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Happy Tuesday Cougar Fans!
A couple of quick things before we get started. First and foremost, as former WSU All American Paul Sorensen pointed out over at Cougfan yesterday, a lot of the 2011 success could be determined by the depth on both our OL and DL. Well one of our hurdles to building depth along the DL was cleared up last night when DT Brandon Rankin was cleared by the NCAA academically. Seeing that Rankin has seen mostly action on the Second Team, this should mean we have an experienced, sound football player to lead our DT rotation!
Secondly, don’t forget to check back to the blog on Friday morning for each contributor’s analysis of the Pac 12 weekend ahead. Our picks will be the same picks each of us register over in the Yahoo Pick Em Leagues. If you have failed to do so, make sure to get registered, details for the pool can be found here.
Click the jump to take a look at some of the interesting Week One lines coming out of Las Vegas and what I like about each.
Syracuse -7 vs Wake Forest: This is one of the first tilt’s of the 2011 college football season, kicking off Thursday night at 5:00 PM PST. The Deamon Decons, coming off an ugly 3-9 campaign visit the Carrier Dome to face a resurgant Syracuse squad. Last year, the Orange were a surprising defensive squad and if things can come together for the offense, I see no issues with Cuse covering this one.
Wisconsin 35.5 vs UNLV: The week before heading North to Pullman, the Runnin Rebels will take on the Badgers in Madison. Wisconsin was a missed first half FG away from upsetting TCU in the 2011 Rose Bowl and are a Top 10 Squad in the preseason USA Today Poll. Some may call me foolish for taking Wisconsin and five plus scores in Week One, but if there is one thing I know, Bret Bielema doesn’t like to call off the hounds. In 2010 they rolled Austin Peay 70-3 and 83-20 over Indiana. Look for more of the same, I parlayed Wisconsin with Cuse to cover.
Fresno St +10 at Cal: The Bulldogs and Golden Bears go at it Week One in San Francisco and the Dogs are getting ten points, which I think is at least enough for them to cover, it wouldn’t shock me if they win straight up. Fresno scored 29 PPG last season and return their leading passer and WR. Meanwhile, last year Cal was 0-4 when they yielded more than four touchdowns.
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Oregon -3 vs LSU: The NCAA Infraction Committee Bowl’s Selection Committee probably didn’t anticipate this when they selected Oregon and LSU to square off in Week One in Arlington, TX. Oregon will be without CB/KR Cliff Harris and the Bayou Bengals are without starting QB Jordan Jefferson after the pair were involved in some highly publicized off-field matters. My thought here is that the Tigers will struggle to keep up with Oregon without their top QB. Thomas and LaMichael James begin their Heisman Campaigns in The Lonestar State with a rousing 42-27 win over LSU!
Colorado @ Hawaii, Over 55: The Buffs head way west to take on the Hawaii Warriors. Colorado has probably the worst Pass Defense in the Pac 12 and as you may have heard, Hawaii likes to chuck it around. Bryant Moniz, even though he lost something like six of his top seven WRs from 2010, won’t have an issue lighting the scoreboard up in this one. It should be interesting to see what Colorado’s offense can do in this one, but I have a hard time believing this game won’t eclipse 55 points by intermission. On a side note, DaniBuff was asking me yesterday if this game would be on TV in Seattle. When she told me it is on ESPN2, I told her she shouldn’t have a problem catching it, but that to be prepared for a boatrace. To which she quipped, “Kinda like when you took me to the Cougs game in Seattle against Hawaii a few years ago?” Touche baby!
That’s all I’ve got for you today Cougar Fans, make it a great Tuesday!
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