Dr. JZ’s Week 1 Plays

Our resident pick guru, who finished the bowl season a stout 21-9, is out of hibernation and back for the 2010 season. I’m taking a backseat for this one and lettin’ the man go to work.

Take it away, Dr. JZ.

Dr. JZ is back and ready to make some $$$. I hope all of you put the winnings from a very lucrative bowl season in a high interest savings account and are ready to roll this year. As Big Papa the Show Stoppa always says, “The less you bet, the more you lose when you win!”

Unfortunately we are going to start relatively small for Week 1, a week that Dr. JZ uses as a gauge for the offseason progress teams have made. It is also important to clear your head and treat each team as a new franchise, because unlike professional sports, year to year there is very little continuity to the strength of most programs (except the few loaded powerhouses… Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio State, etc.)

This does not mean forget the 2009 season, but instead it means you must do your homework and figure out who graduated, what coach went where, who is academically ineligible, who took a car from an agent so therefore is suspended, etc. On a side note, what an ass-clown Jeremiah Masoli is!

Week 1 does have some interesting matchups with major BCS implications. Everyone will be watching tonight as Pittsburgh heads west to take on Coach Whittingham’s Utah Utes. How many times do we have to see these mid-majors (although not mid-majors for long) beat the so-called power conferences before we jump on the bandwagon. Dr. JZ is taking Utah on home field advantage.

Saturday features a few big conference matchups, and a few teams have a TON of pressure to perform well. The most pressure will be on Wolverines as they host the underrated UCONN Huskies. I have no opinion on this game, other than Rich Rod might be turning in his playbooks a bit early if he lays in an egg in the Big House.

Louisville hosts their in-state rival Kentucky. This is a show me something game for new coach Charlie Strong, arriving as the well-groomed protégé of Urban Meyer. He has the tall task of rebuilding this program that the slithery Bobby Petrino left in disarray. I like the Cardinals to play big and beat the Wildcats.

Next we turn to the bastard stepson of Los Angeles…UCLA. Wow, how they been irrelevant for such a long time. But now with Pete Carroll’s conveniently time exit stage left, the Bruins can make strides toward regaining dominance over the Trojans and their flamboyant head coach, Lane Kiffin. Everyone is predicting a strong season for UCLA, and I am also predicting improvement. However, their first game in Manhattan, KS smells like a trap. I am not drinking the Kool-Aid just yet… take Kansas State.

Next we turn to BYU who gets Notre Dame and ESPN in the coming years and open 2010 with a toughie. They host the much hyped Jake Locker led Washington Huskies. Put the Heisman candidacy on hold, people as this stumbling block will present a huge hurdle for Locker to get over if he wants to be invited to New York in December. The Cougars will roll and the Huskies will with major disappointment.

The main matchup of the week is clearly Boise State vs. Virginia Tech. This game presents a difficult challenge for me to keep a clear head while handicapping this game. Main reason, I hate betting against Boise State and their feeble armed QB Kellen Moore. They seem to always win no matter if it’s against their Division VI opponents in the WAC conference or against the Oregons and Oklahomas. This might be too tall of a challenge for even Chris Petersen to coach his way out of….Va Tech wins this game in a low scoring affair. I don’t usually play totals, but the under 50 sounds pretty good to me.

3 Keg Plays

Kansas State (- 1 ½) vs. UCLA

BYU (-2) vs. Washington

2 Keg Plays

Utah (-3) vs. Pittsburh

Louisville (+3) vs. Kentucky

Virginia Tech (+2) vs. Boise State and under 50 (Neutral Site)

Tough Game to Touch

UCONN (+3) at Michigan

Good luck, Keg Heads!