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OBNUG Pick 'Em is here. It must be football season.
Join with fellow Boise State fans in picking the winners of college football games each week. Show how much you know and/or find out how much you thought you knew. We're taking the Pick 'Em group to Yahoo this year for a stress-free ride through the CFB season. Group details are after the jump, plus your Week One picks, spread-picking advice, and the prizes at stake for Pick 'Em winners. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say, delicious soft serve ice cream.
How it works
This year we are using Yahoo Sports' College Football Pick 'Em to host our competition. We are trading in the flexibility and heartburn from the way we were doing it before for the restraint and stability of Yahoo Sports.
This means that we don't have as much control over the games we will be picking each week. We will be picking all of the Mountain West conference games this year (hello, New Mexico, good-bye, Idaho) plus Yahoo's choice games each week. This bumps up the slate of games to 24 games for the first week. Baptism by fire, I know.
As in past years, we will be picking against the spread. We will also be dropping one week's score in case you forget to make your picks or just really bomb one week.
How to join
You can follow this link to get to the page to join a group. The group ID # is 17038 and the password is obnug.
How to pick against the spread
Are you confused about picking against the spread? Let me try to explain how it works in a few sentences. Each week you will see a game where each team is listed as a "favorite" or an "underdog" and a set of numbers to the right. Let's look at Boise State vs. Georgia as an example.
The 3.5 represents how much Boise State is favored over Georgia since they are listed as the "favorite". The team on the left will always be favored over the team on the right. If you choose Boise State, you are saying that Boise State will win by at least 3.5 points (or more than a field goal). If you pick Georgia, you are saying that Georgia will win or lose by no fewer than 3.5 points.
Be aware though, the spread could change during the week and won't be locked in until the "Final" spread is posted.
Win fabulous prizes
What's the point of playing Pick 'Em if you can't win stuff? This year we have weekly prizes for the top entry plus a prize for the overall winner.
Weekly prize: Free Dairy Queen Blizzard!
The best score each week will get a DQ gift card to be used on the Blizzard treat of his or her choice. Oreo? Cookie dough? Nutter Butter? The world is your soft-serve oyster. Make sure to fill out the tiebreakers on your entry, just in case. This is important stuff.
Overall prize: Boise State jersey of your choice!
The regular season winner of OBNUG Pick Em will receive a free Boise State jersey of his or her choice, just in time to wear it to the national championship game. Of significantly less interest, the winner also gets his or her name in the OBNUG Widget of Champions on the main page of the site.
Now onto this week's picks ...
Stone cold lock of the century of the week
Maryland (+ 5.5) over Miami (FL)
I hate trying to pick games Week One because we know so little about each team. We can only guess how much losing certain starters and up and coming freshman will affect a team. But then I saw this game.
One thing that I feel pretty certain about is that there are about 8 Miami players that could be ruled ineligible for this game, including QB Jacory Harris. Al Golden said he expects to hear from the NCAA on the status of these players' eligibility in 48 hours, but my guess is that they are not playing. And I have a feeling that there is no way the NCAA will clear these players to play. That's a lot of improper benefits they would need to pay back. Maryland will easily cover, if not win outright.
The rest of Nick's picks
Reminder: picks are made against the spread. Also, gambling is illegal and you definitely shouldn't do it unless you're fairly confident you can make a couple bucks.
- (14) TCU over Baylor
- Northwestern over Boston College
- (21) Missouri over Miami (OH)
- Air Force over South Dakota
- Michigan over Western Michigan
- USC over Minnesota
- Houston over UCLA
- Notre Dame over South Florida
- BYU over Mississippi
- Colorado State over New Mexico
- Northern Illinois over Army
- Fresno State over California
- (12) South Carolina over East Carolina
- (1) Okahoma over Tulsa
- (4) LSU over (3) Oregon
- Texas over Rice
- Wyoming over Weber State
- San Diego State over Cal Poly
- Southern Miss over Louisiana Tech
- Hawaii over Colorado
- (24) West Virginia over Marshall
- (8) Texas A&M over SMU
- (5) Boise State over (19) Georgia
Bonus game
Not all games can fit into Yahoo's weekly Pick 'Em board, especially not the WAC ones that no one cares about. Well, we care about them. This week's bonus game:
Bowling Green (+7.5) over Idaho
We wouldn't miss a chance to pick against Idaho especially if it doesn't go on our overall record. The Vandals as seven-and-a-half point favorites? Easy pickings.
Your turn
Feel free to share your picks in the comments and/or discuss this week's slate of games. Since I'm not tallying these manually anymore, it's wide open. Who you got? Let's hear it.