Oct. 17, 2009

Mailbag

Joe,

0-3?! Why no NFL picks?

John from Buffalo...

John,

Clearly, 0-3 is unacceptable. Got a little unlucky in the Wisconsin game, when the Badgers out gained Ohio St yet still failed to cover a pretty big number. No excuses, however. We are awful, almost beyond redemption, and no one here is going to deny that. But just like there was no giving up after the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, there's no giving up in the Playhouse either.

By the way, John, did you really want our NFL picks after that wretched display. We didn't even want our own opinion. As has been written far too often in this space so far this season, we feel like we are due for a big week.

Super Play of the Week

Texas' most impressive win is a 64-7 beat down of UTEP, who may or may not have the talent to win the Texas 6A high school state championship. The Longhorns have struggled with the likes of Colorado and Wyoming, while Texas Tech played them pretty tight as well. Now, their fans will say the OU game is the only one that matters, and it's the one the players and coaches have been looking forward to all year. Maybe. But considering how they were left out of the BCS national title game last season, that's a bit hard to believe. More likely, Texas may not be as good as everyone thought they would be.

Oklahoma, for their part, has been disappointment, no matter the health of QB Sam Bradford and TE Germaine Gresham, who was lost for the year just before the first game season. It was pretty much unthinkable two months ago that that the Sooners would have two losses by early October, if at all. Still, there's no denying their talent. Look for the the Oklahoma defense, led by perhaps the best front four in college football, to contain Colt McCoy, hold down a mediocre Texas run offense and, not only cover, but win straight up. Oklahoma +130.


Other plays

Notre Dame +10.5
Idaho -8.5
Colorado +10.5

Record to date

We actually consider this to be the first week of the rest of our betting lives, so we are a respectable 0-0.

Most absurd thing we heard all week (new feature)

Lou Holtz on ESPNews picked South Carolina and Notre Dame to win straight up. Nothing going on there.