Week 11 Football Picks

College: Last week: 3-2; YTD: 29-35-3
NFL: Last week: 4-2-1; YTD: 45-31-3

Post your winners.

Northwestern +13, +103 @ Illinois

My God does this break my young Illini heart, but this weekend has hangover written all over it, just like the Iowa game after the big win over Wisconsin. I don't think that Northwestern will win this one, but I do think they have enough on offense to keep it close. I can only hope that the night game brings out the best in the Fighting Zookers. Also, I'm considering this bowl insurance, as I'll be making the trip down to Florida to see either the Capital One Bowl or the Outback Bowl; if Illinois loses and does to Texas or Arizona, I'm out of luck. Sure, it's not strict value, but since when is everything supposed to be cool and rational?

Hangovers happen. One big difference here though is that they will be at home where the crowd surely will pick them up. Hangovers occur far more often on the road. Nonetheless, not a bad pick. Nice to see you can separate business from being a fan. Many cannot do that.

Which reminds me of a guy I ran across before the season who wears Purdue on his sleeves and makes the rest of mankind suffer for it. I didn't pick Illinois to win at Columbus (who did) but I did say before the season that Illinois would finish higher than Purdue in the Big Ten. I also picked Iowa to finish higher than Purdue. In fact, I just went back and looked at my preseason projections and it's pretty darn close. I had Purdue 7th. Right where they are now. I had the six teams above them right, but not quite the right order. But that could still change this week. I remember reading reams of Boiler nonsense from that Purdue guy about how PU had the best offense, best QB, blah blah blah. Different year, same story. Another underachieving Purdue team. Who woulda thunk it. At least we don't have many clueless fans to muck up this site with their high school lunch table barbs and nonsense. As far as I know, Spaulding is the only Purdue fan here and she brings class to every room she enters. If I saw that guy today with his team of supposed superior offensive talent sitting at 7th in the conference with a losing record in the league, I'd probably ask him..."who's your messiah now?'

Irish Boy, at least you don't seem to be afflicted with the home fan disadvantage. So you've got that going for you. Which is nice.

After my failings early this year, I've implemented a strict "no Bears" rule, because, whether they win or lose, I can never bet them right (I saw value in the Raiders +3.5 last week, but my no Bears rule saved me). I won't usually bet Illinois against the spread for that same reason, but I do allow myself over/unders because I think I have as much knowledge of Illinois football as the average handicapper, and that shows in the O/U.

This week I'm going against, partly because that win was such a big win and I'm worried that they're already looking ahead, and partly because if I'm wrong, I'm going on a vacation in 5 weeks to sunny Orlando or Tampa. Call it a hedge. Plus, Northwestern can stay close against most teams.

Detroit +3, -112 vs. NYG (MB)

Like the killer bees and the metric system, the Detroit collapse is coming. Last week's game against Arizona was like one of those human-interest "man gets stung 400 times in San Antonio" type stories you hear about; everyone is going to freak, until they realize that maybe the bees aren't going to be quite as big of a deal as made out to be. Even Pittsburgh lost at Arizona, there's no shame in that.

Why go with Detroit here? First, I think that the Giants are even more of a fraud than the Lions. Who the hell have the Giants beaten to be giving up points against a 6-3 team on the road? I set the line at pick. I could buy in at -2.5 at a decent price, but the extra half point is only 7 cents more, so I'll take it.

And then after the Lions beat the Giants, slam whatever line comes out on the GB/DET Thanksgiving game early, because it'll be off.

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Irish Boy, at least you don't seem to be afflicted with the home fan disadvantage. So you've got that going for you. Which is nice.

Just caught that. It's not total consciousness, but it'll do.

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And then after the Lions beat the Giants, slam whatever line comes out on the GB/DET Thanksgiving game early, because it'll be off.

I enjoy your line about the line. Well done.

last 1-3


YTD 17-28-1


Ohio State- please thats 4 in a row for you Mich Seniors, sorry pissed off OSU attempts to keep the BCS dream alive in the house of bigness


Syracuse- Conn OVER 46- u conn should be able to roll it up, syracuse will be good for the 20 to get this


TN -12 v. Vandy- Tenn defense very hot here, look for them to continue the hot streak and grind the ball on the ground versus this underachiveing vandy squad.

BYU -10 v. Wyoming- after last weeks debacle where the coach begins flipping off utah, BYU cointinues the pain versus the cowboy