Quick question: What’s better than skipping church, sitting on the couch in a dark room watching the Red Zone channel for 12 hours avoiding all real world responsibilities, and gambling on grown men who probably have CTE? Doing it for the 18th straight week, Welcome to the NFL Playoffs.

We finally did it, we made it past that annoying post new year season where everyone lies to themselves saying they’re gonna make big changes in their life that will never happen. Past the time of millions of people posting pictures with a caption “new year new me” when clearly they are exactly the same person. Past the time of post college bowl season depression where you realize there are only a handful of football games to be played before its gone for months. And luckily waiting on the other side of that season is this glorious thing known as the NFL playoffs. Only 12 teams have their season still alive with hopes of winning a super bowl while the other 20 teams are off in some tropical location enjoying their offseason clubbing, partying on yachts, and hanging with celebrities. Or if you’re the New York Giants why not both?!?

Let’s go ahead and drop some breaking news: Professional athletes like to drink alcohol, and smoke marijuana, and some of them even take banned drugs to help their performance on the field or court. I’ve learned this valuable information from my sources: living in a place other than under a rock, and being born in a past time that was not yesterday. In case you are one of these under a rock or born yesterday people, this past weekend some members of the New York Giants traveled to Miami after their game in Washington and were partying at clubs and on yachts and turning down drugs. All week the talking heads of the sports world have been critical of these players questioning if their minds are actually focused on playing Green Bay in the Playoffs or off on a yacht in Florida. These idiots at ESPN and other media sites just jealous they couldn’t be hanging on a yacht with OBJ. These idiots who are critical of the fact that young millionaires took some time off to party and vacation need to shut up and stop ignoring the real issue. I have no problem with the fact the Giants players were parting, I’m disappointed in the way they partied.

Let’s start with the infamous picture that’s all over the internet, the one that is the cover of this post. There are 9 males in the picture and 1 female who’s back is turned. I’m no millionaire athlete but I assumed the reason you fly to Miami to party is to party on a boat set up like Dan Bilzerian with women covering >10% of their skin and a solid 12:1 female to male ratio (now that is math I am capable of doing). Instead the Giants choose to hang on a boat with a 1:9 female to bros ratio, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but if that’s how they wanted to spend their off day why not do it in New Jersey and not Miami. Secondly what the hell are they wearing in the picture?! I’m gonna take a guess that the pilot of the plane lied to them and told them they were flying to Seattle to play the Seahawks and thought it would be a funny prank to watch grown men party on a beach in Miami wearing winter hats, boots, and skinny jeans. I’ve wrote before about how I understand nothing about fashion, especially fashion of people my age but this is just unprofessional from a partying standpoint. We have 9 men in the picture and 2 of them are wearing shorts. If the NFL doesn’t drug test these players to find out what they took on the boat they should at least test them to find out what kind of influence they were under when they packed for this trip. Third mistake, how did the entire sports world find out these players spent their off day? was it paparazzi, dolphin fans outing a rival? Angry girls who the players ignored? none of the above. The players outed themselves by posting pictures of their trip on Instagram and snap chat.

Please allow me to take a quick break from dissecting the Giants Party fouls to rant about Millennials for a minute. I realize I am about as old as all these guys and I spend my time hanging around young people but this really bothers me. WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO POST EVERYTHING THEY DO ON SNAPCHAT ARE THERE NO SECRETS LEFT IN THE WORLD WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO SIMPLY GOING ABOUT YOUR DAY WITHOUT TELLING THE WORLD ABOUT IT (I’m looking at you Antonio Brown). I myself am a millennial and use snapchat, I realize snapchat is not going anywhere but if you’re trying to hide the fact that you’re getting hammered and doing drugs in Miami on a Monday when you have to play a playoff game in Green Bay on Sunday; I doubt you want your opponents knowing how you spent your free time much less the entire world. If I’m the Giants and want to party in my free time I taking a page out of Derek Jeter’s playbook and instituting a no cell phone policy.

ok back to the Giants, rich young millionaires hanging on a yacht in Miami for the day there are bound to be some drugs. Everything Scarface and Miami Vice have taught me is there has to be drugs, so what are we talking ecstasy? coke? something worse? again none of the above, the drug of choice for OBJ and the fellas, adderall. What are they trying to study for finals after they get off of the yacht?! Of all the drugs in Miami, the Giants reportedly turned down adderall because the NFL would test for it. So let’s recap real quick we have a yacht with a lot dudes and 1 girl, the dudes are rockin skinny jeans winter hats and boots, they were found out via instagram and snapchat, and the drug of choice on their boat was adderall. The only way the Giants could make any more millennial party mistakes is to invite Bieber and the Kardashians. So that’s exactly what the Giants did. It was seen via snapchat Tuesday morning that Odell Beckham and Victor Cruz were partying with Justin Bieber Monday night. (that sentence would make me cry if I were a Giants fan, it was hard enough to type).

I can’t take any more of this, I’m done. I’m about to turn into a 24 year old grandpa and say the NFL is full of spoiled brat millennials who snapchat and party with Justin Bieber. The NFL used to be a league of men, men like Max Mcgee. The story of Max Mcgee is legendary but I will give you the short version. Max played for the Packers in 1967 and was a backup. The night before Super Bowl 1 he didn’t think he would get to play the next day so he stayed out all night drinking with 2 flight attendants he met on the plane. After getting to bed at 6:30 in the morning Max had to go to the Super Bowl hungover. Not only did he get in the game, he had one of the great playoff performances of his time, catching 7 passes for 138 yards, 2 TDs and 1 hangover. Max did the smart thing and waited till after the season to tell everyone the story, instead of posting it on snapchat the night before. Max Mcgee resisted the urge to post his story on social media so why couldn’t the Giants? If I were Head Coach Ben Mcadoo I would suspend Odell Beckham unless he has at least 7 catches for 138 yards and 2 TDs Sunday. And I don’t mean suspend him from football, I mean suspend him from hanging out with Bieber.

NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND PICKS

All lines used from the Las Vegas Westgate Superbook

Raiders +3.5 over Texans

Seahawks -8 over Lions

Dolphins +11 over Steelers

Giants +5.5 over Packers

 

 Raiders +3.5 over Texans

Let’s start off with this, this game is going to suck. This game is more like a Thursday night poopfest in week 4 than a playoff game. The Texans benched Brock Oswiler, then lost Tom Savage and are now stuck with Oswiler. Sort of like breaking up with a crazy girlfriend only to find out a few weeks later that she is pregnant. Raiders lost starting QB/MVP candidate/glove wearer Derek Carr and are stuck with rookie Conner Cook for the playoffs. Good news for Raiders fans is Conner Cook has no history of playing terrible in the playoffs, bad news is I’m lying. Any college football fan knows the last time we saw Conner Cook play football he was getting demolished by Alabama 38-0 during last years college football playoffs. This game is gonna suck so give me the Raiders and the points because no way does an AFC South team deserve to win a playoff game unless TJ Yates is involved.

Seahawks -8 over Lions

Both these teams are limping to playoffs going a combined 1-3 the last 2 weeks of the season and the lone win was the Seahawks only winning by 2 over the 49ers (I’d like to speak with Roger Goodell about a new rule where if a Chip Kelley team keeps the game within 3 points it should count as a loss for the other team). Neither team is hot but the Lions are especially cold after being outscored by an average of 13 points their last 3 games. Also fun fact for anyone who hates Detroit, the Lions haven’t won a playoff game since 1991 and haven’t won a road playoff game since 1957!! As bad as Seattle looked toward the end of the year they did finish the season 7-1 at home. Give me Seattle big in this one, or at least by 13.

Dolphins +11 over Steelers

I’m no expert, I just like to think I am, but this line is 5 points too high. Big Ben, Le’veon Bell, Antonio Brown; 3 big name talents playing for a historic franchise that has 6 super bowls, and the public loves betting them at home. The Dolphins are starting Matt Moore at QB, a guy who 5 years from now will own a dive bar in south Florida and tell random customers about the time he started QB in a playoff game in Pittsburgh and no one will believe him.  However the Dolphins are a better team than people think, and they beat the Steelers and a banged up Ben Roethlisberger earlier this season. The Dolphins might not be able to win this game but they will be able to hang with the Steelers and keep it close.

Giants +5.5 over Packers

I know I just spent 1 thousand words above bashing the Giants for their terrible decisions but this pick has nothing to do with the Giants WR’s (well kind of). I like the Giants in this game because of their defense. The Giants D has quietly come alive the last month of the season and I can’t help but think of the super bowl seasons the Giants had in 2007 and 2011. Get into the playoffs as a 4 or 5 seed, no big national media hyping them up, a defense that pressures the QB and an offense that does just enough. I’m not ready to crown the Giants super bowl champs but I could see them making a run that no one in the media saw coming. Everyone has spent all week talking about how hot Green Bay is and why Aaron Rodgers is the MVP. Meanwhile all we’ve heard about the Giants is their diva WRs don’t know how to party, maybe Ben Mcadoo paid OBJ to take the guys to Miami to distract from how awesome the defense is (maybe Mcadoo paid me to write this blog all about the WRs partying and leave the part about the defense at the end). I’m not a conspiracy guy, I’m just connecting dots. (Serious Note: Ben Mcadoo is too stupid to think of something like that but John Mara isn’t…) I like the Giants D to shut down Aaron Rodgers and shock the football world in an upset.

Happy Playoffs and have a good weekend.

 

 

The following paragraph was written on Wednesday morning before the Potato Bowl.

“It’s not how you start, but it’s how you finish” (Michael Phelps said that once?) That’s my thoughts on my first set of bowl picks. I started out 0-2 last Saturday, but then had a raging comeback and finished up going 5-3 ATS and 6-4 if you count the two over/under picks I made. I’m 3-0 so far this week, so I’m kind of on a hot streak right now. What goes up must come down though, so beware of my upcoming picks, because I have no idea when this streak is going to crash and burn. I’m not going to do much of an opening here because I have a lot of picks to get to, and let’s be honest, the reason you’re reading this is for the picks.

This next paragraph was written on Saturday morning before the Hawaii Bowl.

First off, I have to apologize for not putting up a blog for the past couple days. Second off, it’s a really good thing I didn’t because my small hot streak has officially crashed and burned. I extended it with going with Idaho +16 on Wednesday night, but then it got bad on Friday. I went with all the favorites ATS: Old Dominion, Lousiana Tech, and Troy. All of them won (would have made for a nice moneyline parlay), but none of them covered. Ouch. So while I feel bad because I haven’t been able to post in awhile (husband stuff, marriage is awesome though, seriously), it’s actually a good thing for anybody that actually takes my advice, because it would have been really bad advice.

So this is how this is going to work the rest of the Bowl Season. I’m going to give you a pick on every bowl game, but I’m not going to analyze each one. I don’t have time to do all that, and you don’t have enough time to read all of that action. I will only elaborate on the games that I feel most confident/opinionated about.

Before we get to the picks, just a quick reminder, I don’t actually gamble real money, because gambling is illegal in Nebraska. If I could gamble legally, these would be the picks I would go with. All of the lines and totals are set at time of publishing (odds coming from oddshark), and will not change as the week goes on. So get’em while their hot! Here we go,  Bart’s Best Bets Baby!

 

College Football Bowls: December 24-29

• Hawaii vs. Middle Tennessee: Middle Tennessee (-7.5)

I’m not sure if anyone will watch this game, I definitely won’t. With all of the NFL games going on today I’m afraid this game is just going to get lost in the shuffle, and it’s probably a good thing. Hawaii isn’t a good football team. The only reason they got in a bowl game with an under .500 record is because the Bowl Game is called the “Hawaii Bowl”. Even though this is a home game for Hawaii, Mid Tennessee is just a better football team and they should win this one going away.

• Miami-Ohio vs. Mississippi State: Miami-Ohio (+14.5) 

Here’s the deal with this game. I know nothing about Miami-Ohio other than the fact that Big Ben played his college ball there. What I do know is that Miss. St. is allergic to playing anything close to defense. I sat through the whole Arkansas vs. Miss. St. game earlier this year (more on Arkansas in a later blog) and Arkansas didn’t punt once the whole game. NOT ONCE! I’m sure Mississippi State will pull this one out, but they don’t play enough defense to win by more than two touchdowns. Sorry Stingray Steve, I love you, but you’re team sucks.

• Maryland vs. Boston College: Boston College (+2.5)
• NC State vs. Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt (+6)
• North Texas vs. Army: Army (-10)

For the troops.

• Temple vs. Wake Forest: Temple (-11.5)

Finally a game worth writing about. You guys know by now that I love Temple football. They posted an incredible 12-1 record ATS this season and I don’t see them ending it here. I know their coach is on his way to Baylor (good luck with that), but I don’t think that will discourage this team from going out there and laying the wood to Wake Forest. Wake Forest doesn’t even average 20 points per game, and they definitely won’t score that much against Temple’s dominant defense.

• Minnesota vs. Washington State: Washington State (-10)

I honestly have no idea what’s going on with the Minnesota football program right now, but I do know that it has to be a huge distraction. This game is going to come down to one thing: scoring touchdowns. Guess what? Minnesota isn’t as good at scoring touchdowns as Washington State. That along with the fact that I love Mike Leach makes me really like Wazzou in this one.

• Boise State vs. Baylor: Boise State (-8.5)

I’m done trusting any Big 12 out there. I’ve been let down too many times by that conference. Let’s go Broncos!

• Pittsburgh vs. Northwestern: Pittsburgh (-5.5)

Enjoy this one with some Primanti Bros. and Yuengling.

• West Virginia vs. Miami: West Virginia (+2.5)

I may be stupid, but I really don’t think Miami is all that great. I know I just got done saying that I wasn’t going to trust a Big 12 team, but let’s be real, West Virginia is still in the Big East in Bob Huggins mind. When someone musters up the guts to tell Bob Huggins that they are in the Big 12 now, I will officially put them in that conference.

• Utah vs. Indiana: Utah (-7.5)
• Texas A&M vs. Kansas State: Kansas State (+2.5)

In Bill Snyder I trust. That’s all I got.

• USF vs. South Carolina: USF (-10.5)
• Arkansas vs. Virginia Tech: Arkansas (+7)

It was a grind having to root against Arkansas all year. I’m a sympathetic guy, and I feel bad for hating on them all year, so I’m going to be a big Arkansas fan in this one. Woo Pig!

• Colorado vs. Oklahoma State: Colorado (-3)

Colorado hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2007, so I think they’re probably pretty excited about it. Colorado ended up going 10-2 ATS this year and I’m hoping they can make it 11-2. This should be a fun game to watch with a lot of scoring. Also, never trust a football coach with a mullet.

Current Bowl Record: 6-5-1

Quick question: What’s better than skipping church, sitting on the couch in a dark room watching the Red Zone channel for 12 hours avoiding all real world responsibilities, and gambling on grown men who probably have CTE? Doing it for the 15th straight week, Welcome to NFL Sunday.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “any given Sunday, anything can happen” but does everyone remember when Oliver Stone decided to make a movie about football and stole his title from one of the greatest NFL sayings ever? Well I don’t really remember the movie but I remember it enough to know this, Dak Prescot it Willie Beamen.

The Dallas Cowboys are 11-2 entering week 15 an improbable record considering their starting QB Tony Romo went out in the preseason. Anyone with an opinion on football has talked about how great the rookie combo of Dak and Zeke have been, praising the two rooks for being able to single handily lead the cowboys to an 11 game win streak. Except that isnt the case at all, Dallas come into the season with by far the best offensive line in the NFL. An offensive line that allowed a 55 year old Darren Mcfadden to rush for over 1,000 yards a season ago. Just one time when Zeke takes off for a 25 yard gain without being touched I wish he would turn around and point to his offensive line instead of acting like he is eatin soup.

 

But, just when everyone thinks the season is lost before it’s over for Dallas, in steps Willie Beamen Dak Prescott. After losing his first start (just like Beamen in the movie) Dak led the Cowboys on an improbable 11 game winning streak to be in first place in the NFC with only 3 weeks left to go. Now i don’t really remember how the movie goes after that but I know the selfish diva owner Cameron Diaz Jerry Jones steps in handle the QB controversy and sad old man Tony Romo ends up finishing the season. Then there was a bunch of other stuff about a diva running back getting in trouble and a trainer that gives dudes pills but that stuff is all Hollywood and totally unrealistic in the NFL. Maybe I should rewatch the movie to see how the Cowboys season will play out but here is my prediction. Cameron Diaz Al Pachino and James Woods Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett will find a way to screw this up, either putting in Romo or not the Cowboys will not end up representing the NFC in the Super Bowl just like Any Given Sunday did not represent at the Oscars.

NFL WEEK 15 PICKS

All lines used from Las Vegas Westgate Supercontest

Lions +4 over Giants

Ravens -6 over Eagles

Bucs +7 over Cowboys

 

Lions +4 over Giants

Both teams come into this game coming off wins and needing a win to stay ahead in the playoff race. The Lions love to keep games close, with the only game all season that was decided by more than one score coming at New Orleans. Matt Stafford has quietly been consistent, clutch, and very stylish with his ability to wear multiple gloves in a game. On the other side of the ball Eli Manning has been inconsistent, not clutch and had many multiple Eli face games. The Lions are winning because of their QB, The Giants are winning in spite of theirs. I expect Detroit to win this one.

 

Ravens -6 over Eagles

Baltimore is coming off a tough loss to New England and needing a win to keep pace with Pittsburgh in the AFC North. This week the Ravens go back to Baltimore where they have averaged 27 points in their last 4 home games. The Eagles on the other side look like they have quit on new head coach/future offensive coordinator Doug Peterson. The Eagles are also without their only consistent offensive weapon, Darren Sproles. Steve Smith Sr. will end his career telling someone to S his D in the playoffs and Baltimore needs a win here for that to happen. Ravens big in this one.

 

Bucs +7 over Cowboys

As mentioned above the clock is getting closer to striking midnight for Dak ‘Willie Beaman’ Prescott (at least in terms of covering every spread). Dallas has been so good ATS this season that now every game of theirs is 3 points too high. If you have followed this blog at all you know I’ve been all over Tampa for weeks now and its more of the same, Defense, Defense, Mike Evans, Defense. Sunday night game of the week Tampa will play Dallas close and I like ‘crab legs’ Winston to cover over Willie Beaman.

 

Teaser of the Week:

Ravens +1 over Eagles

Chiefs +2 over Titans

Falcons -6.5 over 49ers

All three of these games have the same thing in common, a home team that needs to win to make the playoffs or hold their seed; and a road team who is all but out of the playoffs. This makes for an easy teaser weekend. The Chiefs are in the highly competitive AFC West playoff race and can’t afford to drop a home game to the Titans. MY Atlanta Falcons are coming off a 42-14 dominating win over the Rams and need a win again this week to keep ahead of Tampa in the NFC South. I am also flying to Atlanta this weekend with my little brother to watch my first and last ever Falcons game inside the Georgia Dome (RIP). With that being said, there is no way the Falcons don’t win Sunday by a million. Look for me in the stands Sunday afternoon, I’ll be the guy behind the Falcons bench in the Julio Jones jersey cursing at Julio Jones for not suiting up.

Last week: 4-2

This week: 0-1 (Thanks a lot #1 overall pick Jared Goff)

Ahhhhh, College Football Bowl Season is finally here. If you think I’m more excited than Buddy about Santa coming, you’re absolutely right, Boom. A lot of stuff has been happening in the college football coaching world the last couple weeks. Some coaches got fired, some moved from one job to another job, some even got promoted. Let’s be honest though, none of those moves really got my juices flowing, except for one. Enter, Major Lee Applewhite! That is one of my favorite names in football, it even competes with my man Jim Bob Cooter. As a player, you would have to be insane not to go all out for a guy name Major Lee. Not to mention this guy legitimately knows his football, well at least the offensive side. Former starting quarterback for the University of Texas, and he’s been the Offensive Coordinator at Rice, Alabama, Texas, and Houston. I don’t think Houston is going to have any fall off from Tom Herman leaving for Texas. I actually think Houston will be better off without him. Basically what I’m saying is take the over on Houston’s win total for next year as soon as it comes out. You can thank me later.

So now, for the real question: Does Major Applewhite wash his apples? Absofruitly. Not.

I apologize, that rant was pretty pointless, but that’s what blogs are for, right? Remember, this is my wife’s fault. Before we get to the picks, just a quick reminder, I don’t actually gamble real money, because gambling is illegal in Nebraska. If I could gamble legally, these would be the picks I would go with. All of the lines and totals are set at time of publishing (odds coming from oddshark), and will not change as the week goes on. So get’em while their hot! Here we go,  Bart’s Best Bets Baby!

 

College Football Bowls: December 17-21

• UTSA vs. New Mexico: New Mexico (-7.5)

I’m probably going to be saying this a lot in my Bowl picks, but I really don’t know a whole lot about either of these teams. Sometimes knowing too little is better than knowing too much though. What I do know is, New Mexico beat Wyoming handly 56-35 in their last game. I really like Wyoming (more on that later), so that was enough for me to pick New Mexico even with the half point hook.

• San Diego State vs. Houston: Houston -4 and OVER 52

This is my featured pick for this slate of games, and if you couldn’t tell in the intro, I really like Major Lee Applewhite. You can say the same about Houston. If you would have asked me a couple weeks ago to pick this game, I would have said SDSU no doubt, because Houston was just going to have an interim head coach coaching the game and the Houston players wouldn’t care a whole lot. Well, the game completely changed when they made the in-house hire with Applewhite. Major Lee will be coaching the game and have his squad fired up for sure. My gut says this will be a close game but Houston will come out in the end and win by a touchdown. The pick I’m really confident about in this game is the Over 52. Both these teams average nearly 40 points a game, and while their defenses are probably average to above average, I don’t think either will be very effective at stopping the other powerful offense. I think this game easily goes over the 52 points, and that is my best bet of the weekend! A wise man once told me, “Life is too short to bet the unders” (this guy). I don’t always follow that philosophy, but here I am definitely going with it.

• Toledo vs. Appalachian State: Appalachian State (+1)

I think this game is going to be a low key really fun game to watch. Both teams know how to score points. I think this one will go down to the last couple possessions and whoever can get a stop down the stretch will win this thing. I love the MAC Conference and hate to go against them, but App State has the better defense here and I think they get the job done and win the game in the end.

• UCF vs. Arkansas State: Arkansas State (+6)

This is another one of those games that I really don’t know much about either team. What I do know is that UCF went from an 0-12 team last year to a 6-6 team this year under first year head coach Scott Frost. I also know that UCF has lost two out of their last three and Arkansas State has won seven out of their last eight. I know UCF has played a way harder schedule, but I like Arkansas State to stay hot here. Arkansas State will keep this one close, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they even won this game outright.

• Southern Mississippi vs. Louisiana-Lafayette: Louisiana-Lafayette (+6)

This is going to be a strength vs. strength match up between these two teams. Southern Miss wins games with their offense and Louisiana-Lafayette wins games with their defense. I don’t imagine the ratings on this game will be very high. Shoot, I probably won’t even be watching it. The one stat that stood out to me in all of this was that Southern Miss is 3-9 ATS this year and UL-Lafayette is 8-4. Southern Miss will win this game, but I think Lafayette will play tough defense and keep it within a touchdown.

• Central Michigan vs. Tulsa: Tulsa (-13)

At first glance, this line looks way too inflated and you probably think I’m crazy (you may be right). Then you look at the two teams individually and you see that Central Michigan got off to a really hot start, but lost four out of their last five games and most of those were to the lower half of the MAC. Tulsa on the other hand has only three losses. They got blown out by Ohio State, lost to Houston by 7, and lost to Navy by 2. Those are all quality losses, but Tulsa continues to get overlooked. I think they are one of the most underrated teams in the country this year and they should be upset that they got put in the Miami Beach Bowl? (Dang it, who put the question mark on the teleprompter!) For those reasons, I like Tulsa to win big in this one.

• Western Kentucky vs. Memphis: Western Kentucky (-5)

Western Kentucky had a great year, mostly because of their head coach, the legendary Jeff Brohm. It’s a shame that he took the head job at Purdue and won’t be able to coach this game, but I don’t think it will matter. Both are solid football teams and can definitely score points, but WKU ended the year on a complete tear, and I think they will continue that even though they are without their head coach. This will be a really entertaining game and I look for WKU to win this thing by double digits. Here’s a little bonus pick to wet your beak on. The total number on this game is set at 77 right now. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this thing gets up into the high 80s. I feel really safe with the overs in this one.

• BYU vs. Wyoming: Wyoming (+8.5)

I have no idea how this line is so high in favor of BYU. Granted, I quit paying attention to BYU after about week 4 or 5 so I don’t know what’s been going on there. I do know they lost their quarterback to an injury in their last game of the regular season. Even though their backup started all year last year and played well, it just won’t be the same. Wyoming has played great all year and I don’t see it ending here. Their defense is a little sketchy at times, but they have proved to be able to put up points and keep up with good teams. This game is going to be another fun one to watch and I see it coming down to the wire. I wouldn’t be surprised if either team won this game, so I will definitely take Wyoming and the points.

 

Ahhh, there it is. That was actually a lot of fun to write and I hope you all stayed with me until the end. Bowl season is incredibly unpredictable, that’s why it’ll be a lot of fun to see how these picks do. I’ll be back again on Thursday of Friday of next week with more picks. I hope everyone has a great weekend and a happy beginning to College Football Bowl Season!

What happens when you take two teams who lost by a combined 56 points on sunday and force them to play a game 3 days later wearing bright jerseys? Color Rush poopfest thats what. I stopped doing math after my junior year of high school but I’m pretty sure both the 8-4-1 Seahawks and the 4-9 Rams lost by 28 points sunday and now have to turn around and face each other Thursday night in Seattle. I’ve said before that I love having NFL football during the week but apparently Dick Sherman doesn’t agree with me. That’s fine that Dick Sherman and I disagree on this, but I think we can both agree this was terrible coverage, (people don’t forget)

Jeff Fisher’s not F’n going 7-9, mostly because he won’t have a chance to win out the Rams remaining 3 games since the Rams fired Jeff Fisher Monday morning. While the rest of you were watching Seattle get destroyed by Green Bay sunday, (or whatever other weird activities people who don’t watch football do on sundays) MY Atlanta Falcons were taking Jeff Fisher and the Rams behind the woodshed. The Rams fumbled the opening kickoff leading to a Falcons TD 10 seconds into the game and it never got better. With 5 minutes left in the third quarter it was 42-0 and a number of Falcons starters were taken out of the game. This embarrassment of making the Falcons look like they had a good defense led to the most hated man in Missouri since Jesse James, Stan Kronke to fire his coach Jeff Fisher Monday, but you already knew that. Here’s something else you already know, Jeff Fisher was bad at his job.

Sunday tied Jeff Fisher with Dan Reeves as the coach with the most loses in NFL history. The last time he led a team to the Playoffs was before the United States had ever elected a Black President. In 22 years as a head coach Jeff Fisher’s most famous moment as a coach is winning a game he shouldn’t have won, and losing a game by a yard. Somehow with all these short comings I’m gonna miss mr. 7-9 in the NFL. Jeff Fisher has been so c0nsistantly mediocre for so long that his first game as a head coach was before Jared Goff was even born. The biggest irony of Jeff Fisher saying he didn’t want any 7 and 9 Bull S— this season, was that if his team had a little more 7 and 9 Bull S— maybe he would still have a job.

My Thursday Night NFL Color Rush Pick: Rams +16

Go ahead and lock me in the nut house right now and throw away the key. Nothing about taking the Rams makes sense, and if you actually take my advice and bet money on this game you may have a problem. The numbers all say to take Seattle, why ever bet against Seattle at home? They have been dominate at home especially late in the season. So why the hell would I pick the Rams to cover? Teams just don’t get blown out in the NFL repeatedly, these guys are still pros, even the guys on the Browns are technically professionals. The league thrives off the phrase ‘any given Sunday’ anything can happen and the same applies for Thursdays. 16 is just too many points and I really do expect this game to be a poopfest, but if LA can not turn the ball over and play solid defense I think they can do their job and only lose by 2 TD’s instead of 3. The Rams will rally around their fallen coach and fulfill his dream of 7-9 and 4th place in the NFC West. They owe that to captain 7-9 Jeff Fisher. RIP.

Last week: 3-2

Season: 7-2

NFL YouTube video of the week for Week 14:

2 winners:

Aqib Talib

Pacman Jones

What a boring Saturday of sports yesterday was. Even though it was fun to see Army beat Navy for the first time in 15 years, the game was pretty bland for the most part. The only exciting thing that came out of the Heisman Trophy Presentation was Johnny Manziel in the spotlight again. Michigan v. UCLA was exciting for the first 20 minutes, then Lonzo Ball decided to wake up and show everyone why he’s the best player in the nation right now (let the debates begin, if there are any). In my opinion, the only thing that saved Saturday, December 10th from being the worst sports Saturday of this Fall was Notre Dame vs. Villanova. I was glued to that game from the start, and it didn’t disappoint. Nova looks like a team that could very well repeat their championship run. Experienced team with a ton of talent, and they have an alpha dog leader in Josh Hart. The only bad thing about that game? It started at 10:00 AM Mountain Time. People on the West Coast weren’t even awake for it! Oh well, there’s plenty of college basketball to be played and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

I’m going to consider yesterday’s lack of sports excitement as the calm before the storm. The storm being…(drum roll please)…COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL SEASON BABY! The Bowl schedulers did a fantastic job of lining up some great matchups for us (take note college basketball schedulers) and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’m not going to get into it much because I’ll have my picks blog up later in the week previewing and picking every game for next weekend. Let’s just say I have my eye on a couple of juicy matchups already. Let’s just get to Bart’s MNF Special Already.

 

• Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots: Ravens (+7)

Is Joe Flacco elite? Meh. He had a great game last week, but don’t count on that happening two weeks in a row, or ever again for that matter. The Ravens might be the least sexy NFL team out there, but dang it, they get the job done. Their defense is really solid and just continues to get better. They have won 4 out of their last 5 and that one loss was to the Dallas Cowboys. I know they are playing the Patriots in Foxborough in primetime, but I don’t think the Pats have a good enough offense to dissect this defense. New England has been able to sleepwalk through the past three games (49ers, Jets, and Rams, oh my) and I think it’ll take them a quarter or two to wake up tomorrow night. I’m not saying the Ravens will win the game (spoiler alert: they won’t), but I am saying they will make it a slow, grind it out type football game. This game has 21-17 Patriots written all over it.

 

Man, what a great college basketball game UCLA v. Kentucky was last Saturday. Wait, you didn’t get to see it because you were watching Oklahoma State v. Oklahoma? Well certainly you got to watch the battle out west with Arizona and Gonzaga on Saturday afternoon! Oh, you didn’t see that one either because you were watching the SEC Championship game? I really shouldn’t be the one complaining, because I actually watched both basketball games while I streamed the football games on my iPad (Sweet brag about having an iPad and watching sports on it, bro). I’m not complaining for me, I’m complaining for the common sports fan, because I care about you guys!

I think everyone knows by now that college football runs the show when it comes to college sports, and it’s not even close. So why did they decide to schedule these great college basketball games on the day conference football championships are decided? Adolph Rupp and John Wooden are probably rolling over in their graves right now! Why didn’t they wait until this Saturday when there is only one college football game on all day? I figured the college basketball slate must be so jam packed this weekend that they couldn’t fit those two games in so they had to have them last weekend. False. Take a look at this Saturday’s matchups and find me ONE GAME better than the two played last Saturday. There are only 2 games in which both teams are ranked in the top 25. Honestly, there’s not really a game in that whole schedule that I really want to watch other than Nebraska @ Kansas and that could very well be a blood bath.

Look, I know that scheduling is a really hard thing to do, especially non-conference games, but you can’t give me a good enough reason as to why they played those games on CFB Conference Championship Saturday rather than Army v. Navy Saturday. I, like many other sports fans love college football and college basketball, don’t put us in a position where we have to choose between the two! College basketball schedulers, next time you’re lining up a great big non-conference opponent, maybe check the football schedule and use some common sense. That’s all I ask.

I hope I’m not the only person who got upset about this last Saturday, because if I am, I just wasted 3 minutes of my readers precious time. Alright, now on to the college football pick you have all been waiting for. Army vs. Navy, it’s go time!

Bart’s Best Bets: Week 15

Army vs. Navy: Navy (-6) and UNDER 47

This line started at Navy -11 and has worked itself all the way down to -6, and I completely understand why. Temple shut down Navy last weekend and cruised to an easy double digit victory. Navy also lost their starting quarterback for the season in the process. A bad loss and a impactful injury are never great news for a team, especially going into a rivalry game like this. Another reason the public is on Army is because they are well rested. They haven’t played a football game since November 19th. I don’t think that much rest is a good thing though. I buy into the theory that too much rest can be a bad thing. I believe this is a throw out the records kind of game, just like most rivalry games are. Each team is going to triple option each other to death and I think defense controls this game for the most part. This is a complete gut call, but I like Navy to win this one 24-17. For the record, I like the under 47 much more than Navy -6.

With only one football game on Saturday, what are all you sports fans going to do? It would be an absolute fantastic day to watch UCLA and Kentucky battle it out on the hardwood. Or maybe even Gonzaga v. Arizona. Oh well, I’ll be back on Sunday with a MNF Special. Have a great weekend!

Have you ever studied for a test so much that when it came time for the test you actually forgot everything and ended up failing the thing? I feel like that was me this weekend. I did so much research and number crunching this week in efforts to give my readers the best picks possible, and it completely came back to bite me. I studied all week, and then when it came to take the test Friday and Saturday, it all blew up in my face. I should have known that even though Western Michigan is a good football team and PJ Fleck is an incredible coach, they weren’t going to beat a good Ohio team by 19. Colorado never had a chance. I will never forgive the Troy football program for what they put me through yesterday. Picking West Virginia was completely my fault, Big 12 Football is so unpredictable it’s stupid. I know that Wisconsin and Penn State have great defenses but betting the under was OVER before it started.

I don’t want to be completely negative though. Temple, Alabama, and Clemson/VT really came through yesterday. I want to congratulate the Temple Owls for finishing the regular season at an astonishing 11-1 against the spread. That’s incredibly impressive and I’m upset they don’t get a trophy or something for that (seriously, someone should look into that).

This isn’t going to be a very long post because I promised my wife that I would put up the Christmas lights on the house this afternoon (happy wife, happy life. I think my dad said that once, or maybe it was Jim Harbaugh). I just wanted to reflect a little bit on the lesson I learned this week: Too much studying can be counterproductive. Sometimes you just need to go with your gut instinct, and I will be doing just that the rest of the way. Ok that’s false, I’ll be doing research, I just won’t go to three different weather websites to research the December 3rd forecast for Laramie, Wyoming anymore.

I do want to thank you guys for reading Double COVERage this week. My picks might not have been so great, but my dude Holst is still on fire! Since the handful of readers were so great this week (and we hope you continue reading, because this is kind of fun), I’m going to do a Monday Night Football Special Pick (with very little research). I’m officially done ranting, here’s my pick.

Bart’s Monday Night Special

• Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets: Colts (-2)

HELLO! The Jets are not a good football team, and I’m pretty sure they quit playing to win the game in about week 3. On the other hand, the Colts are getting Andrew Luck back this week and have had a nice break since Thanksgiving to rest up and get healthy. With a win, the Colts would have a share of the lead in the terrible AFC South.

Bottom line: The Jets are really bad at the game they get paid to play/coach. The Colts aren’t a whole lot better, but they have their playoff lives to play for and Andrew Luck is the definition of a gamer. Give me the Colts, and I don’t think it’s really even close.

 

This is my first blog post, so be prepared for an absolute nightmare. This wasn’t my idea either, my awesome wife Kaylee basically got tired of hearing me rant about sports to her everyday, so she told me that I should start a blog (Basically her way of telling me she doesn’t care about any of it). So if this thing is a complete dumpster fire, it’s completely on me, but if it succeeds with flying colors, then she gets all the credit (For those of you who aren’t married, that’s how marriage works, so deal with it). I also want to give credit to Barstool Sports for inspiring me (a common man) to write about sports topics that only a select few (other common men) actually care about. If you haven’t read or heard any of their stuff, check them out at barstoolsports.com.

I’m not going to spend much time introducing myself, because if you are reading this first post, it’s probably because you’re my friend and I’m forcing you to read it, and/or bribing you with beer. I’m a high school math teacher during the week (It’s not as bad as it sounds, I actually really enjoy it), and I’m a professional sports fanatic on the weekends.

I like to think I’ve done pretty well with College Football this year, but NFL has been terrible, so I’ll try to just stick with CFB for now, but if there’s an obvious NFL bet out there, I’ll be sure to let you know about it (Those usually don’t exist). My main man Holst (He lives in Vegas, so he’s kind of a big deal) will be taking care of the NFL picks on this blog, because he’s right up there with Larry the Goldfish when it comes to picking NFL games.

I wish I would have been doing this at the start of the season, but for some reason my wife put up with me talking to her about it for a whole 13 weeks. God bless her soul! So here goes nothing; my picks for College Football Week 14. Bet my picks, fade my picks, or completely ignore my picks, doesn’t really matter to me. I’m just some random dude living in SW Nebraska with a blog. Just remember, I don’t actually gamble real money, because gambling is illegal in Nebraska. If I could gamble legally, these would be the picks I would go with. All of the lines and totals are set at time of publishing (odds coming from oddshark), and will not change as the week goes on. So get’em while their hot!

College Football: Week 14

• Western Michigan vs. Ohio: Western Michigan (-19)

I know 19 is a large number that a lot of people might be afraid of, but don’t let that scare you away. This team is legitimate and have a 9-3 record ATS compared to Ohio’s 6-6 record. I think WMU is a little salty about just being 17th in the CFP Rankings. They also have a New Years Six Bowl appearance at stake. I could go on and on with why Western Michigan will cover, but I’ll stop here. Western Michigan will “Row the Boat” in this one, all the way to the Cotton Bowl!

• Colorado vs. Washington: Colorado (+7.5)

If there’s one thing I love more than my wife, it’s a nice half point hook. Colorado is the 2nd best team ATS this year at 10-2. I fell in love with them around week 4 and haven’t wavered yet. They are also kind of a fun football team to watch, and that’s saying a lot coming from a loyal Nebraska fan. Colorado hasn’t beat Washington in their last six games, but those teams aren’t this Colorado team. I think this will be a close game that will come down to the last possession. Washington will probably win, but they won’t win by more than 7. Word of advise: When given a good looking hook, take it!

• Temple vs. Navy: Temple (+3)

Temple is the best kept secret in college football. Why do you ask? BECAUSE THEY’RE 11-1 AGAINST THE SPREAD! That’s why. I didn’t figure this out until last week and I’m so mad about it. Oh yeah, and their getting 3 points against a Navy team I really don’t know much about. All I know about Navy is that they are a public team which means a lot of people are betting Navy because they don’t know any better. I could see Temple winning this thing outright, so give me three points all day long.

• Troy vs. Georgia Southern: Troy (-7)

I’m going to go ahead and blame this pick on brother Joe. He told me about these guys in like week three and I’ve been riding them ever since. They’re only 6-5 ATS so it’s been a bumpy road, but a fun one nonetheless. Their also playing a Georgia Southern team who is a Sun Belt worst 2-9 ATS. Don’t really know why Troy is only favored by 7 points; Vegas probably knows something I don’t, but I’ve been on this train for too long, and I’m not getting off anytime soon. Go Trojans!

• Wisconsin vs. Penn State: Wisconsin (-2.5)

Not going to do a whole lot of explaining with this one, because I think Big Cat from Pardon My Take said it well when he predicted that the CFB Playoff Committee will rig this game in favor of Wisconsin because having to make a decision on Penn State is their worst nightmare. I’m not a conspiracy guy, I’m more of a connect the dots guy, and there are a lot of dots out there. Also, that was my plug for Pardon My Take. If you haven’t listened to the PMT podcast, quit depriving yourself of the awesomeness and subscribe to them on iTunes.

• Alabama vs. Florida: OVER 40.5

I really like the total at 40.5 here. I’ve watched Florida a few too many times this year and I’ve found out one thing: THEY CAN’T SCORE THE BALL! Usually that would scare me away from the over, but their playing Alabama and Nick Saban doesn’t have a heart when it comes to blowing teams out. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bama wins this thing 50-3.

• Baylor @ West Virginia: West Virginia (-17)

This is probably the game I know least about. What I do know is that Baylor has lost their last five games straight up and ATS. Their starting quarterback is out for the season, and they really don’t have a whole lot to play for. Oh yeah, I think they might be allergic to defense as well. Combine all that with West Virginia playing at home and I think we have ourselves a nice blowout.

• SDSU @ Wyoming: OVER 62

Here’s a nice little tidbit to put in your pocket: SDSU has gone over in their last five games, and Wyoming has gone over in 7 of their last 8 games. Put that together with two bad defenses and two above average running backs and I think we have ourselves a classic old west shootout (running back style).

• Clemson vs. Virginia Tech: OVER 58

The ACC is a basketball conference through and through, and their football scores reflect that also (sometimes more than their basketball scores). I haven’t watched a whole lot of either team, but Oddshark has this game ending with a total of 73.4. I’m not a stats guy (more of a sabermetrics guy) but that’s a lot more points than 58. Over seems like the pick here.

• Wisconsin vs. Penn State UNDER 48

Ahhhhh, last one. You may be a crazy person if you’re still reading this, but I really appreciate it. Fortunately for you, I saved my favorite pick for last. Wisconsin and Penn State both have hit the over the past few weeks, but that’s because they’ve been playing bottom of the barrel Big Ten teams. When these two teams have met up with upper half Big Ten teams, the scores have been relatively low. Both these teams rely on their dynamite defenses and that doesn’t change in this one. I honestly think this game could end up being 14-7 with three defense touchdowns. This is my favorite bet of the week by far, what could go wrong?