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Look for some routes in Week 1 CFB action.

Rather than getting into the razzle-dazzle of breaking down the high-profile week 1 college football games. Let’s throw a few picks up on the board and see how these do. Now, I’m merely trusting my gut here with these picks. Before taking any of these games, please do your own due diligence. I generally don’t like high spreads, but if there’s any time to lay big points in anticipation of a route, it’s week 1 of college football. I have all home team powerhouse programs on the board against the jobbers of college football, which I like.

AUBURN (-24) over Utah State — I smell a good ole’ fashion route to the tune of 40+ points to 3-10. You have to get the home fans into the season after winning the National Championship. Look for Auburn to impress.

MISSOURI (-20) over Miami-Ohio — I like it, don’t love it. Miami-Ohio isn’t a shabby team in the Mid-American Conference, but Missouri should win in a beatdown.

NEBRASKA (-36) over Tennessee-Chattanooga — Week 1 is the time to pick up routings. You think Tennessee-Chattanooga is going to score against the Nebraska defense? QB Taylor Martinez is an absolute stud. He’ll be ready to become a household name this season. I’m thinking this one ends 45-0.

MICHIGAN (-14) over Western Michigan — Denard Robinson was insane his freshman year. I want to see some follow up in his sophomore year. Nice start to week 1 with a Michigan matchup at home.

NOTRE DAME (-10) over Southern Florida — ND returning 17 starters. A lot of people are raving about this Notre Dame team this year. The ND defense should be solid. On offense, you …

Will LSU's defensive line shut down LeMichael James?

NO. 4 LSU TIGERS VS. NO. 3 OREGON DUCKS (-3)

This game is riddled with suspensions on both sides. The key suspensions are LSU QB Jordan Jefferson and Oregon CB Cliff Harris. However, the loss of Jefferson is not a major blow to LSU. The LSU offense was able to do just fine last season despite Jefferson’s subpar 7 TD and 10 INTs last season while completing just 56% of his passes. LSU beat both Florida and Alabama in the regular season. His backup is Jarrett Lee, who some consider a better pocket passer than Jefferson, and Lee took a few snaps almost every game last season. Lee is prone to make critical mistakes though, so expect LSU to heavily rely on their running game led by sophomore RB Spencer Ware.

The key matchup this game is the LSU defensive line vs. the Oregon offensive line, who will be trying to move the ball with Heisman hopeful LeMichael James. With three new starters on the Oregon defensive line, LSU may win that matchup and dominate the trenches. The LSU defense was ranked 13th in the nation last season.

Although LSU may win the battle at the scrimmage, Oregon can swing LeMichael James out on screens, wheel routes, swing routes, work some play action, and have returning QB Darron Thomas hit his speedy receivers. Thomas completed 61% of his passes for 2,881 yards, 30 TDs and 9 INTs last season.The Oregon defense isn’t too shabby either. They finished 34th in the nation last season and will be returning 5 starters. However, they’ll be without key cornerback and playmaking returnman Cliff Harris.

This is a great game to kickoff the college football season in …

TCU HORNED FROGS (-3.5) @ BAYLOR BEARS

The player to watch this game is Baylor QB Robert Griffin III (see highlights after the jump). Griffin threw for 3,501 yards and 22 TDs last year, completed 67% of his passes, finished third in passer rating in the Big 12 last year, and added 635 yards and 8 TDs with his legs last season. That helped Baylor become the 13th-ranked offense last season. That type of play will have him on the early Heisman watch and he also has the benefit of five returning receivers.  We’ll see how RB3 performs against a TCU team that has not lost a regular season game since 2008. But with QB Andy Dalton and half of TCU’s starters gone, is TCU the same team they were in years past?

They have a new QB to replace Andy Dalton. TCU’s new QB is Casey Pachall. Pachall is entering his sophomore year and was a top high-school talent. Pachall will have plenty of help in the backfield with Ed Wesley, Matthew Tucker and Waymon James returning. The three combined for 2,300 yards and 23 TDs last season. However, TCU returns just one lineman. On the defensive side, TCU had a top-notch defense last year that surrendered just 12 PPG and 228 YPG. Although TCU has lost 6 starters, they’ve held onto LB Tank Karter, the Mountain West defensive player of the year, and have plenty other key players back on D.

Although Baylor has an impressive QB, their defense is extremely poor — ranked 104 last year and giving up 435 YPG and 30.5 PPG. That poor unit also lost a lot players. Baylor finished last year 7-6. In their matchup last year, TCU destroyed Baylor …

Question: I need some help making my week 5 survivor pool pick.

So far this season I’ve used picks on the Giants, Packers, Patriots, and Jets.

I’m thinking of taking the New Orleans Saints (away) over the Arizona Cardinals or the San Diego Chargers (away) over the Oakland Raiders.

I want to get your thoughts on the picks.

Answer:

You’ve already used your picks on some really good teams so it will be hard to make your picks throughout the rest of the year, but the Saints over the Cardinals is an easy pick to make in week 5.

What I do is make my picks for the whole season at the beginning so I can strategically pick which teams I want to take each week and save the stronger teams for later in the season.

Add your own answer in the comments!…

The NFL season is almost upon us. I’m sure all off you are playing Madden non-stop while boozing or indulging in other vice activities. I stumbled upon some interesting over/under team win props to consider before the season kicks off. Below are some of the props that stuck out to me.

1.) Detroit Lions – Over/Under 7.5 wins – Over (-190)  – I am high on the Lions this year.  I believe they’ll have a top 5 offense provided that Matthew Stafford avoids injury. With Calvin Johnson, Jahvid Best and Brandon Pettigrew, this team will put up points. I’ll also be curious to see how WR Titus Young from Boise State has an impact on this team. The next DeSean Jackson anyone? Although the preseason doesn’t mean squat, the Lions are the 1st ranked overall offense and passing offense.  I can almost guarantee that the Lions will not finish the season with a losing record this year.  Their defense will also be legit this year too. In the top 50% of NFL defenses for sure. They drafted DT Fairley to help out Suh on the line, added DE Vanden Bosch last year, and then his teammate LB Tulloch from that tough Titans D. Some people are even predicting that they’ll win the NFC and stamp their tickets to the Super Bowl.

The Schedule: The Lions schedule does not look too bad. Assuming the Lions split games with the Bears, Vikings, and maybe Packers, we’re looking at about a 3-3 conference record. They may even sweep the Vikings and Bears. You can then count on wins against Carolina, Oakland, San Francisco, and Denver.  Now that we’re at 7 wins, the Lions should be able to pull one or two off against …

Excuse me for my extended hiatus during the final stretch of the season. What happened? Work happened. Thankfully Brandon’s SMART BET COLLEGE BOWL SPECIAL went an insane 9-2. Therefore, if you have been following our picks this season, you banked a ton of coin so be thankful.

What is the future of THE PASS RUSH? Well there is one final game in the football season until we’re left with a baseball season that is 60 games deep into the season with 102 games left while we’re left pulling our hair out until training camp begins. Will we be back for a fourth season of football picks and analysis? Only time will tell. Onto my thoughts for the Super Bowl.

When I handicapped this game before looking at the spread, I put the Steelers at 3-point favorites. However, the Steelers come into this one as 2.5-point underdogs. I found that surprising, but this isn’t a matter of who is right, but who the public is rooting for.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of the Steelers. This is their third Super Bowl appearance in the last six years. The thought of the Steelers in another Super Bowl makes me want to vomit. I am sure that everyone who doesn’t live in the western half of Pennsylvania will be Packers fans on Sunday. Everyone and their mother will be throwing money on the Packers hoping they will somehow top the Steelers regardless of whether they believe with cold-hard conviction that they will win. They want to put money on the Packers just to give themselves a reason to get worked up about this game.

I think the Packers can win, but I don’t think they should be favored here. …

It’s a good time to be a NFL fan as you not only are able to watch your favorite team in action each week but now it’s easier than ever to place a wager as well to make it more interesting. In the past you’d have to know a bookie and deal with all sorts of shadiness and uncertainty; that’s no longer the case with tons of reputable, trusted online sportsbooks that let you wager on NFL games as well as other sports. Whether you’re a Packers, Saints, or Bears fans, you can bet on your favorite team with just a few clicks of the mouse.

As far as choosing a sportsbook, there are plenty out there, and most also offer you the chance to play online blackjack, compete in poker tournaments, and enjoy other casino games as well. Once you get your NFL bets in, playing a little poker while you watch the games can be a perfect way to spend the afternoon. Many people worry about the safety and security of online sportsbook and other gambling sites but online wagering has become a very big business, to the point that many companies are large, reputable businesses that trade on public stock exchanges, so they definitely aren’t shady, fly-by-night operations.

One nice bonus of signing up at an online sportsbook is exactly that: a bonus. Many sportsbooks offer free cash bonuses for players that create an account, and you can often get a sportsbook bonus as well as a poker or casino bonus, which lets you enjoy the best online roulette, craps, and video poker odds, as the extra bonus money potentially gives you an edge that you’ll never find in a Las Vegas casino, where you’re …