Not much to add. Last week went well, and will hopefully pave the way to an extremely successful season.

I appreciate all the kind words, but don’t worry, I will in no way let last week’s financial success and heaping praise go to my head.

Nope, I’m committed to working extremely hard to provide quality investments for my loyal readers.

(Snorts blow off of coffee table.)

(Orders three lingering Asian hookers to leave.)

It’s time for Week 2…

The picks:

East Carolina (-4.5) v. North Carolina - Two units

It was hard not to be impressed by East Carolina’s performance last week. They actually outrushed Virginia Tech 142 to 33, demonstrating their much improved size and strength. QB Patrick Pinckney was impressive off the bench, accounting for 163 yards and no turnovers versus a very good defense. He’ll get the start and should find the going much easier against an extremely young Tar Heel defense.

Skip Holtz and the Pirates continue to be extremely underrated. They’re 19-5 against the spread since Holtz arrived. UNC had 12 first time starters last week and managed only 2.9 yards per carry versus James Madison. Butch Davis will improve UNC in time, but this team is clearly in rebuilding mode at this point.

Central Michigan (-3) v. Toledo - Two units

The bad news here is that Central Michigan got absolutely sodomized by Kansas last week. The good news is that because of this, we get a very reasonable spread. Listen, the MAC sucks, but it’s all relative. Toledo also turned in a poor performance last week, getting spanked at home by an extremely flawed Purdue team.

I believe that Central Michigan is a notch above Toledo, they’re at home, and they’re only laying a field goal. Just promise me you won’t watch this game.

Nevada at Northwestern (over 50) - Two units

This over/under should be in the high 50’s. Both of these defenses suck. Badly. Nevada was gashed by Nebraska last week, giving up over 400 rushing yards. This will play right to Northwestern’s strength, as a consistent running game will open things up for their spread attack.

Regarding Northwestern’s defense, I’m not sure that they even recruit that side of the ball. Nevada’s “pistol” offense should give them fits.

Virginia Tech (+11 to 11.5) v. LSU - One unit

Did Virginia Tech’s offense look like shit last week? Absolutely. Is Tech QB Sean Glennon a poor man’s Helen Keller? Quite possibly. But I still think this line is an overreaction to Tech’s lackluster performance from last week. This game will almost certainly be a slugfest, so getting this many points is huge. Make no mistake, Tech’s defense and special teams is still among the nation’s elite and should keep them within striking distance in this game.

LSU’s offense still has a lot of questions to answer despite their lopsided victory against Mississippi State last week. As their point production can be mostly attributed to favorable field position due to turnovers.

Bowling Green (+18.5) v. Michigan State - One unit

People are getting a little carried away with Michigan State’s blowout win last week over UAB. Put it this way: The 2007 UAB football team could likely turn into a historical disaster which makes the Titanic pale in comparison.

Bowling Green had an impressive performance of their own last week, winning straight up as a 14 point dog at Minnesota and piling up over 500 yards of offense. They got extremely productive play from their QB, and I expect that trend to continue on Saturday as I still think that Michigan State has serious question marks on defense.

Michigan State will have success running the football, but I expect Bowling Green’s offense to keep them in the game. I don’t feel that Michigan State is that much better than Minnesota, so I expect this game to be competitive.

TCU (+9) v. Texas - One unit

I’m not sure what has happened with Texas, but this is nowhere near the dominating squad we’re accustomed to seeing. Their defense flat out sucks right now, giving up 283 passing yards to an Arkansas State team that just discovered the forward pass this offseason. They were actually outgained by Arkansas State last week. It’s looks very likely that the Longhorns could really
struggle this year.

On the other side, I think that TCU is a legit Top 20 team. TCU’s defense will keep them in this game, and their offense should find some success against the struggling Longhorn defense.

Ohio (-1) v. UL Lafayette - One unit

Again, I think that we’re getting a very reasonable spread here when comparing these two teams. UL Lafayette played well at South Carolina last week, but I think they’re getting a little more credit here than they deserve. I think that Ohio is superior here in virtually every phase of the game, so
I’ll take my chances with them coming out on top even though they’re on the road.

Comments and questions are welcome in the comments section below. Good luck to all this weekend.

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