Written by Ell
| 06 November 2008
[ED: Yes, I know this is being posted at halftime of the TCU-Utah game, but the picks were made before that. Sorry.]
And nxojkt doesn't come back to the field. He sustains his lead over the field, and extends the lead on Glen.
| Player |
This Week |
Overall Record |
| nxojkt |
4-2 |
45-15 |
| Glen55 |
3-3 |
40-20 |
| Ell |
4-2 |
38-22 |
| Crump |
3-3 |
34-26 |
Here are this week's picks:
| Game |
Ell |
nxojkt |
Glen55 |
Crump |
| Oklahoma St @ Texas Tech |
OK St |
Texas Tech |
OK St |
Texas Tech |
| Georgia @ Kentucky |
Georgia |
Georgia |
Georgia |
Georgia |
| Oregon St @ UCLA |
Oregon St |
Oregon St |
Oregon St |
Oregon St |
| TCU @ Utah |
TCU |
Utah |
TCU |
Utah |
| Georgia Tech @ N. Carolina |
UNC |
UNC |
UNC |
UNC |
Ugh. No surprise we're on Gameday - this slate of games sucks. Now, for the big game.
nxojkt:
LSU is tough and talented, but that has not translated to good play on the football field. They have only beaten one team with a winning record and have allowed 103 combined points in the only two games that they played against tough competition. You would have to expect that the Tigers will bring their best on Saturday against their former coach and the number one team in the nation.
Thankfully I don't think their best will be enough. I think this game has the potential to be very similar to Alabama's visit to Athens, though I'm not going to go as far as predicting 31-0 at the half. This is certainly a game that Bama could lose if the Tide doesn't play at a high level, but this team is too focused and too hungry to do anything but bring their best. Look for Bama to continue its road trend of taking the crowd out of the game by half time and coasting to a solid two score victory.
Glen55:
Every single day of the 22 months since Alabama hired Nick Saban has been an opportunity for LSU fans to gain perspective and realize that Saban's hiring was not the end of the world and Saban is not the Uber-Grinch. I'm afraid that most of those opportunities have been wasted. Nevertheless, I think we can be grateful that Alabama's visit to Baton Rouge did not occur until late in the second season after that hiring, about as long a delay as is possible in an SEC rivalry schedule.
Still. I just hope everybody gets out alive.
As for the football game, if John Parker Wilson let's last year's late fumble against the Tigers get too much into his head and reverts to 2007 second-half form, we could have a problem. More likely, though, would be for Wilson to keep up his season-long trend of playing much better football on the road than at home, in which case the Tide should handle LSU in style. If Wilson's performance is somewhere in between those extremes, that should be good enough, because Alabama, as it turns out, does pretty clearly appear to have a better team than LSU. The spread is only three, so I'd say Bama is a good bet to cover.
Ell:
It should be an interesting weekend in Louisiana. I just hope I get home without a bourbon bottle embedded in any of my orifices. OK, an orifice that's not my mouth, and a bourbon bottle that's not mine.
LSU is overrated. Still. I thought from the outset they'd struggle in the SEC, and the quarterback situation is worse than bad. The defense has given up over 100 points to the last two quality opponents. The ONLY two quality opponents they've played all year. This is a team that played Auburn close. Auburn is bad.
This game could very well be a runaway. Nick Saban will have the team focused and angry, and we'll be on them early and often.
Crump:
Intense. That is what it will be Saturday afternoon in Red Stick. Thank God the game is at 2:30 and not at night. The classy (sarcasm alert!) Tiger faithful will be lubed up enough by noon, no need to give them an extra few hours.
This game, as most of them do, will come down to the big nasties. If Andre Smith and the gang can handle LSU's talented defensive front four and if Terrance Cody can return from injury to anchor a defensive line that needs to get pressure to free up Rolando McClain and Dont'a Hightower to be able to key on tailback Charles Scott.
If Bama can shut down Scott, then it increases the pressure on Jarrett Lee to make plays and he hasn't shown a propensity to do that this season.
As it gets closer to game time, I am beginning to think the Tide will win big in Nick Saban's return to Baton Rouge.
Submit your own picks for these games in the comments section.
