FMQ UMass Friday

Before we get to the betting, some quick comments on the Domers joining the ACC (And if you’re a Domer fan, they DID join the ACC). The ACC gets to dictate who the Domers play each year with a guarantee that they play all ACC opponents in three years. The Domers can decide (and I’m not really sure I get this one) whether or not they go to the ACC venue or play the ACC foe at home. Someone needs to ‘splain that one to me. If I’m the Domers, I just make everyone come to my house. I guess it must have something to do with the odd teams that they won’t play home-home? Whatever, the bottom line is that two of the following three teams, Purdue, Michigan and MSU just lost the Domer series. IF I had to guess, I would say that it’s Michigan and MSU, and that’s BS. The Domers are turning their backs on the Midwest tradition that they are and looking to make the subway fans happy on the East coast. And before long, the ACC will slowly force the Domers to add a 6th game and so on until all that’s left is 3 or 4 open games on the schedule for USC, Navy, Stanford and the obligatory cupcake.
Welcome to College Football, Domers.


Will I miss the opportunity Michigan gets to pound on the Domers? You bet. But I also believe there are more Michigan worthy opponents out there (save the Alabama Slamma jokes) that would benefit Michigan and the B1G as a whole. I like the idea of an SEC matchup pre-season. Southern exposure and some great matchups could be created. As the Tailgate crowd has been saying for years: Michigan –Tennessee home and home would be awesome.

On to more important things: I felt better after last week’s bets. Really. I know we only added about $8 dollars to the overall bank, but the at bat and the swing last week were sound. It’s a lot like playing poker: You can only make the best decision you can with the information that’s available to you at the time you make the decision. Being results oriented is kind of the wrong way to look at it.

And it ticks me off that I didn’t pay closer attention to where the USC –Syracuse game was being played and I will not make that mistake again….Even though I seem to get a little lazy each year and make a mental error somewhere along the way.

This Week’s Picks:

EMU @ Purdue(-24): I almost (almost) went the other way on this game, but I think Danny Hope is not going to let the Boilers get too low after almost upsetting the Domers. I also think that EMU doesn’t have an offense or a defense that matches up with a B1G school this year.
Take Purdue and lay the 24 for $30

Domers @ Sparty (-6.5): There is no let down in Sparty this year and what I thought would be a rebuilding year on offense has proven to be less of a task then I imagined. Add to that the Sparty defense and you have a perfect revenge game mix for Sparty at Home. Did you know that 6 of the last 7 have been decided by a TD or less in this series? The one exception: Last year’s blowout of Sparty in Domer land. Yeah…Revenge is sweet….
Take Sparty and lay the 6.5 for $50

USC (-10) @ Stanford: No Mr. Lucky at Stanford means that Stanford is VULNERABLE.  I honestly think Lane Kiffin was trying to “run the ball” last week after the Rubbers got a healthy lead on the Cuse just to see if he could. Result: He can’t. But that doesn’t mean that this USC team can’t score points through the air. Which has been a perennial weakness at Stanford. Look for Barkley to make a Heisman statement Saturday.
Take USC and lay the 10 for $60

Va Tech (-12) @ Pitt: Pitt is a train wreck. And that’s being kind. I’m not sure what Vegas is looking at here as Va Tech has been extremely effective on both sides of the ball this year. That close game against the Yelow Jackets? They still looked good. And Pitt lost to Youngstown State….I have to lay more points and
Take Va Tech, lay the 12 for $50

Satan’s Warriors (-20) @ Arkansas: Wow…I really thought this would be more in the 27-28 point range spread. Even though Arkansas was a ranked team last week, they looked terrible. I have seen teams turn it around in a week, but I’m not sure they can turn that wreck around. John L Smith isn’t the guy that has proven he’s capable of leading a team back from the edge…He usually just takes them over it. Still, maybe Vegas knows something I don’t? As much as I want to play Satan’s Warriors here and lay the points….PASS

UMASS @ Michigan (-45): Oh, let’s see who UMASS has played. Indiana crushed them 45-3. That’s as far as I need to look. Assuming that UMASS comes out with the same team and Michigan’s offense is running on at least 6 of the 8 cylinders, I would expect Michigan to cover this sometime in the 3rd quarter. If they don’t, then I’m going to be really pissed….
Take Michigan and lay the 45 for $60

PARLAY!

3 Team Parlay pays 6 to 1.
Michigan – MSU - USC for $20

Starting Bank:   $926
Total Bet:          $270
Bank:                 $656