[allman79]

Larry Ness' Weekend Wipeout Winner-CFB (8-1 CFB run since Nov 20)-Early
My Weekend Wipeout Winner is on Oklahoma at 12:30 ET. As the saying goes, it will be "Bedlam" in Norman on Saturday. It marks the 104th all-time meeting between the Sooners and Cowboys with Oklahoma leading the series 80-16-7. However, this game has a very different feel from most of the previous meetings. Oklahoma State is ranked 11th and enters having won eight of its last nine games to secure second place in the Big 12 South. It is the Cowboys' best finish in the 14-year history of the conference, and their six league wins is a school record. As for Oklahoma, its season went 'South' quickly, as 2008 Heisman winner Sam Bradford was hurt on Sep 5 against BYU. The Sooners lost that game 14-13 and were manhandled in their most recent game at Texas Tech, losing to the Red Raiders 41-13. They currently sit at 6-5, matching their biggest loss total since Bob Stoops took over as coach in 1999. This Rivalry has typically been defined over the past decade by Oklahoma pursuing postseason 'positioning' and Oklahoma St trying to play the spoiler. This year, the schools have swapped roles. No. 11 Oklahoma State will be playing for a potential berth in the BCS. With a win at Norman, OSU could receive an at-large bid for its first BCS appearance. It marks only the third time a ranked Cowboys team will play the Sooners when Oklahoma is unranked (1945 and 1997 are the other instances). Just for the record, the opposite scenario has occurred 38 times. Oklahoma State has lost six straight Bedlam games since pulling off back-to-back upsets of top-5 Oklahoma teams at the end of the regular season in 2001 and 2002. The first one knocked the Sooners out of the national championship picture. OSU's Zac Robinson missed the team's last game (a 31-28 Thursday win against Colorado) but the QB resumed throwing over the weekend after having his streak of 34 consecutive starts snapped. Robinson had injured his shoulder and head in a collision near the end of OSU's previous game against Texas Tech. Head coach Mike Gundy said Robinson should be at "full speed" in practice and play against the Sooners. Landry Jones has taken over for Sam Bradford as Oklahoma's QB, completing 58.4% for 2,556 yards with 23 TDs and 13 INTs. He's been particularly good at home, completing 64.1% for an average of 327 YPG with 18 TDs and just four INTs. Here's the rub. Since losing to Oklahoma State in 2001 at Norman, the Sooners have won 49 of their last 50 home games and take a 29-game winning streak at Owen Field into this game. The streak represents the longest active winning streak among FBS schools and is also a school-best. Mike Gundy played at Midwest City High School and was voted Oklahoma Player of the Year in 1986. He was heavily recruited by the Sooners but in the end signed with the Oklahoma State. He became the starting QB midway through his freshman year and held the job from 1986–1989. Gundy would become the all-time leading passer in Oklahoma State and Big 8 Conference history. Over the course of four years, he threw 49 TDs and for 7,997 yards. He directed the Cowboys to bowl wins in the 1987 Sun Bowl and 1988 Holiday Bowl and also led OSU to the only three 10-win seasons in school history to date. However, he went 0-4 vs Oklahoma, losing 19-0, 29-10, 31-28 and 37-15. He got the head coaching job at Stillwater before the 2005 season and guess what? He's lost all four previous games to the Sooners by scores of 42-14, 27-21, 49-17 and 61-41. Do you really think the Cowboys, who lost at home to Houston 45-35 back on Sep 12 and at Austin to the Longhorns 41-13 on Oct 31 will really "come up big" at Norman with so much on the line? If so, I'm betting against you! Weekend Wipeout Winner 15* Oklahoma.

[Tekkitee]

FREE PLAY

LARRY NESS

Tulane @ SMU
PICK: SMU -17

Everyone knows the success story June Jones wrote at Hawaii so there is little reason to waste time recapping it here. So it should come as no surprise that with a win Saturday against the pathetic Green Wave, Jones' SMU Mustangs will finish 7-5 and almost assuredly be headed to the school's first post-sanctions bowl game. SMU last appeared in a postseason game back in 1984. Jones went just 1-11 in his first year in Dallas (2008) but the Mustangs have made a run at C-USA's West title this year and could still win it by beating Tulane, if Houston was to lose at home to Rice (fat chance!). Anyway, this year's Mustangs are not reminiscent of Jones' best Hawaii teams but let's give the guy his due. QB Mitchell is serviceable, RB McNeal will go over 1,000 yards (978 YR / 4.9 YPC) for the season in this game and WR Sanders has caught 85 passes for 1,071 yards with six TDs. The Green Wave will post a losing season for the third straight year under Bob Toledo and for the seventh straight season overall. Tulane had an odd schedule this year, opening with FIVE of six games at home while closing with FIVE of six games on the road. This marks the team's third straight road game, which is NEVER a plus. After winning at Army 17-16 on October 3, the Green Wave have lost 43-6 at Southern Miss, 42-0 at LSU , 28-20 at 2-9 Rice and 49-0 at UCF. Last Saturday's game was awfully ugly, as the Green Wave were out-gained 504-50 in yards with FIVE turnovers (UCF had one). The fact is, Tulane has covered just TWO of its last 14 games on the board. Let's hear it for June Jones. Lay the points.

[Thirsty P]

Larry Ness' 25* CFB Game of the Year-This is It!
My 25* CFB Game of the Year is on BYU at 5:00 ET. The only game this week matching top-25 opponents is No.22 Utah visiting No. 18 BYU in what's been dubbed as the "Holy War." The state of Utah may be deeply religious but its citizens love football and BYU and Utah 'hate' each other! Both schools have played "second fiddle" to TCU this season in the MWC but of course BYU football owns a great history (Detmer won the Heisman in 1990 and the Cougars won the national championship in 1984). Utah can't claim either of those accomplishments but the 2004 team became the very first "BCS bowl-buster" in 2004 (finished 12-0 and ranked 4th in the final AP poll) and last year's team did that squad one better, beating Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl (as nine-point dogs) to complete yet another perfect season (13-0) and getting ranked No. 2 by the AP in its final poll. The winner of this game will finish 7-1 in the conference and 10-2 overall. A look at the "stat book" shows two similar teams with BYU getting the edge for playing at home but of course, that's reflected in the line. However, revenge and motivation squarely lie on the BYU sidelines. BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall hasn't been able to consistently coax totally focused efforts out of his team every week. The Cougars shocked then-No. 3 Oklahoma the first Saturday of the 2009 season, beating the Sooners 14-13 in Arlington (Cowboys Stadium), as better than three-TD underdogs. However, just two Saturdays later, the Cougars were drubbed at home by a sad-sack Florida State team, 54-28! The Seminoles ran for 313 yards (FSU has averaged just 148.6 YPG on the ground after 11 games), while forcing five BYU turnovers. That FSU win ended a school-record 18-game home win streak for the Cougars. BYU was totally out-classed at home by TCU in a 38-7 rout on October 24th but the Horned Frogs have done that to most opponents this year. What has to trouble Cougar fans are less-than-impressive road wins like the ones at San Diego State (38-28) and 24-19 at New Mexico. However, there will be NO lack of focus or motivation for this game, especially for Max Hall, playing his final home game. Hall tossed five INTs (zero TDs) in BYU's 48-24 loss at Salt Lake City a year ago, as Utah's 6-0 edge in turnovers had a lot to do with that blowout final. Even back in 2007, when the Cougars edged the Utes 17-10, Hall was just 17-of-40 without a TD and one INT. That's two career games against his school's biggest rival and this senior QB with the prolific career has zero TD passes in 81 attempts while throwing six 'picks!' I'm BETTING that Hall will come through this time. After all, look at what he's accomplished. Hall re-shirted his freshman year ('04) at Arizona State and then transferred to BYU but left for a mission. When he took over as BYU's starting QB, he hadn't played a competitive game in four years. All he did in '07 was lead BYU to an 11-2 season, ending the season on a 10-game winning streak after its 17-16 Las Vegas Bowl win over UCLA. Hall passed for 3,848 yards in '07, throwing 26 TDs and just 12 INTs (completed 60.1 percent). Hall led BYU to a 10-3 season in 2008, completing 69.0 percent of his passes for 3,957 yards with 35 TDs and 14 INTs. Hall entered the 2009 season with a 21-5 record as a starter, a 61-26 TD-to-INT ratio and 11 career 300-yard passing games. He enters the final regular season game of his career having completed 70.3 percent of his passes in 2009, averaging 294 YPG through the air with 28 TDs and 14 INTs . His QB rating of 167.2 ranks him behind only Kellen Moore (Boise St). His career ratio is 89 TDs with just 40 INTs. Hall and BYU will be up against Utah and its freshman QB Jordan Wynn. Wynn is starting just his fourth game and just his second on the road. His two home starts have come against league doormats New Mexico and SDSU, while his road start was in Utah's 55-28 loss at TCU. TCU is a better team than BYU this year but Wynn will learn that the Fort Worth venue on Nov 14 isn't "anything like" playing this game in Provo. Wynn's job will be made tougher by BYU's vast improvement against the run since that FSU debacle back in mid-September. Since giving up those whopping 313 yards and four TDs on the ground to Florida State, the BYU rush defense has permitted just one opponent (Air Force) to generate more than 127 yards on the ground (Falcons were held 55 yards under their season average and to 3.8 YPC). Hall became BYU's all-time winningest QB in last Saturday's win over Air Force, surpassing former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer's 29 victories, but a 31st win will be much 'SWEETER' indeed. CFB Game of the Year 25* BYU.

[Scorpion]

Larry loves to lay points and big numbers

[Tekkitee]

Yea but he knows his stuff

[Rixsaw]

he was 3-0 yesterday.

[Ericg320]

He's on the Tenn/Kentucky game Anyone got that?

[LLXC]

Larry Ness' CFB Rivalry Shocker of the Month- Part 2 (8-1, 88.9% since Nov 20)
My 15* Rivalry Shocker of the Month (Part 2) is on Arizona St at 3:30 ET. Arizona needed a victory over Oregon last weekend to remain alive in the race for the Pac-10 title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. Close followers of the Pac 10 may know that the Wildcats are the ONLY Pac 10 school which has NEVER appeared in the Rose Bowl. Arizona "spit out the bit" late last Saturday night in Tucson, eventually falling to Oregon, 44-41 in double-OT. As for Arizona State, the Sun Devils suffered their FIFTH consecutive loss last Saturday, falling 23-13 at UCLA. The Sun Devils have tried three QBs in that time span, failing to register more than 21 points in any game during their current losing slide.Senior Danny Sullivan (just 54.2 percent completions with eight TDs and nine INTs) was replaced in the USC loss by highly-touted 6-8 freshman Osweiler. Osweiler started vs Oregon but was replaced by sophomore Szakzcsy in that game, after taking a hard hit. Szakcsy started vs UCLA and was not bad, completing 15-of-22 for 197 yards (two TDs and one INT). He'll start here. Arizona sophomore QB Foles has played well, after attempting just eight passes as a freshman. He enters this game completing 69.0 percent with 17 TDs and a modest seven INTs. The Arizona running game is good (181.0 / 5.1 YPC) but the team's best RB, Grigsby (559 YR / 7.5 YPC), will miss with an injury. Arizona has not played well on the road this year, losing 27-17 at Iowa, winning 37-22 at Oregon St (lone win), losing 36-33 at Washington and losing 24-16 at Cal. Meanwhile, ASU has played very well in its last two home games. The Sun Devils lost 23-21 to Cal (Bears kicked the game-winning FG with just 21 seconds left) and 14-9 to USC (Trojans scored on a 55-yard INT return and a 75-yard TD pass). ASU is going nowhere but this its final game against its hated intra-state rival. Meanwhile, not only is Arizona off a heartbreaking loss to Oregon, it finds itself in the odd position of having a game AFTER the Arizona State contest (at USC on Dec 5) for the first time since 1986. Rivalry Shocker of the Month (Part 2) 15* Arizona State.

[LLXC]

Larry Ness' 20* Late-Breaking Play-CFB (1st CFB total of 2009!)
My 20* Late-Breaking Play is on Navy/Hawaii Over at 10:30 ET. I overlooked this game earlier in the week but late Friday night, something caught my eye. This is the FIRST total I've played in CFB all season and I believe it will be an easy winner. This is a great set-up for Navy. The Midshipmen have not played since beating Delaware 35-18 at home on Nov 14 and have until Dec 12 before they met the Cadets in Philadelphia. Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo ia native Hawaiian and a graduate of UH in 1989. He played football there and is more than just a little familiar with what to expect when he brings his Midshipmen to the shore. Navy ranks third in the nation with 282.6 YPG on the ground, as SEVEN players have gained a least 100 yards. Despite missing one game (and parts of others), QB Ricky Dobbs leads the team with 797 YR and 22 rushing TDs (only Toby Gerhart of Stanford has more with 23). Hawaii's had no real chance to prepare for Navy's option and expect the Midshipmen to "run wild." Speaking of the Rainbows, they have won three straight games and enter this game 4-6. A win here and against Wisconsin next Saturday would send them to the Hawaii Bowl but that may be a stretch. What isn't a stretch is that despite using three different QBs this season, the Rainbows rank third in the nation averaging 347.1 YPG through the air. Whether it's Moniz or Austin at QB, who cares? Check out these numbers. Hawaii beat Utah St 49-36 here at home on Nov 7 and then New Mexico St 24-6 on Nov 14. A check of the record book shows that those two wins up Hawaii's home record in November (going back to the 2003 season) to 15-1. Of importance to us here, those 16 games have averaged 76.3 points per contest. Late Breaking Play 20* Navy/Hawaii Over.

[tesla83]

He's on the Tenn/Kentucky game Anyone got that?

I know THE MAXIMUS REPORT is on this game,,,they have Kentucky on the moneyline to win straight up.

[LLXC]

Already mentioned earlier but here was his Tenn writeup:

Larry Ness' 20* CFB Bailout Blowout GOY (8-1, 88.9% CFB run since Nov 20)
My 20* CFB Bailout Blowout GOY is on Tennessee at 7:00 ET. Lane Kiffin left an 'ugly' situation out in Oakland, landing in Knoxville and quickly found all sorts of new controversies. His first regular season comes to a close with the Vols entering their season finale with Kentucky at 6-5. It marks the seventh staright season the Vols have ended their regular season with the Wildcats. As for those Wildcats, Rich Brooks will be taking Kentucky (currently 7-4) to its fourth straight bowl (Wildcats have won last three) in his eighth year at Lexington.The Wildcats have an excellent running game (196.2 YPG / 4.6) led by TB Locke (821 YR / 4.9 TDs) and a do-everything player Cobb (33 catches for four TDs / 436 YR, 6.6 YPC and 9 TDs). Starting QB Hartline was lost earlier in the year to an injury but freshman Newton has done a solid job and has five TDs with just one INT in the team's curreny three-game winning streak. Kentucky's most recent win came this past Saturday in Athens, where the Wildcats came back from a 20-6 deficit at the half to win, 34-27. Four Georgia TOs led to four Kentucky TDs, as the Wildcats earned their first win at Athens in 32 years (won 33-0 in 1977). The Kentucky defense is solid, allowing 22.2 PPG and 355.4 YPG. Tennessee is bowl-eligible at 6-5 but Kiffin surely doesn't want to end 6-6. QB Crompton has had a much better season as a senior (split time with Stephens LY passing for less than 1,000 yards with four TDs and five INTs), entering this game with 25 TDs and just 11 INTs and over 2,300 passing yards). His season didn't start well, throwing five INTs without a TD in losses to UCLA and Florida, passing for exactly 93 yards against both teams. However, over his last eight games, he's got 20 TDs and just four INTs. Tennessee runs the ball well too, averaging 164.9 YPG (4.6 YPG) led by Hardesty (1,127 YR / 5.0 YPC / 9 TDs). Lane's dad Monte left Tampa Bay to take over the defense and while it hasn't "all been roses," note that Tennessee has given BOTH Florida and Alabama fits in 2009. The Vols lost 23-13 at Florida, holding the Gators (36.5 PPG) almost two TDs under their average and about 100 yards under their average in yards. The Vols lost just 12-10 at Alabama (), holding the Tide to just 16 FDs and 256 total yards. In fact, Terrence Cody, the Crimson Tide's 350-pound nose guard, blocked a 44-yard FG attempt on the final play of the game to secure the win, his second block of the fourth quarter! While I've given Brooks his due for four straight bowl appearances, he is 0-7 in his career vs Tennessee. However, that's hardly something new. Fact is, Tennessee has won 24 straight games over Kentucky, which represents the nation's longest series win streak now that Navy regularly beats Notre Dame. Tennessee has never played a night game in Lexington and while it will be interesting to see how the Vols react to the hostile crowd and the predicted crisp weather, why should Saturday's result be any different from the previous 24? Kiffin's put himself in 'hot water' in his first year at Knoxville a number of times already but if he loses to Kentucky on Saturday, he and his beautiful wife (if you've seen her, there is NO argument) may be 'house hunting.' Consider this. Is Kentucky actually expected to win in Athens for the first time in 32 years one Saturday and then the very next Saturday end a 24-year losing streak to the hated Vols? I think not! By the way, in addition to its 24-game winning streak over Kentucky, Tennessee also owns a 26-game winning streak in its regular season finales. CFB Bailout Blowout GOY 20* Tennessee.