The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.
This is Clemson’s ACC opener and a chance to remind everyone that they are still alive because we all kind of forgot about them after their big win against Georgia to open the season and every thing that has happened since.
Both of these teams were in the playoffs a year ago but both are 0-1 heading into week 2 and in trouble. Whichever team exits 0-2 is going to be really behind the eightball to make it back to the playoffs and both play in competitive divisions.
Minnesota is on the road for yet another divisional game. Last week they lost at Detroit and a loss this week would be especially damaging because it would drop them to 0-2 and two games behind at least Chicago in the NFC North.
Buffalo almost started the Doug Marrone/E.J. Manuel era with a surprising win over the Pats last week while the Panthers almost smothered the hype around the Seahawks.
After last week’s poor showing against BYU there is a lot of grumbling in Austin right now. Texas has once again failed to live up to expectations and the faithful are tired of it and needed someone’s head to roll (defensive coordinator Manny Diaz).
Things didn’t go the way the Atlanta Falcons planned in their opener against New Orleans. They didn’t play that terribly poorly but the result was the same, they just have trouble beating the Saints in that building and it looks like having Sean Payton on the sidelines is going to make a difference for New Orleans.
Every team in the AFC North lost their opening game last week but not all of those losses were of equal concern. Baltimore went into Denver with the best of intentions but didn’t have an answer for Broncos QB Peyton Manning, it looks like few will this season.
A couple of years ago this would have been a pretty good battle with both teams having double digit win seasons. Last year they combined for only 4 with Southern Miss hitting rock bottom (zero victories) and the Razorbacks not much above that (4).
This is one of those games where you just wish the timing had been a little but different. Last year Kent State was a potential BCS buster that participated in the MAC Championship game so it would have been nice to see how that team stacked up but this year they will be lucky just to qualify for a bowl game.
If Tulsa was ever going to break through against their really big in-state brother this year might be the season to do it. Sure it is hard to win in Norman for anyone but this year especially the Sooners are looking a little more vulnerable than usual.
We are treated to three college football games on Thursday night but this is definitely the worst of the three. Two Conference USA teams face off but neither has beaten an FBS team yet this season. In fact in their wins against FCS teams one team failed to cover and the other was outgained in yards – hardly inspiring.
This is definitely not among the marquee matchups but based on the oddmakers outlook it looks like everyone is expecting a very close contest between these two teams to start the season.
NFC North divisional battle to start the season for both of these clubs with different sets of expectations based on last year’s performance.
Though it is not a feature game in terms of television this should be one of the better contests of the opening week. Cincinnati enters the season on the hunt for a third straight visit to the postseason while Chicago is looking to quickly erase last year’s second half collapse.
Its week 1 and these familiar opponents are ready to do battle even if there are a lot of unfamiliar faces on both sides of the ball for both teams.
I have to start by saying that it is fantastic that Florida, Miami and Florida State essentially have a round robin to determine the best team in the state this year. The Gators and Hurricanes are both coming into this one off victories that didn’t force them to sweat too much.
