By Dr. Vegas
It’s not just a Big 10 Battle… It’s a Top 10 battle. The #3 ranked 7-0 Nittany Lions travel to Columbus to face the 10th ranked 7-1 Ohio State Buckeyes in what should prove to be the most significant Big 10 matchup of the season. The team that wins this game mostly likely take the Big 10 Title. No pressure or anything.
By The Vegas Steamline
For anyone who has ever played poker, you know how it feels when you get a bad beat. This weekend we experienced the ultimate in bad beats in college football. I guess as hot as we have been all football season long ( 90-46-2 since Sept. 1st), we were due to take a bad one. We were on the Michigan Wolverines +24½ against Penn St. In case you didn’t actually see the game and just saw the end result, let me tell you a bit about what happened. Michigan actually lead 17-7 in the 2nd quarter and it was 17-14 at halftime. After that the wheels fell off. Still when you are getting more than 3 TDs, you have to still feel pretty good. Penn St took the lead, and started to stretch it out, but still the clock was on our side. Finally we were down to the final 5 minutes of the game and Michigan has the ball trailing by 22. The Wolverines had to punt, but it put Penn St back to their own 20. Penn St then trotted out many of their second stringers. They run the ball up the middle for gains of 2 & 3, plus they have a 5 yard penalty, so they are sitting at 3rd and 10 and running the clock. They run a middle screen play that goes for 80 yards and the dagger in my heart! For you poker players it is kind of like this. You are sitting with pocket Aces, the flop comes Ace of clubs, 10 of heart and 7 of clubs. You bet with your 4 aces and get one caller. The turn comes and shows a 4 of clubs. You bet more and get the call. The final card is the 2 of clubs. You go all in and the caller flips over the 3 and 5 of clubs for his straight flush, beating your quad Aces. It is just sick. The only worse beat I can recall in college football was a game about 6 to 8 years ago in the Pac-10. Actually I was on the lucky side of this one. I had a favorite of 10 points or so. All I know was it was more than a TD. The game went to OT. My team scored and got the extra point. The other team then threw a pass that was intercepted by my team and taken back for the TD to win by 13 and get the cover. That would be a tough loss to swallow, but that was kind of a fluky play. The Michigan/Penn St game was truly a lack of heart by Michigan. That team totally gave up once they fell behind.
By Computer Sports
Sundays’ NFC showdown of 3-2 teams could go along way toward a possible playoff birth for the winner. Chicago without 4th quarter collapses against Carolina and Tampa should be 5-0. Led by do-it-all rookie Rb Matt Forte (383 yds rush, 172 yds rec) the Bears have found a balanced offense to help their aging yet still talented defense. In last weeks dismantling of the Lions, Detroit stacked the line to stop Forte and Qb Kyle Orton stepped up throwing for over 300yds.
By Platinum Plays
This Sunday we’ll get to find out if the San Francisco 49ers are for real and contenders for the NFC West or just an average team that caught the Seahawks unprepared and expectedly defeated the one of the NFC’s punching bags, the Detroit Lions. I tend to think the Niners are on the upswing but, probably not ready to challenge for a playoff spot or the NFC West.
Football Week 1 Recap and Free Picks (See below for a complimentary selection)
As the first week of NFL football begins, finding free sports picks can be a daunting task. It’s not always about name recognition, either. Some of the most famous handicappers are infamous for releasing the absolute worst picks. Fortunately you don’t have to roll the dice with an unknown service.
At FreePlays.com, our team of handicappers offers free sports picks every day. You can gauge for yourself which service best suits your needs. That means you can get over a dozen free picks each and every day. And several of our handicappers have been on big winning streaks.
Last weekend, for example, Tom Hatfield’s Razor Sharp Sports went 13-2 from Friday through Sunday.
Another FreePlays.com service, Platinum Plays, posted several big records recently: an 11-4 College Football streak, including a 4-1 “Lock Plays” mark. Additionally, Big Jay went 7-0 the first Saturday of college football with lock plays on USC & Missouri. He also won with “best bets” Florida, Oklahoma State, Tulsa, Cal & Oregon.
Computer Sports has 5 straight football lock wins since last Friday.
Well-known and respected Mike Wynn Sports is on a 6-1 football lock run, with winners on Temple last Friday, USC and Missouri last Saturday, Kentucky on Sunday, and UCLA & Fresno on Monday.
Dr. Vegas opened the NFL season with the Giants and the Under on Thursday, along with Vanderbilt as an outright winner in college football.
You can also receive a free football pick via our nightly email, or free picks on your cell phone. In addition to our free football picks, don´t miss out on all of the other features on this site, including scores, odds, matchups, injuries, news, and much more.
Dr. Vegas provides a free pick for you in college football with Akron +4.5 over Syracuse.
By Joey D
Being the host of a daily sports talk radio show, I can attest to the fact that there are a few topics of discussion that can be brought up virtually any time and are guaranteed to receive feedback one way or another. For example: Should Pete Rose be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame? Or: What type of post-season format should be used in college football? Then, there’s this one: Should college athletes be paid some sort of stipend to play their sport?