Wow, another mess the national championship game is, the SEC is guaranteed a sixth consecutive BCS national title, and the rematch is on. Plus, the BCS picked an inexplicable match up in the Sugar Bowl, with Michigan versus Virginia Tech. The match up is horrible, considering Virginia Tech just got completely blown out by Clemson who came into the ACC title game losing three of its past four, and Michigan not even making it to its own conference title game. But, alas, this is what the BCS has become of late. Then, there are some of the other 35 bowl games out there, like the TicketCity Bowl, featuring a high octane offense in Houston matched up against a stealth defense in Penn State, so that should be a fun game to watch. Plus, there is Temple, which is going to yet another bowl game, this time the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, where they face a Wyoming team which can hang in there against a few opponents. Don't forget, there is the College Bowl Mania pick 'em league with friends of PJ's blog. Here is the link: http://games.espn.go.com/college-bowl-mania/en/group?groupID=4618&selGrp=4618&entryID=78550. The game is confidence mode, so this is how it goes, if you have the utmost confidence in a certain game, you will put 35 next to that game, and if you don't have much confidence in a certain game, you put a 1 next to that game. Please join me in playing!
Now, since there is only one division 1-A college game this week, Army vs. Navy, that is the only college game I'm picking, as well as nine pro games. There actually are a lot of games with playoff potential as well.
College
Army vs. Navy, in Washington, D.C., 2:30, CBS
This annual game has been completely dominated by Navy over the past decade, with Navy winning every game since 2002, and with the Black Knights continuing to falter, I don't see how they can pull out a victory in this game. Navy still has the potent triple option game led by Alexander Teich, who has been vital in the triple option game that both service academies deploy. Navy has also won two of their past three games.
However, the game doesn't really matter as much as remembering what these young men will be doing after the football field, and that is protecting our country, and that is to be commended, plus the excellent discipline each person has both on the field and in the classroom, with most achieving GPA's of 3.5 or higher.
Pick: Navy 24, Army 21
NFL
Houston at Cincinnati, 1, CBS
Houston played very well last week against a good Atlanta team, and came out with a victory, and that's even without having star receiver Andre Johnson for half the game. Houston will be without the services of Johnson once again in this game, as last week he injured his other hamstring while running a post pattern in the third quarter. Cincy played horribly last week at division rival Pittsburgh, and it has caused them to now be hanging on to the final wild card spot in the AFC by a thread. Cincy can ill afford to lose games in the home stretch, as they are tied for the wild card lead with a few other teams and own the tiebreaker, so that will be the key down the stretch for them. Currently, Houston should win this game based on their running game and defense, which has been stellar.
Pick: Houston 20, Cincy 10
Minnesota at Detroit, 1, Fox
Detroit is needing this victory to get back into the playoff picture in the NFC, as they are currently on the outside looking in. There are a few things which help Detroit in this game. Those being that Christian Ponder, who has been decent, Adrian Peterson could just be returning from his leg injury, and the Lions are at home, where they've been good. So, with those things combined, put Detroit in for the victory.
Pick: Detroit 23, Minnesota 13
New Orleans at Tennessee, 1, Fox
New Orleans needs this win to continue to try and win the NFC South, and they need a victory and an Atlanta loss to seal the deal. Tennessee also is tied with Cincy for the last wild card spot, and could use this victory as well to try and propel themselves into the playoffs. Chris Johnson has gotten back on track the past two weeks, averaging over 170 yards in those games, and he should continue to do well this week, but not all that well, as New Orleans is averaging only 114 yards per game given up per game thus far. New Orleans also wants to prove to the naysayers that they can win on the road, and outdoors in December and January, and this will be a perfect time to do that.
Pick: New Orleans 31, Tennessee 17
Kansas City at New York Jets, 1, CBS
New York is yet another team tied with Cincy for the final Wild Card spot in the AFC, and they have a relatively easy game this week, unlike the others, which should help prop them into the sixth seed, which is right where they'd like to be. New York has gone to the AFC title game the past two seasons coming from the sixth seed. New York has been coming around as of late, and that should make them a contender.
Pick: New York 24, Kansas City 10
New England at Washington, 1, CBS
New England will torch the Washington secondary, just like they did with most other teams this year.
Pick: New England 38, Washington 14
Chicago at Denver, 4, Fox
This is a very interesting game, as this will be Tebow's first game against a great defense. But, then again, Denver has been playing some pretty good defense of its own this season, and that should help them against a weakened Chicago team which doesn't have Jay Cutler or Matt Forte in the backfield. I'm expecting this game to be rather low scoring, as both teams do feature pretty good defenses, and Tebow isn't all that good passing yet. But, since Denver is at home, and competing for the AFC West division title, go with the Broncos.
Pick: Denver 13, Chicago 10
San Francisco at Arizona, 4, Fox
San Francisco may have just clinched the NFC West, but they want a first round bye as well, and going against a up and down Arizona team which they killed earlier in the season, it's no match.
Pick: San Francisco 41, Arizona 21
Oakland at Green Bay, 4:15, CBS
Oakland just got destroyed by the Dolphins last week in Miami, and now they're going to face the best team in the NFL, who still haven't put together a complete 60 minute game, which is scary. Go with Green Bay to continue in their quest for an undefeated season.
Pick: Green Bay 45, Oakland 24
New York Giants at Dallas, 8:30, NBC
This game is the first of two in the final four weeks of the regular season between these two clubs, and this could help decide the NFC East, as Dallas is sitting one game ahead of the Giants with four games remaining. New York needs this game to help themselves from being two down with three to go. Plus, with the way New York played last week, inspired, they should go down and beat Dallas.
Pick: New York 27, Dallas 23
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