MarinerDuckBoy is out to defend his title.

The rules:

1. Pick the winners in EACH game.

2. Predict how many points the team you pick to win the designated Game of the Week will win by. This will be used for tiebreak purposes. This week it is the Florida @ Miami (FL) game.

3. The first pick is needed by the kickoff of the first game -- noon eastern time on Saturday.

4. Picks MUST be submitted either via the Private Message function or E-mail. My email address is dcbucky2000@hotmail.com -- please do not post your picks here. Include your Outsports nickname with your picks.

This week's line-up:

1. Maryland @ Florida State. The winner will have a leg up in the ACC race. The Terps need to bounce back – but have they ever won in Tallahassee? (well, actually, they've never even beaten FSU) With lots of talk about FSU and Bobby Bowden being down-and-out -- might this be the Terps' year?
Last season: FSU 37 - Terps 10.

2. Oklahoma @ Alabama. The preseason national champ favorite Sooners travel to Bama, who are playing under new coach Mike Shula.
Last season: Oklahoma 37 – Alabama 27

3. Auburn @ Georgia Tech. One of these 0-1 teams will get back on track, with the Tigers going on the road to try to recover from last week’s loss.

4. Virginia @ South Carolina. UVA will be playing without their starting stud QB, Matt Schaub. Backup Anthony Martinez was adequate against Duke – but South Carolina ain’t Duke (Vanderbilt, of course, has that honor in SEC football) – can he do it on the road?
Last season: UVA 34 – SC 21

5. UCLA @ Colorado. The Bruins open their season with a tough road game – Colorado racked up 42 points and some 500 yards in their thrilling win over Colorado State – of course, they also gave up 37 points and some 500 yards …
Last season: Colorado 31 – UCLA 17

6. Washington State @ Notre Dame. ND Coach Willingham is out to prove that last year’s 8-4 record was no fluke and that he has the Irish back on track. But will it be Touchdown Jesus or Illegal Receiver Downfield Jesus in South Bend? He’ll need this win before heading into the Big Ten portion of the schedule.

7. Boston College @ Penn State. It’s old-time pre-Big Ten eastern football for the Nittany Lions (they used to face, and beat, BC yearly before entering the conference and facing real competition ...). Two questions: Was BC suffering from ACC-letdown in their loss to Wake? More importantly why did PSU beat Temple by only 23-10?

8. BYU @ USC. Just how good is USC?? Can they bring a BCS Championship to the Left Coast? A bunch of Mormons will come knocking on their door on Saturday (sounds just like my house!) in search of The Truth.

9. Bowling Green @ Purdue. This is here because, well, we needed a 9th game and the pickings were slim (it was either this or LSU @ Arizona -- plus I'm wasn't gonna jinx my Badgers by including the Akron Zips game)! Last week a MAC team surprised a top 25 team – can the Falcons sneak past the Boilermakers?

10. GAME OF THE WEEK: Florida @ Miami (FL). - tiebreaker - predict by how many points the victor will win.
Can't improve on the NYTimes for this description: "The universities are about 340 miles apart, yet have met only twice since 1987 - both lopsided Miami victories, 37-20 in the Sugar Bowl and 41-16 last year. Older Hurricanes fans still carry a grudge against Florida for what became known as the Gator Flop in 1969, when Gators defenders fell on the ground and allowed Miami to score late in a 45-16 rout so that quarterback John Reaves could set the NCAA career total yardage record.

Meanwhile, longtime Florida fans seem to be just getting used to the fact that the Hurricanes are a perennial national power, not the yearly punching bag they were in the 1960's, 70's and much of the 80's. And they point to their yearly crowd-drawing superiority.

Adding to the drama of the teams' meeting Saturday night at the Orange Bowl - both are 1-0 and nationally ranked - is that they are not scheduled to play again until 2008."
Last season: Miami 41 - Florida 16.

Cut and paste below:
1. Maryland @ Florida State
2. Oklahoma @ Alabama
3. Auburn @ Georgia Tech
4. Virginia @ South Carolina
5. UCLA @ Colorado
6. Washington State @ Notre Dame
7. Boston College @ Penn State
8. BYU @ USC
9. Bowling Green @ Purdue
10. Florida @ Miami (FL) -- tiebreaker -- predict by how many points the victor will win.

[ September 03, 2003, 06:30 AM: Message edited by: DCBucky ]

Picks received from:

azairforce
bobby78751
inmatman

... and more in from:

cattledog
MSUBobcat
theodoresdaddy
MarinerDuckBoy
GatorJamie

I shouldn't have to work this hard to make picks on week 2!!!!!

How bad is Auburn? How good is Colorado? How are UCLA, Notre Dame and Purdue going to play? How good is BYU and what does that mean about GT? Good enough to beat UCLA and Auburn? How will UVA and UMD do with their major injuries? When was the last time I picked Florida to lose with so much certainty?

Excellent selections Bucky.

Jim

Picks in from:

George_vikingfan
ugadawgs89
meric
wishbone
jerseyguy
Charlie in the Trees
Pat125
BikeJocks

Received picks from bballrob.

My picks for the record:

1. Florida State
2. Oklahoma
3. Auburn
4. South Carolina
5. Colorado
6. Notre Dame
7. Penn State
8. USC
9. Purdue
10. Miami by 10

At first I was going to sigh with disappointment over Buck's lack of confidence until I realized he doesn't think that Miami will beat the spread.

Ahhhh...much better now.

Glad to see you went with PSU after their uninspiring win last week.

DCBucky...wow, you're going 9-10 this week since I'm going 10-10. *I wish*

That was a tough pick -- finally had to go with the Nittany Lions's home field advantage.

Hmmmm interesting, Bucky. Looks like we have the same picks this week. Will it come down to the point spread again?

Glad to see you're showing some love for the Gamecocks, Bucky wink ....even with Schaub out this week I'm afraid we're still gonna have our hands full battling the Wahoos, though -- especially after last week's unimpressive 14-7 victory over "mighty" Louisiana-Lafayette.

I did find Lou Holtz' comments earlier this week even more funny than normal, though, when he said the 'Cocks chances of defeating UVA were as good as that porn star winning the California recall election ....I'm just hoping Al Groh's squad starts believing Lou's rhetoric and comes in a bit overconfident -- and that our usually stellar defense gives UVA's inexperienced freshman QB fits....GO COCKS!

[quote]gamecock:
[QUOTE]GO COCKS! [/quote]Even though I doubt you showed my guys any luv (unless you picked us to beat the spread), I'll echo that and cheer for your Cocks to beat Mr. Jefferson's school. SEC, baby!

Gay Goters!

I too hope, pray and beg that the Cocks beat up on the Wahoos, but knowing Virginia's history, they constantly win games that I want them to lose, damn it. I love Lou Holtz, his coaching ability and his wit, except for that unfortunate time that he chose to coach Team NBC of South Bend.

I also love all the cute Abercrombie boys in the south that walk around wearing the "Go Cocks" baseball hats. If only they meant it.

What's the difference between a straight boy and a gay one--about a six pack

liquor them up and they'll mean it!

More picks in from:

RJ in Huntington
im4psu
Go Monica
Gamecock
Kattt
UW Fan
GarnetGoldPride
Stickney
MBMSLJOCK
itsplaytym
AU Tiger in LA
Palladio

I'll post our collective wisdom on the games a bit later this a.m.

I've got a USC cap that says COCKS in big letters. I love wearing that cap--especially around clueless guys who aren't into collegiate athletics have no idea what it really means. Lou's Cocks are one of my picks this week, too...but not in three more weeks when they face my Volunteers in Knoxville -- Tennessee has a huge ax to grind with those Cocks boys.

Picks in from Aubie in Bham. Still 24 hours for others to submit theirs.

Of the 31 entries thus far, except for one game, we're lopsided. Our picks:

16 - 15
South Carolina over UVA

23 - 8
Auburn over GaTech

26 - 5
Notre Dame over Washington State
Purdue over Bowling Green

27 - 4
The Pennsylvania State University over BC
Colorado over ucla

29 - 2
Miami of Florida over Florida - by at least two touchdowns.

30 - 1
Florida State over Maryland
Oklahoma over Alabama

and
31 - 0
Southern Cal over BYU

Picks in from NorCalHusker and hwkpride

Originally posted by DCBucky:

The Pennsylvania State University

Bucky, why the formality. We are just good old Penn State. Your friend to the north. The, still, new guy in the Big Ten. Just good old PSU according to LaVar Arrington in his introduction during the Redskins game last night. Save the terms "The and University" for the fine folks at Ohio State. Did I just say fine folks about OSU..well they are the defending National Champs.

I don't think I've EVER heard or seen the full name before. But even I was baffled by Lavar's "P"-"S"-"U". I was at a noisy sports bar and not really paying attention, so I didn't hear him say his name, but the "P"-"S"-"U" caught my ear and I wondered "what the hell is PSU?"

Nobody knows about Pennsylvania State University or PSU. That would be like saying University of Southern California!

Jim

breesboy and MiamiDr have sent in their picks.

What about Utah at Texas A&M? I have a feeling my Ags are going to have to battle hard at home tonight.

What the hell is up with the Penn State/BC game?

BC is up by 20????????

Damn JoePa. This is the last time I ever pick Penn State

Originally posted by Theo's daddy...

What the hell is up with the Penn State/BC game?

I was wondering the same thing from the 35 yard line at Beaver Stadium. If money were on the line, I'd be with you in the "nevering picking Penn State again". But since it is not, I will ride out the season supporting my alma amter, win or lose, and hope for an upset somewhere along the line. (one with a different outcome than Saturdays upset)

Hear, hear!

Man, what a Saturday, and what good games you chose to select! Damn Wash St., I stopped watching at halftime thinking the game was over. Luckily I didn't do the same when UF went up by like 100. GatorJamie, that is one good football team, but they withered, disappeared at the end. I was screaming at the tv at the end, damn they almost scored again. And Bowling Green and USC-Southern beating up on Virginia and GT beating Auburn (I love Lee Corso calling them the "War Pigeons") and Ohio St. almost losing and BC beating Penn St., wow. And damn if Wake Forest isn't for real! I am sooooo glad that September is here! Sports, sports and more sports until the end of March.

Well, this week ends in another tie -- this time between MBMslJock and Charlie in the Trees -- MBMslJock wins on the tiebreaker by just one point -- picking Miami to win 17, while CITT had them by 18. Congratulations!

This week's standings:
9-1
MBMslJock
Charlie in the Trees

8-2
BikeJocks
bobby78751
Stickney

7-3
Aubie in Bham
azairforce
DCBucky
gamecock
GarnetGoldPride
Hwkpride
inmatman
itsplaytym
Mariner Duck Boy
MSUBobcat
RJ in Huntington:

6-4
AU Tiger in LA
bballrob
cattledog
GatorJamie
George_vikingfan
Go Monica
jerseyguy
Kattt11
meric
MiamiDr
Palladio
pat125
PCC
ugadawgs89
UW Fan
Wishbone

5-5
breesboy
im4psu
NorCalHusker
theodoresdaddy

I'll post the overall season standings in a bit.

Woo-Hoo! Surprisingly, I went 8-2 this week after 7-3 last week. Way to go Bowling Green...damn you, Penn State and Auburn!

Oh well, oh well. I didn't do that bad after all this weekend. Damm Cavaliers. Thanks to my best buddy Miamidr for introducing me into this poll. I am glad im kicking your butt... Let me know if you need some help for week #3. My tip for week #3... NC State 24 --- OSU 14
And a big GO to my two favorite teams ...
Go CANES,,, Go LSU TIGERS !!!!!

Hey, I improved from 6-4 last week to 8-2. In my case it was damn Penn State and UCLA. Way to go Bowling Green and Georgia Tech!

Jim
(who agrees with MBMslJock about NCSt/OSU)

I'm surprised I did as well as I did

Tressel won't let Ohio State lose to NC State now, after last week's debacle with SDSU. If Ohio State had blown out the Aztecs last week instead of almost losing to them, then yes, an upset by NC State would be possible because OSU would be resting on their laurels in week 3. But because last week's game was so close, Tressel is going to ride their asses all week, especially Krenzel's (sounds hot doesn't it?) And my hat goes off to the SDSU Aztecs, BTW. I didn't see the game, but I read in the newspaper that, at the end of the game, the Buckeye fans, being such good sports and all (last year's riots aside, of course), applauded the Aztecs as they left the field. Oh, and one more thing, they play eachother again in 2005.