Heismanpundit

Time for another year of picking winners.  Always hard to do in the early season.  The following are the games that I think offer the best plays this week (spreads courtesy of BetUs):

Oregon at Boise State (64 total)–I think there is going to be a lot of points scored in this one.  Should be your usual entertaining late-night WAC/PAC style game.  The total is only 64 so I will take the OVER.  The score?  How about:

Oregon 42, Boise State 38.

Ohio State (-21.5) vs. Navy–I can see this one being pretty ugly for a couple quarters.  In the end, I think Ohio State puts it together and pulls off the cover thanks to big plays from Terrelle Pryor and the defense. 

Ohio State 30, Navy 6

Notre Dame (-14.5) vs. Nevada–Picking Nevada here is the trendy thing, but I think it has resulted in a favorable line for the Irish.  The Wolfpack are scrappy and they feature a talented offense, but I don’t think they can stop the Irish.  In a shootout at Notre Dame Stadium, I like Notre Dame.

Notre Dame 48, Nevada 31

Illinois (-6.5) vs. Missouri–I think the Illini are going to have a bit of a juggernaut on offense.  The Tigers will have trouble stopping them and keeping up.   Big game for Juice Williams.

Illinois 41, Missouri 24

 Stanford (-16.5) at Washington State–The Cardinal are my surprise team in the Pac-10 this year and I think they get off to a good start here behind the passing of Andrew Luck.

Stanford 38, WSU 14

Alabama (-6.5) vs. Virginia Tech–I am a big believer in Alabama this  year and I think Greg McElroy is going to be an upgrade at quarterback.  I like the Tide to roll here.

Alabama 24, Virginia Tech 10

Maryland (+21.5) at Cal–The Bears are good this year, but this line is too big.  Cal wins, but Maryland keeps it respectable.

Cal 35, Maryland 23

San Jose State (+33.5) at USC–I think this is another line that is out of whack.  USC is starting a true freshman quarterback and Dick Tomey is sure to find ways to exploit that inexperience.  USC couldn’t cover against Idaho two years ago, so I don’t see a cover here.

USC 31, San Jose State 10

Central Michigan (+14) at Arizona–I like CMU’s chances for the outright upset.  Dan LeFevour is a great player and Arizona’s offense is going to take a while to get up to speed.   Chippewas win in another black eye for the Pac-10.

Central Michigan 28, Arizona 24

LSU (-17) at Washington–The question here is, how many points is Jake Locker worth?  A lot, I think, but not enough to prevent a blowout. 

LSU 45, Washington 17