Week One $1 Predictions

Time for making those awful predictions that get us no where every season.  The games will be picked against the spread so you gamblers know which way to bet. (Hint: Bet the opposite.)  We bet one dollar on each game, so hopefully at the end of the season we’re no more than $20 in the hole.

***Lines are of Friday’s USA Today.***

Oregon State at Stanford (+3)  - Wait, they played this game last night.  We told you our pick earlier.  But to remind everybody we took, Stanford +3 for $1

Washington at Oregon (-13.5) – This is a hard game to predict.  Oregon has their backup QB going, but they have an experienced o-line going against the Huskies youthful d-line.  UW QB Jake Locker could be a stud this year, but he hasn’t proven his accuracy yet.  We guess we’ll take the experienced Oregon defense over the young UW offense.  Oregon -13.5 for $1.

Oklahoma State vs. Washington State (+7) – This game is being played at Qwest Field in Seattle, so expect 50,000+ Coug fans to take over Seattle while UW is in Eugene.  With the recent injuries to the WSU o-line, coupled with their loss of receivers this looks like a 17-24 point Cowboy victory.  Oklahoma State -7 for $1.

Michigan State at California (-5) – Another intriguing matchup.  We’re all for watching great college football, but here’s to hoping we get this game instead of the Clemson-Alabama game Saturday night.  Not a huge Big 10 believer.  California -5 for $1.

USC at Virginia (+19.5) – USC plays Ohio State in two weeks, with a bye week next Saturday.  That means this is their only warmup for the Buckeyes.  Bad News for the Cavaliers. USC -19.5 for $1.

Idaho at Arizona (-27) – Was listening to Greg Robinson, a betting expert, on the Mitch in the Morning show this morning.  He said to take Idaho and the points.  We don’t have any idea on this game, so when all else fails, go with the expert. Idaho +27 for $1.

Northern Arizona at Arizona State – USA Today doesn’t list lines for FBS vs. FCS games.  We don’t even know if there is a line for this game and we’re not about to look.  So in this case (it only happens twice this season that a Pac-10 school plays a FCS team, unlike other conferences, *cough* SEC *cough*) we’ll bet the game straight up. Arizona State for $1.

Tennessee at UCLA (+7) – A Labor Day special.  The SEC travels to that “other” coast to play a team.  Slick Rick is making his UCLA debut.  Everybody knows Pac-10 football trumps SEC football. UCLA +7 for $1.

Thoughts On Oregon State-Stanford

Hope everybody got a chance to watch the game last night.  It was weird to watch a Pac-10 opener to start the season, on a Thursday night. 

About the game, it was pretty damn evident that it was the first game of the season.  Both teams were sloppy and unimpressive.  We think it’s very important that we remember that it was the opening game for both teams.  You can’t expect them to play like that the rest of the season.  We think you’ll see significant improvement from both teams, especially Oregon State.

How werid was it that the two of the most prominent plays involved balls rolling out of the side of the endzone?  The safety to put Stanford ahead for good, 22-20, and the fumble from Oregon State WR Darrell Catchings to seal the victory for the Cardinal.  Catchings had no business trying to turn that into a TD.  He had the first down and should have just got out of bounds.  The Beavers still had a timeout remaining, would have been at the 3 yard line, and had Stanford on their heels.

We didn’t have time yesterday to post our pick for the game last night, but if you trust us, we won $1 from a buddy by taking Stanford +3. 

We’ll post the rest of our picks sometime today.