
Chris hosted a Week 17 NFL playoff positioning party last night at the Outdoor Ampitheatre. Bruce's beard was in full Santa mode and his spirits were equally jolly. Chris put the final touches on a nice goatee on his Bahama cruise just before Christmas.
Our teams were not nearly as good. Atlanta got destroyed by Carolina 34-3 and promptly fired HC Milke Smith. Apparently the search was underway for a new HC before the game even started.
With Nick and Mike in attendance, Detroit bumbled yet another game in Lambeau 30-20. Now the head to Dallas to try and win their first playoff game since 1991. No word if Nick will be at that game too.
Chris made some of his famous martinis to drown our sorrows. I may need a few more for the bowl games. The picking so far has been …meh.. The Big Book of Guesses is 9-9 in the bowl season. The Doofus is 1-1 on the Mega Bets.
Time to step it up.
Three games are on tap today starting with
Texas A&M +1.5 vs West Virginia – When Texas A&M bolted the Big 12 for the SEC, the team that replaced the Aggies was West Virginia. That is not the only connection between these teams. ‘Neer HC Dana Holgersen was the OC for Aggies HC Kevin Sumlin when they were together at Houston.
The two coaches are known for high powered offenses as they both average over 33 points per game. But things took a detour late in the season
For West Virginia, they lost star quarterback Clint Trickett to a concussion against Kansas State. Trickett announced he is retiring from football as a result. Back up QB Skyler Howard performed admirably against Iowa State in the season finale, going for 285 yards, 3 TDs and no picks. But that was against ISU one of the worst defensive teams in college football.
Texas A&M suspended QB and budding head case Kenny Hill after getting killed by Bama 59-0. He was replaced by freshman Kyle Allen. Over the last four games of the year, Allen threw for 780 yards with 7 TDs and 4 picks.
Both teams stumbled to the finish line. WVU lost three of their last four while A&M lost five of their last seven. Neither team is doing well ATS either. WVU is 2-6 ATS when favored away from home. A&M is on a 1-7 ATS losing streak.
West Virginia has the better pass defense but I’m going to take A&M and a QB that has played more games and fared well against better defenses than Iowa State.
Also when in doubt take the points. So far, underdogs have gone 10-8 ATS during the bowl season including 7 of the last 9.
Our teams were not nearly as good. Atlanta got destroyed by Carolina 34-3 and promptly fired HC Milke Smith. Apparently the search was underway for a new HC before the game even started.
With Nick and Mike in attendance, Detroit bumbled yet another game in Lambeau 30-20. Now the head to Dallas to try and win their first playoff game since 1991. No word if Nick will be at that game too.
Chris made some of his famous martinis to drown our sorrows. I may need a few more for the bowl games. The picking so far has been …meh.. The Big Book of Guesses is 9-9 in the bowl season. The Doofus is 1-1 on the Mega Bets.
Time to step it up.
Three games are on tap today starting with
Texas A&M +1.5 vs West Virginia – When Texas A&M bolted the Big 12 for the SEC, the team that replaced the Aggies was West Virginia. That is not the only connection between these teams. ‘Neer HC Dana Holgersen was the OC for Aggies HC Kevin Sumlin when they were together at Houston.
The two coaches are known for high powered offenses as they both average over 33 points per game. But things took a detour late in the season
For West Virginia, they lost star quarterback Clint Trickett to a concussion against Kansas State. Trickett announced he is retiring from football as a result. Back up QB Skyler Howard performed admirably against Iowa State in the season finale, going for 285 yards, 3 TDs and no picks. But that was against ISU one of the worst defensive teams in college football.
Texas A&M suspended QB and budding head case Kenny Hill after getting killed by Bama 59-0. He was replaced by freshman Kyle Allen. Over the last four games of the year, Allen threw for 780 yards with 7 TDs and 4 picks.
Both teams stumbled to the finish line. WVU lost three of their last four while A&M lost five of their last seven. Neither team is doing well ATS either. WVU is 2-6 ATS when favored away from home. A&M is on a 1-7 ATS losing streak.
West Virginia has the better pass defense but I’m going to take A&M and a QB that has played more games and fared well against better defenses than Iowa State.
Also when in doubt take the points. So far, underdogs have gone 10-8 ATS during the bowl season including 7 of the last 9.

Clemson +5.0 vs Oklahoma – This time last year Clemson was beating Ohio State in the Orange Bowl while Oklahoma was downing Alabama in a huge upset in the Sugar Bowl. Now the losers are facing off in the playoffs while the winners are relegated to the prestigious Russell Athletic Bowl.
Another bowl, another team playing it’s back up quarterback. Clemson lost star QB DeShaun Watson to an ACL injury and was replaced by Cole Stout. Stout has struggled with a QBR of 44.1, 6 TDs and 10 picks.
Yet the Tigers six of their last seven with Stout at the helm. The reason? A stellar defense. Clemson’s D was #5 against the run, #3 against the pass and #1 overall.
Oklahoma returns star QB Trevor Knight who was knocked out of the Baylor game back on Nov 8th with an injured neck. With Knight out the Sooners went to the ground game as Samaje Perine exploded for 791 yards over the last three games.
Both teams are terrible ATS. Clemson is on a 1-6 ATS streak while Oklahoma is on a similar 2-6 ATS streak.
I’m going to take a Mega Bet the better defense and take the 5 points. The under of 51 looks good too.
Another bowl, another team playing it’s back up quarterback. Clemson lost star QB DeShaun Watson to an ACL injury and was replaced by Cole Stout. Stout has struggled with a QBR of 44.1, 6 TDs and 10 picks.
Yet the Tigers six of their last seven with Stout at the helm. The reason? A stellar defense. Clemson’s D was #5 against the run, #3 against the pass and #1 overall.
Oklahoma returns star QB Trevor Knight who was knocked out of the Baylor game back on Nov 8th with an injured neck. With Knight out the Sooners went to the ground game as Samaje Perine exploded for 791 yards over the last three games.
Both teams are terrible ATS. Clemson is on a 1-6 ATS streak while Oklahoma is on a similar 2-6 ATS streak.
I’m going to take a Mega Bet the better defense and take the 5 points. The under of 51 looks good too.

Arkansas -7.0 vs Texas – Both teams came on late in the season to become bowl eligible. Texas was 3-5 to start the season but won their last three to become bowl eligible. Arkansas had lost 17 in a row against the SEC before winning 2 of 3 to get to bowl eligibility.
Arkansas is known for a stellar running game but the attack is fairly balanced averaging 220 yards per game on the ground and 190 through the air.
It’s the Hog defense that came on late with shut outs over LSU and Ole Miss. And they kept Mizzou out of the endzone in the last game of the season before two late TDs in the fourth quarter resulted in a tough loss.
Texas has struggled on offense averaging a meek 22.6 points per game (104th overall). QB TytoneSwoopes has been erratic throwing for 13 TDs but with 10 picks.
But the Longhorn defense is sound allowing 23.3 points per game (32nd best)
The trends favor Arkansas. They went 4-0 ATS against non SEC opponents while Texas is on a 3-4 ATS streak
In a matchup between old Southwest Conference rivals I’ll take another Mega Bet on the Hogs and lay the points.
Arkansas is known for a stellar running game but the attack is fairly balanced averaging 220 yards per game on the ground and 190 through the air.
It’s the Hog defense that came on late with shut outs over LSU and Ole Miss. And they kept Mizzou out of the endzone in the last game of the season before two late TDs in the fourth quarter resulted in a tough loss.
Texas has struggled on offense averaging a meek 22.6 points per game (104th overall). QB TytoneSwoopes has been erratic throwing for 13 TDs but with 10 picks.
But the Longhorn defense is sound allowing 23.3 points per game (32nd best)
The trends favor Arkansas. They went 4-0 ATS against non SEC opponents while Texas is on a 3-4 ATS streak
In a matchup between old Southwest Conference rivals I’ll take another Mega Bet on the Hogs and lay the points.