Thursday night NFL

Atlanta-NOLA kick off weekend

New Orleans makes the trek to Atlanta looking for a win in the Thursday night NFL game this week. Atlanta have been the Cardiac Crew this season with several close wins on their way to a 10-1 record. New Orleans will need to pretty much win out and hope for help if they want to make a postseason appearance this year.

Keeping with their present form, I'll have to go with the Falcons to pull this one out.

Atlanta 30-28

Back with more picks over the next few days.....enjoy the game...

Sunday NFL predictions

Thanksgiving Weekend continued

After last weeks 9-5 finish, I'm at 89-71 for the season but after going 1-2 on Thanksgiving Day I need to get a few more right!!

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay

Bucs need this one and could just get it!!

Tampa Bay 28-27

Baltimore @ San Diego

C'Mon Chargers!!

San Diego 23-21

Minnesota @ Chicago

Chicago 27-21

Oakland @ Cincinnati

Cincy 31-20

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland

Pittsburgh 17-13

Buffalo @ Indianapolis

Indianapolis 30-24

Denver @ Kansas City

Denver 35-21

Seattle @ Miami

Seattle 24-21

Tennessee @ Jacksonville

Tenessee 41-27

St. Louis @ Arizona

Arizona 20-14

San Francisco @ New Orleans

San Fran 27-17

Green Bay @ NY Giants

Time for the sleeping giants to wake up....

NY Giants 34-28

Carolina @ Philadelphia

Philadelphia 28-24

Until next week.....

Thanksgiving Day picks....

Not just any Thursday!!!

There are a couple of extra NFL games and an NCAA affair on for the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday.

Here are my predictions:

NCAA:

TCU @ Texas (16)

Both teams are Bowl eligible with Texas looking to upgrade their level of participation by getting another win. Their first "conference" battle with the Frogs since the old Southwest Conference days.

Tipping Texas this season.

Texas 36-31

NFL:

Houston @ Detroit

Lions are looking for some holiday magic against the Texans....give them a little!!

Detroit 24-20

Washington @ Dallas

Great holiday matchup, though most are touting Dallas to make a playoff run...I'll go against tradition and tip RGIII and crew.

Washington 28-24

New England @ NY Jets

Tipping a slight upset in this one...

NY Jets 30-28

That does it for the holiday clashes...back later with more...

NFL Predictions---Need a better record this week!!

Recovery needed after last weeks effort!!

A paltry 6-8 effort for NFL Predictions last week has left me with an 80-66 record for the NFL season thus far.

No need to go on about it...straight into the picks!!

Arizona @ Atlanta

Falcons look to bounce back after suffering their first loss.

Atlanta 34-21

San Diego @ Denver

Chargers need to bounce back from loss to Broncs earlier in the season....

San Diego 24-20

Cleveland @ Dallas

Cowboys win two in a row???

Dallas 24-13

Green Bay @ Detroit

Detroit needs this one!!

Detroit 34-31

Cincinnati @ Kansas City

Cincy 21-14

Philadelphia @ Washington

Washington 28-27

Tampa Bay @ Carolina

Tampa Bay 23-21

Jacksonville @ Houston

Houston 45-20

NY Jets @ St. Louis

St. Louis 27-21

New Orleans @ Oakland

Oakland 28-24

Indianapolis @ New England

New England 38-30

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh

Ravens may have just enough to get by in Pittsburgh.

Baltimore 16-13

Chicago @ San Francisco

San Fran 27-17

All for now...

VHSL Regional Semis on tap

VHSL Regional Semis on Friday

Back in Virginia, the VHSL playoffs have reached their second week and my old district, the Piedmont only has one team left vying for a state title. 

Last week, I finished 5-5 in my Blog Picks putting me at 147-59 for the season. On VarsityCast I finished the week at 16-6 running my record to 196-100 for the year.

Straight into this weeks picks:

William Byrd @ Heritage

Heritage 30-18

Jefferson Forest @ Amherst County

Amherst 41-21

Pulaski County @ Salem

Salem 26-22

Christiansburg @ Hidden Valley

Hidden Valley 24-20

Northside @ Brookville

Brookville 38-24

Marion @ Tunstall

The lone Piedmont team left...Tunstall beat Marion last season in the playoffs and should do again at home...

Tunstall 30-12

Cave Spring @ Richlands

Richlands 35-24

Covington @ Franklin

Franklin 26-18

Grayson County @ Fort Chiswell

Fort Chiswell 22-20

Liberty @ Rockbridge County

Rockbridge 30-26

That will do it for this weeks games...back with NCAA picks tomorrow.....

Two predictions for Thursday night

NFL and College picks for Thursday

The football action for the weekend kicks of in Buffalo for the NFL Thursday night game and in Charlottesville for NCAA action.

Straight to it:

North Carolina @ Virginia

Virginia needs to win their next two games if they want to go bowling at the end of the season. Carolina has been up and down, still the slight edge goes to the Tarheels in this one.

UNC 33-24

Miami @ Buffalo

The Dolphins travel north looking to get back to .500 for the season against a Buffalo squad that could pose problems at home.

Miami 30-28

Ok off for now...will try not to miss NCAA picks this week!!!

NFL Weekly Predictions...

Pick 'em time for NFL games

After an 8-6 effort last week, I'm sitting at 74-58 for the season in predicting NFL results.

Jumping straight into the picks....

Atlanta @ New Orleans

Will the Falcons finally drop one?? Ok...will predict it for this week.

New Orleans 30-27

San Diego @ Tampa Bay

San Diego 27-23

NY Giants @ Cincinnati

NY Giants 24-23

Tennessee @ Miami

Miami 33-24

Detroit @ Minnesota

Detroit 27-21

Buffalo @ New England

New England 35-17

Denver @ Carolina

Carolina 28-24

Oakland @ Baltimore

Baltimore 21-17

NY Jets @ Seattle

Seattle 23-20

Dallas @ Philadelphia

Both teams need a win...going with the home team...

Philadelphia 28-17

St. Louis @ San Francisco

San Francisco 35-20

Houston @ Chicago

Chicago 20-14

Kansas City @ Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh 34-10

That will do it for this week....enjoy the games....

VHSL Playoff time....

Make or break time back in Virginia

After a 9-1 week in my Blog Picks, I finished the regular season at 142-54 picking VHSL games. On VarsityCast, I went 17-9, ending the regular season at 180-94.

The playoffs are starting Friday so here is my selection of picks for the weekend's action:

Bassett @ Christiasburg

Was a close one in the regular season and the Bengals are coming off a big win over Magna Vista....slight edge to the home team...

C'Burg 21-19

Magna Vista @ Pulaski County

Another rematch....could be tougher for MV on the road but will give them the edge.

Magna Vista 30-22

Stuarts Draft @ Dan River

Dan River 27-12

Brooke Point @ GW-Danville

GW 24-14

EC Glass @ Jefferson Forest

Jefferson Forest 30-10

Patrick Henry @ Colonial Forge

Colonial Forge 24-13

William Byrd @ Lord Botetourt

Botetourt 28-26

Fort Defiance @ Northside

Northside 30-23

Floyd County @ Riverheads

Riverheads 34-24

Liberty @ R.E. Lee

R.E. Lee 32-22

Quick exit tonight...back with NCAA picks tomorrow...

Thursday Night Tilts

Thursday Night's NCAA & NFL picks...

This week's Thursday night games see Florida State (10) travel to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech in the NCAA game and the Indianapolis Colts drop in to Jacksonville for a game with the Jaguars.

Florida State (10) @ Virginia Tech

The 'Noles are still hoping to move up in the BCS rankings and Tech is hoping to get a win against a quality opponent. You never know on a Thursday night in Blacksburg but the 'Noles should come away on top.

Florida State 27-22

NFL:

Indianapolis @ Jacksonville

Colts should go to 6-3 without much fuss, they are putting themselves closer to a playoff berth.

Indianapolis 34-14

I will be back with VHSL playoff picks tomorrow...

NFL Week 9

Need to do better than break even!!

Another mediocre 7-7 week in NFL Predictions last week has left my record at 66-52 for the season. I am in desperate need of a big week so hoping my crystal ball does not fail this week!!

San Diego's Thursday night win has me off to a positive start.....here we go with the rest of the picks:

Dallas @ Atlanta
A lot of experts are once again picking a Falcons loss in this one but I think the Cowboys will find a way to lose it late.
Atlanta 34-28

Denver @ Cincinnati
Cincy 24-20

Baltimore @ Cleveland
Baltimore 30-14

Arizona @ Green Bay
Green Bay 27-17

Chicago @ Tennessee
Will be more of a battle than most think...
Tennessee 23-21

Miami @ Indianapolis
Miami 28-24

Carolina @ Washington
Battle of the last two Heisman winners goes to RG III !!
Washington 28-27

Detroit @ Jacksonville
Detroit 40-10

Buffalo @ Houston
Houston 38-17

Minnesota @ Seattle
Two of the season's surprises meet in the Northwest...advantage to the home team...
Seattle 30-21

Tampa Bay @ Oakland
Tampa Bay 24-17

Pittsburgh @ NY Giants
Giants may not have the usual lull in mid year this season...
NY Giants 31-21

Philadelphia @ New Orleans
Picking the Eagles to snap out of it...again!!
Philadelphia 23-14

That is all for this week....

Big Saturday for NCAA teams

BCS could get juggled!!

With two big games looming on Saturday's horizon, the BCS standings could be juggled as teams head down the home stretch of the NCAA football season.

Last week, I went 13-7 as a Fearless Forecaster in the Roanoke Times newspaper where I sit on a 114-66 ledger for the season. I finished 15-10 in my Blog Picks and am now 168-57 for the season.

This week Oregon/USC and Alabama/LSU highlight a week of big games that could juggle the BCS standings and conference races.

The picks:

Oregon (4) @ USC (17)

The Ducks could not beat the Trojans last season and it may be ditto for this season....

USC 34-30

Missouri @ Florida (7)

Florida 34-13

Temple @ Louisville (10)

Louisville 28-13

Oklahoma (12) @ Iowa State

Oklahoma 27-22

Texas A&M (16) @ Mississippi State (15)

Evenly matched ... could be best game of weekend.

Texas A&M 27-24

Stanford (14) @ Colorado

Stanford 40-10

TCU @ West Virginia (21)

Will Mountaineers get back to winning?? Maybe so...

West Virginia 37-30

Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame (3)

Notre Dame 38-17

Ole Miss @ Georgia (6)

Georgia 41-10

Texas (23) @ Texas Tech (18)

Texas Tech 38-28

Nebraska (20) @ Michigan State

Nebraska 24-22

Texas-San Antonio @ Louisiana Tech (25)

La Tech 40-20

Clemson (13) @ Duke

Clemson 30-27

Alabama (1) @ LSU (5)

Another classic in store....if Alabama slips in the regular season, it could be here...

LSU 17-14

Oklahoma State (24) @ Kansas State (2)

Kansas State 34-21

Arizona State @ Oregon State (11)

Oregon State 45-17

San Diego State @ Boise State (19)

Boise State 27-23

Arizona (22) @ UCLA

Slight upset!!

UCLA 37-34

Illinois @ Ohio State

Ohio State 38-3

Virginia @ NC State

NC State 30-14

Air Force @ Army

Air Force 30-7

Ga Tech @ Maryland

Maryland 24-22

Kansas @ Baylor

Baylor 52-10

Syracuse @ Cincinnati

Cincy 34-13

That covers this week...back with NFL picks tomorrow...

Friday night high school predictions for Timesland Virginia!!

Final Week Showdowns in Virginia

High school teams across Virginia will be battling for playoff spots or bragging rights as the regular season closes Friday night. For the playoff scenarios involving Timesland area teams, check out this article: www.roanoke.com/sports/highschool/wb/316143  

Last week on VarsityCast, I had a 19-7 week send my record to 163-85 for the year. Hopefully I can finish off the regular season with a big week. In my Blog Picks, an 8-2 record for last weeks games sees me standing at 133-53 on the year.

Ok, Lets pick 'em!!!

Magna Vista @ Bassett

Magna Vista is pretty much looking to improve their playoff position whereas Bassett is playing for their season to be extended and a win would help. Oh well Bengals, get ready for next season.

MV 34-12

Patrick County @ Carroll County

With one win between them, you would think Patrick County is in with a big chance but the lone Carroll County win came against Martinsville who in turn trounced Patrick County...so long Cougars....

Carroll County 38-6

Tunstall @ Martinsville

On paper, Tunstall should not have much of a problem, but there is always some of that M'ville hoodoo around at the end of the year....

Tunstall 17-12

Gretna @ Dan River

Dan River may have the upper hand at home.

Dan River 18-16

Halifax County @ GW-Danville

GW 40-7

Chatham @ Nelson County

Chatham started the season at 2-0 but it has been all downhill since. The may close positively.

Chatham 14-12

E.C. Glass @ Heritage

The Hill city Showdown goes to the Pioneers.

Heritage 32-6

Northside @ Lord Botetourt

Playoff ramifications abound in this one. Vikings have been there before...

Northside 13-6

Salem @ Pulaski County

Salem 24-20

Blacksburg @ Christiansburg

C'Burg 28-12

Playoff time next week.....tune in!!

Thursday Night NFL & NCAA

Two for Thursday Night

This week we have my San Diego Chargers looking to right the ship when they host the Kansas City Chiefs and I will be taking a stab at the Va Tech-Miami ACC clash.

NFL

Kansas City @ San Diego

Both teams come in after a few bad performances with the Chargers looking to turn their fortunes after their yearly October swoon. Going with the Bolts because they are at home and stronger on paper.

San Diego 30-17

NCAA

Virginia Tech @ Miami

Neither team has looked the part but both are still in with a chance at the ACC Championship so this one does matter. This week I will give a slight nod to the visitors.

Va Tech 27-22

Ok...back with VHSL and more NCAA picks soon...