Archive for September 8th, 2010

September 8th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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Though the AP and US Today come out with their polls every single week, there isn't a college football betting power poll like the one you're going to find at Cappers Info! Check out the 25 most impressive teams of the season to date with our NCAA football picks.

1: Boise State Broncos: The Broncos might not ultimately end up being the class of the college football betting world this year, but there is no doubt that they are for real after having the goods to take care of Virginia Tech in a de facto road game after blowing a big lead.

2: Alabama Crimson Tide: The Crimson Tide are still going to be one of the best teams in the country for the entire season, but for now, their win over San Jose State isn't as impressive as Boise State's over V-Tech.

3: Ohio State Buckeyes: Terrelle Pryor was impressive this week, but we can't get too caught up in the fact that it was Marshall that he ran all over. Bigger challenges will be on the horizon, and inevitably, a win against Miami this week will boost the Buckeyes.

4: TCU Horned Frogs: Give TCU a heck of a lot of credit for ditching a very stingy Oregon State team. Don't worry about the fact that the margin of victory wasn't what it could have been in this one either. The Horned Frogs are for real and could legitimately be a BCS spoiler for the entire season.

5: Oregon Ducks: The Quack Attack is back! Many thought that the loss of Jeremiah Masoli would be the death of the Ducks. However, the offense rolled off 720 yards in a win against New Mexico last week that sees them getting off to a great start to the season. More impressive victories like that could be on the way.

6: Nebraska Cornhuskers: Big Red has impressed us all offseason long, as we think the Black Shirts are going to be bringing it each and every week once again this year. We'll wait and see what Nebraska really has to offer this year against good competition, as the huge win over Western Kentucky was very much so expected.

7: Texas Longhorns: The Horns might be in a bit of trouble this year if they can't dispose of a Rice team that lost its starting quarterback to injury during the game. Garrett Gilbert doesn't look like the Heisman Trophy contender that the media cracked him up to be at the beginning of the season… not yet, at least.

8: Miami Hurricanes: Are the Canes really the top team in Florida? We were awfully impressed by the way they rolled over Florida A&M with a complete effort on both sides of the pigskin. Obviously this week's battle against Ohio State is a real benchmark for a team that is about to come up on the hardest chunk of schedule that any team in the country will have all season long.

9: Iowa Hawkeyes: Iowa could've been more impressive in victory this week, but Kirk Ferentz's clubs don't always know how to be flashy. Remember that this was a team that barely beat Northern Iowa last year in the opener and was arguably an injury to a Ricky Stanzi away from running the table for the whole season. Things are only getting better in the cornfields of Iowa.

10: Florida Gators: Surprised to see the Gators ranked so low? Perhaps Florida would be ranked a little higher if Mike Pouncey got his snaps up off the ground a bit higher when John Brantley is in the shotgun. Eight fumbles won't cut it. One more performance like that against South Florida could see UF out of our Top 25, win or lose. The post Tim Tebow era is not off to a good start, needless to say.

11: Virginia Tech Hokies: Sure, the Hokies are a one loss team, but we don't think that the 'L' against Boise State is worth castrating them over. Frank Beamer's club came to play on Monday night and were beaten by a better team after taking their best shot. That doesn't mean that VT deserves to drop that far out of the Top 10.

12: Wisconsin Badgers: We were looking for a bit more offense from Scott Tolzein, John Clay, and the Badgers this week, but a victory in Sin City against UNLV was certainly earned. Wisky should be hoping for some more point production in a hurry, or it won't stand the test of time in the Big Ten.

13: Utah Utes: Utah makes three mid-majors in our Top 15, and for good reason. The Utes played their hearts out against a rock solid Pittsburgh team that will probably still end up in the Top 25 by the time the season is said and done with. The OT win showed grit and tenacity, and the win might ultimately end up leaving Utah in a position to crack the Top 10 in all of the polls very, very soon.

14: Oklahoma Sooners: The Sooners need a reality check if they aren't blowing the doors off of Utah State on a regular basis. Barely hanging on to beat the Aggies impresses us far less than it did the pollsters who voted this team in the Top 10. We think that OU is lucky to just be keeping its ranking in the Top 25 at this point until we see better from it.

15: Arkansas Razorbacks: For as long as the Razorbacks have Ryan Mallett standing upright, they have a chance at beating anyone in the country. That will get tested soon enough, though for now, Arkansas is still a middle of the pack Top 25 team.

16: Florida State Seminoles: Jimbo Fisher badly needs this week's game at Oklahoma to roster order at Florida State. He couldn't have asked for much more than what he got from his team last weekend, a 59-7 thumping of Samford. Sure it was Samford, but the Noles haven't put up a dominating performance like that on both sides of the pigskin in years.

17: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: The Jackets are going to be a "thorn" in everyone's side this year, as the triple option has proven to still be a threat even without Jonathan Dwyer in the backfield. The Josh Nesbitt for Heisman campaign is off and running, and we very much so think that he could be a huge impact player in the race for college football's most prestigious award by the time we reach December.

18: Penn State Nittany Lions: Joe Pa decided that he would go with a freshman at quarterback this year, and though there were some early mishaps, Robert Bolden proved that he could be worthy to the task. However, that challenge will almost certainly be too hard this week, as the trip to Tuscaloosa is probably going to be a little much for this frosh to overcome.

19: Georgia Bulldogs: If the Dawgs' offense can drop 55 points on the board without the services of AJ Green in the lineup, just how scary will they be when he is back? UGA will hope that Green gets cleared to play this week, or South Carolina might roll.

20: South Carolina Gamecocks: Speaking of South Carolina… The Gamecocks were big, big winners last week over Southern Miss in a game that many thought they were going to get upset in. South Carolina still could be facing a lot of suspensions though, and if that happens, we can probably kiss this Top 25 ranking goodbye.

21: LSU Tigers: Are we the only ones that weren't all that impressed with the way that the Tigers beat a crippled UNC team over the weekend? The Bayou Bengals haven't made us believers quite yet, as we tend to believe that those suspensions for the Tar Heels handed the boys in gold and purple a victory they otherwise wouldn't have gotten.

22: USC Trojans: Sorry, Lane Kiffin. Until your defense can hold a team like Hawaii under 500 yards on the day, we aren't buying what you're selling, especially since we know that reality will set in at some point on your team that it isn't going to a bowl game or winning the Pac-10 title.

23: West Virginia Mountaineers: The 'Neers clearly still have a running game to be afraid of, as Noel Devine once again put forth a great effort in the season opening win against Coastal Carolina. However, QB play is still shaky, as Geno Smith didn't look all that great against a very bad defensive team. Marshall will pose more of a threat this week, but this is still a 'D' that he should be tearing apart.

24: Michigan Wolverines: Big Blue came up with the biggest win in the coaching career of Rich Rodriguez in Ann Arbor on Saturday. The Wolverines might have at least temporarily taken their head coach off the hot seat with the 'W' over UConn. Do you believe in Denard Robinson yet? We certainly will if he can blow through Notre Dame's defense this week.

25: Arizona Wildcats: This could be a very dangerous team brewing in the desert. Nick Foles could be one of the best quarterbacks in the land that you've never really heard of, but after watching him blow through Toledo's defense without any problems, one has to wonder whether the sky is the limit for him or not. We might find out more real soon, though Zona won't get tested this week by the Citadel.

 
September 8th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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In our first of a series of NFL picks for the year here at Cappers Info, we are set to dissect the duel between the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings, which will kick off the NFL betting season on Thursday night in the Bayou.

Minnesota Vikings @ New Orleans Saints (-5)
Thursday, September 9th
8:30 ET, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA

Vikings Notes: Injuries are really starting to mount on the Vikings in a hurry. We already know that WR Sidney Rice is going to miss the first half of the season with a hip injury, and there is still a big time question whether or not WR Percy Harvin is going to be able to suit or not with his migraine problem that helped ruin his preseason. DB Cedric Griffin and DT Jimmy Kennedy are considered doubtful, while RB Toby Gerhart has a sprained knee and is questionable. If all of these players can't suit up, there is going to be a boatload of pressure on QB Brett Favre and RB Adrian Peterson. "All Day" was virtually abused last year, and he could be in for another season of having to carry the load for the men in purple. He rushed for 1,383 yards and 18 TDs on a whopping 314 carries. If you add that to his 43 receptions, Peterson averaged getting 22.3 touches per game in the regular season. Favre played like an MVP last season, completing 68.2 percent of his passes for 4,202 yards and a 33-7 TD-INT ratio, but that doesn't mean that he is going to be capable of pulling this off again. Favre was knocked around incredibly hard by the Saints last year in the NFC Championship Game, and though he ultimately fought through it, he has shown signs of rust as well in the preseason. With a newly cut and pasted together receiving corps, Favre could be in some trouble, especially at the ripe age of 40.

Saints Notes: Playing in New Orleans isn't a fun thing whatsoever. The Saints dominated both the Houston Texans and San Diego Chargers in the Superdome this preseason, winning by a combined score of 74-41. They've only lost one game of any real consequence there since October 2008, which ironically came against these Vikings. New Orleans has very few injury woes to worry about, though the man that was arguably the heart and soul of the defense, SS Darren Sharper won't be suiting in this one. QB Drew Brees is locked and loaded with basically the exact same crop of receivers that he had last year, a significantly different story from the one in Minneapolis. Though Brees didn't nearly hit the 600+ pass attempt mark like he did two seasons ago, he did throw for 4,388 yards and 34 TDs in 2009, making it one of the best seasons in his career. Losing RB Mike Bell is going to hurt quite a bit, as Bell was the second leading rusher on the team a year ago with 654. That only got compounded with the losses of RBs Lynell Hamilton and PJ Hill to season ending injuries in the preseason. Still, expect to see the combination of WR Marques Colston, WR Devery Henderson, WR Robert Meachem, and TE Jeremy Shockey catching a ton of balls for the black and gold this year.

The Final Word: Minnesota has dominated this series in the past, going 4-1 SU and 5-0 ATS over the L/5 duels against the Saints. However, New Orleans won the war last time around with a 31-28 overtime victory in which the spread didn't matter to a single soul in the Bayou. All five have gone 'over' the 'total' as well. Still, we are leaning towards the Saints busting that trend on Thursday night, as they are going to be hyped up, especially with that fancy Super Bowl XLIV banner being raised before the game.

Prediction: Saints 37 – Vikings 20

 
September 8th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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Temple Owls (-8) vs. Central Michigan Chippewas
Thursday, September 9th
7:00 ET, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA

The Owls were just able to squeak out a 31-24 win last week against a powerful FBS team in Villanova that came close to upsetting them for the second straight year. Temple was down late in the fourth, but K Brandon McManus hit his fourth field goal of the game to put HC Al Golden and the Owls ahead for good with just eight seconds left. QB Chester Stewart managed the game well for the Owls, completing 16 of 27 passes for 200 yards with a touchdown. In their first game without former all-everything QB Dan LeFevour, the Chippewas and new QB Ryan Radcliff cruised to a 33-0 win over lowly FBS Hampton. Radcliff headed a Chippewa offense that racked up 427 total yards of offense on the day and completed 20 of 34 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown while also running for a score. RB Paris Cotton also impressed with 94 yards rushing and a TD on 18 carries. Some love should also be given to the CMU defense for holding Hampton to a paltry 129 total yards of offense on the day.

Prediction: Temple 28 – Central Michigan 17

#20 Auburn Tigers (-1.5) @ Mississippi State Bulldogs
Thursday, September 9th
7:45 ET, Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field, Starkville, MS

The Bulldogs looked extremely impressive in their win against Memphis last week, but face their first real test of the season when #20 Auburn comes into Starkville on Thursday night. HC Dan Mullen has the faithful energized after the team’s dominating performance in their 49-7 thumping of Memphis last week. The Bulldogs offense racked up 569 total yards and dominated Memphis in all facets of the game. QB Tyler Russell was particularly impressive, completing 13 of 16 passes for 256 yards and four touchdowns while he was in the game. However, the Tigers of Auburn are a big step up from the ones out of the Volunteer State. Whereas Memphis may be the worst team in Conference USA this year, Auburn has a legitimate shot at an SEC West title with a talented roster and the offensive of guru Gus Malzahn. Despite two turnovers, the Auburn offense still put up 600+ yards of total offense in a 52-26 romp of Arkansas State. QB Cam Newton was studly in the win, completing nine of 14 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns while also carrying the ball for 171 yards and two scores. Although the Bulldogs are certainly improving under Mullen, look for Auburn to show they are still above them on the SEC West pecking chain.

Prediction: Auburn 30 – Mississippi State 20