Picks for week 3

Time for the picks section.  3-1 last week with Baylor, Oregon and Bowling Green all winning easily and only Cincinnati going down.  Four more this week and a bonus one for this week's Game of the Century.

Georgia Tech -8 at Duke - The Yellow Jackets put 70 up on Elon in their first game this year.  The Blue Devils have started 2-0, but lost their starting quarterback to injury in last week's win over Memphis.  Georgia Tech has run for big yards against Duke the last few years and I expect them to continue that trend in a big victory as they roll up over 350 yards on the ground.

at Oregon -27.5 Tennessee - Living on the west coast, we hear all the time that Pac 12 schools can't play with SEC schools.  And Oregon hears it all the time as well.  Today, the Ducks get an opportunity against an SEC school (who actually traveled more than 500 miles to play a quality opponent in a non-bowl game).  The Ducks aren't going to turn the ball over 5 times in 6 plays like Western Kentucky did last week against the Volunteers.  Five touchdowns in six drives will be the more likely result and the Ducks solidify their hold on the number two spot in the polls.

 Maryland -6.5 at Connecticut - Maryland has looked good so far in two convincing wins over lesser opponents and C.J. Brown has five touchdowns and no interceptions so far.  Connecticut looked abysmal getting soundly beaten by Towson in their only game so far.  Coach Edsall returns to Connecticut today and can call his number against the Huskies.  Fear the Turtle (and their hideous uniforms).

at Arizona -24.5 Texas San Antonio - The Wildcats ran wild last week against UNLV and don't expect that to stop against the Roadrunners.  UTSA was down 42-7 against Oklahoma State going into the fourth quarter last week before putting up four touchdowns in the fourth to make it closer than it looked.  Arizona will keep running and make UTSA look like Wiley E. Coyote trying to stop them.

Nick Saban breaks out his biggest smile

Alabama -8.5 at Texas A&M - Another season, another Game of the Century.  This week, it's Alabama vs. Texas A&M.  Last year, the Aggies went to Tuscaloosa and shocked the Tide, jumping out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and propelling Johnny Manziel to a Heisman Trophy.  While those first ten minutes were stunning, what's forgotten is that after that start, Alabama outscored A&M 24-9 and had a chance to take the lead before an interception in the end zone put an end to the comeback.

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have see the highlights from that game for the past year and their not happy about it.  Though to be fair, Nick Saban is never happy, even when winning a National Title.  While Nick might not crack a smile Saturday, his players will, as they somewhat contain Johnny Football and run through a porous Aggie defense.