For those of you who might be along for your first rodeo, here’s the gist. Each week we use NCAA 11 to play out all the games. We focus on the top 5 and tell you just how EA believes the big matchups will shake out versus the point spread and in general.

In week 1, NCAA 11 went a solid 2-2-1. Astoundingly, it was spot on when predicting the Pitt/Utah game. NCAA predicted Utah would win 25-22 in OT. Utah won 27-24 in OT. (slow clap).

The game it really spit the bit on was Washington/BYU. NCAA was Locker-fied predicting Washington would crush BYU 38-7. Not so much. BYU took the game 23-17.

Week 2 brings us some early season gems, and it wasn’t easy rounding out the top 5 games. The number one, two, and three games, however, you can pretty much figure out.

Without further adieu, we go full nerd and get our simulation on.

5. Georgia at South Carolina (-3)

Aaron Murray chucks it 52 times for 340 yards and a touchdown securing plenty of visor throws for the ol’ ball coach. Stephen Garcia adds 342 yards of his own but also tosses 3 interceptions. While I love you NCAA, he would’ve been benched after 2. #justsayin

Predicted Final Score: Georgia 30 South Carolina 17

4. Michigan at Notre Dame (-4)

Tied heading into the 4^th quarter, Notre Dame scores two defensive touchdowns and adds another on offense. The Denard Robinson show throws for 2 touchdowns but ends with only 20 yards rushing. Tate Forcier grabs virtual bench, Rich Rod goes on the virtual hot seat.

Predicted Final Score: Notre Dame 37 Michigan 17

3. Penn State at Alabama (-11.5)

UPSET SPECIAL: Julio Jones hauls in 11 balls and a touchdown, but that’s about it for the Crimson Tide. Evan Royster averages only 3 YPC but scores on two short touchdown runs. Holy Paterno, Batman. NCAA likes Penn State’s D in a big way…

Predicted Final Score: Penn State 17 Alabama 7

2. Florida State at Oklahoma (-8.5)

The battle of marquee QBs goes the way of the Seminoles. Christian Ponder throws for 350 yards and 3 touchdowns and Florida State goes into Norman and edges out Oklahoma. DeMarco Murray goes for 119 in the loss. Lose big game with Bob Stoops ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED.

Predicted Final Score: Florida State 27 Oklahoma 24

1. Miami at Ohio State (-8.5)

Terrelle Pryor throws the ball 39 times and racks up 299 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jacory Harris nearly matches up with 245 yards and 3 touchdowns, but it doesn’t help avoid a blowout. Apparently the 8.5-point spread is warranted as the Buckeyes cruise.

Predicted Final Score: Ohio State 40 Miami 26

Biggest Upset

Iowa State takes out Iowa in Iowa City (that’s a lot of Iowas) 18-12 in OT. There goes my Big 10 prediction.

Other Notable Scores

Oregon 42 Tennessee 21

Florida 20 USF 17

USC 40 Virginia 10

LSU 26 Vanderbilt 21

Player of the Week (Again): Ryan Mallett.

The Capital One All-America Mascot Team is back and once again we are given the distinguished privilege to separate one mascot from all the rest by casting our vote, actually unlimited votes, for this year’s top dog. Or bird. Or creepy old man lookalike carrying some sort of hammer thing.

Last year, it was Bearcat from the University of Cincinnati taking home the prestigious title. Bearcat returns in 2010 to defend his crown but will have to topple fifteen colorful characters to repeat. Much like the college football landscape, the mascot world has also taken on a much different look because of expansion. The All-America Mascot Team has gone from twelve to sixteen. Eat your heart out, Dan Beebe.

Before I can go any further, here is the 2010 Mascot Team who appears to have gotten into a fresh crate of Schnapps while filming their intros.

Capital One is hopeful that none of the mascots in this year’s contest will feel the wrath of the NCAA sanction hammer, but there are no guarantees. After all, we saw what the Penn State Nittany Lion did after some beverages only a short while back.

Fans will once again have the opportunity to decide who they believe should be this year’s champion. Mascots will go head-to-head each week, for twelve weeks. At this point, the mascots with the best win/loss records will move into the playoffs. Ahhhhh… playoffs.

On New Years Day, without question my favorite (and perhaps drunkest) day of the year, the National Mascot of the Year will be crowned during the Capital One Bowl. The winning mascot will earn their school a cool 15k towards their mascot program. IMAGINE THE TEE SHIRT GUNS THIS COULD BUY.

Strength of schedule, key wins, points allowed – none of this means anything come mascot time. This is the opposite of the BCS and by golly, (coining Lou Holtz), we’re going to play out the year AND have a playoff which kickoffs on November 22nd. While I love college football – and hate the BCS – I also appreciate the finer things like tailgating, tailgating, tailgating, and mascots.

To vote, visit Capitalonebowl.com and select from the handful of matchups that will change each week. If your mascot isn’t in the finals, you can also nominate him here as for the 2011 contest. I’ve already added Herky into this mix because even with his bird legs he brings a powerful and friendly presence on game day. But I digress…

If Cincinnati’s start against Fresno is any indication of how Bearcat will fair as returning champion, he could be in for a long season. As for the rest of this rambunctious crew, only time and votes will tell.

One thing’s for certain. I will never under any circumstances let any of these individuals into my house. I will, however, do my college football duty and play along with their reindeer games.

Check out this week’s matchups and Vote Here. Also be sure to check them out on Twitter.

On late Sunday night, Miles issued the following Tweet only to delete it a few hours later. Lucky for us, CollegeFootballTalk was scholarly enough to not only cover the Tweet but also save a screenshot that can live on.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!?!

Although the term “Woeojuwejhdjwe” might not mean anything to us mortals, I’ll be damned if this doesn’t end up on a tee shirt or a College Gameday sign.

Oh, coach. Your mysterious Tweeting ways are on par with your hatred for calling timely timeouts. I guess we just have to accept that we simply can’t have all the answers…

After messing around with the idea of live blogging on this glorious Saturday, I’ve decided to keep the week 1 antics over on Twitter. Check us out at Twitter.com/KegsnEggs for all the news you need an probably a good chunk you don’t.

Disclaimer: Could get ugly by the afternoon, which might be more fun for all of us or result in the end of my Twitter account.

1. Be smart about betting favorites vs. underdogs – If you see yourself betting all favorites or underdogs, be careful.  There are chalk lovers and upset lovers, but you at least have to try and be neutral when deciding a game.  Don’t be stubborn.

2. Home field advantage – Remember these are 18-22 year olds playing in front of thousands of people.  They are not paid professionals (except USC players) so nerves play a huge factor, especially on the field goal kickers.  This is no knock on these players, it is normal to be overwhelmed by certain situations if you haven’t done it before.  So all things being equal in a big game, side with the home field advantage.  NOTE: Notre Dame and Michigan specifically are known for getting home calls from the zebras as well. It’s like Duke in basketball.

3. Exotic Bets – Teasers, Parlays, Progressives are all exotics the house offers for one reason – they put the gambler at a disadvantage if not used wisely.  You can make money if you know when to take the edge the house tries to give you.

Parlays – I’ll give you an example about why parlays may be dumb.  Let’s say you bet a 3 team parlay ATS at 6 to 1 odds.  You think you’re getting a solid advantage but when broken down it does not seem as smart.  $100 parlay or $100 on each of the 3 teams straight for a $300 total risk.

$100 parley 6 to 1 pays $600 plus/minus certain odds.  You have to win all three games.  If you win 2 out of 3 you get jack shit back.  That means you hit 66% winners, a very respectable number in sports gambling, and you lost money.  Wow!

$100 straight bet on all three teams.  You risk $300 but let’s do the math.  You win all three you collect $300, not bad.  You win 2 out of 3 you collect $100 profit minus the vig.  You win 1 out of 3 you’re in the same situation as winning 2 out of 3 with a parlay, down $100.  So all you have to do to avoid losing the $300 is win 1 of the games.  I like my chances there.

Teasers – At a quick glance they seem very advantageous to the better.  You can get 6 or 7 points for each game, but you have to win each game.  So basically if you do a 2-team teaser bet you get to add 6 points to each team you chose, but they have to both cover.  The thing is you get roughly even odds.  So you play two games and only get even odds in exchange for the 6 points.  Be careful.  I like to use teasers in the following situation:

A team I like to win is -6 and a team I like with the spread is at a difficult number like +12.  I therefore tease the -6 team just to win and the +12 team to a great number like +18.  I am fairly certain the pick’ em team will win so now it gives me even odds on my +18 team.  If the team loses at pick’ em so be it, bad opinion.

4. Don’t get suckered into conference strength – A common mistake is to look at each conference with a broad perspective.  The SEC is my favorite conference but they are the best at the top.  Therefore if a middle of the pack team from the SEC plays a middle of the pack team from the ACC or Big 12, it will usually be even and you will get some good spreads for the other conferences because the public will play the SEC on name alone.  If you pay attention to bowl season these conferences beat each other up with no rhyme or reason.

5. Early Betting – some people like to get their bets in weeks in advance.  Be careful, things change.  You have to wait to see if players get hurt, what the weather will be, and most importantly, what the trends are.  How the line moves can be more important than analyzing the players and teams.   The injuries /suspensions can hurt you as well.  I compare it to a Kentucky Derby future bet, which in my opinion is the dumbest bet someone can make.  People bet a horse in January at better odds and 85% of the time the horse doesn’t make it to the track and no refund is given.  Let’s say you take a team at -6 and their QB goes down on Tuesday.  You do not get a refund, so be smart.  Sometimes it does make sense to take a line if you love a game.

6. Trust Your Picks! – don’t get suckered into only listening to the “gurus or experts”.  There is a reason a lot of these guys are selling their picks, they need the money.  If they were unbeatable they’d be rich and have no need to give their picks away.  You can listen to their opinions, but if you like a game, stick with your gut feeling.  It’s your money that is being bet, so at the end of the day you only want to blame yourself.  Nothing is worse than betting against a team you like because people told you to and your team covers.

That is all I have for now, I can’t give away all the lessons I have learned.  Money management is the hardest thing for us gamblers to master.  Many great handicappers pick winners but lose money, so be smart!