SB Nation User Blog: B Money

If I Was a Betting Man: Week 7

B Money — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:56:07 -0000

After a long layoff due to some personal issues, I'm back with some picks. Go buy your Wife and/or Mistress something nice.

Picks after the jump.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional handicapper, I am merely a college football fan who happens to gamble. This is a weekly fanpost that I'll be trying to get out on Monday or Tuesday after most of the lines open for the weekends games. If you take my advice and place a bet, please don't come knocking on my door asking for your money back. I'll be long since passed out. Odds are that I also lost my money and drank copious amounts of beer to ease the pain.

The Locks:

Washington @ Arizona State (ASU by 6.5): The most improved team in the Country heads to the always tough Tempe to take on what could be one of the most disappointing teams in the Country. UW looked solid offensively against an underrated UA defense, and while they couldn't contain the screen they shut down the run game of one of the nations best backfields. ASU presents a different beast for the Huskies to battle...an anemic offense that managed to hang a whopping 27 points on a useless WSU defense. The Sun Devil's defense is chock full of talent, but has been a mix bag at best. Forcing 6 WSU turnovers is big time, but allowing nearly 250 Cougar passing yards is not. I like the Huskies to win straight up and I've already locked in a bet ATS and will be putting quite a few units on the straight up money line when it opens. Washington 28 ASU 17.

Boise State @ Tulsa (BSU by 9): The lines have been moving in Tulsa's favor since yesterday morning. I for one cannot possibly fathom why. Usually Tulsa sports a prolific offense capable of hanging 70 points on anyone on any given day. This year that is not the case as the Golden Cane's have managed 50 points just one time against perennial punching bag Sam Houston State. In their one game against a BCS opponent, the Cane's layed an egg to the tune of 0 points and just 270 yards of offense against an overrated Oklahoma team. In the Broncos one game against a BCS opponent they held the vaunted Oregon offense to just 152 yards and 8 points. Seems like the lock of the century if you ask me. Boise State 44 Tulsa 24.

The Likely:

Colorado State @ Texas Christian (TCU by 20.5): Colorado State, much like my beloved Huskies enter this game at 3-3 after losing 3 straight against teams with a combined 14-3. TCU should win this with a BCS quality defense and a newly found Offense, but CSU is being majorly overlooked here after hanging tough with #24 Utah (lost by 7) and 5-1 Idaho (lost by 2). I expect a big statement game from the Rams who are looking to go bowling with one of the tougher Mid Major schedules in the nation. TCU 40 CSU 35.

Last Week: Since I've been absent the last few weeks...Vinnie and the boys came knocking, we'll leave it at that...I'll start from the last column.

Straight up 3-0 (7-1 on the season). Against the Spread 2-1 (3-5 on the season).

If I Was a Betting Man: Week 3

B Money — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:57:57 -0000

I like football. A lot. That said, I'll be the first to admit that it takes $50 to get me to care about the outcome of the Northeast Arkansas State Tech. vs. Southeastern Mississippi State at Mobile (NEAST vs. SEMSUM to the hardcore) game. Here's a guide, so you too can get a grip of cash this weekend, while actually enjoying mid-major football. Or get drunk, your choice.

The verdict is after the jump.

Week 2 didn't treat me so well, so I'll be coming to you live from the dumpster behind the Bothell Starbucks this week. Week 3 is the last week of generally widespread non conference games and squash matches and the week where teams really start to settle in to that conference schedule groove. On the surface there are some games that are tough to get a read on. That said, there are a few games that could pay off in a big way.

The Locks:

Tennessee @ Florida (Florida by 25): Only 1 lock this week as the "Lane Train" comes chugging into the swamp to face Urban Meyer and the Gators. The back story is well publicized, Kiffin opens his mouth and Meyer stays mostly quiet and composed. Now we get to see the conclusion to the story as Meyer treats Kiffin much the way Al Davis did en route to a HUGE victory. Tim Tebow has 1300 all purpose yards and 11 TD's. Florida 104 Tennesse 7.

The Likely:

Boise State @ Fresno State (BSU by 10): Kellen Moore looks like the real deal as a college QB, and the Boise St. Defense looks like a group that could play a lot of SEC teams pretty tough. Fresno is a scrappy team, and nobody should ever count Pat Hill out of any game. I just see a comfortable Boise win, en route to an undefeated season and a BCS berth. Boise State 42 Fresno State 24.

Northwestern @ Syracuse (Northwestern by 4.5): Northwestern has complied a 2-0 record beating up the sisters of the poor. By beating up I mean squeaking out a 27-24 win over the perrenial BCS busting Eastern Michigan Eagles. Syracuse on the other hand played a decent Minnesota team tough, and wasn't as embarrassed against Penn State as one would think. With the home crowd behind them, I think they show everyone that Northwestern will always be the real sisters of the poor. Syracuse 24 Northwestern 23.

Last week: Straight up 4-1 (UCLA wrecked the perfect record). Against the spread 1-4.

Stay tuned next week when we find out if I have to take out a second mortgate to fund this column or wether I'll be able to pull out a winning week.

If I was a betting man: Week 2

B Money — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:11:20 -0000

The verdict is after the jump.

Last week I really bit the big one, so lets hope for a smooth recovery. Otherwise we'll be looking at a 1 week series after my wife kicks me out on the streets. Luckily for me (and all of you), week 2 is full of tasty non-conference matchups that are perfect to fatten your wallet. Without further ado, the nominees are (spread in parentheses).



The Locks:



North Carolina @ UCONN (UNC by 5): UCONNmay have home field advantage, but that won't help with the loss of Mr. Universe, Donald Brown. UConn struggled with lowly Ohio (not Ohio State...just plain old Ohio) last week, so look for UNC to light it up and lay the smackdown. UNC 41 UCONN 14

Bowling Green @ Missouri (Mizzou by 17): Mizzou looked smashing, led by Chase Daniel's heir apparent Blaine Gabbert, in a 37-9 romp over a very underrated Illinois team. The defense looked quite good and should only get better against a flat-out overmatched Bowling Green team at home. This one could get ugly and not even due to the locale of the fan bases (ZING!). Mizzou 55 Bowling Green 21

USC @ The Ohio State (USC by 4.5): USC looked simply dominant after working out the kinks in Saturday's beatdown of SJSU. Ohio State looked simply average after giving Jim Tressel a heart attack in Saturday's gentle massage of Navy. USC marches into the Columbus and takes no prisoners on the way to the Coca-Cola presents the Kinko's National Championship Game...brought to you by Nike. USC 48 OSU 21



The Likely:

Purdue @ Oregon (Oregon by 13): The lines have already started moving towards Purdue in this "who cares" matchup. Oregon looked in shambles last week, led by 1st year head man Chip "Just call me Tyrone" Kelly. The Oregon Defense held up when required but allowed Boise to drive at will during the first half. That won't fly against a Purdue team who's really being slept on. Auzten can be a tough place to play, but expect Purdue to smash Chip and Co. in the mouth and shut the hippies up. I like Oregon to pull out the victory, but it will be close and Purdue is the livest (is that a word?) of dogs this week. Oregon 24 Purdue 21

UCLA @ Tennessee (UT by 6.5): Last week's cupcake openers for both teams didn't really prove much. What it did show me is that neither team deserves any respect. Tennessee should have a high enough octane offense to break loose in this battle of defensive oriented teams. Lane Kiffin pisses people off, but the kids seem to like him...he'll have the Vols ready enough to load a small highlight reel that we can play at his memorial (after he is mobbed by all of Knoxville on Sept. 19th). Tennessee 28 UCLA 13

Record on the season: 0-0, no time to get Week 1 done so we'll start on Week 2.

The only civil way to settle the Crazi / Lear debate!

B Money — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 23:50:04 -0000

Fantasy College Football!

I was going to wait until it got closer to the start of the season. However, I noticed on the Oregon SBN blog that they have already started their league, and I for one, will not stand for them beating us at anything anymore. I have created the "UW Dawg Pound" leage at CBS Sportsline. I have 10 spots available so if you're interested, get the details at the link listed above, or contine reading after the jump.

The league can be accessed directly by going here (click the link on the right side of the screen to join). You will need to create a list of your top "draft picks" in each of the positions (QB, RB, WR, TE, K, Def/ST). The draft will be held on August 29th, it will be automated since I know alot of us live outside of the Pacific Time Zone. The full rules can be found here (you must login or create an account first). I don't have prizes or anything special, but you will earn the respect of all the competitors (at least it's something...right?).

Hopefully Crazi and Lear will join, and we can settle the great Spread/Pro offense debate once and for all!

Dawgs New Commit ?

B Money — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:08:12 -0000

According to ESPN and Scout.com (scout lists him as a soft verbal), UW locked up kicker Alejandro Maldonado from Colton, California. He is the eight commit for the Dawgs in the 2010 class.

Neither ESPN or Scout.com has him rated, but the Scout.com story does note that he made 19 of 20 attemps in some form of workout and was offered by Sark and company. The story also mentions that he may be able to graduate early and join the team sooner than later.

Depending on the way the Kicking Team pans out this season I could see this being the second biggest commit of the entire class. A young kicker that can come in as a freshman and contribute well could be one of the cornerstones of Sark's rebuilding efforts.

Scout.com West 150 Released

B Money — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:51:56 -0000

and local product Jake Heaps checks in at #2. Some other noteable locals after the jump.

As usual Southern California owns the lions share of the hottest recruits this side of the Rockies. However, more noticeable this year is the larger presence of some talent grown right in our own backyard. The most notable names include:

Rank Name Pos School Ht/Wt/40 Commit

2 Jake Heaps QB Issaquah (Wash.) Skyline 6-2/195

28 Sione Potoae DT Lakewood (Wash.) Lakes 6-3/285/4.90 Washington

35 Jamaal Kearse WR Lakewood (Wash.) Lakes 6-2/200/4.59

41 Chris Young OLB Auburn (Wash.) Auburn 6-1/215 Washington

56 Aaron Dunn TE Spokane (Wash.) Mead 6-6.5/235/4.79 Washington State

64 Christian Wesley WR Silverdale (Wash.) Central Kitsap 6-4/206

69 Julious Moore DT Bellevue (Wash.) 6-0/255

79 Happy Iona DE Spanaway (Wash.) Bethel 6-2/245

93 Darius Waters OLB Lakewood (Wash.) Lakes 6-2/215 Washington

94 Mitch Saylor WR Camas (Wash.) Union 6-6/205

114 Colin Porter OG Issaquah (Wash.) Skyline 6-4/280

115 Larry Dixon RB Silverdale (Wash.) Olympic 5-10/210

122 Maxx Forde DE Woodinville (Wash.) 6-4/230

126 Jase Butorac OT Issaquah (Wash.) Skyline 6-3.5/280

127 Mike Marboe OC Wenatchee (Wash.) 6-3/280

128 John Fullington OT Belfair (Wash.) North Mason Options 6-6/270 Washington State

137 Ben Riva OT Seattle (Wash.) O'Dea 6-6/285

145 Connor Hamlett TE Lynwood (Wash.) Meadowdale 6-7/240

146 Michael Hartvigson TE Bothell (Wash.) 6-6/235

From what I can gather with 19 players on the list -- although very early -- Washington has a fine crop of young talent to harvest. The Coogs have managed to pick up two fairly complete prospects in TE Aaron Dunn and OT John Fullington. Both of these kids are from east of the mountains and commited very early.

Washington on the other hand has managed to lock up 3 of the top 100 in Potoae, Young and Waters. All three of these kids are getting serious looks from the Pac-10 schools and could shift higher in the rankings by the time their respective Senior seasons end. At number 35, Jamaal Kearse (who's brother Jermane plays for UW) is getting looks from as far away as Vanderbilt. I would expect the family and locale ties to be enough to lure him in as a fairly early commit.

My only real complaint about the list is the non-inclusion of FB Zach Fogerson from O'Dea HS in Seattle. He easily projects to be one of the top 10 FB prospects in the country. It could just be a minor oversight, or perhaps purposeful, due to the lack of importance of the position (with the rise of the spread offense). They did not include one -- I repeat, not one -- Fullback in the list. Surely Zach Fogerson is a better prospect than Mario Brown (the #15 RB prospect on the list, checking in at #150 overall).

Another thing that did shock me was the gap between Heaps at number 2 and Potoae at number 28. It signifies four things to me.

1. Heaps is by far one of the highest rated recruits to ever come from the state of Washington.

2. The In-State talent in the class of 2010 seems to be very balanced and/or

3. The In-State kids are being overlooked and/or

4. The In-State kids while strong, are overshadowed by equally strong classes from other States.

Does this mean that the Washington kids have not gotten enough looks, or does it really mean that once again Washington is playing second fiddle to California. Please give me your thoughts in the poll.

Full Scout.com West 150

Poll

Why is the gap between the two top Washington prospects so large?

Jake Heaps is just that damn good.

58 votes

California has a very strong class as well.

31 votes

Washington/South Alaska is being overlooked again.

29 votes

There has not been enough time to evaluate the WA kids.

33 votes

Other (Please share in the comments).

5 votes

156 votes | Poll has closed

Wow...

B Money — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:15:15 -0000

That was a pretty complete beatdown you guys gave us today. Okalahoma is now my pick to get beat (albeit narrowly) by USC in the BCS title game. Your team is excellent, and I will be keeping tabs on them throughout their Big-12 campaign. In fact watching that offense go off on my team ~~made me cry~~ entertained me so much, I'll be rooting for your Sooners as long as Bradford and that receiving corps is still in tact.

Don't Overlook UW

B Money — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:26:19 -0000

I'm tucked up in the rainy corner of the country in Seattle. The weekend is over and so is my anger at the Pac-10 officals calling our game. So, I figured it was time for the trash talk to begin. It seems from what I've been reading that everybody is picking OU to run right over my beloved Huskies. And while I can't seem to rationalize a terribly strong argument to contradict that sentiment, I can present to you Jake Locker. A do it all QB with more athelticisim than Tim Tebow and a natural leadership quality you cannot teach. I don't know how many of the readers of this blog are diehards who check up on scouting reports of the upcoming opponents, but to those of you who haven't seen what Jake can do, take heed.

I realize your offense is bar none, the most complete unit in the country. I fully expect the Sooners to hang at least 35-45 on the Dawgs this weekend. But our fast, athletic, young offense is starting to come together; and if they can get motivated after such a tragic ending last Saturday, your defense could be in trouble. I urge you all to watch some Jake Locker highlight videos, and read up on Fr. WR Jordan Polk who runs a 10.63 100m. Or 6'6" 255lb. TE Kevario Middleton, who is quickly becoming one of the better TE's in the conference, after only 2 games. This group may not be anything special yet; but if your Sooners aren't careful, they could find themselves in a shootout with a very hungry young team. A team that could possible eek out a victroy against a BCS contender.

US Olympic Judo Coverage

B Money — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:40:06 -0000

I am currently writing from Okinawa City, Japan. I'm sitting in my hotel room after my shift at work thinking. I'm thinking about how when I left my hotel this morning, there was Judo coverage on two channels. I got back to my hotel and there is still Olympic Judo coverage on as I speak.

It's amazing to watch. What I'm witnessing right now is some of the most technical grappling I've ever seen. Now I could be wrong, but before I left I heard that NBC was cutting Judo out of the events it was going to cover. If this is true, it is truly a travesty of epic proportions. I wish that all MMA fans could watch what I am watching right now. I think that any true fan of the sport, or any combat sport for that matter could use a refresher on the technicality and precision that these athletes use. As well as get a better understanding of the sport of MMA as a whole.

Since I'm gone until after the games are over, could somebody let me know if NBC is or is not covering Judo. And if they are...I encourage everybody to watch it.