“What makes great rivals is when you are fully invested in defeating the other, and this includes a healthy dose of familiarity and respect.”- Mike Leach

It’ll be warm this weekend across the middle of the country. Warmer than most would prefer for the second Saturday in September. Certainly the air is warmer than my ‘ten fresh picks’ have been to start the season. So far, they’ve been colder than a Minnesota dairy cow’s tit in December. Maybe this incoming early fall Heat Dome will warm them a bit.

Week Two Ten Fresh Picks:

• Iowa +1.5 L
• Kentucky +11.5 W
• Kansas +5.5 L
• Western Michigan +9.5 W
• Michigan +6.5 L
• VA Tech -3 L
• GA St +13.5 L
• ASU/ MSU UNDER 59.5 W
• Cincinatti/ Bowling Green OVER 49.5 W
• UCLA/ UNLV OVER 55.5 L

WEEK: 4-6

YEAR: 8-12

Like I said, bitter cold picks so far. Picking losers is easier than it looks. Why bother with winning when losing is so easy? No matter–we move to week three where the warm sun will be hot and so will the picks.

Before getting to the brand new fresh off the press picks, Georgia, Penn St, Oregon, Ohio St and Tennessee are five teams that are built to last from what I’ve seen so far. Complete teams with Smart coaches. It doesn’t mean they will win every week or win by the proper amount every game, but these teams simply have the depth, talent, and coaches to go the distance once the playoffs arrive.

With that said, Penn St plays Oregon in a few weeks, and Georgia plays Tennessee this week, so the metal will get tested very soon. This ain’t soccer. Somebody has to lose.

There are other teams that look impressive so far, but for now, these are the five that I’m quite sure will be playoff bound in December.

So, who do we like this week?

Week 3 Ten Fresh Picks:

• Arkansas +9.5
  • vs Mississippi at 5:00 on ESPN
  • Weather: 88 Clear in Oxford
• Stanford +11
  • vs Boston College at 8:30 on ACC Net
  • Weather: 74 Partly Cloudy in Palo Alto
• Tennessee +4.5
  • vs Georgia at 1:30 on ABC
  • Weather: 84 Sunny in Knoxville
• Texas A&M +6.5
  • at Notre Dame at 5:30 on Peacock
  • Weather: 80 Clear in South Bend
• Purdue +21.5
  • vs USC at 1:30 on CBS/Paramount+
  • Weather: 86 Partly Cloudy in West LaFayette
• Coastal +6.5
  • vs East Carolina at 5:30 on Espn+
  • Weather: 80 Partly Cloudy in Conway
• Tulane -1.5
  • vs Duke at 6:00 on Espn2
  • Weather: 85 Clear in New Orleans
• Tulsa +14.5
  • vs Navy at 6:00 on Espn+
  • Weather: 90 Clear in Tulsa
• Akron +11.5
  • @UAB at 6:30 on Espn+
  • Weather: 85 Clear in Birmingham
• Southern Miss +1.5
  • vs App St at 5:00 on Espn+
  • Weather: 88 Clear in Hattiesburg

Looks like four and six to me. I’m hoping to stay consistent. Remember, the picks don’t matter.

BONUS Pick: There is an NFL game kicking off in about 9 hours: Minnesota @ Chicago. I’ll take the home team 23-18. Justin Jefferson scores two touchdowns in the loss. Maybe.

There will be more to come from this site this week in the buildup for the football weekend, but for now–

Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’

Whit W.