Lou’s Locks

Alright boys and girls, I am back for another year of pigskin prognostications. Last year I hit over 60% winners during the CFB regular season. Now the bowl season was another story, but I just want to forget about that and move on to ‘08. There are a lot of good games in week 1 and some definite value out there. If you do not want to receive this weekly e-mail, please reply to me and I will take you off the list. If you have a comment, please just reply to me as there are a large number of people on this thread who have better things to do than review 100 e-mails complaining about my picks.

Before I get to the picks just a couple of thoughts. First, I really do not like the new clock rules implemented this year for CFB. The 40 second play clock, no time stoppage for out of bounds, no 2 minute warning, will all cut down the overall time of the game. Why do we want to shorten the best sport in the world? These new clock rules will also hinder a team trying to make a comeback at the end of games and will tend to make the games lower scoring (look for under on totals early in the year). I wish they would leave the clock rules alone, this is not the NFL, and who would want it to be? Next, did anyone see the hideous tie that Jessie “The Bachelor” Palmer was sporting last night while doing the color analysis for the So Car/NCST game? It came about half way down his shirt and was a complete joke. It looked like he got it from the WalMart “Red Buttons” Collection. If it would have had a couple of gravy stains on it, then it would have been exactly like my Uncle Earl’s tie from the mid 70s. Jessie was already a clown, but now he is rivaling Granny Holtz for the biggest tool on ESPN, and that my friends is an accomplishment.

Ok, now onto the Locks.

1. OK ST -7 v. WAZZU (IN SEATTLE) The Cowboys return 13 starters to a team that was 7-6 last year, but at times was an offensive juggernaut (34.5 pts./game). The D should be vastly improved this year and the O will be as good or better than last year. QB Z. Robinson (32 TDs, 9 INTs and 3,671 yds) is a very good signal caller, and he has tons of weapons to work with … WR D. Bryant and RBs B. Johnson, K. Hunter and K. Toston. Ok St returns 4 starters to an OL that should manhandle a Wazzu DL that has 0 starting experience. That is the huge mismatch in this game, and the Pokes should be able to run at will on Wazzu as well as give Robinson plenty of time to pick apart the Cougar D. Wazzu has a new HC in P. Wulff who is trying to install a new no huddle, spread O. It may take a few weeks to work out the kinks with this new plan. This game is not in Pullman, so not a true home game for Wazzu which is big. While I am not completely sold on HC Mike “I am forty, I am a Man” Gundy, the Okie Pokies have a distinct advantage in the trenches which should carry the day. Although I don’t think you will need it, buy the half point off the key number of 7 down to 6.5 just to make sure. OK ST 42 WAZZU 24

2. U$C -19 @ UVA I usually avoid playing double digit road favorites, but with the Trojans’ recent success of hammering teams on the road, this one was too good to pass up. U$C will have one of the best Ds in all of CFB this year led by LBs R. Maualuga, B. Cushing and safeties K. Ellison and T. Mays. While they have to replace 6 starters on O, the team is littered with 5 star talent and should not miss a beat. QB M. Sanchez will play and will have RBs J. McKnight and S. Johnson to carry the load. UVA, on the other hand, was one of the luckiest teams in CFB last year winning 6 of their 9 games by a total of 12 points. Also, the Cavs have been decimated on both sides of the ball by graduation, suspension and dismissals. Most noteworthy is the loss of QB J. Sewell to academics, AA DE C. Long (NFL) and DE J. Fitzgerald (left the team for unknown reasons). The Cavs return two very good RBs in C. Peerman and M. Simpson but are very young and inexperienced otherwise. U$C should be able to name the score in this one, but my only worry is that they will play very vanilla and may call the dogs off early with the huge tilt with O$U looming in 2 weeks. However, USC’s 3rd team should be able to handle UVA this year. U$C 38 UVA 10

3. N’WESTERN -11 v. SYRACUSE The Wildcats have one of the youngest and most underrated HCs in P. Fitzgerald while the ‘Cuse has one of the worst HCs in G. Robinson. HC mismatch here my friends. Look for NW to go to a bowl game this year and make some noise in the weak Big 10. NW returns a very good QB in Sr. C.J. Batcher (led the Big 10 last year in total O) and has 2 very talented RBs in T. Sutton and O. Conteh. Also, NW returns 8 starters on D with all four on the DL coming back. Syracuse is a mess, and HC Robinson is on the hot seat. To add insult to injury, the ‘Cuse recently lost starting WR M. Williams and DE B. Gilbeaux due to academics. The Orange has no OL to speak of and should get dominated by NW’s front 4. While Cuse QB A. Robinson is decent, he will most likely be running for his life all day. Also, Syracuse is 0-4 in their last 4 road openers losing by an average of 30 points. NW 35 SYR 14

OTHER GAMES THAT I LIKE BUT DID NOT MAKE THE CUT:
TEMPLE -7 (FRI)
WYO -11
TULSA -13
LA TECH +8
BC -9.5
E CAR +9.5
KY +4 (SUN)
COLO -11 (SUN)
FRESNO +5.5 (MON)
GOOD LUCK