Unfortunately for myself I managed to get home at 7 AM and did not really wakeup till about 1 . Tried getting to my laptop a few times in the brief instinces I woke up before 1 but that it was just to momunetal a task. So its unforunate cause I was unable to play any of the early games and naturally I leaned Tenny , Mizzou ( both I would have played), Virginia , Over Michigan( which since I was up had decided to wait till halftime). Then as I turned my computer on at 1 exactly got everything going and keyed up to play Michigan +10.5 it went off just as I hit submit! Moral of this story? Some shit never changes!! Could be looking at a 5-0 start! Well I actually played Over 31 2nd H @ Mizzou and well ARK decided to pass on 4th and 1 with one of the best running games in the country..go figure...run or pass the clock stops! game ends basically with the TOD on the 4 yd line! Then switch to CBB thought about play Cincy 1st H +7.5 but decided to just play UND 61 1st H instead...Cincy has the lead 30-26 @ half! At least I was smart to realize with Cronin installing Pitino's system it was two carbon copy teams playing eachother with a disparity in talent but hustle and execution would be the difference. That said I expect the Ville to wake up in the 2nd H but in sticking with the theme of the day I wil pass on it. Actually I like it but dont like to go against my initial leans it never works out well.
Okay enough whining ! I know my fellow CTGers can relate ! You always want to start the New Year off on the right foot and damn bewteen Clemson losing in OT to this....as Sir Charles Barkley would say that just TERRIBLE , TERRIBLE ,TERRIBLE!!!!!!
Okay CTG have a healthy and Happy New Year!!!
Oh yeah we have football still....
5PM Illinois @ USC - The Rose Bowl
Suprised that the media outlets have portayed Illinois as a team with no shot here since they pulled off the Ohio State upset I expected different. Wish that wasnt the case. So we have to say huge edge to USC playing at "home" here...and Ill has the motivation of being the biggest dog of the bowl season...
However I think Illinois is another team that can compete vs the better teams but rarely beat them. Naturally they did win @ Ohio State but really one would imagine after thumping Wisky and winning @ Penn State with the game @ Michigan ahead they were caught a bit off guard. The other day I was saying that for the most part I dont believe in lookahead spots in pro sports but in the college ranks I do cause we are dealing with kids still. Its part of human nature. So I going to grade that win as fluky cause Ohio State was 10-0 at the time and thinking there were great and had Michigan on deck...
I look at Illini at home and see 4 tough games vs Missouri , Wisky , Penn State and Michigan. I would say the two best teams were the ones they lost to in close fashion. They edged out both Penn State and Wisky. I know the Missouri final was close and that 100 yd fumble recovery for a TD changed the game but they were down 37-13 late 3rd q at home but it was the opener ( kudoes for the comeback but did Mizzou have a mental letdown up big??). Against Michigan they jumped out to an early lead but did not next to nothing at home on offense. Thats my big concern what did they do vs solid defenses minus the Ohio State game. Granted I believe Juice was hurt in the opener and played sparingly from what I recall. While Illinois improved throughout the season I think Missouri really grew as evidenced by there beatdown of Arkansas today. On the road they played all terrible teams like Syracuse , Minnesota , Indiana ( we saw how bad they were), Iowa who they lost to. Plus they got Ball State and Western Illinois at home. Bottomline 3-3 in there 6 toughest games.
With USC your are somewhat concerned with motivation. However most would agree that USC resembles a pro team more then any other program. Factor in its the Rose Bowl and motivation seems apparent. A flukish loss vs Stanford and injuries played a large role in USC being here. They lost a close game @ Oregon with Booty OUT and played sloppy vs Stanford continually giving the Cardinal opps to steal the game. Funny how in some ways both teams are here based on 1 fluke win. Without Ohio State the Illini probably arent here w/o the Stanford game its probably Ohio State and a National Championship.
Teams in the SEC and PAC 10( Big 12) just have very few breathing opportunities. You have bowl team Oregon , Oregon State , Cal , UCLA , ASU and decent programs @ Zona , Wash , etc. Granted they managed to get some of those teams late when the had issues but USC dealt with injury concerns all year. We know how good the defense is when you look atthe Oregon boxscore Dixon 157 yds passing , Stewart 4 YPC , and only 336 yds of total offense for the Ducks. Then @ ASU 259 yds total offense while USC had over 500 basically in 3 quarters. They held Cal to 17 pts but Forssett did play well and they managed 399 yds of offense. Oregon State w/o Bernard 176 yds! Stnford loss 235yds vs 479 USC yds! Nebraska managed 2 late TDS to get to 31 in the final 5 minutes when the game was well in hand and did it thru the air. The Huskie game looks close then u see a Pick 6 in there and a TD with about 30 seconds left. Huskies total offense that day 170 yds!!
There defense is very stout with a reputation for slowing opposing running backs. Take Illini outputs vs 4 best defenses they faced 336 Penn St , 287 Iowa, 253 Michigan , 336 Ohio State and did manage 399 Wisky who they actually did beat up better then the final shows. ( Had 410 with most of them coming down 3 scores vs Mizzou).
USC has played ONLY 2 OVERS all season and has been 39 and 49 pts favs at times!!!!
Think Illini struggle to get 17 pts here more in the 13 or 14 range. Think Illini defense is solid and USC offense leaves points on the board. So ther in the 27-31 range...Lean UNDER 49 .....especially if USC has a nice lead at HALF....Zook vs Carroll??
Playing : USC -13 -120 if need be ( thinking bout the UND 49)
GL:cheers:
rayer
Okay enough whining ! I know my fellow CTGers can relate ! You always want to start the New Year off on the right foot and damn bewteen Clemson losing in OT to this....as Sir Charles Barkley would say that just TERRIBLE , TERRIBLE ,TERRIBLE!!!!!!
Okay CTG have a healthy and Happy New Year!!!
Oh yeah we have football still....
5PM Illinois @ USC - The Rose Bowl
Suprised that the media outlets have portayed Illinois as a team with no shot here since they pulled off the Ohio State upset I expected different. Wish that wasnt the case. So we have to say huge edge to USC playing at "home" here...and Ill has the motivation of being the biggest dog of the bowl season...
However I think Illinois is another team that can compete vs the better teams but rarely beat them. Naturally they did win @ Ohio State but really one would imagine after thumping Wisky and winning @ Penn State with the game @ Michigan ahead they were caught a bit off guard. The other day I was saying that for the most part I dont believe in lookahead spots in pro sports but in the college ranks I do cause we are dealing with kids still. Its part of human nature. So I going to grade that win as fluky cause Ohio State was 10-0 at the time and thinking there were great and had Michigan on deck...
I look at Illini at home and see 4 tough games vs Missouri , Wisky , Penn State and Michigan. I would say the two best teams were the ones they lost to in close fashion. They edged out both Penn State and Wisky. I know the Missouri final was close and that 100 yd fumble recovery for a TD changed the game but they were down 37-13 late 3rd q at home but it was the opener ( kudoes for the comeback but did Mizzou have a mental letdown up big??). Against Michigan they jumped out to an early lead but did not next to nothing at home on offense. Thats my big concern what did they do vs solid defenses minus the Ohio State game. Granted I believe Juice was hurt in the opener and played sparingly from what I recall. While Illinois improved throughout the season I think Missouri really grew as evidenced by there beatdown of Arkansas today. On the road they played all terrible teams like Syracuse , Minnesota , Indiana ( we saw how bad they were), Iowa who they lost to. Plus they got Ball State and Western Illinois at home. Bottomline 3-3 in there 6 toughest games.
With USC your are somewhat concerned with motivation. However most would agree that USC resembles a pro team more then any other program. Factor in its the Rose Bowl and motivation seems apparent. A flukish loss vs Stanford and injuries played a large role in USC being here. They lost a close game @ Oregon with Booty OUT and played sloppy vs Stanford continually giving the Cardinal opps to steal the game. Funny how in some ways both teams are here based on 1 fluke win. Without Ohio State the Illini probably arent here w/o the Stanford game its probably Ohio State and a National Championship.
Teams in the SEC and PAC 10( Big 12) just have very few breathing opportunities. You have bowl team Oregon , Oregon State , Cal , UCLA , ASU and decent programs @ Zona , Wash , etc. Granted they managed to get some of those teams late when the had issues but USC dealt with injury concerns all year. We know how good the defense is when you look atthe Oregon boxscore Dixon 157 yds passing , Stewart 4 YPC , and only 336 yds of total offense for the Ducks. Then @ ASU 259 yds total offense while USC had over 500 basically in 3 quarters. They held Cal to 17 pts but Forssett did play well and they managed 399 yds of offense. Oregon State w/o Bernard 176 yds! Stnford loss 235yds vs 479 USC yds! Nebraska managed 2 late TDS to get to 31 in the final 5 minutes when the game was well in hand and did it thru the air. The Huskie game looks close then u see a Pick 6 in there and a TD with about 30 seconds left. Huskies total offense that day 170 yds!!
There defense is very stout with a reputation for slowing opposing running backs. Take Illini outputs vs 4 best defenses they faced 336 Penn St , 287 Iowa, 253 Michigan , 336 Ohio State and did manage 399 Wisky who they actually did beat up better then the final shows. ( Had 410 with most of them coming down 3 scores vs Mizzou).
USC has played ONLY 2 OVERS all season and has been 39 and 49 pts favs at times!!!!
Think Illini struggle to get 17 pts here more in the 13 or 14 range. Think Illini defense is solid and USC offense leaves points on the board. So ther in the 27-31 range...Lean UNDER 49 .....especially if USC has a nice lead at HALF....Zook vs Carroll??
Playing : USC -13 -120 if need be ( thinking bout the UND 49)
GL:cheers:
rayer
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