Pre-Season All-Mack team after 5 weeks

I'd hate to think that by naming players to the pre-season All-Mack team that it would have some sort of Madden-esque curse on them, but that's pretty much the size of it at this point. Fans from many of these players' school might request that I discontinue after this season. Let's take a look at the All-Mack team members who have been effected this season.

QB - Tim Tebow: suffered a nasty concussion vs. Kentucky. There are conflicting reports about his condition. As of right now (3:18 pm CST on 10/6/09) ESPN's Joe Schad reports via Twitter that Tebow is in full pads headed to the practice field. While other reports say that he still can't focus enough to read yet. I pray that this doesn't end tragically.

RB - Jahvid Best: Putting up monster numbers, but his team has layed two eggs and it's pretty much curtains on a Heisman campaign.

WR - Arrellious Benn: Team sucks. His QB Juice Williams who's been starting for what seems like forever has been given the hook.

WR - Julio Jones: Has missed virtually two games due to a banged up knee and because of that banged up knee, he's unable to get separation from the double & triple coverages that he's seeing. His team and teammates are doing great, but thus far, Julio's production is way down.

TE - Jermaine Grisham: He was the first one. Banged up his knee in pre-season practice and never played a snap this season. His collegiate career is all but over as he's already said that he's foregoing his senior year to enter the NFL Draft.

CB - Trevard Lindley: Banged up his knee vs. Alabama and is pretty much week-to-week at this point.

I'm crossing my fingers and holding my breath that everything will work out from this point.

Mack's NCAA Football Week 5 Picks (Quick Version)

Had an off week last week. Here we go.

Arkansas 35-Texax A&M 31
Georgia 21-LSU 20
Florida St. 28-Boston College 17
Michigan 21-Michigan St. 17
Tennessee 38-Auburn 35
USC 41-Cal 35
Oklahoma 56-Miami 35
Penn St. 28-Illinois 27
Wake Forest 10-NC State 3
GaTech 28-Mississippi St. 13


Bonus Game:Alabama 42-Kentucky 10

Mack's NCAA Football Week 4 Picks (Quick Version)

South Carolina 30 - Ole Miss 27
Wake Forest 21 - Boston College 20
TCU 24 - Clemson 20
Michigan St. 27 - Wisconsin 17
Pitt 17 - NC State 9
Alabama 38 - Arkansas 17
Texas Tech 45 - Houston 38
Miami 24 - Virginia Tech 21
GaTech 24 - N. Carolina 20
Notre Dame 21 - Purdue 10

Mack's NCAA Football Week 3 Picks Quick Version)

Week 3 Picks:

Bama 48 - NTex 10
Florida 77 - Ten 3
USC 34 - Wash 21
VaTech 34 - Nebraska 21
Utah 38 - Oregon 35
FSU 31 - BYU 24
Vandy 31 - MissSt. 21
UGA 38 - Ark 20
WVa 30 - Auburn 21
Texas 56 - Texas Tech 35

Mack's NCAA Football Week 2 Picks

After a fairly successful run on picking winners last week (8-2), I venture out and pick ten more games for Week 2 of the NCAA football season. Here we go:

Wisconsin vs. Fresno St.
Spread: Wisconsin (-9)
O/U: 53

Comments: I like Coach Pat Hill and all that he has going on in Fresno. I think this will be a tough hard fought game, but at the end, Wisconsin's offensive line and running game will be too much and they'll put away. Wisconsin 27-17.

Florida vs. Troy
Spread: Florida (-36)
OU: 59

Comments: Much was made of Troy this season. Even with NFL stars in recent years in DeMarcus Ware, Osi Umenyora, and Leodis McKelvin, many called this the best team that current head coach Larry Blakeny has had at Troy. And then they go out and lose the first game of the season last week. It would help if they could upset the Gators. But neither I, nor does anyone else outside of the Troy program, believe that will happen. Florida wins but Troy keeps it "relatively" respectable. Florida 42-7.

TCU vs. Virginia
Spread: TCU (-11)
OU: 41

Comments: TCU is a really really good football team. They play good smashmouth football on offense and hard nosed defense. And their defense is pretty fast. I think this is Virginia Head Coach Al Groh's last season as the head of the Cavaliers, especially after taking it on the chin from William & Mary last week at home to open the season. TCU wins 34-10.

Notre Dame vs. Michigan
Spread: Notre Dame (-3)
OU: 49

Comments: Both rebuilding but storied programs looked good last week to open the season. I liked what I saw from Jimmy Clausen and Michael Floyd against Nevada. But I also liked what I saw from the two Michigan QBs. Even though the most important number in the Notre Dame game was ZERO (the number of points their defense allowed), I don't think much defense will be played in this one. I think Clausen picks apart Michigan's defensive backs and Forcet and Robinson run circles around Notre Dame's defense. Home field is the deciding factor in this one. Look for a Miami/FSU type atmosphere and finish in this one. Michigan 28-27.

Tennessee vs. UCLA
Spread: Tennesssee (-9)
OU: 45

Comments: Two very good offensive minds in Lane Kiffen and Rich Neuheisel. I think we'll see a ton of points scored and I think the young Tennesse team will outlast the young Bruins based purely on the talent differential. Tennesee 31-21

Alabama vs. Florida International
Spread: Bama (-34)
OU: 48

Comments: After opening the season with a very good Virginia Tech team, Bama hosts what looks to be a cupcake. This won't be a situation where all of Bama's starters get pulled by halftime, though. QB Greg McElroy has exactly one career start (and even that is in question, because their first play from scrimmage was in the wildcat formation). So he needs as much game experience as possible, blowout or not. Same goes for the offensive line. Maybe there will be more starters on defense taken out to get some younger guys some looks, and they may surrender one late TD. Bama 45-10.

LSU vs. Vanderbilt
Spread: LSU (-14)
O/U: 45

Comments: LSU looked very suspect last week on defense and while QB Jordan Jefferson's final numbers looked good, he looked shaky at times. I think LSU wins, but Vandy its own.
LSU 38-24.

Georgia vs. South Carolina
Spread: UGA (-7)
O/U: 38

Comments: These teams combined to score 17 points last week. So nothing jumps out at me that says this will be a shootout. Georgia because of tentative and conservative play calling. And South Carolina because Steve Spurrier is playing power football (?!?!). Add on top of that, that there are conflicting reports about whether or not Joe Cox will start @ QB. Many reports came out today that said backup QB Logan Gray will start, citing tendonitis in Cox's shoulder. Then ANOTHER report surfaced that said Cox is fine. Bottom line, if you're betting STAY AWAY from this game. Even with all the uncertainty, UGA wins 16-10.

Auburn vs. Mississippi St.
Spread: Auburn (-14)
O/U: 42

Comments: Last year Auburn won 3-2...yes...a football game. But both teams have been infused with the spread offense. Auburn by Gus Malzhan (who's responsible for Arkansas's Wildcat success) and Dan Mullens (Offensive Coordinator at Florida under Urban Meyer). So I think we'll see many more points scored this year. The only difference is that MSU still has a long way to go in upgrading talent. Auburn 17-13.

Ohio St. vs. USC
Spread: USC (-7)
O/U: 45

Comments: I'm baffled that the line's only giving USC 7. They're going to DESTROY Ohio State. True enough, USC is starting a fresham QB, but they've got two studs at running back (which showed to be OSU's weakness last week) and they're defense is still lightning fast (which has shown to be their weakness for the past 5 years!) Won't be close. USC 56-21.

So my picks this week are as follows:

Wisconsin
Troy
TCU
Michigan
Tennessee
Alabama
LSU
Georgia
Auburn
USC

We'll review next week.

REVIEW of Mack's NCAA Football Week 1 Picks

One amazing weekend of college football in the books. I was right on some, wrong on others. Let's review..

South Carolina vs. North Carolina St.

What I said
South Carolina 23
NC State 17

What actually happened
South Carolina 7
NC State 3

Comments: Very beautifully played defensive game. I think South Carolina has a ways to go in terms of offensive production, but their defense is game ready. I think it's safe to say that the Steve Spurrier that we all grew to know & love is gone. Power running, ball control, and solid defense is his meal ticket right now. Who said an old dog (or even an Ol' Ball Coach) couldn't learn new tricks?

Boise St. vs. Oregon

What I said
Boise St. 48
Oregon 38

What actually happened
Boise St. 19
Oregon 8

Comments: The thing that will be remembered most from this game is what happened AFTER the game. But the game itself was a defensive struggle. Anyone who has followed these two programs for the past 5 years would've thought that the final score would've been eclipsed within the first 10 minutes of the game. Good defensive game, though.

Auburn vs. Louisiana Tech

What I said
Auburn 17
LaTech 7

What actually happened
Auburn 37
LaTech 13

Comments: From what I saw from this game, Auburn has fixed most of its offensive woes. They ran the ball decisively despite all the razzle dazzle mumbo jumbo that seems to be in the offense. They move more on offense pre-snap than the Joe Gibbs Redskins of the late 80s. We'll know more about Auburn's offense in the next couple of weeks as they face an improved Mississippi St. team and West Virginia repsectively.

Notre Dame vs. Nevada

What I said
Notre Dame 27
Nevada 10

What actually happened
Notre Dame 35
Nevada 0

Comments: I was VERY impressed with Clausen and especially with WR Michael Floyd. Their offense seemed to be clicking on all cylinders. I don't want to knee-jerk and say that Notre Dame is legit again, but we'll know more after they play Michigan this week and USC later in the season.

Georgia vs. Oklahoma St.

What I said:
Georgia 42
OK. St. 35

What actually happened
Georgia 10
OK. St. 24

Comments: I was terribly disappointed in UGA in this game. They came out of the gate strong and drove the ball right down the field and scored. After that, the offense became VERY conservative and complacent. They held a 7-0 lead for most of the first half and then Ok. St. blew the doors open almost. A team that is that explosive on offense is not to be toyed with. But it seems like that's what UGA did. And Oklahoma St made them pay.


Oklahoma vs. BYU

What I said
Oklahoma 72
BYU 28

What actually happened
Oklahoma 13
BYU 14

Comments: The biggest story of the weekend is that last year's Heisman Trophy winner, Sam Bradford, went down early in the game with a separated shoulder. Add that to the fact that the best Tight End in all of college football Jermaine Gresham was out as well, and it was bad for OU. Not to mention BYU is no pushover. If Bradford had stayed healthy, we may be talking about the biggest blowout of the weekend. But if if was a fifth....you know the rest.

LSU vs. Washington

What I said
LSU 38
Washington 10

What really happened
LSU 31
Washington 23

Comments: Chalk it up to first game jitters and the longest road trip in school history, but what really made this game tough for LSU was Washington's QB, Jake Locker. Really good player and I think Washington will make some noise in the PAC-10 this season.

Miami vs. Florida St.

What I Said
Miami 9
FSU. 6

What Actually Happened
Miami 38
FSU 34

Comments: Never in a million years would I have expected this game to be the shootout that it turned into. It was very much worth staying up watching. Jacory Harris is going to be a great ballplayer for the U. Christian Ponder is going to be a solid QB for the Noles. As I said last night, I don't have a dog in this fight so I don't care one way or the other about who wins, but for the sake of college football, it's great to see these two proud programs have national relevance again.


Ole Miss vs. Memphis

What I said
Ole Miss 42
Memphis 13

What actually happened
Ole Miss 45
Memphis 14

Comments: The score is not indicative of the game. Memphis played a WHALE of a game, and Ole Miss piled on points at the end. And just so poeple won't say I didn't tell them so, Ole Miss's offensive line is gonna get DESTROYED in SEC play. They're breaking in 4 new offensive linemen and Memphis exposed them. Snead is still very mistake-prone. The new polls just came out and they're up to #6. Someone will expose them for who they really are VERY soon.

Alabama vs. Virginia Tech

What I said
Alabama 17
Virginia Tech 10

What actually happened
Alabama 34
VaTech 24

Comments: ROLL TIDE!!! *ahem*...as I remove my crimson colored shades....This was a tough, hard fought game between two very proud programs. I would've never thought that many points would be scored between the two as both have top notch defenses. Great game,and if you didn't see it, get to ESPN360.com or the SECdigitalnetwork.com and check it out ASAP.

So I was off on the scores on a couple, but I hit 8 out of 10 winners. Not a bad start.

As if I need anything else to get me hyped