BumpAndRun.com’s College Football Top 15 — Week 4

Here is your top 15 for this week, where I finally give LSU their due. Oklahoma State makes a move, their state rival takes a drop and Clemson and Nebraska break into the rankings. Another good set of games is on tap for this weekend:
 
15. Texas A&M (2-1)
14. Va Tech (4-0)
13. TCU (3-1)
12. Nebraska (4-0)
11. South Carolina (4-0)
10. Stanford (3-0)
9. Clemson (4-0)
8. Baylor (3-0)
7. Oregon (3-1)
6. Oklahoma (3-0)
5. Alabama (4-0)
4. Boise State (3-0)
3. Wisconsin (4-0)
2. Oklahoma State (4-0)
1. LSU (4-0)

College Football Week 4: Quick Hits

• LSU showed they can score a little bit on offense, but their big play defense and special teams helped shut the door on West Va.
• Arkansas showed its not ready for top-notch competition as their O-line is too young.
• Oklahoma State proved how explosive they are after basically only showing up for half the game against Texas A&M and squeaking out a victory on the road.
• Is Kellen Moore’s knee hurt more than he and the Broncos are letting on?? Played with a knee brace and barely played at all in the 2nd half against Tulsa.
• Clemson and Wisconsin are pretty good aren’t they? Should be interesting battles this week with Va Tech and Nebraska on their respective schedules.

BumpAndRun.com Play Sheet – Week 3

Download your FREE BumpAndRun.com Play Sheet and get fantasy rankings, weekly picks and survivor pool solutions all on one printable page.

As you prepare your Week 3 fantasy line-up, finalize your weekly picks or decide which team to select in your survivor pool, BumpAndRun.com will serve as your “second opinion.”

Last week’s picks: 15-1 straight up, 10-4-2 ATS

Click Here to Download Your Week 3 Play Sheet!

Week 4 College Football Preview: From Tuscaloosa to College Station, It’s BCS Make or Break Weekend

Last week was not a very good week for me. It didn’t help that most teams decided to play ugly football, but through three weeks my overall records are 12-5 (SU) and 9-6-1 (ATS). This week I am going to examine closely some high-profile match-ups that everyone will be watching:

Florida State @ Clemson (-2) (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, ESPN)

Florida State comes into the game after the tough home loss to Oklahoma. Their starting QB EJ Manuel looks like he will be a game-time decision. Clint Trickett played well in relief of Manuel, so that isn’t a major issue for them. What is a big concern are two things: the Noles have lost 4 straight games in Death Valley, and the Clemson offense is legit.

Clemson is led by sophomore QB Tajh Boyd, who has looked very good so far this season. The Tigers are riding high after they came from behind to win by two touchdowns against the defending champs. Not only does Clemson have a passing attack that can scare you but they have an even better running game with Andre Ellington. Florida State is going to have to focus first on stuffing him and try to make Boyd beat them alone.

With the questions surrounding Florida State at QB and other injuries to their WR’s it is hard to go with them in this one.

Pick: Clemson 34 Florida State 27

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Walking the Waiver Wire – 5 Free Agents to Consider

1. Eric Decker – Brandon Lloyd owners were miffed after learning that the Broncos’ #1 WR would be inactive last Sunday despite practicing just two days before. In Lloyd’s absence, quarterback Kyle Orton leaned on second-year man Eric Decker in the passing game. Decker didn’t disappoint, catching five balls for 113 yards and two touchdowns in Denver’s 24-22 win over Cincinnati. We like Decker, and the fact that the Broncos aren’t very good and will be playing from behind in most games this season should bode well for his fantasy stats. Plus, it’s wishful thinking to expect Brandon Lloyd to duplicate last season’s numbers.

2. Denarius Moore – With the Raiders’ receiving corp resembling a MASH unit, it was rookie Denarius Moore who broke out in Week 2, catching five balls for 146 yards and a touchdown against the Bills. Injuries to Jacoby Ford, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Kevin Boss have quickly led to Moore becoming one of Jason Campbell’s favorite (and only) targets. That said, we’d like to see the rook string together a couple more productive performances before declaring him as a must-start.

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BumpAndRun.com’s College Football Top 15 — Week 4

We are going to keep it quick for you this week with the top 15, and hopefully provide better analysis and predictions for this week’s slate of games. So here you go:

15. Virginia Tech (3-0): Ugly win against Arkansas State, but a W nonetheless. Next: @ Marshall (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET)

14. TCU (2-1): They let an average team stick around longer than they’d have liked to. Next: Portland State (Saturday, 2:00 PM ET)

13. South Carolina (3-0): Tough time with the triple-option of Navy. Lucky to escape with a win. Next: Vanderbilt (Saturday, 7:00 PM ET)

12. Stanford (3-0): Got the win at Arizona, but injuries to key players might take their toll. Next: UCLA (Oct 1)

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College Football Week 3: Quick Hits

Everyone’s hope for close games and exciting finishes with all the big road tests this weekend came up empty. The weekend was filled with some ugly football in general, which was kind of surprising. Here are a few things that popped out to me:

· Watching Navy play football is fun. The triple-option monster pushed South Carolina to the brink over the weekend. I was very impressed by what they brought to the table.

· Also in that game, Marcus Lattimore was a beast for South Carolina. He has to average 25 carries a game for them to go places.

· How ugly was that Oklahoma vs. Florida State game? People were raving about their defenses, and yes they are both very good, but those offenses looked quite inept at times.

· A college football game starting after midnight??? Yup, that’s exactly what happened in Tulsa, as Oklahoma State vs. Tulsa was delayed for close to 3 hours due to weather. And from the sounds of it both teams played an ugly game, and Justin Blackmon’s streak of consecutive 100-yard receiving games was snapped.

· Miami RB, Lamar Miller is a special talent. Now if Miami could only find themselves a QB with a clue.
 
And this year might be the last year of college athletics as we have come to know it. With Syracuse and Pitt departing for the ACC, and the likely addition of UCONN and Rutgers as well, it seems we will have our first 16-team super conference formed. The Pac-16 won’t be far behind as it appears Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are ready to jump. The SEC will then likely add Texas A&M, West Va and Missouri, maybe.  The landscape of college athletics is changing fast. Analysts say the reason for change is football, but I don’t really see the benefit of these huge leagues from a football perspective. We have seen it can work for basketball with the Big East, and that is why you saw the ACC go get schools more known for their basketball than their football. This could ultimately end up crushing the BCS as we know it as well, but will it bring a playoff?? That is the ultimate question.

Fantasy Fives: Tom’s Terrific, Miles Magnificent, DeAngelo Disappears

Fantasy Aces

1. Tom Brady, Patriots – Brady will live in this space all season if he keeps this up. These numbers from Sunday’s win over the Chargers are insane: 31 of 40 for 423 yards and three touchdowns – 28 fantasy points. If Brady owners get 25+ points out of Brady week in and week out, winning your fantasy league quickly becomes a reality.

2. Miles Austin, Cowboys – With Dez Bryant out of the line-up and both Felix Jones and Tony Romo playing hurt, it was Austin who carried the Cowboys to an eventual 27-24 overtime win in San Francisco. He ended the day with nine catches for 143 yards and three touchdowns (2 from Romo, 1 from Kitna) – 32 fantasy points. After the game it was learned that Austin suffered a hamstring injury and could be out for an extended period of time. Bad news for the Cowboys, with their arch-rivals coming to town next week for MNF.

3. Vincent Jackson, Chargers – After a dud performance in Week 1, V-Jax brought his A-game to Foxborough. Jackson caught ten balls for a ridiculous 172 yards and two touchdowns – 29 fantasy points – in the 35-21 loss to the Patriots. The Bolts are headed back to the west coast for a favorable Week 3 match-up against the lowly Chiefs – we think it’s safe to say that Jackson should do pretty well.

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BumpAndRun.com Play Sheet – Week 2

Football is back and so is the BumpAndRun.com Play Sheet! Download your FREE Play Sheet and get fantasy rankings, weekly picks and survivor pool solutions all on one printable page.

As you prepare your Week 2 fantasy line-up, finalize your weekly picks or decide which team to select in your survivor pool, BumpAndRun.com will serve as your “second opinion.”

Click Here to Download Your Week 2 Play Sheet!

Week 3 College Football Preview: Sooners-Noles Do Battle in Tallahassee

Well I enter the week with an 8-3 record overall and 7-2-1 against the spread so far, so hopefully you guys are paying attention. This week, there are some key match-ups and they get underway before we even get to the weekend. A lot of quality teams could suffer their first loss of the season and it all gets started with Thursday night’s SEC tilt and ends with a battle of top 10 teams in Tallahassee:

LSU @ Mississippi State (-3) (Thursday, 8:00 PM ET ESPN)

LSU faces its first road test of the season and boy it will be a tough one. The Tigers followed up their victory over Oregon with an easy win, while Mississippi State was stuffed at the goal line as time expired in Auburn. Why am I betting against LSU after what they did the first two weeks? Quite simply because Mississippi State is a talented team that is going to be playing desperation football and LSU always lays a clunker at some point. They need this victory much more than LSU does, and Dan Mullen needs to prove he can win a big game so his name will get brought up yet again in off-season coaching searches.

Pick: Mississippi St 24 LSU 20

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