TechSideline.com: Voice of the Fan -- Beerman's Picks

Beerman's Picks: Week Five
by Ben Shapiro, 09/25/03

Each week this season, I will be posting a column previewing interesting upcoming matchups in the Big East, the ACC, and college football in general. All rankings are from the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. I don't pick winners (that's too easy), I pick against the spread. Television information comes from here. All picks are for entertainment purposes only.

LAST WEEK:

Isabowl 2003 was a rousing success! Seems that we have a running game, and after some adjustment, a defense as well! That, and three more pretenders to the throne came up lacking.

And there was great rejoicing! :)

Last Week:

10-11-0

Season To Date:

47-44-0

THIS WEEK:

Back to the routine. Nooners on a Saturday, and softies on the schedule.

Upset Special:

Penn State over Minnesota (2-2)

Game To Watch:

Washington State @ Oregon ... by default more than anything else.

Not In Action:

#1 Oklahoma, #2 Miami, #12 Georgia, #16 Kansas State

GAMES OF THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25:

7:30 pm EST		ESPN
-10.5	#11 Nebraska	3-0 (1-0 Big XII)
	Southern Mississippi	2-1 (2-0 CUSA)
Yup. No one but up-and-comers starved for TV exposure play on Thursday night.
Pick: UNL

GAMES OF SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27:

12:00 pm EST		ESPN Regional, GamePlan
	Connecticut	3-1
-21	#5 Virginia Tech	3-0 (0-0 Big East)
OK. Now I feel a bit more secure. Are we world beaters? I don't know about that, but injuries or not, the Aggies were a substantial step up from UCF and JMU ... and we beat them but good. As to UConn?. I'm all about the Huskies as a promising I-A football program, for all the reasons we all know about. But you know what? They ain't there yet. BC is their white whale, they got them at home, and they still lost by 10 points. Terry Caulley may be the nation's leading rusher, but that speaks more to their unbalanced offense and generally low level of competition than to their rushing dominance. I expect this one to play out much like UCF. We'll develop a lead, get lazy and give up a few points, then put them away late.
Pick: HOKIES!

9:00 pm EST		ESPN2
-13.5	#7 LSU	4-0 (1-0 SEC)
	Mississippi State	0-3 (0-0 SEC)
OK, I knew MSU was no great shakes this year ... but I was shocked, I repeat SHOCKED to see that they were 0-3 and have given up a whopping 115 points to start the season. Nominal SEC whipping boys Tulane and Houston have both dropped the hammer on the Bulldogs this year. Yeah, and it's going to get worse here.
Pick: LSU

7:45 pm EST		ESPN
	South Carolina	3-1 (0-1 SEC)
-16	#8 Tennessee	3-0 (1-0 SEC)
We're calling "let down game" here. South Carolina is merely good at best, but a lot of that has to do with the coach. Coming off a big win on the road against their biggest rival, I think Tennessee won't put 100% into this contest. They're gonna win, but not by three scores.
Pick: USC-SE

12:00 pm EST		ESPN Regional, GamePlan
-7	#9 Iowa	4-0 (0-0 Big Ten)
	Michigan State	3-1 (0-0 Big Ten)
Iowa is looking strong ... to very strong ... this year.
Pick: MSU

12:00 pm EST		ESPN Regional, GamePlan
	Indiana	1-3 (0-0 Big Ten)
-34	#10 Michigan	3-1 (0-0 Big Ten)
What happened to "Chris Perry, Heisman Candidate" ?
Pick: Michigan

3:30 pm EST		ABC, GamePlan
	#21 Washington State	3-1 (0-0 Pac Ten)
-4	#15 Oregon	4-0 (1-0 Pac Ten)
Yeah OK, so I blew that Oregon-Michigan call. But hey, it's like the disclaimer says: Picks are for entertainment purposes only. I don't actually bet my picks, and I would advise all of you not to either :)
Pick: Ducks

10:00 pm EST
-15	#17 TCU	3-0 (1-0 CUSA)
	Arizona	1-3 (0-1 Pac 10)
They way the mildcats are playing, I'd probably bet on Rutgers to drop a 50-spot on Arizona this year.
Pick: Froggies

3:30 pm EST
	Stanford	2-0 (0-0 Pac Ten)
-13.5	#18 Washington	2-1 (0-0 Pac Ten)
Shhhhhhhhhhh... Stanford is very quietly still undefeated. The question is, for how long?
Pick: Washington

3:30 pm EST		ABC, GamePlan
-0.5	#19 Pittsburgh	2-1 (0-0 Big East)
	Texas A&M	2-1 (0-0 Big XII)
MNC dreams, and dreams of winning the MAC, both dashed at the hands of the mighty Rockets of Toledo. It was a sad, sad day in the Steel City.
Pick: UPitt

12:00 pm EST		ESPN
-2	#20 Minnesota	4-0 (0-0 Big Ten)
	Penn State	2-2 (0-0 Big Ten)
FRAUD ALERT!!! The Golden Gophers are a nice story at 4-0, but consider that they've beaten Tulsa, Troy State, Ohio U, and Louisiana-Lafayette. If they can beat JoePa in State College, THEN maybe I'll believe it.
Pick: PSU

4:00 pm EST
	Iowa State	2-1 (0-0 Big XII)
-6.5	#22 Northern Illinois	3-0 (0-0 MAC)
OK, so Cinderella isn't a Baptist .. evidently she's a big dog. But how about those Huskies?!? They're defense has now totally shut down two "name" BCS conference teams in Maryland and Alabama, and by all rights should be able to handle Big XII Middleweight Iowa State as well. They'd best make it last though, because each win they get is going to make it that much harder to get decent teams to come to DeKalb in the future.
Pick: NIU

OTHER TOP 25 & BIG EAST GAMES:

#3 USC-West (-13) @ California
#4 Ohio State (off) vs. Northwestern
#6 Florida State (-29.5) @ Dook
#13 Texas (-29.5) vs. Tulane
#14 Arkansas (-1) @ Alabama
#23 Missouri (-11) @ Kansas
#24 Arizona State (+6) @ Oregon State
#25 Florida (-9) @ Kentucky

Boston College (-22) vs. Ball State
Temple (+14) @ Louiseville
Syracuse (-3.5) vs. Toledo
RUTSgers (-1) vs. Navy

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