High School football picks for my slice of Virginia...Week 6

Week 6 for High schoolers!!

Most of the high schools back in my home turf of Virginia are just at the halfway point and starting to jostle for possible playoff spots so the action should get more intense.

Last week, I finished at 21-5 for my picks on Varsitycast in the Roanoke Times newspaper. That equalled the mark for local expert Robert Anderson. My overall mark of 94-39 for the season trails him by 20 games however; hmm…I’m going to have to pull a Tampa Bay Rays month to catch up!!

In my Blog Picks, I finished 9-1 for the week putting me at 38-11 for the season. I mistakenly had a matchup between GW-Danville and Lake Braddock listed…I must have gotten the wrong info from somewhere as the teams did not play one another. So I will do eleven games on my blog this week to put me on an even sixty for the season.

Ok…here we go:

Tunstall @ Staunton River

Staunton River has surprised this season whereas Tunstall has been up and down so just go with the home team in this one.

Staunton River by 17.

Hidden Valley @ Bassett

Both squads were thrashed by common opponent PH-Roanoke. Hidden Valley has shown life so I will go with the Titans

Hidden Valley by 14.

Halifax County @ Magna Vista

Halifax held on against Piedmont foes Martinsville last week…this week they will go down on the road in Ridgeway.

Magna Vista by 17.

Carroll County @ Martinsville

Bulldogs should get the non-district win at home.

Martinsville by 20.

Patrick County @ Radford

The woes continue for PC.

Radford by 32.

Walsingham Academy @ Carlisle

Walsingham seems to be a new kid on the block?? Hmm…could Carlisle get three in a row?? Well it is their Homecoming game…

Carlisle by 36.

Franklin County @ Christiansburg

Very interesting game this one will be. Magna Vista will be able to gauge the strength of C’Burg after beating Franklin Co. earlier this season.

Christiansburg by 4.

Dan River @ Chatham

Backyard Brawl for these two Pittsylvania County schools.

Dan River by 16.

Southampton @ GW-Danville

Quality opponent for the Eagles at home.

GW by 10.

William Fleming @ Salem

Fleming is having a down year; it does not get any better!!

Salem by 34.

William Byrd @ Glenvar

Glenvar by 8.

Good luck teams…have fun.

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See you in a few days!!

NCAA week 5 picks...

NCAA Week 5…

We have reached Week 5 of the NCAA football season. This week there are several interesting games on the slate for the weekend. Last week back in Virginia, I went 10-10 on my Fearless Forecaster picks in the Roanoke Times newspaper putting my overall record to 53-27. My bad showing last week was due in part to the fact that I missed the deadline and had my picks done randomly for me. They are in on time this week for sure!!

For my blog picks I had another 19-6 week which puts me at 84-16 for the season.

Ok, here we go for Week 5:

South Florida (16) @ Pitt

Let’s see….South Florida wins at Notre Dame….Notre Dame wins at Pitt…why not a South Florida victory in the Steel City??

S. Fla 30-20.

Texas A&M (14) @ Arkansas (18)

Used to be an SWC matchup, will soon be an SEC matchup I will give the slight edge to A&M in this one but they will have to put together a full four quarter effort.

Texas A&M 31-27.

Minnesota @ Michigan (19)

The Gophers are in trouble on the road. Wolverines simply have too much firepower.

Michigan 41-10.

Northwestern @ Illinois (24)

The Illini will have to be careful with this one even though Northwestern had a loss to Army in their last game, you never know with in-state rivalries.

Illinois 27-22.

Kentucky @ LSU (1)

Another bruising for Kentucky.

LSU 41-10.

Nevada @ Boise State (4)

The Broncos get even for the only blemish on their record last season.

Boise State 50-20.

Auburn @ South Carolina (10)

Gamecocks need consistency from the QB slot but should get through this one at home.

South Carolina 31-21.

Baylor (15) @ Kansas State

Baylor passes another big test on the road.

Baylor 28-22.

SMU @ TCU (20)

TCU 47-17.

Ga Tech (21) @ NC State

Ga Tech 40-10.

Bowling Green @ West Virginia (22)

West Va 42-7.

Clemson (13) @ Virginia Tech (11)

This is a big one on the ACC landscape. Clemson comes in on a roll after two big wins but the Hokies are the Hokies and they are at home.

Virginia Tech 27-21.

Ball State @ Oklahoma (2)

Oklahoma 55-7.

Texas (17) @ Iowa State

Danger game for the Longhorns.

Iowa State 31-27.

Alabama (3) @ Florida (12)

The Tide rolls into “The Swamp” but do not get out unscathed!!

Florida 24-22.

Nebraska (8) @ Wisconsin (7)

The Huskers visit Camp Randall for their first Big 10 game and get treated rudely!!

Wisconsin 30-17.

UCLA @ Stanford (6)

Stanford 33-17.

Oregon State @ Arizona State (25)

Arizona State 43-10.

Arizona @ USC

USC 34-20.

Idaho @ Virginia

Virginia 41-7.

Bethune-Cookman @ Miami (FL)

Miami 50-12.

Air Force @ Navy

Navy 22-17.

Towson @ Maryland

Maryland 50-6.

Michigan State @ Ohio State

Michigan State 34-30.

Notre Dame @ Purdue

Notre Dame 30-24.

That will do it for this week’s picks……

NFL Week 3 picks....

NFL Week 3 Picks…

An 11-5 finish for Week 2 has put me at 21-11 thus far in my 2011 NFL predictions. You can review last week’s picks here.

On to this week’s picks:

Kansas City @ San Diego

San Diego gets back on track with a home win against the sputtering Chiefs.

Chargers 35-20.

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay

Buc’s pick up their second win in a row with a home win over the Falcons.

Buc’s 27-17.

New England @ Buffalo

The surprising Bills may have just enough defence to finally break the Patriot hoodoo over them.

Bills 31-30.

San Francisco @ Cincinnati

Bengals will get this one on their home turf.

Cincy 24-20.

Miami @ Cleveland

Cleveland’s ground game will serve them well against a tough 0-2 Miami team.

Browns 27-14.

Denver @ Tennessee

Titans get another win this week.

Titans 31-21.

Detroit @ Minnesota

The Lions continue to roar loudly with a win over the Vikings.

Detroit 24-13.

Houston @ New Orleans

Saints win 38-24.

NY Giants @ Philadelphia

Lately, the Eagles always seem to find a way to beat the Giants, no different this week.

Philly 30-21.

Jacksonville @ Carolina

Cam Newton gets his first NFL win.

Panthers 27-21.

NY Jets @ Oakland

This could be a tricky one for the Jets on the road.

Jets 24-23.

Baltimore @ St. Louis

Which Ravens team will show up??

Baltimore 27-14.

Green Bay @ Chicago

Bears are searching for an identity and will continue in their quest after this week.

Packers 38-24.

Arizona @ Seattle

Cardinals 30-17.

Pittsburgh @ Indianapolis

Colts are floundering without Peyton Manning, the fall continues this week.

Steelers 30-14.

Washington @ Dallas

I will go with the home team in this one.

Dallas 23-17.

Ok…until next week…happy tipping…

NCAA Week 4 picks....

NCAA Week 4 Picks…

We have gotten to Week 4 of the NCAA football season and I have been doing reasonably well pick wise. A 19-6 week for my blog picks gives me a 65-10 record for the season so far.

I had a down week in my Fearless Forecaster picks back in the Roanoke Times newspaper in my home state of Virginia. I went 12-8 for the week putting me at 43-17 for the year. Again I’d dare say that I am leading all Australian tippers!! This week may be a downer as I did not pick my winners before the deadline and have some strange automatic winners picked. Will have to make up for it next week!!

Ok…..here we go with the Week 4 picks:

USC (23) @ Arizona State

The Sun Devils were surprised on the road last week and face a tough Trojan squad in the Desert this week.

Southern Cal wins 30-24.

Va Tech (13) @ Marshall

Tech needs more fine tuning before conference games start. They should get better this week.

Va Tech wins 41-7.

Missouri @ Oklahoma (1)

Not a very close one this year.

Oklahoma 44-14.

LSU (2) @ West Virginia (16)

Tigers will find a way to pull this one out.

LSU takes it 24-16.

Arkansas (14) @ Alabama (2)

May be a bit of a test for ‘Bama but they should pass this one. Best wishes of course to Jesse Williams…go Aussie boy!!

Alabama wins it by 30-22.

Tulsa @ Boise State (4)

Boise steps slightly out of the national spotlight and should continue winning.

Boise State gets the win 51-31.

South Dakota @ Wisconsin (6)

Badgers roll to another big score in this one.

Wisconsin wins easily 57-6.

Oklahoma State (7) @ Texas A&M (8)

Will most likely go down to the last possession again this year. I will give the slight edge to the home team.

Texas A&M wins in a close one 24-20.

Nebraska (9) @ Wyoming

A battle of the unbeaten but only on paper.

Nebraska 44-10.

Oregon (10) @ Arizona

Oregon rolls to a 47-17 win.

Florida State (11) @ Clemson (21)

Upset Special!!!

Clemson 24-22.

Vanderbilt @ South Carolina (12)

South Carolina hangs on again.

S. Caro 27-24.

Florida (15) @ Kentucky

Florida rolls 43-16.

Rice @ Baylor (17)

Baylor wins 38-24.

UTEP @ South Florida (18)

South Florida wins 30-6.

Portland State @ TCU (20)

TCU destroys Portland St. 61-12.

San Diego St. @ Michigan

Michigan 26-17.

Western Michigan @ Illinois (24)

Illinois 42-10.

North Carolina @ Georgia Tech (25)

Tough ACC battle in Georgia.

Ga Tech 24-20.

Kansas State @ Miami (FL)

Miami 31-14.

Southern Miss @ Virginia

Virginia 27-22.

Notre Dame @ Pitt

Pitt 20-17.

Temple @ Maryland

Maryland 35-21.

Georgia @ Ole Miss

Georgia 27-17.

Florida Atlantic @ Auburn

Auburn 47-12.

Ok, that will do it until next week….

High School football picks for my slice of Virginia....Week 5...

High School Football Week 5 picks

Last week….I finished with a feeble 5-4 record putting me at 29-10 for my blog picks. I went against gut instinct in the Magna Vista-Franklin County game, Martinsville surprised me with a win and Chatham surprised me with a loss.

On Varsitycast at the Roanoke Times newspaper, I had a 17-9 week, moving me to 73-34 for the season, 20 games behind expert Robert Anderson. I would still dare say that I lead all Aussie tippers though!! LOL!!!

This week I will be doing 11 games for my blog since I missed one last week and tipped nine instead of the usual ten. So, here we go for Week 5:

Bassett @ Franklin County

Bengals have had a tough few weeks to start the season with all games against teams that will most likely be playoff bound. This week, they will be ambushed again by an angry Franklin County crew looking to bounce back from last week’s loss.

Franklin County by 40.

Magna Vista @ Pulaski County

Pulaski County is obviously not the programme of glory days past when the name struck fear in teams throughout the state. Magna Vista will get another rankings boosting win.

Magna Vista by 23.

Martinsville @ Halifax County

Give the ‘Dogs two in a row in a close one.

Martinsville by 4.

Patrick County @ Richlands

Another big loss for PC…this time by 50.

Salem @ Northside

This one will draw a big crowd to Roanoke and should equal the hype. Salem seems slightly down so I will go with Northside for a victory.

Northside by 8.

Kenston Forest @ Carlisle

Carlisle could get a winning streak going.

Carlisle by 10.

Jefferson Forest @ Brookville

Huge game for the Lynchburg area between two unbeaten teams, I will give the slight edge to the home team.

Brookville by 3.

Chatham @ Appomattox County

Appomattox County by 6.

William Campbell @ Dan River

Dan River should get this one at home.

Dan River by 8.

Lake Taylor @ GW-Danville

GW faces another tough team from the Tidewater area, this time at home. Another character building loss for the Eagles unfortunately.

Lake Taylor by 13.

Alleghany @ Cave Spring

Another “Battle of the Ridges” game. This time I will give the slight edge to the River Ridge crew.

Cave Spring by 6.

The current Timesland High School Top 10 can be found here.

Ok, it’s Friday night here in Australia so I’m off until next week…good luck to all teams…..until next week.

NFL Week 2 picks...

NFL Week 2 picks

Ok…got the Crystal Ball out for a look at Week 2 of the NFL schedule. For Week 1 I finished with a 10-6 ledger. Not too bad of a start to the season. I’m looking for better in Week 2 though so here we go:

Kansas City @ Detroit

The Lions off to a 2-0 start?? It’s real……it’s very real!!

Detroit 27-17.

Oakland @ Buffalo

Buffalo off to a 2-0 start?? It’s possible!!

Buffalo 21-17.

Tampa Bay @ Minnesota

Bucs rebound for a win. Donovan McNabb off to tough start.

Tampa Bay 31-20.

Chicago @ New Orleans

Saints march at home.

New Orleans 31-21.

Baltimore @ Tennessee

Ravens continue winning ways.

Baltimore 30-10.

Cleveland @ Indianapolis

Browns put another loss on the Colts

Cleveland 23-17.

Jacksonville @ NY Jets

Jets roll in this one.

NY Jets 41-20.

Seattle @ Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is not a good place to visit for Seahawks this week.

Pitt 30-10.

Arizona @ Washington

Tough one to pick in DC…..I will give the slight edge to the Cardinals

Arizona 27-24.

Green Bay @ Carolina

Ok….Cam Newton….will we see miracle #1?? Not just yet but maybe a glimmer of hope??

Green Bay 37-20.

Dallas @ San Francisco

Will the Cowboys get off to another slow start?? I’m going with the ‘Niners in a close one.

SF 23-21.

San Diego @ New England

Ok a pick only a Bolts fan can make!!

Chargers 31-27.

Houston @ Miami

Texans 30-17.

Cincinnati @ Denver

Broncos bounce back 34-13.

Philadelphia @ Atlanta

Mr Vick goes to the Dirty South and comes away with the “W”

Eagles 30-20.

Saint Louis @ NY Giants

Healthy QB a question for the Rams, consistency a question for the Giants.

Giants 20-14.

Questions to ponder:

Will anyone sign “TO”??

How long before Moss/Farve out of retirement rumours start??

See ya’ next week.

High School football picks for my slice of Virginia...Week 4!!

Virginia High Schools…Week 4

Evening all, we are now up to Week 4 in the Timesland, Martinsville and Piedmont areas for high school football.

Last week on VarsityCast I went 20-8 putting me at 56-25 for the season, waaaayyyy behind the expert, Robert Anderson who is 73-8 for the season thus far. I can probably safely say though that I am leading all forecasters/pickers in Australia!! LOL!!

In my Blog Picks for Week 3 I went 9-1 taking my record to 24-6 for 2011.

Here we go for Week 4.

Franklin County @ Magna Vista

Very good backyard battle here, close one last year. If QB Taylor is healthy for Magna Vista this one could be close but since Franklin County is the larger programme, I will go with the Eagles to win by 4.

Staunton River @ Patrick County

Staunton River to win by 13.

Bassett @ Christiansburg

Bengals are having a brutal couple of weeks. C’Burg by 30.

Martinsville @ Liberty

Bulldogs travel to Bedford and lose a close one. Liberty wins by 2.

Tunstall @ Bluestone

Tunstall gets road win by 8.

Carlisle @ Brunswick Academy

The Chiefs travel to Brunswick for a close loss by say 4. But will get a chance to reverse their fortunes in a couple of weeks.

Chatham @ Lunenburg Central

Cavs go on the road and lose to Central by 9.

GW- Danville @ Churchland

GW takes a big road trip and comes away with a win by 13.

Radford @ Galax

Galax by 2 in a close one.

Blacksburg @ Patrick-Henry Roanoke

PH by 17.

Ok, that will do it for this week’s picks….you can click here for a gander at the current Timesland High School Football Top 10.

Get out and enjoy some games…I do when I’m back in VA!!!

NCAA Week 3

NCAA Week 3 Picks

Ok…we’re up to the third week of NCAA football action. Pick wise….I went 17-3 last week in the Roanoke Times’ Fearless Forecasters putting me at 31-9 so far for the 2011 season.

In my 25 blog picks, I went 23-2, putting me at 46-4 after the first two weeks of play.

Ok…here we go with Week 3:

LSU (3) @ Mississippi State (25)

Could be tricky for LSU but their defence will pull them through. LSU wins by

24-17.

Boise State (4) @ Toledo

Toledo faces another tough team, this week at home. Boise State will be tougher than Ohio State was last week. Boise State 37-22.

Ohio State (17) @ Miami, Fla.

Ok Hurricanes…we owe them one. Miami 30-20.

Arkansas State @ Virginia Tech (13)

Hokies are starting to get on a roll. Tech wins 41-13.

Oklahoma (1) @ Florida State (5)

Seminoles owe them one, ACC has a strong weekend. Florida State wins 27-24.

North Texas @ Alabama (2)

Alabama will not be bothered in this one. Tide wins 55-0.

Stanford (6) @ Arizona

Stanford takes it 34-20.

Wisconsin (7) @ Northern Illinois

Badgers look to climb in the rankings after another rout. Badgers win by 58-13.

Oklahoma State (8) @ Tulsa

Tulsa goes 0-2 for their in-state battles. Oklahoma State by 44-10.

Idaho @ Texas A&M (9)

Texas A&M wins big by 51-7.

Navy @ South Carolina (10)

South Carolina wins against another quality team 34-13.

Washington @ Nebraska (11)

Cornhuskers take 2-1 leads in games with Washington over the last calendar year, Cornhuskers win 32-24.

Missouri State @ Oregon (12)

The Duck will get a few push ups in. Oregon wins by 62-12.

Troy @ Arkansas (14)

Razorbacks just too strong…win by 42-10.

Michigan State (15) @ Notre Dame

Spartans get the best of ND again, slightly easier than last season. Michigan State wins by 24-14.

Tennessee @ Florida (16)

Florida wins by 27-22.

West Virginia (18) @ Maryland

Slight upset, Maryland wins 28-24.

S.F. Austin @ Baylor (19)

Baylor rolls by a big score…say 52-3.

Florida A&M @ South Florida (20)

South Florida wins to go 3-0. Bulls by 42-17.

Arizona State (22) @ Illinois

Sun Devils win 30-20.

LA Monroe @ TCU (23)

TCU wins big by a 58-7 score.

Texas (23) @ UCLA

UCLA makes it two in a row over Texas…Bruins win 24-21.

Virginia @ North Carolina

Carolina wins a close one 21-17.

Louisville @ Kentucky

Can football game match basketball hype?? Kentucky wins this one 23-17.

Utah @ BYU

Hmm….big one for the Utah state title!! Utah takes it 26-22.

Ok…enjoy the games this weekend and best wishes to Aussie “Kid”, Jesse Williams …defensive lineman at Alabama.