Who to Bet

Really?  We are already in to week 4?  Geez, time is flying by, and there have already been 4 or 5 top 5 teams go down to inferior opponents, the most recent being an ugly game last night between South Carolina and Ole Miss.  So, what do we have on the plate for us to feast on tomorrow?  Well, we've got a great matchup b/t Va. Tech and Miami, but I am not going to try and be the hero and predict the outcome of that one.  However, the following games should peek your interest as possible winners.

Ole MissEveryone is talking about the SEC, and for good reason.  With 4 teams ranked in the top 7, there is much to be excited about for SEC fans.  Thursday's game just so happens to have one of these teams playing as Ole Miss is ranked #4 in the country.  However, they are going against the old ball coach, who despite his success at Florida, hasn't really been able to do the same thing at South Carolina.  So, who should we pick in a game where anything can happen?

If you happened to just watch the games last night, then you would be hard pressed to think College Football was worth watching at all.  Between NC State and South Carolina combining for only 10 points, and Boise State and Oregon, supposedly two of the most prolific offensives in the country, only combining for 27 points when the Over/Under was in the 60s, college football fans were left bored and somewhat blue-balled.  Then comes the action though...Blount knocks out Hout.  Is it any coincidence that if you took the first letter of Blount with the first letter of Hout, that you get a Bout??  Anyways, Blount is done for the season (and he should be), and we have games to pick...

With just a couple hours til kickoff, there's not a lot of time for me to elaborate on my picks, but I wanted to get them out to you...so here goes.

It's been a long time coming, but we are finally back in those few precious months where College Football rules our world, and we love every minute of it.  Thomas, aka pittpanther, has gotten off to a nice start with his top 10 predictions for the entire 2009 season, and although I don't agree with a lot of them, I am going to be hard pressed to be able to defend my positions as well as he can. 

Anyways, we start off with a classic ACC versus SEC matchup in the first game with NC State trying to make amends for last year's 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the Old ball coach and South Carolina in the opening game last year.  And then we have the much anticipated Oregon versus Boise State matchup on the blue turf.  So, let's get down to our picks.

LA Takes Inspiration from Phil Steele on College Football Eve

While very abbreviated this season - sorry, it's been a hectic summer - here is my "preseason preview" courtesy of a Top 10 list of the things you need to know heading into the 2009 college football season.  Enjoy and please direct any complaints or bitching to 1-401-285-0701.

10.  Jumping right in, who will hoist the BCS Championship trophy on January 7th, 2010?

It's been a while, but below is our current list of pretenders and contenders when it comes to pitchers and their BABIP. A quick scan of the pitchers that are getting the luckiest has some popular names like Cueto, Jackson and Gallardo. I believe in Gallardo, but I'm not sold on the other two, so you might want to try and sell high on those guys right now.

Scanning the unluckiest pitchers thus far I see Lester as a possible great pick up. His K/9 are off the charts, his BABIP is obviously too high, and his FIP is at 3.88 while his ERA is at 5+. With numbers like that, you have to think he is going to come back to the norm and reap big rewards.

Zobrist a possible StarThroughout the year I am constantly scouring the waiver wire looking for the next big thing, or at least someone that will help fill in a gap that I overlooked during the draft, or as the result of an injury.  Last year I was able to get Ryan Ludwick, and enjoyed about 25 of his 37 Homeruns.  The amazing thing is that I was probably the 3rd or 4th person to pick him up, but I held on, and reaped the rewards.  This year I am thinking Ben Zobrist may be another one of those types of players, not that he will hit 37 Hrs, but he should be a good fill in with positive numbers.

Here is another addition to our pretenders and contenders story line. As you can see there are some definite contenders (Lincecum) that are just getting robbed out on the baseball diamond. Others, like Volquez and Wolf, are getting luckier than they should. A new category that you should pay attention to is FIP, which is basically what there ERA should be. The formal definition is "Fielding Independent Pitching, a measure of all those things for which a pitcher is specifically responsible. The formula is (HR*13+(BB+HBP-IBB)*3-K*2)/IP, plus a league-specific factor (usually around 3.2) to round out the number to an equivalent ERA number. FIP helps you understand how well a pitcher pitched, regardless of how well his fielders fielded." Anyways, here is the current list of Pretenders and Contenders.