Thanksgiving Day football picks...

NFL Teams search for direction in holiday games

All three NFL Thanksgiving Day games find teams searching for wins with hopes of kicking off season ending runs.

There are also some interesting NCAA tilts on hand.

Let's pick 'em....

Green Bay @ Detroit

The Packers need a "w" ...the Lions need a "w" could be in for a holiday classic game...going with the home team..

Lions 35-30

Oakland @ Dallas

Cowboys will have the national spotlight to state their case as a legitimate playoff contender....they may be in for a scare but should pull off the win.

Cowboys 34-24

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore

Will be a close one....Ravens reverse their fortunes...

Ravens 23-21

NCAA

Ole Miss @ Mississippi State

Ole Miss 30-24

Miami, Fla @ Pitt

Miami 34-20

Iowa @ Nebraska

Nebraska 30-27

Back with more in the next day or so....

NFL Week 12 picks....

Peyton vs Brady highlights the week

Denver travels to New England to highlight the Week 12 NFL schedule. 

I finished 9-6 in Week 11 so currently I am at 94-56 on the season. Straight on to this weeks picks...

San Digo @ Kansas City

Can the Bolts do it?? Gonna pick it anyhow.

Chargers 24-21

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland

Steelers 30-24

Tampa Bay @ Detroit

Lions 34-24

Minnesota @ Green Bay

Packers 30-27

Chicago @ St. Louis

Rams 30-20

Carolina @ Miami

Panthers 28-14

NY Jets @ Baltimore

Ravens 21-13

Jacksonville @ Houston

Top Draft Pick preliminary match!!

Texans 40-23

Tennessee @ Oakland

Raiders 31-27

Indianapolis @ Arizona

Cards 27-24

Dallas @ NY Giants

The Giants keep pulling off wins...

NY Giants 35-28

Denver @ New England

The Broncs travel north to face the Pats in a game to establish an AFC title contender pecking order. The home team will manage to pull this one off somehow.

New England 38-34

San Francisco @ Washington

Both teams could really use a win right about now...

49ers 20-14

Until next week ...enjoy ...

This weeks NCAA Picks...

Sorry sports fans....this week's NCAA picks will not happen due to real world work commitments...back with NFL picks tomorrow though....enjoy the games....

Round 2 VHSL playoff games on tap...

VHSL Round 2 picks...

Back in Virginia...the post season has reached round two for high school teams...for the First Round, I finished 9-1 putting me out to 187-72 for the year. As a Varsity Forecaster in the Roanoke Times I am 214-83 for the season.

Straight into this week's picks...

Dominion @ Salem

Salem by 7

William Byrd @ Heritage

Heritage by 10

Hidden Valley @ Lord Botetourt

Lord Botetourt by 20

Monticello @ Northside

Northside by 8

Magna Vista @ Western Albermarle

Tough one ahead on the road for Magna Vista but speed may get them through...

Magna Vista by 4

Radford @ Fort Chiswell

Fort Chiswell by 12

Sussex Central @ Altavista

Altavista by 20

Buckingham @ Dan River

Dan River by 10

GW Danville @ Courtland

GW by 3

Haysi @ Galax

Galax by 6

Enjoy the action...

Thursday nights games...

Two games in Thursday spotlight...

Rutgers travels to Central Florida and the Saints and Falcons meet in Thursday night games this week...quickly picking them...

Rutgers @ Central Florida (18)

Central Florida looks to move up the BCS ladder with a win at home...

C. Fla 31-20

New Orleans @ Atlanta

Before the season started, this one was figured to have a huge effect on who wins the NFC South...still does as the Saints try to stay ahead of the Panthers with a win...

Saints 40-24

Back with the rest of my weekend picks...in the next few days...

NFL time of the weekend....

Week 11 for NFL teams...turning point time

With the season just over the half way point, there are a few teams hanging on by a thread...looking for solutions to injury problems or just a change of luck.

Week 10 was a bounce back week for me as I went 10-4 to put me at 85-50 on the season.

Ok, let's pick this weeks games...

San Diego @ Miami

Miami still reeling from team locker room problems....hopefully they will not recover against the mighty Bolts!!

Chargers 30-21

Atlanta@ Tampa Bay

Bucs 23-21

NY Jets @ Buffalo

NY Jets 27-24

Baltimore @ Chicago

Ravens may be coming to life...

Ravens 24-20

Cleveland @ Cincinnati

Bengals 30-21

Washington @ Philadelphia

Can Eagles finally win one in Phily...maybe so...

Eagles 30-27

Detroit @ Pittsburgh

Lions 34-28

Arizona @ Jacksonville

Cardinals 34-17

Oakland @ Houston

Titans 21-17

San Francisco @ New Orleans

Another big one between these teams but the 'Niners have been reeling a bit lately so going with the home team.

Saints 28-20

Green Bay @ NY Giants

Giants 30-24

Minnesota @ Seattle

Seahawks 35-24

Kansas City @ Denver

KC comes in as the last of the unbeaten and the Broncos are ripe for picking...even though Denver is the favourite...going with the visitors!!

KC 27-21

New England @ Carolina

Big one for the Panthers as they continue to surprise this season...

Panthers 38-34

Until next week...enjoy the games..

NCAA Week 12 picks...

Conference challenges highlight the weekend

This weekend sees a lot of conference games on tap but there could be pitfalls this time of the year.

Miami, Fla (23) @ Duke

My 'Canes are in a free fall the last couple of weeks but hope to have enough healthy bodies to compete against a surprising Duke outfit....time to right the ship..

Miami 28-26

Stanford (4) @ USC

Ok...upset time...

USC 23-17

Alabama (1) @ Mississippi State

Bama 35-20

Syracuse @ Florida State (2)

FSU 41-13

Ohio State (3) @ Illinois

Ohio State 40-20

Texas Tech @ Baylor (5)

Baylor 48-35

Utah @ Oregon (6)

Oregon 50-18

Georgia (25) @ Auburn (7)

Auburn 27-24

Florida @ South Carolina (10)

S.Caro 34-18

Oklahoma State (12) @ Texas (24)

Texas gets a big one at home...

Texas 30-28

Michigan State (16) @ Nebraska

Mich St. 23-17

Central Florida (17) @ Temple

UCF 30-10

Iowa State @ Oklahoma (18)

Oklahoma 40-20

Oregon State @ Arizona State (19)

ASU 31-21

Houston @ Louisville (20)

Louisville 45-37

Indiana @ Wisconsin (22)

Wisconsin 34-17

Maryland @ Va Tech

Tech 28-17

Cincinnati @ Rutgers

Rutgers 28-23

NC State @ Boston College

BC 24-20

UNC @ Pitt

UNC 17-10

Washington State @ Arizona

Arizona 30-24

Wyoming @ Boise State 

Boise State 40-31

Enjoy the action sports fans!!

Playoff time back in Virginia....

VHSL playoffs are set to start....

When the Virginia High School League playoff games start around 7 or 7:30 on Friday night Virginia time....roughly 9308 miles away on a Saturday morning around 9-9:30 am local time, I will be tuning in or looking for feed links for the games!

I had another 8-2 week in Week 11 to finish off the regular season at 178-71. I finished at 199-77 as a Varsity Forecaster in the Roanoke Times newspaper.

I doubt anyone else nearly 10,000 miles away did better!! LOL!!

Ok...playoffs are upon us...let's pick a few winners.....

Liberty @ Magna Vista

The Liberty record can be deceiving as their three losses were by a combined 13 points and were to credible Heritage, Brookville and E.C. Glass teams. That being said, the Warriors will be tough to beat at home.

Magna Vista by 8

Glenvar @ Dan River

Dan River by 16

Charlottesville @ G.W. Danville

GW by 14

Tunstall @ Heritage

Heritage by 26

Forest Park @ Patrick Henry - Roanoke

PH by 4

Pulaski County @ Courtland

Courtland by 12

Fauquier @ Salem

Salem by 8

Christiansburg @ Willam Byrd

C'Burg by 2

Brookville @ Northside

Rematch of championship games past...giving the edge to the home team.

Northside by 6

Radford @ Holston

Holston by 10

Good luck to all...enjoy the games....

Early games for this week....

Ranked teams in action Thursday & Friday

Thursday night sees Georgia Tech travel to #8 Clemson and #13 UCLA hosts Washington on Friday night in NCAA action before the weekend kicks off in earnest. 

On the NFL side of the coin, Indianapolis travels to Tennessee with bot teams looking to bounce back from embarrassing losses.

NCAA

Georgia Tech @ Clemson (8)

The Tigers have been known to have let downs but will be hoping that the Florida State fiasco will be the big one for this season.

Clemson 30-24

Washington @ UCLA (13)

Both teams come in relatively hot but giving the edge to the home standing Bruins.

UCLA 38-34

NFL

Indianapolis @ Tennessee

Do not see the Colts having another bad game this week while the Titans are looking shaky.

Colts 41-20

Back in a few days with the rest of this weekends picks.....

Need to bounce back from last week's NFL effort!!

Ouch...need a better week...

After an awful 5-8 record for Week 9, I'm at 75-46 on the season in picking the pro game...not a lot to say but just get back to pickin'!!

Denver @ San Diego

The Broncs could be primed for an upset...wishful thinking..maybe but we owe them one!!

Chargers 31-27

Seattle @ Atlanta

Seattle 35-24

Detroit @ Chicago

Bears due for slip after win over the Packers!!

Lions 37-24

Philadelphia @ Green Bay

Eagles 30-21

Jacksonville @ Tennessee

Titans 38-20

St. Louis @ Indianapolis

Colts 40-21

Oakland @ NY Giants

Giants 31-17

Buffalo @ Pittsburgh

Steelers 24-20

Cincinnati @ Baltimore

Ravens need to come to life...

Ravens 21-17

Carolina @ San Francisco

49ers 28-27

Houston @ Phoenix

Cards 30-27

Dallas @ New Orleans

Tough trip to NOLA for Dallas...

Saints 38-27

Miami @ Tampa Bay

Bucs finally break through??

Bucs 23-21

My guesswork here is done!!! 

Who will reign in November??

BCS jockeying begins in earnest...

After a big Thursday night of football, the rest of the weekend's NCAA action should be interesting.

In Week 10 I finished with an 18-7 record taking me out to 184-41 on the season....

Ok...here we go with the rest of Week 11 after getting Stanford, Baylor and Louisville wins correctly to start the weekend.

Virginia Tech @ Miami, Fla (11)

I know there are lots of Tech fans back home but have to go with my team

Miami 28-20

LSU (13) @ Alabama (1)

Dare I pick an upset?? Why not....

LSU 30-28

Florida State (2) @ Wake Forest

Deacs could be tough at home....'Noles due for a letdown but not just yet..

FSU 48-30

Missouri (8) @ Kentucky

Mizzou 35-17

Auburn (9) @ Tennessee

Auburn 28-17

Kansas @ Oklahoma State (14)

Oklahoma State 45-14

Mississippi State @ Texas A&M (15)

A&M 48-20

Fresno State (16) @ Wyoming

Fresno 31-14

UCLA (19) @ Arizona

Another upset!!

Arizona 34-31

Houston @ Central Florida (21)

C. Fla 34-30

Arizona State (22) @ Utah

ASU 27-19

Notre Dame (23) @ Pitt

Notre Dame 38-17

BYU @ Wisconsin (24)

Wisconsin 30-21

Kansas State @ Texas Tech (25)

Texas Tech 40-28

USC @ Cal

USC 28-20

Vanderbilt @ Florida

Florida 17-12

Iowa @ Purdue

Iowa 31-14

Arkansas @ Ole Miss

Ole Miss 38-31

Nebraska @ Michigan

Michigan 24-22

Hawaii @ Navy

Navy 27-10

Old Dominion @ Idaho

ODU 24-23

All until next week...back to the party!!

Final Weekend for VHSL teams

Playoff picture to clear over the weekend

Back in Virginia, the high school football season draws to a close on Friday night with spots up for grabs in the revamped VHSL playoff structure.

I went 8-2 in Week 10 and now I am 170-69 on the season high school wise. In the Roanoke Times, I am 180-73 as a Fearless Forecaster.

OK, last week of regular season...let's pick 'em....

Magna Vista @ Bassett

Do not expect the Warriors to go into this one unprepared after last seasons upset at the hands of the Bengals.

Magna Vista by 22

Martinsville @ GW-Danville

GW by 20

Patrick County @ Carroll County

The Cougars final chance for a win against a team with only one win. Time to recruit more players for next season in Stuart.

Carroll County by 14

Tunstall @ Halifax County

Tunstall by 4

Appomattox County @ Chatham

Chatham by 22

Cave Spring @ Hidden Valley

Cave Spring by 3

Pulaski County @ Salem

Salem by 13

Eastern Montgomery @ Radford

Radford by 13

Giles @ Glenvar

Giles by 26

Northside @ Rockbridge County

Northside by 16

Enjoy the games and let's gt ready for the post season!!

Big NCAA games over the next two days...

Oregon Stanford kick off the weekend

The NCAA is providing us with some marquee match ups on Thursday night when #3 Oregon travels to #5 Stanford and #10 Oklahoma visits #6 Baylor. On Friday we have #20 Louisville in the spotlight when they travel to play UConn.

On the professional side of things, the Washington Redskins visit Minnesota to take on the Vikings.

Oregon (3) @ Stanford (5)

This one will be a battle of styles and Stanford will look to repeat last seasons "ground & pound" win where neither team scored over 20 points. The Cardinal have to tools to do it again.

Stanford 27-17

Oklahoma (10) @ Baylor (6)

The crowd in Waco will be pumped and the Bears will simply out gun the Sooners!!

Baylor 38-28

Louisville (20) @ U Conn

Teddy Bridgewater gets to step into the spotlight again as Louisville should not have any major problems with UConn on Friday night..

Louisville 51-20

NFL

Washington @ Minnesota

Will this finally be the week for the Vikings. Yep...might just be.

Vikings 27-21

Back with more picks tomorrow...

Looking for another big week prediction wise!!

Week 9 predictions...

Uggghhhh....the Pittsburgh Steelers - Oakland Raiders result cost me a perfect record for Week 8, as is the 12-1 finish has put me at 70-38 for the season.

Ok, quickly off to the picks...

San Diego @ Washington

Four years ago, my Chargers ran the NFC East table...let's do it again this season!!

Chargers 30-27

Atlanta @ Carolina

Carolina 31-21

Kansas City @ Buffalo

KC 38-24

Minnesota @ Dallas

Dallas 23-17

Tennessee @ St. Louis

Jeff Fisher hosts and beats the old team.

St. Louis 24-13

New Orleans @ NY Jets

NOLA 38-27

Philadelphia @ Oakland

Oakland 20-14

Tampa Bay @ Seattle

Seattle 30-13

Baltimore @ Cleveland

Baltimore 30-24

Pittsburgh @ New England

Big Ben and crew are due for a quality performance...

Pittsburgh 28-27

Indianapolis @ Houston

Indianapolis 27-21

Chicago @ Green Bay

Green Bay 35-24

Enjoy the games and see you next week....

Week 10 NCAA picks...

Visions of hurricane glory dancing in my head!!

For myself  this weekends college football action is all about Tha U!! My beloved 'Canes travel north looking to hand the 'Noles their first loss of the season and crack the top five in the BCS standings.

I finished 21-4 in Week 9 so I stand at 166-34 on the season.

Now let's pick 'em for this week.

Miami (Fla) (7) @ Florida State (3)

No long stories for this one....I played through a wide left....sat in the stands for a wide right.... and I'm calling a "just short" this season!!

Miami 28-27

Clemson (8) @ Virginia

Clemson 31-20

Ohio State (4) @ Purdue

Ohio State 51-17

Tennessee @ Missouri (9)

Missouri 24-17

Auburn (11) @ Arkansas

Auburn 27-22

UTEP @ Texas A&M (12)

Texas A&M 50-30

Mississippi State @ South Carolina (14)

S. Caro. 23-14

Oklahoma State (18) @ Texas Tech (15)

Texas Tech 31-27

Nevada @ Fresno State (16)

Fresno State 44-21

N. Illinois (17) @ UMass

N. Ill. 54-10

Colorado @ UCLA (20)

UCLA 38-17

Michigan (21) @ Michigan State (22)

Spartan "D" should keep them ahead in this one.

Mich St. 21-14

Wisconsin (24) @ Iowa

Iowa 27-24

Navy @ Notre Dame (25)

Notre Dame 30-17

Va Tech @ Boston College

Va Tech 31-20

Temple @ Rutgers

Rutgers 38-17

Army @ Air Force

Army 23-21

UNC @ NC State

NC State 34-31

Georgia vs Florida

First time in a long time that neither team is ranked for this one.

Georgia 23-18

Northwestern @ Nebraska

Nebraska 34-30

Kansas @ Texas

Texas 40-13

Texas State @ Idaho

Texas State 32-17

Tulane @ Florida Atlantic

Tulane has quietly put together a decent season...featuring some Montana kid!

Tulane 45-20

Pitt @ Georgia Tech

Ga Tech 30-7

Boise State @ Colorado State

Boise State 17-12

Enjoy the days action peeps....getting ready for 2am kickoff here DownUnder with Illinois-Penn State.

VHSL Week 10 is here....

Playoff spots, bragging rights up for grabs

As the 2013 VHSL football season heads into its final two weeks, there are some playoff spots up for grabs and some rivalries with nothing but bragging rights on the line over the fortnight.

I finished with a perfect 10-0 record for Week 9 so I sit at 61-16 for the season. As a Varsity Forecaster I am 162-67 for the season....not bad for a guy a world away!!

Straight to the picks...

Bassett @ Martinsville

Will the 'Dogs pull this one off and grab a playoff spot?? Hmm...go with them getting the win first..

Martinsville by 6

Halifax County @ Franklin County

Franklin County by 22

Patrick County @ Magna vista

Could get real ugly real fast!! 

Magna Vista by 54

GW-Danville @ Tunstall

Backyard Brawl with Tunstall gunning for an upset...not quite Trojans.

GW by 16

Dan River @ Gretna

Gretna by 13

Chatham @ William Campbell

Chatham by 14

Alleghany @ William Byrd

Byrd by 12

Hidden Valley @ salem

Salem by 4

Floyd County @ Giles

Giles by 17

Radford @ Glenvar

Glenvar by 2

Enjoy the weekend action...

Thursday night kick - off .......

Bengals - Dolphins have spotlight

Cincinnati @ Miami

The Bengals visit Miami on Thursday night with the teams heading in opposite directions. The Bengals are on a four game winning run whereas the 'Fins have dropped four straight. Right now....Cincy looks to be a tough out so visitors get the nod.

Bengals 34-24