THIS PAST WEEKEND

Well, I'm going to write myself a note to never pick totals, which I've already done before.  They are really unpredictable, at least for me, and I should have known Denver would have been extra prepared for the Saints' offense, coming off their bye. As for the Packers game, I guess 16 points is just too risky to lay in the NFL, and the trend of taking the big underdogs this year continues to roll on.  I was surprised, just like I think everybody was to see the Irish smash the Sooners.  It's like I said, though, Brian Kelly is an amazing coach and Stoops seems to underachieve in big games.  Hats off to Kelly and this program.  They are still playing with some of Weiss' recruits, so just wait another couple, few years.  What this guy is doing so far is almost miraculous.  So for next week I'm already anticipating a few interesting things, so let's start with college.  Last year around this time LSU coach, Les Miles was getting so much hype and everything with his team was just going so well, and he had a winning record vs Bama coach Nick Saban.  Well, I think that was your peak, Leslie. I hope you enjoyed your glory because I think it could be soon declining and never turning back.  LSU has won 22 straight at home at night and are 10 point underdogs, at home, at night, this next Saturday vs Alabama.  I think that's about right, considering how damn good the Tide is.  This is the best college football team I've seen since the '08 Florida Gators and they dominated and destroyed their opponents, lost a game, but won the ultimate prize.  So I'm saying like I said in '08 about Florida, "This team's winning the championship."  When I crunch the numbers for this game I see Bama winning by at least 10-13 points, but my fore sights are saying Crimson Tide 24-3.  I'll probably back em if I can get it at -9.5 to be completely safe.  As for bets, getting USC at home right now at + 7.5 seems like a decent investment because it's at USC and is the biggest game of the year for the Trojans.  Now in the NFL, I see the Panthers getting a win in Washington this week, due to the injuries on the Skins D and how bad they've been (Jim Haslett's their defensive coordinator), and that teams are starting to figure RG3 out a little.  Carolina is just so frickin desperate also.  Just look at how they played Chicago yesterday.  Tampa Bay looks to me as if they're about to go on a little streak, and it starts by winning a tough road game vs a lacking team that's on a small 2 game winning streak themselves.  The Oakland Raiders.  Tampa is actually getting a point and a half and I think they have this game and possibly a couple, few more consecutive wins after this game.  Philly is desperate and that can be dangerous, but the Saints are playing at home on prime time, so good luck calling that one. So till next week, stay tuned...