Against the spread I was as bad as aTm's run defense. Against the money line I was OK.
Final Results:
Straight up: 13 out of 17 correct.
Against the Spread: 7 out of 17 correct.
What this means is that, if you're going to Vegas for sports betting purposes don't take anything I say seriously.
Thoughts from Week 1
1. None of the major title contenders did anything of major concern. Alabama, aTm, Ohio State and Louisville all looked OK. Of all of them I'd be most worried if I were aTm however. The Aggies run defense was not good. However......
2. Rice looked pretty good. Certainly they're not an elite program, but they should have enough, if healthy, to contend in CUSA and probably give the Houston Cougars a run for their money. I'd say the prediction on their win total is up around 9 or even 10 right now. Which brings us to.....
3. The UH Cougars cruised against lesser competition, but their defense is going to be rough this year. Derick Mathews did not have a good game against Southern. He overran every play, and was frequently running up the back of plays after the runner for Southern had passed him by. After watching game one, I put the Cougars win ceiling at six. Time for a new coach.
4. Michigan has a defense again. Times are good.
5. Ohio State giving up 20 to Buffalo is a little worse than aTm giving up 31 to Rice (Rice is a much better team) but I'm really not worried about either. If Flanders runs for yardage against the aTm defense and Ohio State struggles defensively against San Diego State then we'll talk.
6. K-State, UConn, Oregon State, USF, Iowa State & San Diego State. Welcome to the "we have a loss to an FCS school" club. You can take a seat anywhere you like but Michigan and Virginia Tech own the VIP room. Brutal week for those programs.
7. Targeting is a mess.
8. Georgia is snake-bit
9. It's way too early to be buying into any of the Heisman talk. Just ignore it.
And finally.....
10. If anything this week has proven that pre-season rankings are crap. Don't pay any attention until week 5 or so.
