There's not a lot going on today. Not much news involving the team, other than the fact that they're focused in on Tulane and nothing else. Coach appears to be doing a good job keeping this team grounded.
Now...time for the picks.
South Carolina at Vanderbilt (+10) Tonight - 7:30pm ESPN --- South Carolina, while beating NC State to a pulp, still looked like a bad team. Chris Nickson appears to have Vandy headed in the right direction, and while I don't think they'll score much, I also don't believe that SC will either. I think Vandy keeps this one close, especially in their hope opener.
Southern Miss (+17.5) at Auburn Saturday - 11:30am Raycom --- Southern Miss put up some serious numbers in their new offense. Auburn's defense is stout, but I don't think it's that stout yet. Southern Miss always has a pretty tough defense, and I don't think that Tony Franklin's "spread eagle" offense can fix their issues in just one week. Look for Southern Miss to put up a decent amount of points, and maybe pull out and upset here. Auburn's been known to tank games early in the year ('07 Miss St, '05 GaTech, etc.) against teams they should beat. This could be a big one.
Ole Miss at Wake Forest (-8) Saturday - 2:30pm ABC --- Ole Miss is much improved over the past few seasons, but I think Wake is going to have a monster year. They've got the most efficient quarterback in the country, a stifling defense, and a rushing attack that can own other teams. Their offense and defense are both dominating, and I think the Rebels may be a year away from being able to compete with this team. As a matter of fact, Riley Skinner may be the best QB that Ole Miss faces all year, other than Tebow. I think Wake wins by two touchdowns in their home opener.
West Virginia (-8) at East Carolina Saturday - 3:30pm ESPN --- East Carolina shocked Virginia Tech in week one in Charlotte, which was considered an ECU home game. A lot of people are jumping on board with those cats, but Va Tech led them by 9 with 3 minutes left in the game, with horrible qb play, and bad defense. Virginia Tech is not West Virginia. Pat White is one of the better dual threat QBs in the country, and I believe West Virginia's defense is a beast this year compared to what VaTech's is right now. I think you're getting some points right now because of ECU's upset, so take them while you can. Skip's got a good team at East Carolina, but they're not good enough to hang with WV.
Northwestern (-6.5) at Duke Saturday - 6:00pm --- Yes, Duke looked good in the first week, against James Madison. Northwestern started clicking last year after their loss to Duke, and Duke went into the tank. I think Northwestern is still firing on all cylinders, and I see no reason to think that the Wildcats won't be ready to avenge last season's loss. They should handle the Dukies by at least a touchdown, and I'd say 10-14 points.
¶ 8:45 AM
