How many times have we seen a star collegiate athlete’s eligibility being questioned during the season in which he is achieving great things?  The Cameron Newton situation at Auburn is straight out of a movie and I cannot recall any situation playing out quite like this.  Typically, players who receive improper benefits are busted years later, well after they have moved on to making millions in the pro game.  Instead of the player feeling any real punishment, meaningless wins are retroactively revoked and the current athletes are punished for past sins.  This is a rare case where questions are being thrown about while the team still has games to play and the ultimate champion is still to be determined.

Is Cam Newton guilty of accepting money to sign with Auburn?  If forced to guess, I’d lean yes but quite honestly, I have no idea.  But in this unprecedented ordeal, that really isn’t the issue.  There are plenty of reports that Cam Newton and his dad were demanding money for Cam’s services after he left Florida.  I am certainly not surprised by this, in fact I just assume things like this go on constantly in college football.  Hell, in the SEC, I thought schools could be given their honor badge…I mean put on probation, for not meeting their salary floor on star players.

The real issue is that Cam has proven who he is and that at the very least, he has terrible judgement.  It would be one thing if this came out of nowhere, then I’d be more likely to believe that some bitter Gator fans decided to get him back after leaving their program.  But this is nowhere near Cam’s first run in with trouble.  He threw a stolen laptop out of a window when police arrived, that isn’t arguable.  His 15 moving violations while at Florida aren’t debatable either.  How many tests he failed and whether he was going to be expelled from Florida aren’t quite as clear, but they add to the ever mounting evidence.  All of this proves nothing, but that Cam Newton isn’t a guy we should be cheering for.  Maybe this eventually all fades away and Cam is never found guilty of anything.  In the court of public opinion however, he’s already lost.

I had a monster bounce back week at 6-1 last week, merging my NCAA and NFL picks into one column.  Needless to say I have to stick with what is working, slightly fewer picks and putting them all into one mega write up.  To the picks!

NCAA Picks

NC STATE -18.5 over Wake Forest

A lot of points, but I have to keep riding the Wolfpack!  NC State is a very good offensive team and Wake Forest is brutally bad, especially defensively.  Sneakily, this is already NC State’s final home game too, meaning the seniors will be jacked up.  I love the Wolfpack to roll in this one.

Mississippi St/ALABAMA UNDER 47.5

I have been shying away from over/under’s for the most part lately, but really think this one has too much value to pass up.  Mississippi State tends to play in low scoring games, their conference road game totals have been 36 and 17 thus far.  I expect the Tide to be fighting mad and to play some strong defense in this one.  If you can find the prop bet, I’d also bet on Nick Saban being extremely unlikable during this contest, but sadly, that one is usually off the board.  Take the under.

Stanford -5.5 over ARIZONA ST

A befuddling line if I may say so myself, which I can because I write this goddamn column.  I love Stanford and although they don’t play exquisite defense, they will have no problem hanging 40+ on the Sun Devils.  Arizona St just lost a 34-33 heartbreaker against USC last week which will be a tough loss for this team to bounce back from quickly, which they will need to do against such a fantastic Stanford team.  I like the Trees here, by at least a touchdown.

Oregon/CAL OVER 58.5

When I saw an Oregon over/under set under 60, I almost had a heart attack trying to get my bet in quickly enough before they realized their mistake and fixed the line.  Apparently, my gambling website (Beted.com, highly recommended), wasn’t broken as this is the over/under across the board at all books.  The Ducks lowest total this year was 61 against Tennessee, meaning that they haven’t gone under this total yet.  Call me crazy, but I expect the far superior team to be the one who determines the pace against the hippies from Cal.  Between shedding tears over the failed Prop 19, the Golden Bears have actually had their share of high scoring games too, which is why this total really confuses me.  Four of Cal’s 10 games have gone over this total and they haven’t played anybody with the firepower of Oregon.  Load up on the over.

NFL Picks

ATLANTA -1 over Baltimore & ATLANTA/Baltimore UNDER 44.5

These were already posted and explained, but I wanted to include them here.  Luckily in my actual betting account, I put more money on the line, so I came out ahead.  Here, it counts as 1-1 as the game went over with a 26-21 final.  I still think the under was the right play though as is took a crazy 27 4th quarter points to push this to the over.

Minnesota -1 over CHICAGO

The Bears aren’t very good and as the Vikings proved last week, they are tough to really finish off.  I’ll be pulling for the Bears to cut the head off of this Viking monster, but I expect them to stay alive for another week against this putrid Bears’ offensive line.  Afterwards, Childress and the Vikings are scheduled to have a bonfire, group hug, and sing along at the 50 yard line.  Leave the kids at home if you attend.

St Louis +6 over SAN FRANCISCO & St Louis/SAN FRANCISCO UNDER 38

St. Louis being +6 is absolutely ridiculous against a 49er team that continues to get unwarranted respect.  I would have been mildly outraged at a SF -3 line, because that would insinuate that these two teams are even.  Let me make something clear: the St. Louis Rams are a much better team than the San Francisco 49ers.  Don’t misunderstand, the Niners can certainly win this game, the Rams aren’t world beaters and this is in San Francisco.  But this game should absolutely not be more than a three point line, if that.  I’m also playing the under here as both teams play good defense and struggle to move the ball offensively.  I see a low scoring, boring game that ends up in the teens on both sides.

Philadelphia -3 over WASHINGTON

With Mike Vick it is hard to argue that the Eagles are not one of the best teams in the NFC at this point.  The Redskins have won more games than they deserve and the dysfunction between Shanahan and McNabb is at a rolling boil.  I think Philly comes in and steamrolls a reeling Redskins team that I see falling out of the race over the next few weeks.  Lay the points and take the Eagles.

55 Percenters

2010 - 2011 Season Record: 59-52-2 (.531)

All Time on ADPTP: 116-113-4 (.506)

Last Post: 6-1 (.857)