Homecoming Hangover?

      Coming off a massive win against Oklahoma, Missouri goes to Lincoln, Nebraska to face The Cornhuskers. Blaine Gabbert and this high-powered offense looked really good last week. Gabbert was 30/42 for 308 yards and 1 score. De'Vion Moore had 10 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown.  They also returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.       Nebraska has 1 loss coming into this game. Taylor Martinez has to get this offense back on track if they want to compete with The Tigers. This Nebraska secondary has struggled. The offense must be ready to go. This will be a high-scoring game. Missouri needs to make sure they avoid a homecoming hangover on the road.-Josh Neighbors

      

Picks Week 9

The picky guys are back at work this week after a week off.

West Virginia VS Connecticut              Anbdrew/Vince.UConn        Josh/Nash/Ranny/Connor.WVU

Florida State vs NC State              Josh/Ranny/Nash.FSU             Andrew/Vince/Taylor/Connor.NCSU        

Oklahoma State vs Kansas State         Andrew/Vince/Ranny/Nash/Taylor/Josh/Connor.OK State           .KSU

Miami vs Virginia           Vince/Josh/Ranny/Taylor/Nash/Connor .Miami             Andrew.Va                                      

Clemson vs Boston College               Vince/Andrew/Josh/Ranny/Taylor/Nash/Connor.Clem     .BC                   

Louisville vs Pittsburgh               Taylor/Ranny/Nash.L’ville                     Andrew/Vince/Josh/Connor.Pitt                        

Syracuse vs Cincinati               Vince/Josh/Ranny.Cuse            Andrew/Nash/Taylor/Connor.Cinci                       

Tennessee vs South Carolina        Nash.Tenn         Andrew/Vince/Josh/Taylor/Ranny/Connor.USC                

Michigan State vs Iowa               Vince/Andrew/Nash/Ranny.MSU        Josh/Taylor/Connor.Iowa                       

Missouri vs Nebraska           Vince/Josh.Mizzou        Andrew/Nash/Taylor/Ranny/Connor.Neb                         

Arizona vs UCLA               Vince/Josh/Taylor/Ranny/Connor.Arizona         Andrew/Nash.UCLA                        

Florida vs Georgia             Taylor/Nash/Ranny.Fla             Vince/Andrew/Josh/Connor.UGA                                     

California vs Oregon State     Vince/Andrew.Cal       Josh/Taylor/Nash/Ranny/Connor.OSU                         

Texas Tech vs Texas A&M              Josh/Nash/Ranny/Taylor.TTU     Vince/Connor.TAMU                 

Auburn vs Mississippi           Nash/Ranny/Taylor/Connor.AU          Vince/Andrew.Miss        

Stanford vs Washington       Vince/Andrew/Josh/Ranny/Nash/Taylor/Connor.Stan            .Wash

Utah vs Air Force             Josh/Ranny/Taylor/Nash/Connor.Utah             Vince/Andrew.AFA  

Oregon vs USC              Vince/Andrew/Josh/Nash/Ranny/Taylor/Connor.Oregon        .USC

Michigan vs Penn State        Andrew/Vince/Josh/Ranny/Nash/Taylor/Connor.Mich             .PSU    

Colorado vs Oklahoma        .Colo            Vince/Andrew/Josh/Taylor/Nash/Ranny/Connor.Okla

Repeating Sequence?

Duke is not going to win this years NCAA basketball title because of the loss of three key players. These players are Brian Zoubek, Lance Thomas, and Jon Scheyer. Duke has the talent coming in to replace these players but not the experience. Kyrie Irving is coming in to lead the charge with lots of talent, but will not be able to replace Scheyer's leadership. Duke has the Plumlee twins to replace Zoubek and Thomas' talent, but not their experience. Duke will cruise through a lowly schedule to start the season, but when times get tough during ACC play the Blue Devils will be looking for someone like Scheyer in that huddle but he will not be there for them this season. The Kentucky Wildcats were easily the most talented team in the country but come tournament time they were upset by the West Virginia Mountaineers because they were lacking a true leader. At the end of the day, strong leadership inside the huddle wins teams national championships. Duke does not have that leadership this year. In college basketball, being the best in the regular season comes down to talent. Being the best at tournament time comes down to experience and leadership.-Connor Jones

Newton's Law

We are all told in middle school science class that Newtons Theory was that an object that in motion will not be knocked of course until met with another object. In Cam Newtons case many objects. Auburn's Cam Newton has become a force in the SEC. Standing at 6,6 and 250 pounds, Newton is a load. His dynamic ability to run and throw the ball has made it difficult for defenses to stop him. At this point in the season he has 1077 yards rushing. He is averaging 7 yards a carry and it does not look like he is going to let up. The thing that makes Newton so valuable is that he plays to the whistle, he will start running and not stop running until 2 or 3 of the opposing defenders have knocked him down. On the very next play he will do the same thing again. I will say it once and I will say it again, the ability to wear down a defense with 1 person is valuable. He also has 1364 yards passing and 13 touchdowns. Newton did a number on LSU's defense. He rushed for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns in Auburn's biggest game so far. His consistent strong performances make him a front-runner for The Heisman Trophy.-Josh Neighbors

Picks Week 8

I am going solo this week on picks. Here are some breakdowns on the biggest games this Saturday.

#13 Wisconsin @ #15 Iowa: Score Iowa 35-Wisconsin 31
Coming off an emotional win is though. It makes it even tougher when you are playing the 15 ranked team in the country. Wisconsin's strong suit is running the football. They are not the best throwing the ball. Iowa has maybe the best front 4 in the country. In the quarterbacking battle I give Stanzi the edge of Tolzein. Iowa in a more of a high scoring game.

#16 Nebraska @ #14 Oklahoma State: Score Nebraska 24-Oklahoma State 13
Nebraska is mad after losing what was supposed to be their redemption game against Texas. This week they have an undefeated, but unproven Oklahoma State team. Taylor Martinez will get this offense back on track after what can be characterized as an unimpressive performance against Texas. This defense will hold steady as well. I look for Nebraska by double digits.

#6 LSU @ #4 Auburn: Score Auburn 31-LSU 28
Les Miles's luck is about to run out. Cam Newtons ability to wear down a whole defense by himself is just too much for this LSU team. This game will come down to a game winning drive capped off by a field goal. This is my lock of the week.

#1 Oklahoma @ #11 Missouri: Score Oklahoma 45-Missouri 28

This high-powered Oklahoma defense is going to be too much for the Missouri defense. The fact that Oklahoma has great players at QB, RB, and WR makes them the team to beat. The will handle their business on the road this week.-Josh Neighbors

Equal Separation?

Today the split in the PAC-10 conference was announced. UCLA, USC, Arizona, Arizona State, Colrado, and Utah are the first division. In the second division is California, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State. In my opinion these are not the most equal divisions. But, I do not think the competition will be watered down all that much. In that 1st division the top 3 teams are USC, Arizona, and Utah. In comparison the top 3 teams in the other division are Oregon, Stanford, and Oregon State or Washington, that is up for debate. In a perfect world I would probably have to shift around Oregon State and Colorado. Which also brings up the interesting concept of the separation. Particularly the California schools separation. The 2 Los Angeles schools in one division and the Northern California schools in the other. I am a fan of this separation. The rivalries will all still be there. We get so see some great games every year. USC and Arizona every year. Washington and Oregon State is one of those good games. If Oregon and Stanford stay consistent then you are looking at what could turn out to be a great series. The PAC-10 has got it right, as they continue to grow into, in my opinion, the 2nd strongest conference in the country.-Josh Neighbors

All Week Team

This all week team is going to look a little bit different.

Offense: The whole Auburn Offense: 5 different guys scored touchdowns in a game where the tigers dropped 65 points on Arkansas. Cam Newton passed for 1 and ran for 3. Three different backfield players scored touchdowns. Cam Newton has jumped to the top of many people's Heisman lists due to his ability to wear down defenses all by himself.

Defense: Texas Longhorns: The Longhorns held Nebraska to 202 total yards. The Most yards any one player had was 66. The Longhorns shocked the Cornhuskers at Nebraska. The held Martinez to only 63 yards passing.-Josh Neighbors