November 30th Picks

 Ryan's Picks

Pick #1 Penn State Nittany Lions

    I like the Penn State Nittany Lions to defeat the Boston College Eagles, in the Big Ten/ACC challenge. As I predicted yesterday, the big ten teams got the better of the ACC teams, and are generally more talented. Penn St. is 5-2 on the season, including a loss to the #1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. The Boston College Eagles have started the season slowly at 2-4 and have struggled on offense. The Eagles have only two wins and the victories were over weak teams New Hampshire, and UC Riverside. Penn State rates ahead of Boston College in points, rebounds, assists, and field goal percentage. Pick the Penn State Nittany Lions for the green.  


Pick #2 Michigan State Spartans

  The Michigan State Spartans will beat the Florida State Seminoles, in East Lansing. Michigan State(4-2) is a talented team, whose two losses are to UNC and Duke. Florida State who is (5-2) is coming off back to back losses to Harvard and Uconn. Florida State is not as talented as other teams Michigan State will play, but they are certainly physically gifted in size. Florida State is a very big team, that has a top defense every year.  Florida State ranks 4th in defensive efficiency, while Michigan State ranks 6th in defensive efficiency. While the teams are similar on defense, I believe Michigan State has an advantage on offense. Michigan State is a better shooting team, and should be able to win a low scoring affair. Look for Draymond Green and the Michigan State faithful to lift the Spartans to a victory over the Seminoles.

 
Christian's Picks

1. @ Braga: Win

     Sporting Braga is currently 5th in the Portuguese Primeira Liga sitting behind powerhouses like FC Porto, Benfica, and Lisbon. They have been in rather decent form recently with a 2-2-1 record in the UEFA Europa League. They are currently at 62.5% to win and to offer some perspective, they are behind highly talented Portuguese teams who can challenge any club in the world.... However, Birmingham City is an 11th ranked Division 2 English club who is average at best. Just a very telling stat which I find pertinent to this pick is that back in September, Braga beat Birmingham City 3-1 away from home. This time, it's in Braga so I can only see them winning by a couple of goals. Braga wins 2-0.

November 29th Picks

Ryan's Picks

Pick #1 Illinois Fighting Illini

I like the Illinois Fighting Illini to beat the Maryland Terrapins, in College Park, Maryland. The Illini who are 6-0, defeated Maryland (3-2) last year in their head to head match up. Maryland was predicted in the preseason polls to finish 11th in the ACC. Illinois has the stronger defense as they rank 11th in the country in defensive efficiency, and  that will carry them to the victory. Furthermore, Maryland does not have an answer on the interior for the Illini's 7'1 sophomore Meyers Leonard. Maryland does not have any quality wins, and have lost their only two games versus quality opponents (Iona and Alabama). Look for Illinois (who plays similar style as Alabama) to take care of Maryland.

Pick # 2 Ohio State Buckeyes

The number two ranked Ohio State Buckeyes host the number three ranked Duke Blue Devils in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State has too much talent, and will feed off their boisterous home crowd at Value City Arena, (where they have won 28 straight games) and defeat Mike Krzyzewski's Duke Blue Devils. Sophomore, Jared Sullinger is going to be too much on the inside for Mason and Miles Plumlee and the rest of the Blue Devils. In addition, Aaron Craft who is one of the best defensive guards in the country, should be able to slow down Austin Rivers and Seth Curry. Give me the Buckeyes for the Green.

Pick #3  Big Ten

     I like the Big Ten to win more games than the ACC in the first day of the Big Ten/Acc challenge. I think that the Big Ten will win at least four of the six games that are being played. I think Purdue, Ohio State, Illinois, Northwestern, and Michigan all have good chances of winning. The most talented team in the ACC, The North Carolina Tar Heels are not playing on Tuesday. Without the ACC's top team in action, the Big Ten is clearly the superior conference.  

Christian's Picks


1. Barcelona Wins by 3+ Goals

     This year, like every year, Barcelona has been pretty beastly. However, their last game was an away loss to 13th ranked Getafe and as history shows, when Barca loses, they play their next game pissed! This will absolutely be the case when they play newly promoted club Rayo Vallecano at home in Camp Nou. Rayo is an inexperienced club with their only true test this year coming in the form of an away loss to Real Madrid 6-2. Based on these general figures and seeing as how Barca is a little worse, if not even, as Real Madrid, I can see this being a complete blowout. As we all know, Barca does not hold back ever and I see them winning by at least 4 goals. If you're a Barca fan, enjoy yourself during this one.

November 28th Picks

 Christian's Picks

1. @ Málaga: Win

     Málaga has been in tip-top shape at home as of recently with a 4-1-0 record with their only loss coming to Real Madrid which is excusable. Excluding the Real Madrid game, Málaga has outscored their opponent by 7 in those last 5 games. They are favored to win at 55.5% and they are the underdog according to Streak picker's picks which is always a recipe for a correct pick it seems. This would be a tough one except that Villareal cannot score on the road seeing as how they have scored 1 goal in their last 5 Primera Division games. Also, they will be without injured "scorers", if you can call them that, making it even more difficult to score. Málaga wins this one 2-0.

November 27th Picks

  It's that time of the month again. With it close to the end of the month, I'm going to stop writing until December. I'm going to let Ryan and Christian finish out November. Those of you who are done for the month, enjoy your days off. See you in December

Christian's Picks:

1. Carolina Panthers

     The Panthers have too much potential with Newton taking the snaps to keep on losing.... Here is their chance to get that "easy" win against winless Indianapolis. I do not see Indy winning a single game this season with Painter as their QB. He is seriously the most careless player with the ball I have ever seen. Expect Newton to get a lot of rushing yards against the Colts' offensive line where Freeney and Mathis have been huge letdowns this season. Overall, I see Carolina passing the ball a ton against Indy's old backs and scoring a few TD's from it. Panthers win 27-16

2. New England Patriots

     The Eagles are in dire need of a win here but unfortunately, Vick will most likely be out again and Desean Jackson is really banged up as well. Young will start for them and do not expect a repeat of last week against the G-Men because it always seems that when a back-up QB comes in, he will win his first game because the opponent is unfamiliar with them. I don't see that fooling the Pats. Tom Brady is the best QB and with a weapon like Gronkowski at the helm, he is darn near unstoppable. Sure it's in Philly and I fully expect a few Pats fans to get mugged, but otherwise, Brady will have no problem hearing and making calls on the line. Patriots beat Philly by 3 scores.

Novwmber 26th Picks

Christian's picks:

1. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

     Rutgers is 8-3 (4-2 in the Big East) and UConn is 4-6 (2-3 in the Big East). Rutgers has a really good defense which is ranked 9th in the FBS rankings, allowing only 16.8 points per game. And surprisingly, their offense is not too bad either ranking 63rd with 26.7 points per game. The Scarlet Knights are coming into this game on a three-game winning streak including wins against two Big East opponents, USF (terrible in the Big East) and Cincinnati (7-3 record overall). Rutgers really needs this win to continue their hunt for 1st in the Big East. If they win today, they are tied with Louisville in Big East record (5-2) but they will have a better overall record (9-3 to 7-5). On the other side, UConn is not too good in general, scoring only 22.4 PPG and allowing 23.5 PPG. Rutgers is a 3.5 point favorite today away as well. Conclusively, Go Guidos!

2. North Carolina: Wins By Double Digits

     I mean come on, it's UNC. They're kinda good.... I see Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller, and John Henson lighting it up today and storming past the Runnin' Rebels. Sure UNLV is 6-0 on the year but they have not played anyone worth noting and now facing powerhouse UNC, they will have their hands full. UNLV always makes the Tournament but once again, look at their division.... The Mountain West, the only good team USED to be San DiegoState. Let's take a gander at UNC's division.... The ACC, including teams such as Duke, FSU, VT, etc... UNC has beaten their opponents by an average of 22.4 points. UNC will stomp the politically incorrect Runnin' Rebels (apparently their name is racist...?) by 15+.

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