I smell college football in the air...

I woke up this morning and noticed something a little different.  The sun was a little brighter.  The birds were chirping a little louder.  Everything just seemed better.  Finally, after that debacle of a football game between Georgia St and Abilene Christian last night (which, in its defense, had some pretty exciting moments), the real college football season is finally upon us.  4 SEC teams kick off tonight, and I couldn't be more excited.

To go along with this, I've also gotten my picks down for the weekend.  I'm going to post the numbers at which I've bet the games -- some I bet early in the week, to try and catch the line before it moves, and some I don't catch until the day of the game, hoping it'll continue to drop or rise.  This is basically what this blog is all about - hence the name.  So let's get to the picking.

1. Texas A&M (+10.5) @ South Carolina
Thursday 5pm CT  |  SEC Network  |  Columbia, SC 

SEC Network Launch and Texas A&M vs South Carolina ATS

Last night was the initial launch of the SEC Network, just 14 days away from the first college football game of the year, which will be shown on the channel.   The party began with the first ever showing of SEC Now, followed by "SEC Storied," and overnight there were classic college football games, showcasing Alabama from the last few years.  The real start is today, when The Paul Finebaum Show starts at 1pm CT on the network.  The show has been on various ESPN channels over the last couple of weeks, as a precursor to what is coming today, but we'll really see how well the show (and its infamous callers) translate to a national television audience.  I'm sure it will be a sight to behold.

Afterthought: Can I make money betting against Johnny Football?

Preseason football isn't something you'd like to bet on regularly, if at all.  NFL games where the coaches have literally nothing to play for means you can expect the unexpected.  There's no telling who is going to play, or for how long, etc.  Basically, they are scrimmages against other teams.

So, I was looking at the point spreads for Saturday night's Browns vs Lions game in Detroit... and I noticed that the Browns were giving up 1.5 points.  On the road.  At a very talented Lions team.  And yeah, it's preseason football, but it is football, and there's just no reason on earth why the Browns should have been favored in that game.

An Introduction: Three Weeks from Backlash

   Around 504 hours.  21 days.  In exactly 3 weeks, we college football fans will already be overreacting to whatever happens in the first night of college football.  Either Ole Miss will be a contender for the SEC, or Boise St won't miss Chris Peterson that much, or the Ol' Ball Coach will be up to his old tricks again, or Kevin Sumlin will still be one of the best up-and-coming coaches in America, etc.

   So many things are bound to happen on the first night of college football.  And so many knee-jerk reactions the next day...