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updated:
4 unit.........0-1 (-4.4 units)
3 unit.........1-0 (+3.0 units)
2 unit.........15-8 (14.3 units)
1 unit.........25-22 (+3.41 units)
ytd.............41-31 (+16.31 units)
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friday 11/21/03...........9:00pm EST
2 units......fresno state (+9) over boise state
1 unit........fresno state moneyline (+310) over boise
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saturday 11/22/03......2:00pm EST
2 units......eastern michigan (+28.5) over no.illinois
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saturday 11/22/03.....12:15pm EST
2 units....michigan moneyline (-280) over osu
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saturday 11/22/03......12noon EST
1 unit.......syracuse moneyline (+126) over w.virginia
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saturday 11/22/03......2:30pm EST
1 unit......ohio university (+24) over miami,ohio
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fresno state.....textbook revenger here. bulldogs have had this game circled the whole year. boise buried fresno last year on the blue carpet (67-21) and fresno comes into this one with the wac title at stake. boise is an aesthetic marvel, averaging 43 ppg (3rd best in the nation) and 499 total yards a game (4th best in the country). problem is, broncos have put up staggering numbers against some of the worst teams in the country. their schedule has been really lame to this point. that being said -- im not ignorant. this offense is capable of moving the ball. but fresno is no slouch. bulldogs coming in to their biggest game of the season on a roll, racking up 4 straight wins after getting blasted by hawaii on the island. boise's blowout wins have resulted in a big time overlay in my opinion. broncos were a 7 or 8 point chalk in a month ago in provo against byu. byu just wasnt capable of hanging in that one and boise rolled. now they come back as an 8.5 point road chalk against a fresno team that is far and away superior to brigham young. im not buying it whatsoever. fresno state has traditionally held one of the stronger home field advantages in the entire nation. theyre 29-5 straight up at home during pat hill's tenure in fresno, including a 21-3 straight up home record within the conference. not to sound cliche-ish but not many teams go into fresno and get out with wins. boise pulled the upset in fresno against the david carr-led bulldogs a few years back. that game is also fresh in the minds of the dogs. also read a couple of articles where fresno players admitted to overlooking san jose last week because they were peeking ahead to this matchup vs boise (fresno blew out sjsu anyway 41-7 even though their focus was already on boise). huge disparity in strength of schedule this year as well. boise has played one team the entire year thats worth a damn (oregon state). the rest of their schedule has been lame. pat hill, as usual, played some big boys this year (tennessee, oregon state, oklahoma) and that big game experience will do nothing but help fresno here. backing the dogs in a strong way in this one. textbook revenger and bulldog players have said as much. boise certainly a stud team, but i see fresno hanging well within the number.
http://fresnobee.com/sports/bulldogs/story/7753048p-8656563c.html
http://gobulldogs.ocsn.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111703aab.html
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eastern michigan.....amazingly, this looks to be a game of two teams going in opposite directions. the thing is, its eastern michigan on the upswing and northern illinois going the other way. huskies were incredibly lame last saturday, getting torched by gradkowski and the rockets in toledo. huskies conference title hopes are shot, theyre firmly out of the top 25 now, and theres no bowl game in sight for niu. all this in the span of one week. they brought that on themselves though. they got blasted in their two biggest games of the year in bowling green and toledo. now they have to sack up and play for pride against eastern michigan in their home finale. a few weeks ago, the eagles were left for dead and the program was a mess. suddenly, interim coach al lavan has emu playing excellent football and the eagles have registered back to back wins vs central florida and ball state. obviously, neither ucf or bsu are mac powers, but the baby steps emu is taking can really lay the groundwork for next season. emu's sherrell has been on fire lately, registering his 7th straight 100-yard game, and his most recent one last saturday might have been the best of them all, rushing 43 times for 230 yards and 4 touchdowns. obviously northern illinois is laying a significant number for a reason. emu certainly isnt going to be challenging in the mac anytime soon. but their progress the last few weeks is really encouraging, and the fact of the matter is that they -- not northern illinois -- are the team playing with big time confidence right now. maybe niu lays the hammer down on emu this weekend, but id be really surprised. niu just mailed in their season last weekend in toledo and i dont think a blowout win is going to provide any comfort for a husky team that started the season with tons of promise but has stumbled when it counted most. also, both teams rush the ball well, so if emu hangs in early, it will be tough for this game to get out of hand.
http://www.mlive.com/eagles/aanews/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1069258395309490.xml
http://www.star.niu.edu/sports/niu_teams/m_football.asp
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syracuse.....nobody in the big east wants to step up and establish themselves as the superior team. syracuse was very game last weekend in miami and had a chance to win the game straight up. syracuse still needs a win for bowl eligibilty. they do have 2 games left after this one, but i think theyd like to get this one and possibly one more (vs rutgers or notre dame) to cement a pretty good season. cuse has been very solid at home this year as well. aside from a season opening loss to louisville, the orangemen have won their home games by an average of about 25 points. common counterpoint in this one is that west virginia has a chance to win the big east title and will be ready. my counterpoint is that miami was supposed to have title hopes going into the gm against vtech. vtech was supposed to have title hopes going into the gm against pitt. pitt was supposed to have title hopes going into the gm against west virginia. bottom line is that nobody has stepped up in the big east. i dont see how wvirginia is worthy of laying any chalk here. mountaineers are much better than i originally thought, but theyre not immune to falling on the road in a game they are expected to win. this has been a home dominated series lately. both teams rush the ball very well. no reason to think cuse doesnt continue that trend, as well as continue their home success of late.
http://www.syracuse.com/sportsflash...1_BC_FBC--Syracuse-Pasqual&&sports&sufootball
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ohio university.......not sure of hellah's rationale on this one, but im sure it generally concurs with mine. miami just laying too many points with nothing at stake. redhawks have already clinched the mac east and a spot in the mac title game. they just took care of business in their two nationally televised games vs bowling green and marshall. really destroyed both teams. traveling to athens to lay late season road chalk to the tune of 24 points isnt the most inspiring thing for miami. in my opinion, theyre just biding their time. ohio already proved it can stay in a game with a nationally ranked opponent (taking northern illinois to overtime as a 20-point dog). i know its been said before, but bobcat rushing game is capable of controlling the clock and the tempo of the game. theyre gonna pound the shit out of the ball to keep roethlisberger off the field as much as possible. bobcats have sorta limped to the finish line this season, but with their rival coming in, they should be able to get up for their season finale, especially with the hawks being ranked. i think miami will be lethargic and be happy with a 17 point win.
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updated:
4 unit.........0-1 (-4.4 units)
3 unit.........1-0 (+3.0 units)
2 unit.........15-8 (14.3 units)
1 unit.........25-22 (+3.41 units)
ytd.............41-31 (+16.31 units)
=====================================
friday 11/21/03...........9:00pm EST
2 units......fresno state (+9) over boise state
1 unit........fresno state moneyline (+310) over boise
=====================================
saturday 11/22/03......2:00pm EST
2 units......eastern michigan (+28.5) over no.illinois
=====================================
saturday 11/22/03.....12:15pm EST
2 units....michigan moneyline (-280) over osu
========================================
saturday 11/22/03......12noon EST
1 unit.......syracuse moneyline (+126) over w.virginia
=====================================
saturday 11/22/03......2:30pm EST
1 unit......ohio university (+24) over miami,ohio
=====================================
fresno state.....textbook revenger here. bulldogs have had this game circled the whole year. boise buried fresno last year on the blue carpet (67-21) and fresno comes into this one with the wac title at stake. boise is an aesthetic marvel, averaging 43 ppg (3rd best in the nation) and 499 total yards a game (4th best in the country). problem is, broncos have put up staggering numbers against some of the worst teams in the country. their schedule has been really lame to this point. that being said -- im not ignorant. this offense is capable of moving the ball. but fresno is no slouch. bulldogs coming in to their biggest game of the season on a roll, racking up 4 straight wins after getting blasted by hawaii on the island. boise's blowout wins have resulted in a big time overlay in my opinion. broncos were a 7 or 8 point chalk in a month ago in provo against byu. byu just wasnt capable of hanging in that one and boise rolled. now they come back as an 8.5 point road chalk against a fresno team that is far and away superior to brigham young. im not buying it whatsoever. fresno state has traditionally held one of the stronger home field advantages in the entire nation. theyre 29-5 straight up at home during pat hill's tenure in fresno, including a 21-3 straight up home record within the conference. not to sound cliche-ish but not many teams go into fresno and get out with wins. boise pulled the upset in fresno against the david carr-led bulldogs a few years back. that game is also fresh in the minds of the dogs. also read a couple of articles where fresno players admitted to overlooking san jose last week because they were peeking ahead to this matchup vs boise (fresno blew out sjsu anyway 41-7 even though their focus was already on boise). huge disparity in strength of schedule this year as well. boise has played one team the entire year thats worth a damn (oregon state). the rest of their schedule has been lame. pat hill, as usual, played some big boys this year (tennessee, oregon state, oklahoma) and that big game experience will do nothing but help fresno here. backing the dogs in a strong way in this one. textbook revenger and bulldog players have said as much. boise certainly a stud team, but i see fresno hanging well within the number.
http://fresnobee.com/sports/bulldogs/story/7753048p-8656563c.html
http://gobulldogs.ocsn.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111703aab.html
==============================================
eastern michigan.....amazingly, this looks to be a game of two teams going in opposite directions. the thing is, its eastern michigan on the upswing and northern illinois going the other way. huskies were incredibly lame last saturday, getting torched by gradkowski and the rockets in toledo. huskies conference title hopes are shot, theyre firmly out of the top 25 now, and theres no bowl game in sight for niu. all this in the span of one week. they brought that on themselves though. they got blasted in their two biggest games of the year in bowling green and toledo. now they have to sack up and play for pride against eastern michigan in their home finale. a few weeks ago, the eagles were left for dead and the program was a mess. suddenly, interim coach al lavan has emu playing excellent football and the eagles have registered back to back wins vs central florida and ball state. obviously, neither ucf or bsu are mac powers, but the baby steps emu is taking can really lay the groundwork for next season. emu's sherrell has been on fire lately, registering his 7th straight 100-yard game, and his most recent one last saturday might have been the best of them all, rushing 43 times for 230 yards and 4 touchdowns. obviously northern illinois is laying a significant number for a reason. emu certainly isnt going to be challenging in the mac anytime soon. but their progress the last few weeks is really encouraging, and the fact of the matter is that they -- not northern illinois -- are the team playing with big time confidence right now. maybe niu lays the hammer down on emu this weekend, but id be really surprised. niu just mailed in their season last weekend in toledo and i dont think a blowout win is going to provide any comfort for a husky team that started the season with tons of promise but has stumbled when it counted most. also, both teams rush the ball well, so if emu hangs in early, it will be tough for this game to get out of hand.
http://www.mlive.com/eagles/aanews/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1069258395309490.xml
http://www.star.niu.edu/sports/niu_teams/m_football.asp
==============================================
syracuse.....nobody in the big east wants to step up and establish themselves as the superior team. syracuse was very game last weekend in miami and had a chance to win the game straight up. syracuse still needs a win for bowl eligibilty. they do have 2 games left after this one, but i think theyd like to get this one and possibly one more (vs rutgers or notre dame) to cement a pretty good season. cuse has been very solid at home this year as well. aside from a season opening loss to louisville, the orangemen have won their home games by an average of about 25 points. common counterpoint in this one is that west virginia has a chance to win the big east title and will be ready. my counterpoint is that miami was supposed to have title hopes going into the gm against vtech. vtech was supposed to have title hopes going into the gm against pitt. pitt was supposed to have title hopes going into the gm against west virginia. bottom line is that nobody has stepped up in the big east. i dont see how wvirginia is worthy of laying any chalk here. mountaineers are much better than i originally thought, but theyre not immune to falling on the road in a game they are expected to win. this has been a home dominated series lately. both teams rush the ball very well. no reason to think cuse doesnt continue that trend, as well as continue their home success of late.
http://www.syracuse.com/sportsflash...1_BC_FBC--Syracuse-Pasqual&&sports&sufootball
=============================================
ohio university.......not sure of hellah's rationale on this one, but im sure it generally concurs with mine. miami just laying too many points with nothing at stake. redhawks have already clinched the mac east and a spot in the mac title game. they just took care of business in their two nationally televised games vs bowling green and marshall. really destroyed both teams. traveling to athens to lay late season road chalk to the tune of 24 points isnt the most inspiring thing for miami. in my opinion, theyre just biding their time. ohio already proved it can stay in a game with a nationally ranked opponent (taking northern illinois to overtime as a 20-point dog). i know its been said before, but bobcat rushing game is capable of controlling the clock and the tempo of the game. theyre gonna pound the shit out of the ball to keep roethlisberger off the field as much as possible. bobcats have sorta limped to the finish line this season, but with their rival coming in, they should be able to get up for their season finale, especially with the hawks being ranked. i think miami will be lethargic and be happy with a 17 point win.
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