Tuesday Afternoon Linebacker

Last week: 6-1. Off the schneid.
Season To Date: 31-13.
As will be the custom going forward; once the BCS rankings come out the college picks will switch from AP to BCS.
Related; CNNSI provides the Top 50 BCS rankings.

Around Florida
(15) Florida at (7) Kentucky, Saturday 3:30 PM CBS
With the bye week, TTNHBC has to have thought of something. Some way to get this team out of this slump. And Kentucky has to be drained; physically and emotionally from their bout with LSU. Vegas actually has Florida as the favorite in this one. The Wildcats’ offense is good enough to shred the Gators’ defensive unit. The question will be how well can the Gators offense do against the Cats defenders. And TALB thinks this will be a shoot-out with the Gators coming out on top.

TALB Pick: Florida close over Kentucky

(2) South Florida at (34) Rutgers, Thursday 7:30 PM ESPN
As it turned out, the UCF game was not the other side of a trap game, it was the trap game. And the Bulls stormed right through it. Now comes their first test as part of the Mythical National Championship Duet. And while this topsy-turvy season has shown that anything can happen, I doubt that highly regarded Rutgers is an “underdog” enough to add fuel the “Upset” fire of 2007. Now, if this was Rutgers from five years ago, maybe. But right now this should be a good contest. As long as the Bulls’ defense doesn’t let up, this team is going somewhere.

TALB Pick: Bulls by a smidge over Rutgers

Miami (FL) at (33) Florida State, Saturday 12 PM ABC
Not long ago this would have been the Game Of The Century (of the Week), but now it’s been relegated to noon on ABC. Not exactly the showcase time-slot. While both teams have been up and down all season, it looks to TALB as if FSU has their stuff slightly more together than does The U.

TALB Pick: FSU average over Miami (FL)

Tulsa at Central Florida, Saturday 4 PM, TV TBA
Since IGN on this one, I’m going to the stats. UCF’s total offense is ranked 64th against Tulsa’s D at 112. While Tulsa’s offense is ranked 2nd in the nation, and UCF fields the 72nd team in terms of total defense. This looks like some kind of 51-49 kind of game.

TALB Pick: Tulsa close over UCF

Tampa Bay at Detroit, Sunday 1 PM FOX
The Lions’ defense has been shaky at times. And Garcia is ruthlessly efficient. With Galloway, Hilliard, and Clayton running around the middle and Bennett/Graham out of the backfield things could go well for the PiPP.

TALB Pick: Bucs average over Lions

New England at Miami, Sunday 1 PM CBS
If the Browns could put 41 on these guys the Pats could hang half-a-hundred on ‘em. It’s going to get ugly. College football ugly. Brady pulled in the 3rd ugly.

TALB Pick: New England big over Miami

Indianapolis at Jacksonville, Monday 8:30 PM ESPN
If Jacksonville wasn’t in Florida this would be the Profound Pro Pick this week. Big game. With a win the Jags would move into first place in the AFC South. With a win the Colts would be on their way to the next NFL Game of the Century (of the Week) on November 4th against the Patriots. And they will probably reach that game without a loss. The Colts beat a pretty good Bucs defense even without their stars dressed for the game. Now they’ve had a week’s rest. Plus time to game-plan for the Jags.

TALB Pick: Colts average over Jaguars

Compelling College Collision
(38) Michigan State at (1) Ohio State, Saturday 3:30 PM ABC
So far in 2007 it’s not been good to be in the top five. The Spartans could come up and bit the Buckeyes. But probably not. Number 1 stays there this week.

TALB Pick: The Ownedhio State University close over Michigan State

Profound Pro Pick
Atlanta at New Orleans, Sunday 1 PM FOX
I’m going with this one because it pits the two teams expected to battle for the NFC South Division title, but are instead trying to find respectability. Unfortunately for the Birds their slide will continue.

TALB Pick: Saints close over Falcons