Defending My Poor Performance

For Breeze readers out there I will make an attempt to defend my weekly picks as I try to salvage the season. I currently sit in next-to-last place with a rising 53 percent. (Compare my thoughts with Matt McGovern's at the McSportsReport).

1. No.2 South Florida over Rutgers- With high ranked teams falling week after week, one could expect Rutgers to pull off the upset at home. But USF is poised considering they have exploded from the Big East cellar to the top 5. Rutgers explosive back has picked defenses apart on his way to 818 yards and 13 TDs, but the Bulls held Central Florida's national leading rusher Kevin Smith to 55 yards last week. Expect similar numbers for the Scarlet Knight's Ray Rice in a loss.

2. No. 7 Kentucky over No. 15 Florida- Quarterback Andre Woodson and the Wildcats did what Florida couldn't by grinding out a high scoring game against a higher-ranked SEC rival in LSU. Kentucky will keep stride and continue to work towards the conference title with another big win.

3. Notre Dame over No. 14 USC- Okay well maybe this is why I'm losing because I can't pick against the Irish, but if they can get up for one game all year it will be against the Trojans at home.

4. Maryland over No. 19 UVA- Call me a hater, but I'm just never sold on a UVA team no matter how well they start. They are typically a softer team and the Terps will be a far more formidable ACC opponent than Duke, UNC, or Georgia Tech.

5. Colorado over No. 13 Kansas- The Buffalo are always tough at home and it seems like they always knock off high-ranked opponents in Boulder, including this year's win over then No. 3 Oklahoma. Kansas is also 0-5 in its last five at Colorado.

6. No. 4 LSU over No. 17 Auburn- Auburn is on a four-game win-streak and I wish I had looked that up before we printed today's issue. But I'll stand by the pick and believe that the Tigers will bounce back from their first loss with a big win back at home in the Bayou.

NFL games coming tomorrow. But check out my top read of the day in an ESPN special by Ron Borges on Joe Frazier and his forever-lingering contempt toward Muhammad Ali.