NFL Predictions Week 8

Week 8 NFL picks

Ouch, another 6-7 week in NFL predictions leaves me at 65-38 for the season thus far. Hopefully, I will have another 10-3 follow up week as I did after my previous bad week.

There are a few good ones to look forward to this week so let’s get into the picks:

Arizona @ Baltimore

Ravens have looked awesome at times and have looked awful at times. Last week was an awful looking week!! This week, I would not want to be in the Cardinals’ shoes!!

Ravens 30-7.

Minnesota @ Carolina

Two in a row for the Panthers?? Could be!!

Carolina 27-17.

Jacksonville @ Houston

No surprises from Jacksonville this week!!

Houston 38-17.

Miami @ NY Giants

NY Giants 31-14.

New Orleans @ St. Louis

New Orleans 41-13.

Indianapolis @ Tennessee

Tennessee 24-17.

Detroit @ Denver

Well Mr. Tebow…there is a Defense with an attitude heading your way. Don’t think there will be a last minute hat trick this week.

Detroit 28-13.

Washington @ Buffalo

Buffalo 27-14.

Cincinnati @ Seattle

Bengals may be due for a letdown in Seattle.

Seattle 30-27.

Cleveland @ San Francisco

49ers are out to keep the momentum up and should do so at home.

San Francisco 31-21.

New England @ Pittsburgh

Now this is a big one on the scene, rematch of some classics past. Not sure the Patriots have enough on defense to get by the Steelers.

Pittsburgh 31-27.

Dallas @ Philadelphia

Another must win game for both teams. Dallas does not want to continue wearing the “chokers” label and Philly just wants to live up to a little of the hype. Usually records and everything else go out the window in this one!!

Philadelphia 30-20.

San Diego @ Kansas City

Chiefs are improving but Chargers are looking to bounce back from last week’s loss.

San Diego 35-24.

BYE WEEK: Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay, Oakland, NY Jets, Tampa Bay

High School Week 9 picks!!

Virginia High Schools Week 10

At least I continue to have good weeks in my High School football picks. NCAA ones aren’t bad and I just will not discuss my NFL record for last week!!!

Last week on VarsityCast I had an impressive 21-3 week taking me to 174-57. In my blog picks I had a perfect 10-0 week!! That result puts me at 75-15 and it was my second perfect week!!

There are a few major games on slate this Friday night so here we go:

Magna Vista @ Martinsville

Always a huge game where the record does not necessarily matter. But this year I think Magna Vista may be just too strong.

Magna Vista by 14.

Patrick County @ Bassett

Bassett by 24.

Chatham @ Tunstall

Tunstall gets a week off from district play for their “Backyard Brawl” with Chatham. Trojans should get the win.

Tunstall by 13.

Carlisle @ Fishburne Military Academy

Fishburne by 20.

Franklin County @ PH-Roanoke

Franklin County takes district crown again.

Franklin County by 4.

Altavista @ Dan River

Dan River by 8.

Northside @ Rockbridge County

Possible upset!! Northside may have a slip heading towards playoff run.

Rockbridge by 3.

Christiansburg @ Cave Spring

Upset #2!!

Cave Spring by 2.

Hidden Valley @ Salem

Salem by 18.

William Fleming @ Halifax County

Halifax County by 8.

Latest VHSL/VIS ratings are here.

This week’s Timesland Top 10

See you next week!!

NCAA Predictions...Week 9

NCAA Week 9 Predictions

While Alabama and LSU have a week off before their 1 vs. 2 clash next weekend, the college football world continues to turn … and jostle for possible BCS spots.

Last week’s 18-5 record in my blog picks has me at 128-52 on the season. Yet another 12-8 week as a Fearless Forecaster leaves me at 100-60 for the year in my picks for the Roanoke Times.

There are a few key games on slate for the weekend so here we go:

Rice @ Houston (17)

Houston’s Cougars are looking to continue their winning ways and with the help of higher ranked teams bumping one another off over the next few weeks, move up in the rankings. They are heavy favourites for another “W” this weekend.

Houston 50-17.

Virginia @ Miami

While neither team is ranked at the moment, this game is a big one as both teams are still alive for a berth in the ACC Championship game.

Apologies to the home state crew….have to tip my Hurricanes!!

Miami 30-17.

Michigan State (11) @ Nebraska (14)

Another big weekend for Michigan State as the Spartans look to keep their season losses at one. There may be a slight letdown at Nebraska, expect it to go down to the wire of course…slight nod to the home team.

Nebraska 27-26.

Missouri @ Texas A&M (16)

Texas A&M 38-31.

Purdue @ Michigan (18)

Michigan 40-24.

Arkansas (10) @ Vanderbilt

Arkansas 42-22.

VA Tech (12) @ Duke

Tech has climbed back to the fringe of the Top 10 and will continue to rise over the next few weeks.

VA Tech 45-17.

Washington State @ Oregon (7)

Oregon 54-12.

Baylor @ Oklahoma State (3)

The scoreboard may tick over quicker than the clock in this one!! I will call upon Baylor for one of my “upset specials” again!!

Baylor 42-38.

Oklahoma (9) @ Kansas State (8)

Last week, Oklahoma was bumped from the unbeaten this week they bump an unbeaten team!!

Oklahoma 27-21.

Illinois @ Penn State (19)

Just quietly…Penn State only has one loss…shh…..they should creep up in the rankings!!

Penn State 24-13.

Georgia (22) vs. Florida

The “Cocktail Party” is upon us!! The Gators should pull of an upset!!

Florida 23-20.

West Virginia (25) @ Rutgers

West Virginia 31-21.

Colorado @ Arizona State (21)

Arizona State 41-10.

Iowa State @ Texas Tech (20)

Texas Tech 41-13.

Ole Miss @ Auburn

Auburn 30-7.

Kansas @ Texas (24)

Texas 37-22.

South Carolina (13) @ Tennessee

South Carolina 24-10.

Clemson (5) @ GA Tech

My old mate, Chip Stanley has warned me of the perils of tipping against the Tigers!! I have not listened at least twice this season so I will tip them this week!! Don’t get upset!!

Clemson 34-10.

Stanford (6) @ USC

USC does not have a bowl game to look forward to but beating Notre Dame and Stanford on consecutive weekends can be just as satisfying!! Upset Special!!

USC 28-22.

Wisconsin (15) @ Ohio State

Wisconsin 34-24.

BYU vs. TCU

TCU 30-20.

Boston College @ Maryland

Maryland 38-14.

Wake Forest @ North Carolina

North Carolina 33-22.

Northwestern @ Indiana

Northwestern 38-13.

That will do it for my college picks, high school picks are next and hopefully a week of redemption in my NFL picks!!!

NFL Week 7 predictions....

NFL Reaches Week 7

The 2011 NFL season is up to Week 7 and things are picking up with a few teams desperate to salvage the year while others seem resigned to jockeying for draft positions.

Last week’s 10-3 tipping record put me up to 59-31 for the season and was a recovery from a 6-7 showing in Week 5.

Ok, here we go for this week:

San Diego @ NY Jets

The Chargers have had troubles with the Jets in past seasons and this year there are a few sub plots. LaDainian Tomlinson faces his old team, the only NFL squad that he has never scored a touchdown against. Then there is Vincent Jackson versus “Revis Island”. Also Phillip Rivers versus the Jets secondary in general.

Well … Mr Revis…no man is an island…though you had a good one last Monday against a decent wide out. This week…you may lose out.

San Diego 31-20.

Chicago vs. Tampa Bay (London)

The Bucs seem to find ways to win the close ones and this week they get by Chicago in London.

Tampa Bay 27-17.

Washington @ Carolina

Cam Newton and crew get a “W” at home.

Carolina 30-28.

Atlanta @ Detroit

The Lions bounce back at home against the Falcons.

Detroit 24-20.

Seattle @ Cleveland

Cleveland 27-17.

Denver @ Miami

The Tebow fans have what they want but not a win!!

Miami 21-17.

Houston @ Tennessee

Both teams need a win…I’ll give a slight edge to the home squad.

Tennessee 24-21.

Kansas City @ Oakland

Oakland 17-13.

Pittsburgh @ Arizona

Pittsburgh 34-17.

Green Bay @ Minnesota

Green Bay 38-14.

St. Louis @ Dallas

Dallas gets a win this week…

Dallas 30-14.

Indianapolis @ New Orleans

Not the game we were looking forward to at the start of the season!!

New Orleans 40-20.

Baltimore @ Jacksonville

Baltimore 30-7.

Bye Week: Buffalo, Cincinnati, New England, NY Giants, Philadelphia and San Francisco

That will do it until next week!!

High School picks for Week 8

High Schools Week 8

High schools back in my neck of the woods are into Week 8 of their season and teams are jostling for playoff spots in the upcoming VHSL playoffs.

Last week in the Roanoke Times’ VarsityCast, I had a very good 24-4 week putting me at 153-54 for high school picks this season. In my blog picks for last week, I had a perfect week 10-0 putting me at 65-15 for the year.

In the Piedmont District, Magna Vista has the week off to prepare for its final two games. Local school Carlisle also has a bye week.

I will jump right into this week’s picks:

Martinsville @ Bassett

This one should be a brawl, if the Bulldogs are healthy and stay mistake free…they should escape with the “W”.

Martinsville by 6.

Tunstall @ Patrick County

Should be an easy one for Tunstall as they look to a possible playoff spot.

Tunstall by 22.

GW-Danville @ Franklin County

Franklin County by 8.

Chatham @ William Campbell

Chatham still searching for a win….not this week

Wm Campbell by 12.

William Byrd @ Northside

Northside by 23.

Cave Spring @ Blacksburg

Cave Spring by 18.

Salem @ Christiansburg

Huge playoff quality game here but the Blue Demons may be too strong.

C’Burg by 18.

Glenvar @ Radford

Radford by 22.

Amherst County @ Jefferson Forest

Jefferson Forest by 5.

Halifax County @ Patrick-Henry Roanoke

Patrick Henry by 18.

The Timesland Top 10 for October 16 is here.

The current VHSL playoff rankings and VIS polls are now available by clicking the links.

College Football predictions Week 8...

NCAA Week 8

Week 7’s NCAA predictions saw me finish the week with a 19-8 record sending me to 110-47 for the year on my blog. As a Fearless Forecaster, I had another 12-8 week sending me to 88-52 for the 2011 College season.

There are a few big ones on tap this weekend including the Southern Cal/Notre Dame showdown. Last week was the first week of the BCS Standings with LSU and Alabama in the top two slots.

So here are this week’s picks:

West Virginia (15) @ Syracuse

West Virginia will look to continue their rise in the polls with a road win at Syracuse in this week’s Friday night Big East special.

WVa 34-14.

Oklahoma State (4) @ Missouri

Has been a danger game for the Cowboys in the past, not this season.

Oklahoma State 52-22.

North Carolina @ Clemson (7)

Clemson 34-20.

Kansas State (11) @ Kansas

Kansas State 34-10.

Illinois (23) @ Purdue

Illinois 40-23.

Arkansas (9) @ Ole Miss

Arkansas 50-14.

Boston College @ Virginia Tech (12)

Va Tech 44-13.

Auburn (20) @ LSU (1)

LSU 34-17.

Nebraska (13) @ Minnesota

Nebraska 38-14.

Texas A&M (17) @ Iowa State

A&M 40-20.

Georgia Tech (22) @ Miami (Fla)

Miami 27-21.

Oregon (10) @ Colorado

Oregon 48-7.

Marshall @ Houston (19)

Houston 40-24.

Penn State (21) @ Northwestern

Penn State 33-22.

Tennessee @ Alabama (2)

Bama 41-10.

Texas Tech @ Oklahoma (3)

Oklahoma 44-30.

Wisconsin (6) @ Michigan State (16)

A danger game again for the Badgers after last season’s loss to Michigan State. They may just get by this season.

Wisconsin 27-16.

Washington (25) @ Stanford (8)

Stanford 31-21.

USC @ Notre Dame

The Trojans visit South Bend in what may be akin to a Bowl Game for them this season. The Irish need a big win but may not get it this week.

USC 24-17.

Wake Forest @ Duke

Wake Forest 27-14.

Air Force @ Boise State (5)

Boise State 37-32.

Maryland @ Florida State

Florida State 30-27.

East Carolina @ Navy

Navy 30-26.

Ok, those are my picks for the week… you can follow how I go from there.

NFL picks for Week 6

NFL Week 6

Horrible, horrible, horrible is the only description of the week in tipping that I had in my NFL week five tips. I finished 6-7 for the week putting me at 49-28 for the 2011-2012 season thus far.

I am looking for a better week in Week six picks so let’s jump into my selections:

San Francisco @ Detroit

While I tipped both teams for improvement, I never expected this week’s game to be such a marquis match up.

I will have to go with the home standing Lions for the win.

Detroit 27-17.

St. Louis @ Green Bay

Green Bay 38-14.

Carolina @ Atlanta

Suddenly a must win for the Falcons!! They may just get by in this one though it might come down to which team has the ball last!!

Atlanta 34-31.

Indianapolis @ Cincinnati

Colts are improving and a road win should help with confidence.

Indy 28-21.

Buffalo @ NY Giants

Part of the New York Championship series this season!! Should be a close one with the Giants holding on for a win this week.

NY Giants 30-28.

Jacksonville @ Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh 30-17.

Philadelphia @ Washington

Well, the Eagles are nearly out of inventive ways to lose and they took over DC in last season’s visit so I’ll give Philly the nod this season too.

Philadelphia 34-24.

Houston @ Baltimore

Baltimore is not the place you want to limp into if you are the Texans; they may come away more banged up!!

Baltimore 24-10.

Cleveland @ Oakland

“Just win baby” will be the thought for the Raiders in their first home game since the death of Al Davis. They will do just that!!

Oakland 27-24.

Dallas @ New England

Some experts are predicting a Cowboy surprise…sorry not this week!

New England 31-20.

New Orleans @ Tampa Bay

Were the Buc’s really that bad last week?? They need to improve quickly and will need to control the clock to have a chance this week.

New Orleans 28-20.

Minnesota @ Chicago

Chicago 30-27.

Miami @ NY Jets

Dolphin’s receiver wants to get kicked out of the game?? How about just showing up and playing some decent football!!

NY Jets 27-10.

Bye Week: Denver, Tennessee, Kansas City, Arizona, San Diego and Seattle

Ok, that will do it for this week’s picks enjoy the games….

NCAA Week 7 picks...

College Football Season Reaches Week 7

Nearly BCS Thinking Time

Last week I had a 13-7 week in the Roanoke Times’ Fearless Forecasters putting me at 76-44 for the year…hey I’m ahead of one of their experts. In my Blog Picks I had an excellent 22-3 week taking me to 91-39 for the season overall.

There are a few big ones on tap this week so let’s get tipping!!

Indiana @ Wisconsin (4)

Badgers continue their roll towards a BCS game.

Wisconsin 53-17.

Michigan (11) @ Michigan State (23)

Michigan is looking to get back on the winning track in this series but will face the toughest defensive opponents of the season thus far. The Wolverines may just pull it out.

Michigan 24-20.

Baylor (20) @ Texas A&M (21)

Big in state battle for both teams, A&M will have trouble stopping Baylor.

Baylor 49-31.

South Carolina (15) @ Mississippi State

South Carolina 31-21.

LSU (1) @ Tennessee

LSU 34-7.

Oklahoma State (6) @ Texas (22)

This week’s beating could be worse than last weeks for the Horns.

Oklahoma State 41-23.

Georgia Tech (12) @ Virginia

Ga Tech 27-10.

Ohio State @ Illinois (16)

Illinois 28-13.

Alabama (2) @ Ole Miss

Alabama 47-3.

Boise State @ Colorado State

Boise State 44-10.

Virginia Tech (19) @ Wake Forest

Big road test for Tech. Will they consolidate on last week’s win? Barely!!

Va Tech 30-27.

Clemson (8) @ Maryland

Another big ACC game on tap in College Park...might be upset time Clemson!!

Maryland 23-21.

Kansas State (17) @ Texas Tech

Another upset in Lubbock!!

Texas Tech 38-24.

Florida @ Auburn (24)

Auburn 27-21.

Stanford (7) @ Washington State

Stanford 38-10.

Oklahoma (3) @ Kansas

Oklahoma 50-12.

Arizona State (18) @ Oregon (9)

Ducks may score fewer points than normal but should score enough.

Oregon 38-27.

Utah @ Pittsburgh

No upset of the Panthers this year for Utah!!

Pitt 31-13.

Miami (Fla) @ North Carolina

Miami 24-20.

Purdue @ Penn State

Penn State 30-20.

Louisville @ Cincinnati

Cincy 23-17.

Navy @ Rutgers

Rutgers 30-20.

Florida State @ Duke

FSU 38-18.

Colorado @ Washington

Washington 30-7.

South Florida @ U Conn

S. Fla 28-13.

BYU @ Oregon State

BYU 38-7.

Georgia @ Vanderbilt

Georgia 28-22.

Ok, that will do it for this week, looking forward to the action starting in the wee hours of Sunday morning Aussie time!!