Pwang has to admit that Florida looked legit last week. We got to see that team throw LSU under the bus by putting together its best game of the year to date, and, more shockingly, we got to see Tim Tebow take a shot at becoming the first quarterback in the history of football to win both a college game and a high school game in the same week.
This actually blew my mind; first, Tebow helped lead the mighty Gators to victory in The Swamp on Saturday afternoon and then later in the week, I swear to God, I saw him playing quarterback for Nease High from Jacksonville, Fl.
I was just minding my own business watching "Two-A-Days" on Wednesday afternoon when I found out about Tebow's dirty little secret. Apparently everyone at Hoover High has an IQ hovering around 50 because none of them seemed to realize who the opposing team's quarterback actually was. They knew he was supposed to be good, but they seemed to have no idea that he had been wearing Orange and Blue only four days earlier.
I called the NCAA immediately and told them about the apparent violation, and they mentioned that they had never dealt with a case before where a player was playing both college and high school football at the same time. They were unsure why nobody had tipped them off yet and thanked me for my keen awareness.
I also told them that Tebow had shot a double-clutch jump shot for a touchdown against LSU and that he might not only be playing football for two teams at once, but also, amazingly, playing two sports at once. I don't mean playing on both the basketball and football teams in the same year, either, because that would be totally ordinary. Instead, I mean that Tebow is actually attempting to play both sports at the same time and on the same field.
I just hope the NCAA catches on soon and punishes Tebow for so covertly undermining the separation of college and high school sports and the separation of actual sports from one another. Featured Pick:
No. 4 Michigan (-6.5) @ Penn State
Whom do you think I'm going to pick? The key to picking these games well is complete objectivity; only through an emotionless inspection of the facts can one beat the spread. I know that's true, but I can't be objective all the time, can I? For those of you who don't know, Pwang has three major weaknesses when it comes to picking college football games. First, he hates Cal. Second, he hates Notre Dame more. Third, he loves and would bet his mother on Penn State.
Some of the facts that should be taken into account do in fact hint toward picking Penn State if one bends them just right. Mario Manningham, Michigan's super sophomore wideout, underwent surgery this week and will not play. He's already hauled in an astonishing nine touchdowns while averaging over 22 yards per catch. Additionally, running back Michael Hart is not 100 percent, but will play.
On the flip side, Penn State running back Tony Hunt has rushed for more than 135-plus yards in each of his last four games, which includes his performance at Ohio State. Also, Butkus Award-winning senior linebacker Paul Posluszny is starting to return to his old form after being slowed early in the year by the knee injury he suffered against Florida State in last year's Orange Bowl. Posluszny had 10 and 12 tackles respectively in games against Northwestern and Minnesota.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are 4-2 overall this year, but only 1-4 against the spread (their one game against 1-AA Youngstown State didn't have a spread) and they have lost seven straight games to Michigan. All conventional, unconventional, and any other type of wisdom you want to conjure up would tell me not to pick Penn State in this game.
Pick: Penn State (+6.5) over Michigan
No. 22 Virginia Tech (-2.5) @ Boston College
BC is hovering just outside the Top 25 in the AP poll and it is sitting right at No. 25 in the coaches' poll, which is the perfect place for them to be ranked. This team is perhaps the most underrated and underappreciated team in the country year after year. The Eagles did beat No. 18 Clemson this year, and after all, shouldn't they get a little more respect? Nope.
Pick: Virgina Tech (-2.5) over Boston College
No. 2 Florida (-2) @ No. 11 Auburn
That 7-3 grind-it-out win that Auburn pulled out against LSU earlier in the year is starting to look a lot less like a low-scoring struggle between two great defensive teams and more like the Miami versus Florida State game of recent memory in which each team turned out to just not be that good.
Pick: Florida (-2) over Auburn
No. 24 Rutgers (+3) @ Navy
Navy is actually a pretty good team, coming in with a record of 5-1, and the Midshipmen will play at home. I've been riding Rutgers all year, however, and the Scarlet Knights will probably win this game straight-up so I've got to jump on the three points.
Pick: Rutgers(+3) over Navy
Brown @ Princeton
I don't really know why this game is on a Friday night, but I like the idea. It might not be the stated intention, but I think the late kick is going to add a lot to the atmosphere in the stadium. If it doesn't rain too much, the crowd should be a big and rowdy one, because a full six hours of tailgating is going to make for some loud fans.
On the football side, Princeton has been scoring enough to win but not enough to feel satisfied. The 20 points the Tigers scored in regulation last week was right on track with the 19.7 point per game average going into the game but obviously not better. Svelte junior linebacker Tim Boardman did Staten Island proud by racking up 12 tackles, and sophomore defensive lineman Tom Methvin played the hero making the game's final stop on Colgate's two-point attempt in overtime.
Brown hasn't been held under 21 points all year and quarterback Joe DiGiacomo has already thrown for 1068 yards and seven touchdowns. Princeton has shown a good fail-to-lose attitude and an ability to keep focused no matter the score but has yet to blow anybody out of the water. I think that will change this week as the team hits on all cylinders and takes Brown behind the woodshed.
Pick: Princeton 34, Brown 9
Overall Record
A.T.S. ( 17-11-2)
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