Gambler’s Paradise – Gameday Edition

7 University of Kentucky Basketball National Championships.  1985 Villanova upsets Georgetown in Rupp Arena.  2SL goes 1-11 in State Tournament.  All great things that have happened in Lexington, KY.  Nothing, in my lifetime, has ever approached the level of magnitude of hype as ESPN’s Gameday coming to UK.  People are going BONKERS.  APIAS.net friend Madison drove all the way from WFU just to witness the event, and he’s not even a UK fan.  If I were a betting man…. oh wait, what is this column all about again.  I would be willing to wager that this Gameday could set attendace records for the best college football (or only, for that matter) preview show.  It seems like every person in Lexington (except for this horse-racing enthusiast) will be there tomorrow.  Hmm, notice how I haven’t mentioned this yet?  Yeah, that was on purpose.  The introduction of Casino Bobby did nothing to improve my luck; or his for that matter.  An awkward meeting at the track last week led to us confirming we would undoubtedly do this every week until college football is done.  If, for nothing else, to let the world know just how bad of gamblers we truly are.

Two donors to Calvin Ayre’s personal bank account after the jump! 

Casino Bobby was perhaps owned by Keeneland last week as badly as I was.  It was a rough weekend to say the least.  How great is it to get tips “straight from the trainer?”  Um, not well, usually, to say the least.  On to CB’s picks.

Florida (-6.5) @ UK

College Gameday at Kentucky? Damn right, and it should be one of the better atmospheres Commonwealth has ever played host to.  UK football players gotta be getting “mad play” from the honeys on campus.  The Cats are riding high off a big win over top-ranked LSU, but their current month long stretch of games is the toughest in the country.  Florida is coming off two losses and has had an extra week to prepare, so look for them to have just a little more in the end to take this one by a TD.  Have a counter ready for all the Gameday signs questioning Tebow’s sexuality.

Tennessee (Pick) @ Bama

It’s a toss up according to Vegas, but I know better.  Bama hasn’t shown too much improvement throughout the year and even though we have no idea which UT squad will decide to show up, their most recent successes against UGA and a moderately tought Miss State team hint that Rocky Top is trying to make a push for credibility in the toughest division in football.  Orange owns Crimson.

Texas A&M @ Nebraska (-2)

This is basically a battle of “who wants to keep their head coaching job.”  Honestly, this one game probably doesn’t matter.  The loser may get canned on Monday morning, the victor will be out of a job soon after.  I like the shake-up at Nebraska, bringing in state legend Tom Osborne as the interim AD.  It should wake up the boys enough to realize their level of suckiness has gone above and beyond what is acceptable in Lincoln.  Nebraska by 5.

Thank you Casino Bobby!  Now for SmoothRon’s picks!

Miama FL @ Florida St (UNDER 41)

Hmm… Wow.  Could this number be any higher?  Offensive talent in this game is more scarce than an interesting plot-line in “Tell Me You Love Me,” on HBO.  Both teams struggle to put points on the board, and both teams still have ridiculous talent on defense.  I couldn’t tell you who wins, but neither team gets 20.  There’s nothing interesting to say about this game… so there’s some cleavage to look at.

 

Auburn @ LSU (-10)

I mentioned this in the Sandwich Pickem Scramble, but it cannot be talked about enough.  LSU has the most talent in the country.  They just lost to Kentucky (as good as they may be this year, that name still doesn’t exactly have the greatest connotation with it).  This game is at 8PM in Death Valley.  Combine that with a South Florida loss last night which puts LSU right back in the thick of things, and LSU wins by 3 TDs.  Best bet of the day, by far.

Texas Tech (+3.5/ML) @ Missouri

Mike Leach may be an alcoholic Mormon, but he knows how to chuck the ball around the field.  His squad finally is going to get some recognition by playing at 3:30 on ABC.  He has two missions:  A) Win a game in front of a nationally televised audience.  B)  Get Graham Harrel more Heisman publicity.  Both happen.  Take the Red Raiders to win straight up.

 There you go folks, it’s another week of picks.  We have to get better at some point… right?