The Money Bet of the Century, week #12-THE BAND IS ON THE FIELD!!!!

Money Bettors-

Well fans.....we got you your money back last week. Although I did receive a few reader comments about laying down a Money Bet on Kansas Sate (sorry Schillare), the stats that we uncovered while writing the prediction were overwhelmingly in favor of Missouri. I actually started out writing that post in favor of the Wildcats, but as you saw....I just couldn't find a way for them to get it done at home versus the Tigers. As predicted, it was Blaine Gabbert to Denario Alexander all day long. I went so far as to put Alexander in my fantasy team where he racked up an impressive 38 points as a receiver.

This week begins, what apparently has now shifted to a two weekend process: RIVALRY WEEK. I can remember when they used to play all of the games on one weekend and the best thing you could do would be to find a sports bar that has about 20 televisions and get the bartender to plug in as many games as possible. A couple games to keep your eyes on this weekend, Michigan vs. Ohio State: Arguably the biggest college football rivalry in the country happens on Saturday at 12:00 (or 9:00 am for all of us West Coasters). Terrelle Pryor will try to lead the Buckeyes to a Rose Bowl with a win over Michigan, they are favored by 12. Montana vs. Montana State! If you've never watched this game, then you are missing something. This is a great rivalry that Montana has traditionally dominated (70-33-5). There was a span of 16 years (from 1986-2002) where Montana State did not win a game. The game will be in Bozeman this year, and it's looking to be another "Brawl of the Wild" (as the rivalry is called). They were shoveling feet of snow off of the turf earlier this week.

These are both great games, but we're going to stay home in the PAC this week for the Money Bet of the Century....and a great rivalry game. Any self-respecting college football fan should recall with great fondness the California/Stanford game from 1982...."The Play". With seconds left on the game clock, Stanford kicks off to California in what should be the last, uneventful play of the game. What ensues on the kickoff will be talked about for decades, and involves Stanford accusations of referee misconduct, multiple lateral passes (some of questionable legality), and a certain trombone player in the end zone. From what I understand, you can still find people (mainly students that attended at the time) that get really heated about this play 27 years after the fact. I've added the video here if you've never seen "The Play", or you just want to take a trip down memory lane.


This game should not let you down, it's going to be a good one. As Reese Witherspoon, Ex-Stanford Cardinal, will tell you.... Stanford is on a current winning 'heater'. After dismantling Oregon two weeks ago in a 51-42 shootout, Stanford then took care of the Trojans last week in a 55-21 shocker. That's the most points USC's Defense has ever given up at home in school history, and Pete Carroll's first loss in a 28 game win streak in the month of November. Freshman QB Andrew Luck is looking solid and a lot of people are talking about Toby Gerhart as a potential Heisman runner-up. And why not? He has 1400 yards and 19 touchdowns with these two games left to play. He's been an absolute baller when faced with the "tough game".....3 touchdowns and 223 yards against Oregon, 178 yards and 3 touchdowns against USC....BOTH top 10 teams. When Stanford needed him most.....he's been delivering.

Cal comes into this game a little bit wounded. Another phenomenal running back in college football is Cal's Jahvid Best. Anyone who had this guy on their fantasy college football team at the beginning of the year probably still has the lead. Jahvid currently has 12 touchdowns, and 861 yards...a pretty astonishing 6.14 yards a carry. Problem is....he isn't going to be playing this game. He's out with a concussion after a nasty end zone dive a couple weeks ago where he landed on his head. Shane Vereen will start in his absence, but is not expected to produce results like Best. With the run option shut down, it's going to be up to the receivers to do a little heavy lifting. Marvin Jones is probably going to be Kevin Riley's #1 target. He's caught 5 TD passes this year, but might be able to step it up now that the running option is less of a threat.

The big problem I see for Cal is that they've got to be able to put up points to beat Stanford. Stanford's defense is not necessarily stellar, but they are an offensive firepower to be reckoned with. Without Best, Cal just isn't going to have the ability to match The Cardinal.

Cardinal win this game by 14!

The Money Bet of the Century | Week 11

Money Bettors-

Well folks! What can I say, the Money Bet last week wasn't so money. As it turns out, Notre Dame with Michael Floyd didn't turn out to be so potent. And who would have guessed that Notre Dame wouldn't be able to at least BEAT Navy. But, as dissapointed as I am that Notre Dame was not able to help us out, I bet Charlie Weiss is even more upset. There has been a lot of speculation that the Navy loss might have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, and cost him the coaching job next year. To quote Charlie: "At Notre Dame, we are never looking backwards.....only forwards...." Well, Charlie, I'd suggest you start looking backwards at where your team has not been able to deliver if you want to "look forward" to another year at Notre Dame's head football coach. Disecting the mistakes in the past might help you avoid some embarassing losses.

This week we are going to the Big 12 to select the game. The game we're taking this week was thoroughly researched and should be a big winner.

A lot was said about a Missouri program that, at the beginning of the year, looked hot. Blaine Gabbert was on fire, and has put up some impressive numbers. This year he has thrown for 2,364 yards and 17 touchdowns. I can remember having him in my college fantasy team when they were playing the first part of the season and he was delivering solid numbers. Against Furman, he had 3 touchdowns and 256 yards, and then against Nevada he put up 414 yards and 3 touchdowns. But, as the opponents have gotten considerably tougher, his numbers have become less gratuitous. Gabbert's main offensive target, wide receiver Denario Alexander is having an impressive year as a main target, mowing up 1038 yards with 8 touchdown catches. This team has been successful going to the air, and has the potential to do so against Kansas State.

It should be a beautiful sunny day at Bill Snyder stadium in Manhatten with the high temerpature slated to be 54 degrees. Kansas State has been making a lot of headway on the ground with Daniel Thomas who has 1087 yards rushing and 11 touchdown receptions. And it's probably good that they stick to the ground game, considering both Kansas State quarterbacks (splitting the duties at this role) have 6 interceptions in 10 games. Kansas State will probably stick to the ground attack against a decently solid defensive unit at Missouri.

This game favors Missouri by one point, and has a fairly low Over/Under point total (51). Given those numbers, oddsmakers are saying the final score pegged at Missouri 26, Kansas State 25. The big question will be whether Kansas State defensive backs will be able to stop Missouri's arial attack. Missouri has a record of being able to win the close game. In games where the end result has been less than a 7 point difference, they are 6-5 (since 2001). Kansas State, using this same mark is a considerably worse 6-11. If Missouri can score over 20 points, which the MBOC staff thinks they will be able to do, they have a record going back to 2001 as 62-19. Look for this game to be a close one, but the Tigers will end up sticking it to the wildcats at home in this game.

Missouri by 7!

The Money Bet of the Century, week #10- Getting you in the game

Money Betters-

Well. Last week was a shocker for the MBOC staff. We sat back and watched Oregon take USC behind the woodshed for the slaughter. No one here on staff expected a 47-20 shellacking! But true to the information we had in our blog prediction, "USC's defense looks sloppy right now. USC's defense allowed Oregon State to score 36 points, and put together almost 500 yards of turf-tearing offense." Our research showed that USC was going to have a hard time stopping Oregon's recently explosive offense. One particularly funny commenter noted in our blog comments "Meat Balls Over Chocolate (MBOC).....yes, this phrase makes no sense, and neither does this pick, Dave". Hilarious. I appreciate any comments, whether they are positive, negative, or downright nasty. Hell, they don't even have to be related to football. AS ALWAYS, don't forget to vote in the upper right hand corner!

If you missed out last week, fear not....there is ocean's of money out there, sloshing around. All you need to do is stick your cup in and get your fill. And here at the MBOC, we're handing out 20 gallon cups to make sure that your checking account can keep at least 4 zeroes in the balance. That's what we're all about....

There were a lot of good picks this week to choose from. It made it difficult. I really like Boise State to own Louisiana Tech. Boise State knows they have to win big ( and get a little bit lucky) these days to make it into the Championship Game. You can expect them to be dropping the hammer, weekly. I was also tempted by a girl from Omaha to make the game Oklahoma vs. Nebraska (also a good option). Not having Bradford will make this game interesting.

Nevertheless, the pick of the week goes not to the Big Ten....not to the Pac 10.....but to the Independent conference! This week will be big for these 3 schools, with Army playing against Air Force in Colorado Springs. (GameDay, look for the Coug Flag waving in the background). Notre Dame plays Navy.

Notre Dame has looked solid the last couple weeks with wins against Boston College and Washington State (still love ya Cougs). Without the stumble against USC (at USC), Notre Dame is 4 points away from a perfect season (losing to Michigan). Best news about Notre Dame this week? They are getting back Michael Floyd. In case anyone forget about him, he was a receiver that broke his collar bone against Michigan State. In the first three games of the year, he was a key target: 358 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns. He has been sorely missed, and Golden Tate has produced while getting extra attention from defensive backs. Casey Claussen will have dual threats as receivers this week, and that's going to create some great opportunities for RB Robert Hughes ( filling in for Armando Allen who might also play, but is day to day). All in all, the return of Floyd is going to allow Notre Dame to open up a wider field. It could be a serious problem for the Midshipmen.

Make no mistake about it, Navy is a strong team (figuratively and literally). They've only dropped three games this year; one to Ohio State, and one to Pittsburgh. Then last week, they shock everyone with a loss to Temple?!?!? Rebounding off of that disappointment, they'll be playing tough in Notre Dame. One note of caution I have for the readers is Navy's wins. When they win, they don't win very big. In the last three games, we've seen a trend of some very close games (Temple, Wake Forest, and SMU). C'mon Navy.....that puts you in the same boat as Washington State!! Navy doesn't pass the ball a lot, so you can look for a lot of ground work on there part. You can look for a considerable amount of ball handling by Fullback Vince Murray and Navy's QB, Ricky Dobbs. If Notre Dame's defense has been studying their game tape, they should be setup to bend, but not break to Navy's triple-threat offense.

Notre Dame is an 11 point favorite, and they have Jesus on their side. Midshipmen will find themselves unable to outscore Notre Dame's rejuvenated offense playing at home.

Irish by 17!!