Week 10 Trevonics

By Trev Alberts
formerly of ESPN.com

And so it begins, everyone. The Big East Standoff is afoot. Now that all of the drama is out of the
weekend, let's see if we can muster up some excitement with the help of our lovable friends, the point spreads. Oh, how I heart them so. We've hit the 10 week mark, so let's take a gander at the scoreboard:

Season-to-date:
Straight Up: 59-20
Against the Spread: 44-33-1

I've got to step it up, EDSBS' resident Gamblor the Betrayer, Solon, is touting something like .600 this year. He's a professional...but, then again, so am I, dang it! Sweet Lancelot's
Bracers! 12 games? Egad! Kid, fetch me my studying hat!

Clemson (-20) vs. Maryland 1200et (ESPN2)
The morning's bruncheon sacrifice to the footballing Gods is just going to be plain silly. Coach Friedgen might just want to belly up to the buffet during this one because Maryland is, how you say, soft. The dueling highlight reels at Clemson are going to runrapshod, covering by halftime save for some early Terp pluckiness. The Tigers, stinging from the loss to VaTech, still have the ACC to play for, and unfortunate Maryland is standing on the tracks as the train's coming through.
Trev's Pick: Clemson

Wisconsin (-7) vs. Penn State 1200et (ESPN)
I've been getting a lot of guff from the legal staff about my undying belief in Wisconsin's above-averageness. Of course, their schedule is soft. Yes, they aren't the greatest 1-loss team in the land, or even the Tri-State area, but dang it, I've taken a shine to these blue-collar Badgers and their gregarious ways. If loving a state that produces delicious malted liquors is wrong, I don't want to be right. I'm not even splitting the pick, because I just don't like Penn State on the road, and Camp Randall is no picnic.
Trev's pick: Wisconsin

Ohio State (-24) at Illinois 330et (ESPN)
It's Windmill-tilting time, brave Illini-men! Don Quixote has been waxing poetic about you scrappers since the MSU game, and he just won't shut up about slaying the biggest dragon in all the land. Day and night, breakfast through late-night snackery, there he is, singing ballads to Illinois in the break-room. I'd avoid him, but the vending machine mispriced the Funyuns (35 cents. Cheap!). I'm caving into my reverse-jinxing here, and taking Ohio State all the way. Even I'm not that crazy.
Trev's pick: Ohio State

Oregon (-16.5) vs. Washington 330et (TBS)
Washington, you think you can handle your own upset? Well, the new Cal thinks otherwise. Our editor saw this point spread and laughed manically. Washington's going into Autzen, reeling in a 4-game losing streak, and Stanback's out. Who is going to scramble out of all of those broken plays and faulty jailbreak screens? Will they have the discipline to overcome the losing streak and one of the harshest crowds in America? I'm watching out for the back-door cover,
but this is still a snuff film.
Trev's pick: Oregon

Tennessee (+3.5) vs. LSU 330et (CBS)
Finally, this is the game where I'm going to take the SEC points, and LSU will probably rack up some kind of crazy 45-3 rout in Neyland. Fever dreams and vision quests aside, I just don't see it happening. The Tigers really haven't beaten anyone and haven't played very well on
the road. I'm sure the Germans are laughing it up about this line, but I'm not falling for their mind games.
Trev's pick: Tennessee

Boston College (-3.5) at Wake Forest 700et (ESPN2)
Is there a way we can get Wake Forest to play Missouri in some kind of Burnout Bowl? Oh, Toyota Gator Bowl, let's make this happen! Two teams not really knowing what to make of their seasons, fluke or momentum builder, and their will be the constant tension of program completely exposing the other as fraud. That's just good TV, people. Anyway, back to thismatchup, BC has basically this game in their way of an ACC title game, and is probably eating up the fact that Wake Forest is stealing their "ACC surprise thunder." Great, Fredo with a chip on their shoudler. Is Wake Forest cracking out some alternate jerseys too?
Trev's pick: Boston College

Oklahoma State (+18) at Texas 700et (TBS)
This is how it's going to work with Texas. The Longhorns are the new Southern Cal. They keep scraping along and have at least one definable weakness. For Texas, their secondary leaves something to be desired, as illustrated by Tech and Nebraska, and OkSt has nothing to lose. Upset all around. The Cowboys always seem to have nothing to lose.
Trev's pick: Oklahoma State

South Carolina (+2.5) vs. Arkansas 745et (ESPN)
South Carolina, home-dog, at night. Sorry, Broderick, but your latest creation may not have enough left in tank to get over some hostile 'Cock action. I am very interested, however, to see how Mustain handles the pressure, but I'm still taking the SEC points.
Trev's pick: South Carolina

California (-17) vs. UCLA 800et (ABC)
The new Cal is playing Washington, and the new Oregon is playing UCLA. I'm not going to say anything, but I'm just saying...These games should be oddly similar.
Trev's pick: California

Oklahoma (-2.5) at Texas A&M 800et (ABC)
I'll take the Aggies in a Burnout Bowl as well, Jacksonville boosters. Texas A&M, while
controlling their own Big XII destiny at the moment, are in for a meat grinder finish with Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska.Eep. The dream dies here. Oklahoma shows no signs of slowing down.
Trev's pick: Oklahoma

Virginia Tech (-2.5) at Miami(FL) 800et (ABC)
Oh, ABC. You thought you were so smart when you got this night game. It certainly looked like a potential big-time game in August. Now, there is a distinct possibility that this game won't be shown west of Georgia. Miami (FL) has fallen from possible ESPN Full Circlematchup to regional also-ran. In all honesty, we're all watching this game for the fights. There WILL be one. I like the BeamerBall in the end.
Trev's pick: Virginia Tech

Notre Dame (-25) vs. North Carolina 230et (NBC)
I'll keep this short and sweet because there's no reason to even think about riling up the kid for this. The game was Off The Board for at least a day this week, and the Genius Robot has already hinted that the second-string back is in line for some first-half carries. This line is basically "Can North Carolina stop anyone?" I'm thinking no.
Trev's pick: Notre Dame

Trev Alberts is a certified football prognosticator. Please prognosticate at your own risk.