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Last week, Doug went 2-3 while picking every favorite possible. On the other hand, Mark went 2-3 while picking all upsets. Mark called the Notre Dame win over Tennessee, he called Ben Roethlisburger tearing up Philly's D, and he almost went 100% as Tiger Woods came in 2nd at the Tour Championship. Hopefully this week Doug actually goes out on a limb for something, but don't be too sure. Without further adieu, here are Mark and Doug's top games of the weekend.
College Basketball
Mark’s Pick: George Washington at No. 2 Wake Forest
Monday, 7 p.m. EST, ESPN2
It’s officially time for college basketball season. While I know Doug is a big football fan (despite his inability to pick upsets), this is just not a good weekend for America’s favorite sport. Therefore, I fully endorse the beginning of College Basketball season. There is no better game to start off with than GW at Wake. Wake Forest has the best backcourt in the nation, led by 1st team preseason All-American Chris Paul.
Justin Gray plays the role of SG in the nation’s top backcourt. This game is worth watching simply because of these two. Paul is the best PG in the nation and Gray is one of the top three shooting guards in the country. These two should be able to give Wake Forest enough to get past George Washington, but if not look to Jamaal Levy to help handle the scoring load.
Don’t be surprised if GW makes it a game. They are one of the top two teams in the Atlantic 10 and they WILL be playing in March. They have the ability to pull off an upset in this game, especially if Wake isn’t all there to start. Keep your eyes on T.J. Thompson and Mike Hall for GW, as these guys can play. You usually don’t see games of this caliber this early, so enjoy it.
Pick: Wake Forest 74, George Washington 68
College Football
Doug’s Pick: No. 8 Georgia at No. 3 Auburn
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EST, CBS
While Mark is right that this isn’t college football’s greatest weekend, this game stands out. It has huge implications for both the SEC and BCS pictures. Georgia needs to win out and hope Tennessee falters in order for the Bulldogs to claim the SEC East crown, while Auburn needs to stay undefeated to have any chance of moving ahead of Oklahoma for the No. 2 spot in the BCS rankings.
Georgia comes into this game following a blowout win over Kentucky, while Auburn had a bye week to rest up and game-plan for the Dawgs. While bye weeks generally help a team, I think this one could somewhat curtail Auburn’s momentum. The Tigers have been annihilating opponents week after week, but now they’ve had two weeks to let this matchup get in their heads.
What must be in the Tigers defense’s mind is that Georgia QB David Greene has thrown for more than 2,000 yards, hurling just one interception in the process. Greene has been in pressure situations before, and there’s no better time for the senior to step up than this Saturday. Freshman tailback Danny Ware can share some of the burden.
On the other side of the ball, David Pollack and the rest of the Georgia defense will be a formidable challenge to the Auburn rushing attack. Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown have combined to rush for more than 1,500 yards in the Tigers first nine games, but if the Dawgs can at least contain these two, then the pressure will shift to quarterback Jason Campbell, who might not be on top of his game after the two weeks’ rest.
My gut feeling is that either Auburn runs Georgia all the way out of Alabama in the first half, or Georgia stays close, allowing Greene to win it at the end. You say I won’t go out on a limb, Mark? I’m picking Georgia. Mark Richt can expect a Thank You from Bob Stoops sometime next week.
Pick: Georgia 24, Auburn 21
High School Football
Mark’s Pick: Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller vs. No. 24 (USA TODAY) Cincinnati St. Xavier
Division 1 Region 4 Ohio State Playoffs
Saturday, 2 p.m. EST , 1360 AM (Cincinnati); 1360homer.com
I know this will seem like a weird pick to many people. However, this weekend’s football slate is so abysmal (kind of like Doug’s argument against Ben Roethlisburger) that I am going to Cincinnati to watch my alma mater in one of the best high school football games in the country this weekend. Part of the reason is because HS football in Ohio is crazy, part of it is because watching Friday Night Lights made me want to watch some football where players aren’t yet provided with academic advisors and free cars. Either way, this will be one of the best football games Saturday.
Cincinnati St. Xavier is led by OSU recruit (in one of his last games before he hands to the land of fictional landscaping jobs and free Escalades) and the no 6 ranked QB in the country Robbie Schoenhoft. Moeller is one of the most storied HS programs in the country and led by their underrated QB Christ Reisert. The last two games between these storied rivals have been decided by a combined 4 points and when these two teams meet up it is always a classic.
Instead of watching some meaningless, worthless college football games (minus Auburn-Georgia), I suggest relaxing on the couch and listening to an epic showdown between two fierce rivals. And, if anyone is within driving distance of Cincinnati, it would be well worth the trip to watch sports at its absolute finest.
Pick: St. X won the first game 35-31 on a last second TD, but that was after giving up a 28-9 fourth quarter lead. My Crusaders will come out strong with their high-octane passing attack and upset one of the best HS football teams in the country.
Moeller 38, St.X 35
Professional wrestling
Doug’s Pick: WWE Survivor Series: Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Maven vs. Triple H, Batista, Edge and Gene Snitsky
Sunday, 8 p.m. EST, PPV ($34.95)
This really is a bad weekend for sports. This spot initially was reserved for Friday night’s Heat vs. Spurs NBA tilt, but that changed Thursday night when Dallas handed Miami both its first loss and a Dwyane Wade sprained ankle. Instead, I’ll go with the "sports entertainment" – yes, I know it’s not real, but it’s still fun to predict what will happen.
Survivor Series is one of the WWE’s "Big Four" pay-per-view shows, and it often features elimination matches, such as the one I’ve tabbed. Orton’s Team vs. Triple H’s Team is the RAW main event of the show, and it should be the most entertaining match. The members of the winning team each get to run RAW for a week, meaning the winners will all take a shot at capturing The Game’s World Heavyweight Championship. As such, there has been dissension in the ranks of The Game’s team, as both Edge and Gene Snitsky have said they’ll win just to get a title shot.
There aren’t nearly as many problems in the other corner. Benoit would love another shot at the belt he held this year for five months, as would Jericho and Maven. Randy Orton, in the storyline, cannot ever get another title shot against Triple H after Orton lost to Ric Flair on a recent episode of RAW. Still, they’re building up Orton as a star, and what better way to have him look great than to be the sole survivor in this elimination match? Orton will win it, possibly with help from Ric Flair, who could turn on his Evolution buddies, HHH and Batista. They are trying to build up fan support for Orton so that he can win the Royal Rumble in January, thereby forcing HHH to give him a title shot at WrestleMania XXI in Los Angeles. It all starts this Sunday in Cleveland.
Pick: Orton’s Team (Orton is the sole survivor)
Storyline of the week: Would OSU have been better if they have never recruited Maurice Clarett?
Ohio State at Purdue
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EST, ESPN
Mark’s Pick: Ohio State brought on all of this controversy themselves. Maurice didn’t force them to provide him with cash, cars, and fictional landscaping jobs. That was just the norm for OSU. Now they will pay for it. The Luckeyes would’ve been burned for it sooner or later, and you can’t blame Clarett for the mess of trouble they are in now.
They never should’ve blackballed the kid. He took the fall for them and earned himself a year suspension after helping them win the National Championship. Hell, the Bucks aren’t even in that game against Miami without Clarett, and they repay Maurice by getting him suspended and blackballing him. Well done Ohio State.
I applaud Maurice’s decision to let them burn. They should’ve treated him better if he had the power to bring them down. Now, Maurice gets to watch OSU fall while he gets to play on Sundays.
Look at what Ohio State is reduced to- losing this Saturday to a reeling Purdue team. I hope OSU fans still have all the national championship gear from 2002, because it will be a long, long time before they get back there.
Doug’s Pick: They would’ve been better off without Clarett
Mark, I’m not really sure you even addressed the question, but you do imply that having Clarett there was no problem, so I guess you think it wasn’t bad to recruit him. I completely disagree. I’m not going to say Clarett is making false accusations now, because this time – and I can’t believe I’m about to write this – I believe Maurice Clarett.
Still, Maurice Clarett was a cancer to the Buckeyes. The guy had attitude problems even back in high school when he played in northeast Ohio for Warren G. Harding High School. To recruit him shows one of two things: Tressel either believed he could reform Clarett, or Tressel didn’t care about Clarett’s attitude in the first place. The attitude obviously was not reformed. Do you remember just a few days before the 2003 Fiesta Bowl when Clarett was foolishly blasting the university over a flight for a friend’s funeral instead of concentrating on the national championship game? I know Ohio State won the game, but why take your team’s mind off the business at hand?
Now these accusations come out. Let’s face it, if it weren’t for having Mr. Selfish at Ohio State, who knows if these reports would’ve ever come to light? If the stories about the loaner cars, cash from boosters, do-nothing jobs and do-nothing classes are true, then the Jim Tressel Era at Ohio State will end prematurely. And while Clarett’s not at fault for the shenanigans, it is his petulance that will lead to an investigation that then could lead to administrative firings and sanctions for a proud program. Ohio State managed to overcome the Andy Katzenmoyer class fiasco, but this is in a completely different league, and it centers around Clarett.
The goal of any program is to win a national championship. Tressel’s 2002 team did that because of a great defense and an opportunistic offense. That team played the game the right way. They weren’t about glitz and glamour; they just played hard and came up big in the clutch. That championship team will forever be tarnished in the minds of college football followers after Clarett’s latest accusations. Even if there is no evidence to back it up, there still is a layer of doubt about the cleanliness of Ohio State’s program. Is a championship (which could be stripped away) worth all of this? I don’t think so. And the controversy all focuses around one man: Maurice Clarett.
Had Clarett never been recruited, Lydell Ross would’ve been a sophomore tailback for that national championship team. He had a great freshman year but has never been the same since Clarett drove in via his loaner car to grab all the carries. This current Buckeyes squad could use a running game. Maybe they’d have a better one if Ross had remained a starter. As it is, they’ll go lose their fourth game of the year to Purdue this Saturday.
Pick: Purdue 28, Ohio State 20
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Mark Chalifoux and Doug Stuerenberg team up every Friday to give their take on the top games every weekend. Mark Chalifoux is a weekly columnist for SportsFan Magazine and the VP of AllSportsEmpire.com, launching December 1st. Doug Steurenberg is the featured columnist for AllSportsEmpire. You can reach Mark at Rockne48@und.com and Doug at dsknicks@fuse.net
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