoff hump.)
4. Cincinnati Bungles 3-13
(A return to non-glory.)

AFC South
1. Jacksonville Jaguars 13-3
(David Garrard. MVP.)
2. Indianapolis Colts 12-4
(Peyton Manning. Not far behind.)
3. Houston Texans 8-8
(Matt Schaub. Give it a few years.)
4. Tennessee Titans 5-11
(Vince Young. Forgot how to throw.)

AFC West
1. San Diego Chargers 10-6
(The defense won’t be as good once Shawne Merriman’s knee explodes in Week 2.)
2. Oakland Raiders 8-8
(I’m not even kidding.)
3. Denver Broncos 7-9
(Seriously. I’m not kidding about the Raiders.)
4. Kansas City Chiefs 2-14
(Matthew Stafford, Josh Freeman, or Tim Tebow, “Here We Come!”)

NFC East
1. Dallas Cowboys 13-3
(Tony Romo is very good.)
2. New York Giants 10-6
(Need I remind you that they won the Super Bowl last year. I think people are forgetting this.)
3. Philadelphia Eagles 8-8
(Sports Illustrated’s pick for the NFC Champion is very incorrect.)
4. Washington Redskins 6-10
(We can start the Colt Brennan bandwagon at about 10:30 on Thursday night.)

NFC North
1. Minnesota Vikings 11-5
(The best defense in the league and a quarterback who WILL GET IT DONE.)
2. Green Bay Packers 9-7
(Aaron Rodgers isn’t as bad as you think.)
3. Chicago Bears 8-8
(I like the Kyle Orton selection to start. Not enough to put them in the playoffs though.)
4. Detroit Lions 4-12
(They’ll take the quarterback that Kansas City doesn’t.)

NFC South
1. Carolina Panthers 8-8
(I think the defense can still play. As long as they can run the ball, they’ll be mediocre enough to win this division.)
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8-8
(Nothing about this team impresses me. Conversely, nothing about this team is that bad.)
3. New Orleans Saints 6-10
(A hurricane ruins another season for this team. There’s more important things at hand in N’Orleans though.)
4. Atlanta Falcons 4-12
(You probably thought I’d have them at .500 too. Please.)

NFC West
1. Seattle Seahawks 12-4
(6 wins within the division is a nice place to start.)
2. Arizona Cardinals 8-8
(I love the Kurt Warner choice. Matt Leinart cannot play in this league.)
3. San Francisco 49ers 6-10
(They’ll score a lot of points. Then they’ll give up a lot too.)
4. St. Louis Rams 4-12
(Remember when they were the “Greatest Show on Turf?” That’s done now.)

AFC Playoffs:
WILD CARD ROUND:
1. Jacksonville Jaguars (BYE)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (BYE)

3. San Diego Chargers
vs.
6. Baltimore Ravens

4. New York Jets
vs.
5. Indianapolis Colts

DIVISIONAL ROUND
1. Jacksonville Jaguars
vs.
5. Indianapolis Colts

2.Pittsburgh Steelers
vs.
3. San Diego Chargers

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

NFC Playoffs:
WILD CARD ROUND:
1. Dallas Cowboys (BYE)
2. Seattle Seahawks

3. Minnesota Vikings
vs.
6. Green Bay Packers

4. Carolina Panthers
vs.
5. New York Giants

DIVISIONAL ROUND
1. Dallas Cowboys
vs.
5. New York Giants

2. Seattle Seahawks
vs.
3. Minnesota Vikings

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings

SUPER BOWL XLIII
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Dallas Cowboys

SUPER BOWL CHAMPION
Dallas Cowboys

NFL MVP: Tony Romo (QB/Dallas Cowboys)
NFL Defensive Player of the Year: Jared Allen (DE/Minnesota Vikings)
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year: Rashard Mendenhall (RB/Pittsburgh Steelers)
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year: Vernon Gholston (LB/New York Jets)
NFL Comeback Player of the Year: Brett Favre (QB/New York Jets)? Can he win this?
NFL Coach of the Year: Jack Del Rio (Jacksonville Jaguars)

They really don’t even need to play the NFL season now.