CFB Week 4 Picks

WRAP UP – 12-4.

Hey Football Fiends!

You know the drill– 16 games. 32 teams. 16 winners. 16 losers.

Colorado over West Virginia. 17-14 in OT

Penn State over Temple 45-3

BC over UCF 34-7

Vandy over Ole Miss 23-17

LSU over Auburn (I want Auburn to win. I hope Auburn wins. I think LSU will win.) 26-21

UNC over VA Tech 20-17

Michigan State over Notre Dame 23-7

Georgia over ASU (gotta admit, I’d like to see ASU redeem themselves though!) 27-10

Arizona over UCLA 31-10

U of South Florida over FL International 17-9

Wake Forest over Florida State 12-3

Oregon over Boise State 37-32

Texas A&M over Miami-FL 41-23

ECU over NC State 30-24

Mizzou over Buffalo 42-21

-Your Gridiron Goddess

College Football Week 3 – Picks

WRAP UP: 13-3

hey Football Fiends!

It’s the BIG WEEKEND for the Trojans and Buckeyes and I’ll definitely have some thoughts on that before kick off tomorrow.

But for now, here are your picks. 16 games. 32 teams. 16 winners. 16 losers. You know the drill.

USC over Ohio State

South Florida over Kansas 37-34

Mizzou over Nevada-Reno 69-17

BYU over UCLA 59-0 (HAHAHAHAHAHA)

Georgia over South Carolina (Is it just me or is So Car shaping up to be 2008’s bipolar team? So FL was 2007’s) 14-7

Oregon State over Hawaii

Fresno State over Wisconsin

Michigan over Notre Dame (is anyone outside of Ann Arbor and South Bend even interested in this battle of the bad?) 35-17

ECU over Tulane 28-24

LSU over North Texas (way to schedule those tough games LSU!)

California over Maryland 35-27

Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech 20-17

Penn State over Syracuse

Oregon over Purdue

Auburn over Mississippi State

Iowa over Iowa State (that one’s for my pal Tracy) 17-5

-Your Gridiron Goddess

A Harem of the Gridiron Goddess post: Walker Sports on ACC Preview 2008 – Coastal Division

Gridiron Goddess welcomes back Walker Sports with his ACC Coastal Division Preview.

Your ACC Preview – Coastal Division

by Walker Sports

Welcome back to part two of Walker-Sports ACC preview. In this section we will take a look at the Coastal Division. Of the two divisions the Coatal is without a doubt the tightest, and will prove to be the most competitive. It could also make for some interesting results come November once all these teams have tangled and a couple upsets go down.

Virginia Tech Hokies: The Hokies have been a terror to the ACC since the day they arrived in the league. They have played in 3 out of 4 ACC Championships. There is no doubt the ACC made the right move bringing these guys in. This year the Hokies are likely the only legitimate threat to the Clemson Tigers if the two can meet in the ACC Championship game. However, this year will take a little more effort than Beamer and company are used to. The Hokies lost several key players on both sides of the ball including star running back Brandon Ore and linebackers Xavier Adibi. The Hokies will also continue their battle at quarterback that began last season between Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor. Lucky for the Hokies they have the best of both worlds with these guys, Glennon being a scrambler and Taylor a drop back passer.

No matter who is at the helm at QB you can bank that Virginia Tech will play solid defense and great special teams. That will make them a top contender in the ACC and a possible factor in the BCS.

Record: 10-2

Key Games: East Carolina, Nebraska, Florida State

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: Change was the theme of the off-season for the Yellow Jackets. Paul Johnson’s option offense scared off a couple players, but they will be stronger because of it. Josh Nesbitt will be charged with running the offensive this season, and he has the tools to make it happen, if he stays healthy, a groin injury has sidelined him for much of the spring.

What the Rambling Wreck will do very well this year, is attack opposing offenses. The Yellow Jackets have one of the top ends and one of the top tackles in the league, Michael Johnson and Vance Walker will test any offensive line. The D-Line alone will keep the Yellow Jackets in most any game they play this season.

Record: 7-5

Key Games: Florida State, Mississippi State, Georgia

Miami Hurricanes: Don’t go crazy with this one, the ‘Canes fell into this spot by accident, not because they have done anything special. Miami will be pretty much all freshmen or first year players. Lucky for them their freshmen tend to be better than an average teams seniors.

The Hurricanes are moving in the right direction, and they appear to be doing it the right way. That meant getting rid of a lot of players and coaches. That will lead to disappointment in the short term, but if the Alumni can hang in there and just trust in their coach, they will find themselves back on track, especially with this talented group of freshmen.

Record: 7-5

Key Games: UCF, Virginia, Texas A&M

Virginia Cavaliers: Al Groh must go, was the chant heard round Charlottesville after an embarrassing opening lost on the road to Wyoming. However, a 9-4 campaign seemed to make many Cavalier fans forget Groh’s shortcomings and he even received a contract extension. However, after a meltdown in the Gator Bowl and an embarrassing off season that saw seven players kicked out of school perhaps Groh’s job should still be on the line.

Despite all the setbacks the Cavaliers are looking to employ a more wide open attack and actually toss the ball down field some this year, Combine a revamped passing game with the return of Cedric Peermen and Mikell Simpson at running back and the Cav’s could have a decent offense, but don’t hold your breath.

Seven wins this season would be a phenomenal achievement. (Your Gridiron Goddess says: ESPECIALLY since they open their season against USC.)

Record 6-6

Key Games: Miami, East Carolina, Clemson, USC

North Carolina Tar Heels: Butch Davis is entering his second year as head coach in Chapel Hill, and while that does mean something, Davis alone is not enough to put the Tar Heels back on the winning track. The Heels will be much better than their 4-8 mark of their last year, however due to a tough schedule; the improvement may not be seen in the win column. Out of conference games against Rutgers, Notre Dame and UConn can mean trouble for the Heels.

The bulk of their success will depend on how their backfield gels together. Greg Little is the sophomore who moved to tailback from receiver late last year and he will carry the load this season. T.J. Yates is supposed to be the starter at QB comes August, but he has not thrown much at all since shoulder surgery in December. If he is unable to go the Tar Heels will depend on backups Paulus and Sexton to step up and run the offense.

Record: 5-7

Key Games: UConn, Boston College, North Carolina State

Duke Blue Devils: I won’t lie this is just hard to do because, I don’t want to be too tongue and cheek, and Walker-Sports is not about sugar coat anything, so sorry Blue Devil fans. David Cuttcliffe has challenged his team to improve their fitness, and their team speed. To this point the team has responded well. However, Duke simply does not have the athletes to compete at the high levels of the ACC. Nonetheless, the Blue Devils will be an improved team.
Record: 2-10

Key Games, James Madison, Northwestern

ACC Championship Game: Clemson vs. Virginia Tech

Clemson wins ACC Title and Tommy Bowden goes to the Orange Bowl where the ACC can hopefully regain some respect on the national level.

That’s it for me, hope you enjoyed the preview feel free to drop a line with your comments. This is going to be a special year in college football, there’s a lot of variables out there, and a lot of new faces on the scene so buckle up and get ready for what will be a hellUVA a ride.

[Your Gridiron Goddess says: S-O-U-T-H-ERN C-A-L-I-FORNIA SOUTHERN CALIFORRRRRRRNIA. AUGUST 30TH BABY!]

A Harem of the Gridiron Goddess Post: Walker Sports with ACC Preview 2008 – Atlantic Division

Your Gridiron Goddess is happy to welcome Walker Sports to GridironGoddess.net with the ACC Preview for the Atlantic Division. He’ll be back on Saturday with the ACC Coastal Division preview. Enjoy!

Your ACC Preview – Atlantic Division

by Walker Sports

College football season is just over 50 days away, and I cannot wait. While traditionally Saturday is a Rugby day in Walker-Sports land, even rugby takes a back seat to college football. Walker-Sports originates in ACC territory and lives and breathes ACC football, yes the conference is now 10 years removed from their glory days, but better days are coming, and as out of conference scheduling picks up for many schools the ACC will soon be flexing their muscles for all the NCAA to see once again.

So saddle up, make yourself a pull pork sandwich, pour yourself a shot of Southern Comfort (or a glass of Merlot if you’re at a UVA game) and get ready to watch to some ACC football the way it was meant to be. Tough and gritty with a wide open race to the finish.

ACC Preseason Preview Atlantic Division

Clemson Tigers: There is no doubt that the Clemson Tigers are the cream of the crop when it comes to ACC football, they may even be among the elites in the NCAA. However, there is one small problem. They are the Clemson Tigers, their coach is Tommy Bowden and we have all heard this story before and it always has the same sad ending. The Tigers are stacked with talent Cullen Harper at QB is a stud who completes a high percentage of his passes. At tailback Clemson has arguably the best two tailbacks in the ACC with James Davis and C.J. Spiller. On the defensive side Clemson is returning eight starters and will look to use their speed to apply pressure to opposing teams and knock them off their game plan early.

The biggest problem Clemson will face will be keeping focus and finishing what they started. Too often Bowden’s crew has been the most talented team in the ACC, but not the most disciplined team and the result is another, 8-4 season; great if you’re Duke, but a waste if you were thinking BCS in the preseason. Let’s hope they don’t do the same this year.

Record: 10-1

Key Games: Alabama, Florida State,

Florida State Seminoles: Okay, so this was a tough one, and I’ll be the first to admit that the ‘Noles got the nod because of who they are and prior reputation, but nonetheless they made it into the second spot. Drew Weatherford has been in college since about 1990 it feels like. By now he has to be the most experienced QB in the NCAA, and that will be a big help. Weatherford was aided by the addition of Jimbo fisher as an offensive coordinator last year, and he will look to build on that previous success.

The biggest asset for Florida State is a weak schedule. They open with four consecutive home games. Matter of fact the ‘Noles won’t leave the state of Florida till mid October. This means Florida State has a good chance to rack up some quality wins at home and that could go a long way in an average ACC conference.

Record: 8-4

Key Games: Colorado, Virginia Tech, Clemson,

Wake forest Demon Deacons: Wake is in the middle of their greatest run in school history. While the coffers don’t have the talent they once had two seasons ago, they still have enough to get the job done. That means they will be .500 at the very least and with a little bit of luck they can jump into the second spot in the Atlantic Division. The bulk of their success will depend on if they can move the all on offense. Last year the Demon Deacons were routinely out gained and it cost them.

Record: 7-5

Key Games: Clemson, Virginia, Boston College

Maryland Terrapins: The Terps have struggled the past few seasons. The bulk of their problems have resulted from inconsistency at the quarterback position. Despite the instability the Terps are a tough out especially for ACC opponents. Ralph Friedgen seems to get his teams to play just well enough to keep his job. That means the Terps will be playing spoiler to a couple of ACC opponents. I would like to say that dropping WVU from the schedule would help Maryland this season, but adding Cal is no cakewalk. Look for the Terps to upset some ACC’s teams bid for a title, just hope it’s not yours.

Record 6-6

Key Games: Cal, Boston College, Wake forest

Boston College Eagles: The honeymoon is over for Coach Jagodzinski and company. Last year Jags was a first year coach and he feasted on the fruits of Tom O’Brian’s labor, mainly his grooming of QB Matt Ryan. Now Ryan along with a load of other talent is gone, and the Eagles are ready to return to earth. BC is only returning 10 starters meaning they will be very inexperienced and that leads to mistakes and close loses. As usual BC will be solid on both lines, but they just won’t have enough fire power to be in the mix. This will be one Boston team that does not bring home a championship.

Record 5-7

Key Games: UCF, North Carolina, Wake forest

North Carolina State Wolfpack: Tom O’Brian is a hell of a coach, and he will be put to the test with this NC State team. They lost 10 starters from a 5-7 team, and they only have freshmen to replace them. Combine that with a brutal non-conference schedule and you can bet the Pack will slide before they are ready to climb again. But hang in there NC State supporters, this year may be rough but positive results will be coming down the pike very soon.

Record: 3-9

Key Games: Wake forest, East Carolina

College Game day is a little late, but here!

hi Football Fiends!!!

I can’t believe this is the last Saturday of the regular CFB season. I am already feeling the withdrawals that will hit next Saturday when I wake up and Corso and Herbstreit aren’t on my T.V. Sigh.

That said- here are my picks for today, and my instinct is telling me there is at least one upset that will happen. Will the Wildcats of Arizona stun the still-beat-up-from-USC Sun Devils of ASU? Will the Vols beat the Tigers? fUCLA will NOT beat USC, I can say that with all the authority of a devout Trojan fan.

so–

USC over UCLA of course.

Oklahoma and Mizzou – guys, I am so not sure about this one. So not sure I am tempted not to pick a winner at all but I will-

Mizzou over Oklahoma

LSU over Tennessee

ASU over Arizona

Oregon State over Oregon

Cal over Stanford

VaTech over BC

Hawaii over Washington

WVU over Pitt

-Your Gridiron Goddess

College Gameday starts on Thursday at Gridiron Goddess.net

Hey Fellow Football Fiends-

My Laptop battery is dying so real quick:

16 games. 32 teams. 16 winners. 16 losers.

My Picks are straight up, spread as of 1pm Thursday November 8th in parens.

West Virginia over L’ville (fyi- spread is WVU -17) 38-31

Ohio State over Illinois (fyi spread is Ohio State -15) 28-21

Kansas over Oklahoma State (Kansas -6)

Mizzou over Texas A&M (fyi spread is Mizzou -19.5) 40-26

BC over Maryland (BC -6.5) 42-35

ASU over UCLA (ASU -7) 24-20

Auburn over Georgia (Georgia -2) 45-20

VA Tech over Florida State (VA Tech -6) 40-21

Michigan over Wisconsin (Michigan -2.5) 37-21

Cincy over UConn (Cincy -6.5) hey, aren’t these BASKETBALL schools? lol 27-3

Texas over Texas Tech (TX -6.5) 59-43

Florida over South Carolina (Florida -6.5) 51-31

USC over Cal (USC -4.5) 24-17

Air Force over Notre Dame (Air Force -3)`

Arkansas over Tennessee (even) Darren McFadden will put in a Heisman vote getting performance Boy was I wrong here. 34-13

South Florida over Syracuse (South Florida -16) The Bulls need a confidence re-builder. 41-10

-Your Gridiron Goddess

College Game Day Starts on Thursday this week here at Gridiron Goddess.net

Hi Football Fiends!  UPDATE 10-8

In honor of the BC @ Va Tech game tonight I am issuing my college picks early. It is too tempting with the curse of the #2 teams this season so far to pass up getting this game on my weekend roster.

I am either going to be GENIUS with these picks or crash and burn in a spectacular fashion as I am going for a number of high profile upsets.

And, I really really really don’t want to pick the USC-Oregon game.

18 games. 36 teams. 18 winners and 18 losers.

Virginia Tech over #2 Boston College 14-10 Is it just me or have there been more last minute nail biting decisions this season than usual? BC scores with :11 left to win it, thus escaping, at least this week, the curse of #2 IMO, Matt Ryan just cemented his Heisman front runner (with Tebow) status. Ryan had something like 350 yards. 🙂

WVU over Rutgers 31-3

Wisconsin over Indiana 33-3

Texas over Nebraska 28-25

USC over Oregon – I feel like it is bad luck to NOT pick this game. lol Obviously, when it comes to USC games, make your own decisions. Oddly, I am not upset. USC stayed in the game and was competitive. It was an uncomfortably great game to watch.

Auburn over Ole Miss 17-3

Maryland over Clemson 30-17

South Florida over UConn 22-15

Mizzou over Iowa State 42-38

Florida over Georgia 42-30

Michigan over Minnesota 34-10

UVA over NCSU 29-24

Wazzou over UCLA 27-7

Tennessee over South Carolina 27-24

Penn State over Ohio State – yes I did. 37-17

ASU over Cal – I have a hard time believing Cal would lose 3 games in a row. But I have an equally hard time believing ASU is not going to capitalize on Cal’s mistakes and keep their undefeated record. 31-20

Kansas over Texas A&M 19-11

Purdue over Northwestern 35-17

-Your Gridiron Goddess

NCAA Football’s Season of Wackiness Continues

Hi Football Fiends–did I say I was taking tonight off? Well, lol, this is a short one.

Yet another upset hit the NCAA’s football season when unranked Rutgers upset #2 ranked University of South Florida 30-27 tonight. USF joins Cal and USC as one of the three teams ranked #2 this season to lose when ranked #2 in the polls.

USF now falls to 6-1, 1-1 in the Big East. USF joins the ranks of the 1 loss teams in the top 25: LSU, Cal, USC, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Oregon, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virgina Tech, Texas Tech, Cincinnati and Mizzou.

The only remaining unbeaten teams in the top 20 are: Ohio State, Boston College, Arizona State, Kansas and Hawaii.

Let the madness continue, eh?

-Your Gridiron Goddess

BCS stands for…

HA! You’re all expecting a rant from your die hard Trojan Gridiron Goddess aren’t you football fiends? You expect me to be pissed off that USC is ranked 14th in the first Bullshit College Standings that came out today don’t you?

Well, I’m not.

Shocked?

The BCS rankings for week 1 are:

1. Ohio State

2. South Florida

3. Boston College

4. LSU

5. Oklahoma

6. South Carolina

7. Kentucky

8. ASU

9. West Virginia

10. Oregon

11. Virginia Tech

12. California

13. Kansas

14. USC

15. Florida

16. Missouri

17. Auburn

18. Hawaii

19. Virginia

20. Georgia

21. Tennessee

22. Texas

23. Cincinnati

23. Texas Tech

25. Michigan

And while I have issue with some of this list, overall, well… I have pledged not to take it all so damn seriously this year.

But I think my ability to do that is directly related to my frank analysis of this year’s, this moment in time’s Trojan team. We’re new. We’re raw. We’re talented. We’re injured. Or, you know, THEY are since I am not a football player. The Trojans are decimated by injuries and not performing as powerfully on either offense or defense as we are all used to seeing them perform.

And that’s OK. Really, it has to be OK because that is how it is, right?

(It’s called assimilation, fiends.)

Do I think Ohio State is the best team in the country? I don’t know. They are good. Have they played anyone good enough to truly test them? Not yet. Same could be said of BC. Of USC even.

All we can do is let the season unfold, right? Because otherwise, well, Your Gridiron Goddess will need blood pressure meds to prevent stress induced heart attacks from my fits of righteous indignation. lol

-Your Gridiron Goddess

College Game Day starts at Gridiron Goddess.net

Fellow football fiends! How’s it hangin’ on this fine Friday night? I must say I had quite the enjoyable evening with one of my bestest pals in the whole wide world, Ashley. She’s in town from St. Thomas USVI, is a UF Gator alum, and a Delta Gamma like me. She rocks. Which reminds me, I have a funny story to tell y’all about from when I went to visit Ash down in the Virgin Islands over my last birthday in April. It starts out something like – what do you do when one Trojan alum and one Gator alum, both sorority girls, are confronted with an 18 year old high school senior who just committed to Notre Dame? And yeah, it may or may not have involved the bunny ears we are wearing in this pic. We’re FUN, y’all. LOL

 

It’s a great story. And I think y’all will laugh and laugh and laugh. But for now, it’s been a hell of a long day, there was wine and possibly french fries involved this evening and yo-College Game Day starts at freaking 7am out here on the left coast. And I’ll be up for it, especially since it is taking place at Nebraska, where my beloved Trojans are playing tomorrow.

 

So, I am gonna quit my yammering now and just get down to my picks.

 

USC over Nebraska – UPDATE USC wins 49-31 I kind of hate it when late TDs are scored against our 2nd and 3rd string, but I also don’t believe in leaving first string in when you are so far ahead just to run up the score. It is a conundrum my friends.

 

Florida over Tennessee UPDATE: Florida wins 59-20 I disagree completely with Urban Meyer leaving Tebow in so long, it smacks of a potential Bama-Tyrone Prothro tragedy all over again. LOVED the Gator’s backup QB-What a character! Looking forward to seeing more of him. And for the record, I think it is classless to run up the score. I do realize it IS done regularly in some conferences, I am just used to the Pac-10 way of doing things.

 

Georgia Tech over BC UPDATE: BC wins 24-10

 

Louisville over Kentucky – though I must say, I am very tempted to go with Kentucky here UPDATE: Kentucky wins 40-34. Another barn burner

 

Virginia Tech over Ohio UPDATE VT wins 28-7

Iowa over Iowa State UPDATE: Iowa State wins 15-13

Oklahoma over Utah State UPDATE: Oklahoma wins 54-3

Oregon over Fresno State UPDATE: Oregon wins 52-21

LSU over MTSU UPDATE: LSU wins 44-0

Washington over Ohio State – yep, I am serious. Willingham’s team has got the mojo right now. UPDATE: Ohio State wins 33-14

Bama over Arkansas UPDATE: Bama wins 41-38 in a total nail biting barn-burner 4th qtr! YAY!

Cal over Louisiana Tech UPDATE: Cal wins 42-12

UCLA over Utah UPDATE: Utah wins 44-6. Am so not unhappy to have wrongly predicted this one. 😉 hee hee

Michigan over Notre Dame UPDATE: Michigan wins 38-0 Wow. There truly are no words for how bad ND is, especially on offense.

Florida State over Colorado UPDATE: Florida State wins 16-6 Is it just me or was this the longest game in history? Or maybe it’s just because it is my 16th hour of football today now?

Hawaii over UNLV UPDATE: Hawaii wins 49-14

and I am gonna go out on a limb and say:

Virginia over UNC UPDATE: Virginia wins 22-20

OK, Your Gridiron Goddess must get her beauty sleep for she has a whole day of NCAA football ahead of her.

-Your Gridiron Goddess