What this is all about...

First of all - Welcome.

For those of you that don't know me personally, my name is Mike.

I am a Corn-Fed, Loyal til it hurts Husker Fan. Turner Gill will always be my favorite player. I cried my eyes out that night Dr. Tom went for 2. I also am a Dallas Cowboys fan - much to the dismay of my wife. (Please someone get Yoko Simpson away from Tony!!!)

I will not be picking any Husker or Cowboy games. Can't do that. I have way too much Kool-Aid in me regarding both of those teams.

I really think I know how to identify good football games to bet on against the spread. I don't have some computer system, special monkey or a magic dart board. I don't subscribe to a service where they give a page of data about a team coming off a loss in October with a first-year coach in conference...blah, blah, blah. I look at this season, the statistics of this years games, who is injured, how well a team plays at home - and add in a little of my gut feelings. And, yeah I listen to other opinions and picks. Why not!

I don't gamble myself, but I have always been interested in Football Point Spreads. I have my opinions about stuff - but I now have dabbled in really picking winners against the spread. I won't kid you - College Football is my game. The NFL is very hard to pick as far as I am concerned, but I will jump in the fire when I like a game.

Here is my promise to you. Give me a chance, and I will give you good picks. I will entertain you too - because I just like talking about football. Play the College Picks heavier than the NFL picks. You will be rewarded.

I will select a number of games on Saturday - generally 3 or 4 - with a real number one pick each week. I will also pick 2 or 3 NFL games on Sunday mainly. Here have been the no. 1 NCAA picks so far:

Week One - USC (-21) @ Virginia Final Score: USC 52-7

Week Two - Texas Tech (-10.5) @ Nevada Final Score: Tech 35-19

Week Three - Baylor (+1.5) vs.Washington St. Final Score: Baylor 45-17

Week Four - Ball St. (+3) @ Indiana Final Score: Ball St. 42-20

Week Five - Duke (-7) vs. Virginia Final Score: Duke 31-3

Week Six - Texas Tech (-8) @ Kansas St. Final Score: Tech 58-28

Week Seven - Penn St. (-6) @ Wisconsin Final Score: Penn St. 48-7

The last I checked - that is 7 and 0.

Yeah - I have picked against Virginia twice. Yeah - I have picked the Red Raiders twice. Who cares. This is about winning. Making some cash. There are no rules.

All right. We have half a season left. There is plenty of time to make some money.

I want you to give me a shot. You deserve a free week as far as I am concerned. So just ask, and I will give you that first week free. (Chances are that you already know this - otherwise you wouldn't be reading this post.)

Here is the format. If you want to see the picks you let me know. I will send you a link to this blog - and we can go from there. We will discuss the compensation prior to the blog information being provided to you. There will be a little bit of information about each pick - just so you know that I really did do some homework.

I also have some teams that I can't get a good handle on - and I will update the "BANNED" list each week. (Let's hope that that list stays small!)

Thanks for giving me a shot. I will do my best to keep you coming back for more!!!

MDAnderson