The 2009 Edition

Welcome to the 2009 season everyone. Hope you all had a good winter, spring and summer. In some ways I can't believe football is here, yet in other ways I can't believe it took this long. I'm back in the US of A now, got my HD TV all setup and am ready to go. Now all I got to do is make some free money picks, buy some beer, burgers, maybe some a brat, and get after it. As you know in the past I will put some "Free Money Picks" up here almost every week. In the past my postings have been,... well not consistent. I am hoping they will be better now that I am back in same time zone and all.

Well without further delay here are my picks for the first full weekend of football. This week I will obviously focus on college because the professional league is still trying to cut their rosters to 53 people. The first week of college ball is always very difficult to pick because teams schedule cupcakes, spreads can get up into the 40s and really we do not know how the team will perform except for some practice videos on the web and other hype by ESPN and others. This week I like to play with home teams and also stay with games where the spread is under 4 touchdowns, because you just never know how long the 1st team will stay in. On Thursday night there were 5 games with spreads and totals up. There were 4 unders, 3 dogs winning outright (with spreads at +5, +7, and +16), 1 dog covering the spread, 1 favorite covering, and 1 O/U push. What does this tell us about the games coming up? Probably not too much, although I am tempted to stick with unders while the offenses are trying to sync up and get in a rhythm. Anyway, here are the picks:

1. Baylor +2.5 at Wake Forest (2:30 central) - Yes, Baylor went 4-8 last year, but they played a great schedule last year (6 top 25 teams), Sophomore Griffin is returning at QB, and they are returning a lot of the players from last year when they could have easily turned those losses into wins. I think with experience they will learn how to win instead of losing a close one. Wake is suspect on defense and I think this will be a decently high scoring affair with the Bears from Waco pulling it out.
2. Oklahoma St. -4.5 vs. Georgia (2:30 central) - I think that both of these teams may be overrated at this point, but I think the game being played at OSU at Pickens' new stadium will have the players and fans going crazy for this great season opener. Both teams will be good this season, but not thinking Top 15 here. I say it will be close, but OSU takes it by a TD.
3. UAB -6 vs. Rice (3:00 central) - Rice had a great season in 2008, but a few of there biggest producers are gone. This one is on the road, UAB is returning a lot of players, sit back watch the points pile up and UAB take it by 10 or more.
4. LSU -17.5 at Washington (9:30 central) - I am a little bit scared because Washington got rid of Willingham and that has to do nothing but help your program out when they get something to drink besides chocolate milk and some actual plays in the playbook, but I just cant see this one being close. It is going to be awhile until Washington can compete with a program like LSU. Take the Tigers in this one.
5. Mississippi -17 at Memphis (2:30 central Sunday) - Ole Miss is coming off a great season, returning some great players, and I think they are just too much to handle for Memphis right off the bat. Leaning on this one being my FREE MONEY PICK OF THE WEEK.
6. Notre Dame/Nevada Over 62 (2:30 central) - What can I say. I am really, really, really tempted to throw ND -14 in there (having a hard time finding 14 pts right now), but it is the first game and I am trying not to let my heart interfere. That being said, I think the Over is the play here. ND is returning a great QB/WR group and should be able to hang some points on Nevada and I think the ND defense has a lot to prove. Looking for a 42ish to 24ish Irish Victory here.

Well there you have it. Play the picks anyway you like; single games, parlays, don't play, etc. Just enjoy the first full weekend of college ball and I will be back here next week posting my results and picking out games for next week. Good luck.

$NDIRISHJER€