Tuesday Afternoon Linebacker

Last week: 5-5. Even more brutal than last week.
Season To Date: 25-12

Around Florida
(13) Florida
Hopefully studying playbooks and game film ahead of next week’s match-up with Kentucky.

Central Florida at (5) South Florida, Saturday 12 PM ESPNU
Central Florida was embarassed last weekend against East Carolina. But it is a rivalry game. At least in the minds of the Golden Knights. I think USF sees West Virginia or maybe Louisville as bigger rivals right now. But the Knights’ will be on the hunt to knock off 2007’s darling and claim I-4 bragging rights. In the end USF’s defense will come through and win the day.

TALB Pick: USF average over UCF

Georgia Tech at Miami (FL), Saturday 12 PM ESPN
I’m going to go with the Rambling Wreck on this one. Miami (FL) has no identity yet.

TALB Pick: Georgia Tech average over Miami (FL)

(21) FSU at Wake Forest, Thursday 7:30 PM ESPN
Forgot to do this one… I would have picked FSU. And I would have been wrong.

Tennessee at Tampa Bay, Sunday 1 PM CBS
One would think that the Bucs took a long look at themselves after last week’s undressing by the Colts. And they’re back home to boot. The Titans will be another challenge of course. But TALB thinks that pride, the home crowd, and a resurgent defense will be the difference. And if the Bucs’ running game can get back on track they might win going away.

TALB Pick: Bucs close over Titans

Miami at Cleveland, Sunday 1 PM CBS
Oh jeeze. Who to pick? Let’s take the Browns at home.

TALB Pick: Browns average over Dolphins

Houston at Jacksonville, Sunday 1 PM CBS
Very big game, for second place in the AFC South and the inside track to the Wild Card. This is a tough game to pick. But the Jags are home and have been “there” before.

TALB Pick: Jaguars big over Texans

Compelling College Collision
(1) LSU at (17) Kentucky, Saturday 3:30 PM CBS
Can Les Miles fit his enormous nards on the plane to Lexington? Does Kentucky have enough on offense and defense to hang with probably the most complete team in college football? I think the answer to each question above is “No”. But LSU won’t need to make clutch decisions at the end in order to win.

TALB Pick: LSU big over Kentucky

Profound Pro Pick
New England at Dallas, Sunday 4:15 PM CBS
For fantasy football purposes I would like Tom Brady, Donte Stallworth, and Marion Barber to score in bunches. And given that I have 2 on NE and 1 on DAL, that would lead me to want New England to win. But then we can come back to the real world. Where New England is going to need to win a lot of games to stay at the top of the AFC race since the Colts will benefit from playing the NFC South and have already vanquished the “top” team in that division. The Pats are playing well in all phases of the game. And Dallas’ 5-0 start has been bouyed by wins against Miami, St. Louis, and Buffalo. The last of which, of course you know, they barely defeated.

TALB Pick: New England big over Dallas