Six Pick: Week One

Welcome back, It's time for college football. I said, IT'S TIME FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL ... and with that, I present you the 2011 Six Pick, a hand crafted selection of the finest national games of the week. For you newbies; each week on our lil corner of the interwebs I take six games to task, discussing, making japes and prognosticating against the spread. I invite you, Hokies and non-Hokies alike to make your picks against me. I use Yahoo to set the spread. Each week I will tabulate the results and keep a running count as the season progresses to see who does the best. The end of the year winner will get something special, as determined by myself, joe and our schwag/cash flow. Enough about this, the scandals, realignments and east coast humidity, COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS BACK! Give me intense rivalries, silly GameDay mascot heads, drunj bands, drunjer fans, hot cheerleaders and bad Nike & Under Armour uniforms. Give me College Football.

Now that the new season is here, the college football gods have decided to ease you into the action with a couple of very good games surrounded by ok matchups. Yes, I know the season starts Thursday, but somewhere along the line the worldwide leader dropped the ball and could only schedule UNLV at Wisconsin. Are you kidding me? That's no way to kickoff College Football! So out of protest, that game will not be included. Clearly the Saturday night games are the main event of the weekend, even with a few stars missing in the Cowboy Classic and the abomination Nike is outfitting the dawgs in the Chicken Sammich Game.

Let's get it on ...

Friday, September 2nd

15 TCU -6 at Baylor 8:00 pm ESPN

History Lesson, back in the mid 90's Baylor, through politics, positioned themselves at the expense of TCU to be included in the Big12, leaving TCU to wander as nomads. During that time, the Bears have gone to one bowl (last season) and the Horned Frogs have become a mainstay in the top 15 recently with two BCS bowl game appearances. Now with TCU headed to the Big East next year and the potential demise of the Big 12, you don't think the Horned Frogs faithful might give the sorry Bears fans the bidness do you?

What to Watch For: At this point, we all know Gary Patterson is helluva coach, with an outstanding defense and a ball control offense. Sound familiar? Sure Baylor has stud Robert Griffin at quarterback, but really, that's about it. Even with the offense in rebuild mode, the TCU defense is going to be just fine and likely the best D the Bears see all season.

Pick: TCU to win and cover the 6.

Saturday, September 3rd

South Florida at 18 Notre Dame -10 3:30 pm NBC

Oh sweet Jesus, watching Lou Holtz bumble his way through this quagmire is going to be pure GOLD. On one hand he has his son, Skip, the coach of the South Florida Bulls and on the other Notre Dame, the team he still has the lucky charm lodged in is his ass for. He'll pick his son, I think, but good lawds it won't be easy and Mark May is going to make him earn his paycheck. DVR Worthy. The lowly Bulls will be up for the Irish, but one has to think not as much as Skip, who graduated from Notre Dame, and would love to coach there one day. So yeah USF is going to be uber-geeked for this. Too jacked maybe?

What to Watch For: Expectations. The annual "ND is going to be better this year" talk, might actually be warranted this season. A defense that is getting better, with some talented skill players on offense, Brian Kelly has all the tools to make the Irish a top 15 team this season. South Florida on the other hand doesn't have the national spotlight on them, or the highly ranked recruits, but what they do have is a shit ton of guys who can barely read and Florida speed.

Pick: South Florida getting the 10, with a good shot to win outright.

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Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic

7 Boise State c vs 22 Georgia (Atlanta) 8:00 pm ESPN

If you ever wondered what the White Stripes might look like playing football, the Chicken Sammich Game will show you. Six years ago, I remember telling a LSU grad and big time SEC homer friend that Boise State would have something for the dawgs. Oops, my bad. Who knew I was only two years away from being right about the Broncos. They are college football royalty, at least until Kellen Moore leaves. Argue their schedule, their staying power, whatever, but let's not try to kid ourselves into believing they aren't the favorites going into this big time matchup. The Broncos have been here before, playing the little bus that could. They will be well coached, disciplined and with better talent than those in the souf want to believe. The question is do the dawgs have such an SEC talent advantage to overcome Boise's strengths.

What to Watch For: Coach Richt. It's his turn to do what Frank Beamer, Gary Patterson and Bob Stoops couldn't, out X and O the head fry Chris Peterson. No more excuses, Mark needs this win for his program and his future employment, because it doesn't get any easier with Sakerlina up next week.

Pick: UGA getting the points, winning. (confidence is real low on this one.)

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Cowboys Classic

4 LSU vs 3 Oregon -4.5 (Arlington, TX) 8:00 pm ABC

This week in Texas, the D in Big D stands for DISTRACTION not Dallas. I remember the excitement I had last season when this matchup was announced. A made for TV opening weekend game featuring top 5 teams. That was well before the NCAA Eye of Mordor and accumulation of Fulmer Cup points dulled the excitement. A refresher:

• Recreational drug use while pretending to be Speed Racer (after smoking all the weed) – Oregon
• Attracting the NCAA's glare due to dealing with Slick Willie Lyles (squared) - Oregon and LSU
• Blatantly lying about Lyles involvement and also paying him off – Oregon
• Firing the first employee that walked in the room after the yahoo story broke, pinning blame on him – Oregon
• Self imposing penalties due to recruiting violations, then slapped with a lil more by the NCAA - LSU
• Coercing a teammate to tell the "right" story to the NCAA – LSU
• Random acts of late night bar violence by the starting quarterback and couple others, leading to 2nd degree battery charges and suspension – LSU

This game has a tainted meat smell about it. That said, my near knuckle dragging tendencies will have me consuming it anyway. I'll just rely on ESPN to cook it a bit longer, it will be OK. If LaMichael James runs for 150+ and Les Miles does his typical seat of his pants coaching (something completely stupid that head-scratchingly works) then all is well, but if the game is a shit show, I have the excuses already in the queue.

What to Watch For: Much maligned Tigers' quarterback Jarret Lee, last seen stinking the joint up so bad, that Jordan Jefferson was the most viable option in Baton Rouge. The Les Miles pep talk to Lee will go something like this, "When in doubt sail the ball into the stands and we'll punt for the defense to score." On the other side, will the rebuilt Oregon offensive line have anything for the ferocity of a fully functional SEC defense in game one?

Pick: LSU getting the points and winning.

Sunday, September 4th

SMU at 9 Texas A&M -16.5 7:30 pm FSN

The only game on Sunday night and it's solid. We will be subjected to 3 and half hours of Texas A&M to the SEC, unless June Jones can work his magic and pull the upset. Either way, it makes for pretty good TV. Like Notre Dame and Miami, the Aggies have been known to choke on expectation over the years. Gag 'Em Aggies!

What to Watch For: The aTm pass rush. If the Aggies can't put pressure on SMU, there is a good chance the Mustangs can keep this game close and score some points. On offense, aTm should, should be able to score at will.

Pick: SMU keeping it to a 2 touchdown loss with a late score.

Monday, September 5th

Miami at Maryland -3 8:00 pm ESPN

Nine Miami players were declared ineligible and won't be in College Park. Unfortunately for Hot Pants Heather Dinich, Quarterback Jacorry Harris is one of the suspended. Their hand-in-hand sightseeing of the Washington Monument has been canceled. There has been no confirmation that she's been stalking Maryland's Danny O'Brien yet, ask again on Tuesday. Fortunately for Kevin Plank, errr I mean Maryland, the Randy Edsall era and his crappy offense engineered by Gary Crowton should look a lot better going against a Miami defense that is now decimated due to NevyGate. This once was a very solid opening season game, that now looks to favor Maryland pretty heavily.

What to Watch For: Miami will be able to run the ball. Expect a methodical ground and pound offense, playing to their strengths. With Maryland, I have little clue what to expect, but bright lights and wiz bang action isn't what Edsall/Crowton are all about. This will like be a grind it out game, potentially setting back college football three decades.

Pick: Fear the Under Armour dressed Turtle covering.

Celebratory Beer of the Week: Avery IPA (can)

Labor Day weekend not only means the beginning of College football season, but also the end of pool season for many. I'll be doing a lot both, so canned beers seem appropriate. Avery makes a solid canned IPA, good mouth feel and hop presence. Cheers.

Leave comments and picks below. Good luck and enjoy the return of college football.

Quick Pick Recap:

1. TCU - 6 at Baylor
2. USF at ND -10
3. Boise State -3.5 vs UGA
4. LSU vs Oregon -4.5
5. SMU at aTm -16.5
6. Miami at Maryland -3