Week 4: 'We are Marshall' in theatres Dec. 22nd

No need for much of an introduction this week. It's just me, Kevin, Jim, and Koontz again. Everyone be sure to read Kevin's reasonings this week. What a turnaround huh? The Marshall pick gets my vote for best pick/reasoning of the year thus far. Anyways, here it goes:

Standings after week 3 (as of October 26, 2006)
Jim: 10-5
Me: 9-6
Kevin: 6-8-1
Koontz: 1-4
Mike: 0-4

My Picks: Clemson, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Wake Forest, Texas
Kevin's Picks: Clemson, Wake Forest, UCLA, Florida, Marshall
Jim's Picks: Wisconsin, Wake Forest, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Arkansas
Koontz' Picks: Wisconsin, Iowa, BYU, Ohio St. Arkansas

My Picks:
1. Clemson (-5) @ Virginia Tech
It's tough to win in Blacksburg, but Clemson can do it. VT has had no quarterback play and their psyche is in shambles. Anyone see the Hokies conerback who was dancing around on the field when they were getting trounced by Boston College a few weeks ago? What an idiot.

2. Notre Dame (-13) @ Navy
Navy quarterback and entire team Brian Hampton dislocated his knee a couple of weeks ago against Rutgers and is out indefinitely. Notre Dame seems to rarely cover, but I think they will do it this week.

3. Wisconsin (21.5) vs. Illinois
Simply put, Wisconsin is on a tear. They are crushing everyone they play and will continue to do so against Illinois in Camp Randall. Besides, our very own Jim Macho is attending the game and he will not let the Badgers fall short of covering. He always finds a way.

4. Wake Forest (-8.5) @ North Carolina
I watched North Carolina play Virginia last week and they looked absolutely horrible. I'm not sold on Wake Forest, but I think they are solid enough to cover against the Tar Heels. Also, Wake's quarterback's has the same last name as my girlfriend. I asure you that the last name thing had nothing to do with the pick, but it made me feel good after I picked it.

5. Texas (-10) @ Texas Tech
First time all year that I have gone with Texas. The weird thing about it is that I actually like Texas Tech, but I have a good feeling about this one. Texas has a good secondary that will contain the Red Raider passing attack, and Limas sWEED will have another big day for the Longhorns.

Kevin's Picks:
Well I'd like to start by apologizing Mr. Sharp for the one liners last week. As if you haven’t already noticed, I suck so far at this whole ordeal. So after the horrid week two, I found a lack of motivation and gave you shitty one liners, and ended up with an even week at 2-2-1. Well I am newly motivated and ready to give you my reasoning’s...Each week thus far I have taken a different approach to my picks and it has not worked out well. As you can tell by my dismal 6-8-1 record. So I thought of yet another way to make this week’s picks. I formulated the following “types” of picks:
* I actually did this before making the picks, no joke.

-The “Thursty Thursday” pick, I am always drinking during the Thursday night games and always ask myself why I didn’t bet on it to make it more fun.
-The Opposite pick, this is self-explanatory, find two teams with opposite records and pick the better of the two. This I assume will be harder to do as the season passes.
-The PK pick, Find a game with an even line and pick who you think will win. It is as easy as that.
-The Revenge pick, Find a team that screwed you in a previous bet and bet against them.
-The Inspirational pick, this one simply demands you find a team who will be inspired to win on game day. Whether it is for the death of a player, or facing a rival. Pick them they will win.

I’m sure you will be able to tell which picks are which:

*****Before I get to Kevin's picks, I have to say that I throughly enjoyed what I just read and appreciate the effort. Not only that, but it all makes sense to me. Perhaps I will steal his style if my picks don't go well this week. Now back to the Kevin's picks*****

1. Clemson (-5)@ V.Tech
Last week's analysis for me probably would have been along the lines of, "Woodrow Dantzler was awesome and so is Clemson." I think that is enough to say Clemson will cover however let it be known that, Clemson's lone loss came at the hands of Boston College. Clemson lost that game by 1 point. Virginia Tech lost to Boston College by 19. Thus I declare Clemson a better football team and will cover the 4 points on the road.

2. Wake Forest (-8.5) @ UNC
Well the Demon Deacons have a record of 6-1. The Tar Heels a record of 1-6. Those are opposite. That means Wake Forrest will win by 10 points, end of story.

3. UCLA (-1) vs. Washington St.
Now when I originally picked this one it was even at pk. Now UCLA is a 1 point favorite. To be honest the only reason I picked it was because I thought to myself the other day, Vegas just makes the odds so that each team will be evenly matched, in a gambling sense that is. Well I can usually pick who wins, but not by how much they will win, thus my teams don’t cover. Well shit I told myself I am picking a pk this week. UCLA wins it hopefully by 2 now. Oh yeah and I own a UCLA shirt, GO BRUINS!

4. Florida (–13.5) vs. Georgia
Because a gator would beat a bulldog in a fight any day of the week, I guarantee it. Did I mention that I bet my left nut that Georgia would have beaten Vandy a few weeks back? Well the nut is being removed the 22nd of December (foreshadow). Not only did Georgia not cover that game, they lost. So I am taking Florida because they are very good and Georgia is not.

5. Marshall (-10) vs. Memphis
A combined 3 wins between the two, neither team has any talent and quite frankly suck. Why do I feel Marshall will win, yes they are at home and have one more win than that of the Tigers, however this is not what will drive them to victory Saturday, it will be inspiration. Inspiration that their new movie, WE ARE MARSHALL, starring Matthew McConaughey (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Dazed and Confused) will be entering theaters across America December 22nd. Come the 22nd, we will all be a part of the Thundering Herd. Link to the movie: http://wearemarshall-themovie.warnerbros.com/

Ok so those are my picks. Like my “reasoning’s” or not, I will be 5-0.
On a different note, since I sit at work and get paid to do this, I took a little extra time to look at the picks of last week and discovered that between the three of us, Sharp, Me and Jim who have made the picks each week that we are a combined 5-4 when at least two of us agree on a pick, cool eh? Why would I sit and figure that stuff out well...I spent 2 ½ hours typing this up and looking over the games that translates to 17 dollars of pay from my campus job. CU Friday at the Broux.

Jim's Picks:
1. @ Wisconsin (-21.5) vs. Illinois
Wisconsin always covers, you know that by now. Also I am attending this game followed by a Wisconsin hockey showdown with B.C. This will be my first ever double duty on a Badger game day. Oh and I'll be at Packers on Sunday, Good Times.

2. Wake Forest (-8.5) @ North Carolina
North Carolina's only win of the season was by three points over Furman. Who is Furman? you might ask, well Furman is tied for first in the Southern Conference, their nickname is the Paladins, they are from Greenville, SC, and purple is their primary color. Meanwhile, Wake is 6-1 with their only loss being to Clemson.

3. Texas A & M (-4.5) @ Baylor
In my mind Baylor will always suck at everything. They are actually 3-1 in conference and 4-4 overall, but A & M will continue to roll with a big win. I have 2.5 minutes to make my last two picks, before the computer shuts down and I have to start over.

4. @ Rutgers (-19.5) vs. Connecticut
The Scarlet Knights are playing great and the Huskies are not. Rutgers reminds me of Mr. McNulty from Stoughton, he used to always talk about them and I would make fun of him with Kevin.

5. @ Arkansas (-36) vs. La-Monro
Louisana Monroe is in the Sun Belt conference, Arkansas is undefeated in the SEC. I still don't like the SEC by the way.

Four that didn't make the cut, Wash -1 over ASU, Clemson -4 over V-Tech, Tulsa -15 over UTEP, and Ark. St. -8 over Fla. Atl. My original World Series pick was Detroit in 6, but that isn't looking so hot right now. I'll stick with it though.

Koontz' Picks:
1. Wisconsin (-21.5) vs. Illinois
...Is this Basketball or Football, Badgers cover both anyways. "Goooo Buckyyyy"-John Reiser

2. Iowa (-16.5) vs. NIU
NIU gave up 21 to Temple, That was my selling point.

3. BYU (-8.5) @ Air Force
BYU will score and score often, Air Force may keep it close but I doubt it.

4. Ohio State (-27) vs. Minny
If Ohio State hates Minn as much as UW, they will win by double. Ohio State by 54.

5. Arkansas (-36) vs. La Monroe
Arkansas is on fire outscoring opp. 101-10. They cover easy or win by 35 knowing my luck.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN.