November 11 Weekend Football Picks

There are some decent pro and college games, and I'll watch them, but I'm not really all that excited about them. The good news is that I have the day off work tomorrow, so that's a good thing, makes it a 3 day weekend. Maybe it's the weather or something, I'm just all manner of blah right this minute, esp. about football, so on with the picks.

NCAA

MTSU/Arkansas St.- My Blue Raiders have been on a tear of late, winning 3 straight conference games in impressive fashion since the Oklahoma blowout. If they can beat Arkansas St., they play Troy for the title in two weeks. Ark. St. started out the year pretty well, but their once-good running game has gone in the crapper. The defense and special teams are a wash, so chalk another win up for MTSU and its superior offense, Blue Raiders 24, Indians 13.

South Carolina/Florida- South Carolina is struggling offensively, and no matter who their QB is, he won't be able to generate enough offense to score consistently on the Gators D. Florida has too many offensive playmakers and too much speed on both sides of the ball, so Urban Meyer gets his revenge on Steve Spurrier, Florida 31, Gamecocks 17.

LSU/Alabama- You know it's been a long, tough year for the Tide when their best win is over Hawaii, and it is going to get worse. Coming off its big win at Tennessee, LSU might be the hot team in the SEC right now. Alabama's offense has been mediocre at best, and if it couldn't geneerate anything against Mississippi State, it will be rough sledding against the Tigers' D. It could get ugly in a hurry, JaMarcus Russell should throw for 4 TDs in an easy Tigers victory (sorry Leigh), LSU 38, 'Bama 10.

Tennessee/Arkansas- The Vols lost their starting QB in a heartbreaker to LSU last week, and then three players go and get arrested before a game against a very tough Hogs team. The game is at Arkansas, the Vols are banged up and distracted, and Arkansas's strength (their running game) is the Vol defense's weakness. It will be close, but the Hogs get another signature win this year, upsetting the Vols in Fayetteville and ending the BCS hopes of the Big Orange (if they weren't already dead), Hogs 24, Vols 20.

NFL

Bears vs. Giants- The Bears come off an ugly loss to the hapless Dolphins last week, while the Giants looked sluggish against an equally hapless Texans team, so who knows who will win this one? The difference here will be turnovers...the Bears lost six of them last week, and that will kill you even with a superior defense. This looks like a bruising NFC game, and since the Giants have the better running backs and quarterback, they should win a close one and take control of the top of the NFC playoff seedings, 17-13.

Bengals vs. Chargers- The Chargers running game looked great last week, but someone has to tell Phillip Rivers he has one of the best TEs in football on his team in Antonio Gates. The Bengals lost a tough one to the Ravens last week, hurting their chances of repeating as AFC North champs, but there's no shame in that b/c the Ravens may have found their groove and could run away with the division. The Bengals are more banged up than the Chargers, so look for the Bolts to win a shootout late in the 4th quarter, 34-31.

Ravens at Titans- Steve McNair makes his return to Nashville, and he'll be welcomed warmly in the pre-game introductions. This game WILL be ugly, as the Ravens D is looking like themselves again just in time for a rookie QB who looked horrible last week, throwing three picks and having two returned for TDs. This one will be over when the Ravens say it is, Ravens 28, Titans 6.