Podcast: Episode 26 - Oct 31st, 2016

Gary and Chris on Halloween discuss how Tennessee's program has suddenly turned into a dumpster fire, LSU safety claims they will "dominate" Alabama, which undefeated team will go down first, how Dak Prescott has won over the Cowboys locker room, what the NFL should do to avoid having ties in the future, the Memphis Grizzlies and their hot start from 3-pt range, and the Cubs winning Game 5 and how the Indians shouldn't count their chickens before they hatch.

The Monday Rewind: Oct 31, 2016

Things are definitely rolling right now.  If you've kept up with us, things were rough early on, but we've gotten it turned around in college football.  Both of us have been pretty weak in NFL gambling picks, but we're both well over 50% in CFB bets.

The end of the year is always a little crazy.  The lines get much more difficult to figure out, because every team pretty much has an identity, and Vegas knows what they are by this point.  So there are not as many lines that just look completely off.

Here's what we did this weekend...

WCE College Football Top 10 #7

With a bunch of unbeatens going down yesterday, it has made the top 10, and, really, the rest of the playoff race through November, seem a little anticlimactic.

Which is exactly when things start to get a little screwy.

The 4 unbeaten power 5 teams look to be on a collision course for the playoff, but you know how these things go.  When you least expect it, some upset comes out of nowhere and creates absolute chaos (i.e. 2011 Oklahoma St loss at Iowa St, 2015 Ohio St loss to Mich St, 2013 Alabama loss at Auburn on the Kick Six, etc).  Something is going to go haywire, because there's no way we end up with 5 unbeaten teams at the end of the year.

The NFL has 99 problems...

- Chris Giannini

This week starts the midway point of the NFL season, and I have to admit this has been the worst start to any season I can ever remember.  The games are boring, the teams aren’t interesting at all, and the league office continues to fumble every situation put in front of them. 

The Friday Five: 10/28/16 Texas A&M boob selfies, Memphis football video game fights, etc

Fridays are always filled with news, but I'm kinda gathering a "best-of" from the week to put together the Friday Five this week.

Tons going on today with me - I'm at work currently, but right outside of my office, they're setting up for the Bluff City Bash, which is the University of Memphis homecoming concert.  This year features T.I. and K Camp (no idea who that is).  Last year's was Ludacris and B.O.B.  Pretty awesome setup that the school does for students.

Campus has been bananas all week, prepping everybody for the Memphis / Tulsa game on Saturday night.  It's a lot different from years past.  Justin Fuente really turned around this football program, and it just proves that when you've got a team that's winning, everything else around the university picks up.  Memphis enrollment is up substantially, and people are more involved around campus.  It's pretty insane to see the difference up close.

On to the Friday Five.

WCE Thursday Picks

Last week's college football picks went 3-0-2, which ain't too shabby, honestly.  Any weekend where you don't lose a game is a good week, and, even though we had 2 games push, a push is better than a loss.

We're continuing to look for that perfect 5-0 college football week, and this weekend, which doesn't have Alabama or LSU playing, could be the one that finally gets it done for us.  There are only so many analytics you can use to figure teams out... and sometimes numbers don't go according to plan, but the later in the season we get, teams just are what they are.

On to the picks... we're going 5-0 in college, baby!

Podcast: Episode 24 - Oct 26th, 2016

Gary and Chris went live from the University of Memphis for a lunchtime show and discuss the World Series, whether or not last night was the greatest night in the history of Cleveland sports, whether a Browns playoff win would mean more than an Indians World Series win, how the Grizzlies have the best opening nights in professional sports (from an entertainment perspective - tonight they have 8Ball & MJG playing pregame), what it meant for the Warrirors to get blown out at home in Game 1 of the season after adding Kevin Durant, the list of coaches currently making more than $4M a year in college football (and who is getting their money's worth), and the guys discuss head to head picks and their gambling picks for the weekend in both college and pro football...

Podcast: Episode 23 - Oct 24th, 2016

Gary holds down the fort while Chris is in Nashville at the Garth Brooks concert, opening with the WCE Top 10 list, then moving on to discuss the threat of an ass-beating by a reverend against Alabama beat writer Michael Casagrande, why you can't force rivalry games (like UConn/UCF) because sometimes they'll just forget the trophy, why it doesn't matter what they do, sometimes rivalry names will never change (like UGA/UF and the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail party), why in the world is Baylor ranked above West Virginia, why it appears that Tom Hermann to Texas is already a done deal (and how that can cause a team to tank), Romo's comeback has been pushed back even further (and why I think it's a setup), and why I believe they need to change the overtime rules in the NFL after watching that dreadful Cardinals / Seahawks game last night.

The Monday Rewind: Oct 24, 2016

The average handicapper hits around 58% of his plays on what he focuses on.  My focus is on College Football, and you can tell the difference between CFB and NFL for me, big time.  This weekend worked out well, as far as my gambling picks.  I don't always post every game that I personally bet, but I've been doing well this year so far.

This is the Monday rewind regarding our picks, which we went over in last night's podcast (subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcast app)!

Podcast: Episode 22 - Oct. 23rd, 2016

Gary and Chris recap the college football weekend and the NFL Sunday before the Sunday Night Football game. They go through the big games from the weekend, Alabama / Texas A&M, Ohio St / Penn St, Arkansas / Auburn, Ole Miss / LSU, Wisconsin / Iowa, and our gambling picks of the weekend.

WCE College Football Top 10 #6

The college football season just seems to get more and more wacky.  I don't know how many people saw Auburn and LSU being as good as they have been the last few weeks when they met for that 18-13 game back at the end of September, when it was a game for somebody's job.  When Penn St got beat by Pitt and thrashed by Michigan, I doubt anybody expected them to be able to beat Ohio St towards the end of October.  In the Pac-12, who would have thought that Utah and Washington would be their only playoff contenders?  And West Virginia destroyed TCU... and looks like the class of the Big 12, if only because they're the only team in the conference that can play any semblance of defense.

It's been a weird year already.  So hey, here's our Top 10 list for Week 6.

Podcast: Episode 21 - Oct 20th, 2016

Gary and Chris discuss Jerry Palm's 12 teams still alive for the college football playoff, the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas has Alabama at least a touchdown favorite over every other team in the country on a neutral field, how much the Cubs are worth to Fox Sports, Texas A&M giving Bama billboard material, Pornhub's offer to Chad Kelly, and, of course, our college football and NFL picks.

WCE Thursday Picks

We're midway through the season at this point in college, and dangerously close in the NFL, and the lines are starting to shift.  Numbers look a lot closer, so it's difficult to see extreme advantages one way or another.  The best bet is to find who is over and undervalued based on recent play, and hope that these teams remain true to what they've been recently, as opposed to what they started as.  Figuring out what a team's identity is through the season is always difficult, and it's even more difficult when you're picking games against a point spread.  But... we've done pretty well so far this season, and we're planning on only getting hotter as the season rolls on.  I'm still waiting for that undefeated weekend... and this weekend feels good...

Tuesday Trifecta: Oct 18, 2016

Today's Trifecta involves a lot of college football.  We're looking at injuries, two touchdown spreads in Top 10 matchups, and what lower ranked team can make it into this year's college football playoff...

Podcast: Episode 20 - Oct 17th, 2016

Gary and Chris start out with "a case of the Mondays" (0:37), the WCE College Football Top 10 (1:28), Big 12 decided not to expand and what that means for the conference (and the idea of four 16 team super conferences)(4:12), Tennessee's Defensive Coordinator blamed the referees for their loss to Alabama, and the numbers for Alabama's defense are other-worldly (11:06), LSU's yards per play under Ed Orgeron is #2 in country and was #70 under Les Miles(15:49), and should the Cowboys jump from Dak Prescott to Tony Romo? (17:08)

Target has decided to pull scary clown masks from their shelves, so the guys discuss the pussification of America(24:24), Mike Gundy thinks today's CFB parity comes from kids being on their cell phones (30:37), the CFB Playoff rankings come out in 2 weeks and Chris and Gary try to figure out who's ranked lower than 10 that could get into the playoff (33:03). The NFL Recap before the Monday Night game (37:02), Cowboys looks great (37:09), we may have crowned Carson Wentz too soon (38:11), Panthers look terrible (38:45), Titans are rolling at 3-3 and are favorites over the Colts for the first time in forever(40:48), Tom Brady is the GOAT(41:50), and the Steelers lose Roethlisberger and Gary has to deal with Landry Jones as his starting QB(45:19).

Podcast: Episode 19 - Oct 16th, 2016

Gary and Chris get the band back together after almost 2 weeks of not being where they could do the podcast together, and discuss all the happenings during college football's week 7, including whether or not Les Miles would be a good fit at Notre Dame, etc.

WCE College Football Top 10 #5

Week 7 offered up even more separation in the college football world.  With AP #4-6 having byes this week, there was a chance for some schools to move up, while others didn't particularly impress.  Some teams survived, and some thrived.  Here's our Top 10...

Podcast: Episode 18 - Oct 14th, 2016

Gary, upon his return from his honeymoon, discusses the LSU / Florida game being rescheduled, and how/why the SEC was able to get it done. He also dives into the biggest games of the weekend, including Alabama at Tennessee, Ohio St at Wisconsin, Ole Miss at Arkansas, North Carolina at Miami, and Kansas St at Oklahoma, and on the NFL side, the Cowboys at the Packers and the surprising Falcons at the Seahawks. Then we get into college and NFL gambling picks along with Gary and Chris (who are now tied 3-3) SEC Fantasy picks for the weekend.

The Tuesday Trifecta: Oct 11, 2016

So, the honeymoon is going well, and my lovely wife has allowed me time to write for the blog this week, even though we're sitting and hanging out on the beach down in the Gulf of Mexico.  I did get to watch football ALL DAY Saturday, so that allowed me to have a little bit of perspective... in weeks past, I've had to watch replays on Sunday to get to see all of the games I wanted to catch.  I've been sleep depraved over the weekend trying to watch everything, but the beach has allowed me to catch back up.

So let's get to it.

WCE College Football Top 10 #4

I should have had this posted yesterday, but I was headed to the Gulf for my honeymoon.  Still found time to listen to and watch the South Carolina / Georgia game, and catch quite a bit of NFL action, so I could keep up with what's happening.  Chris and I have gone through our top 10 lists and narrowed down what we think is going on in the top 10.  6 weeks into the season and it's already difficult to figure out what the Top 10 should look like.  I would imagine it's going to be even more difficult after the next couple of weeks. 

Friday CFB and NFL picks, and SEC Fantasy picks

Chris and I are both hurting in the NFL gambling picks (I'm picking at 40%, he's picking at 31%), and Chris is getting mashed in picking big games (I'm 18-18-1, while Chris is at 11-25-1), but we're both up in College Football right now.  This week, it's all coming back, and we're both getting ahead.  We're going UNDEFEATED!

The Friday Five: LSU / FL vs Hurricane, Memphis drought over, etc

The Friday Five could be spent discussing all of the things surrounding Hurricane Matthew is affecting this weekend, but it is what it is and there's no use in spending a ton of time on it.  The most interesting big is the cancellation of the LSU game at Florida.  It's the only one that's been completely canceled, and it appears to be a major gaff by the SEC office. 

We're into Week 6 of the college football season, and I point out at the end of this column that there are only a handful of teams that are undefeated against the spread this year.  Take a look at who.

Podcast: Episode 17 - Oct 6th, 2016

Gary relays his and Chris's 7-on-7 picks early in Chris's absence, since Gary is headed to the Memphis / Temple game tonight. In head to head picks of the weekends biggest games, Gary is 18-18-1, while Chris sits at 11-25-1. Gary discusses his picks on Alabama @ Arkansas, Tenn @ Texas A&M, Texas vs Oklahoma, Florida St @ Miami, Virginia Tech @ North Carolina and, in the NFL, Bengals @ Cowboys and Giants @ Packers. After those, Gary jumps in on his gambling picks for the weekend. Gary is 14-11 in college picks and 4-6-1 in NFL picks. Chris is 12-10-1 in college picks and 4-9 in NFL picks. This week, we look to turn it around.

Non-Tebow Baseball. Yes.

- Chris Giannini

October has to be the greatest month of the year.  Fall is in the air, football has taken over our lives and for those who have old souls; it’s playoff baseball. Tonight is the play-in game between the Blue Jays and Orioles for the American League Wild Card and tomorrow the Mets and the Giants will play the 1 game playoff for the National League.  These games are recently new to baseball and have made the playoffs so much more intense.  Baseball is usually a game of series, but when you break it down to a single game all bets are off.  Each team will use strategy that is not standard for this baseball, doing everything they can to win.  Tuesday and Wednesday of this week are slow TV nights so do yourself a favor and watch these games.  You will see baseball in a different light.

Podcast: Episode 16 - Oct 3rd, 2016

Chris and Gary discuss Charlie Strong being on the outs at Texas and the Longhorns gearing up to go after Tom Herman, Coach Ed Orgeron's first game at LSU and what his realistic chances are of getting the job, why CFB should do away with conference divisions, the recap of the CFB weekend, and the NFL recap as well.

The Monday Rewind: Oct 3rd, 2016

Slowly but surely, I'm climbing out of the hole I dug to start the season.  However, Chris just keeps on diggin.  We're not quite halfway through the season, so there's time for us to both get much better.

Here's what happened with our picks last week...

WCE College Football Top 10 #3

This is the 3rd week of our CFB Top 10, which is based purely on what we've seen on the field.  Not any preconceived notions.  This week definitely shook some things up, with three Top 10 games from Friday night through Saturday night.  Each week feels like we're separating contenders from pretenders, and this week was no different.  This coming week includes even more, as we get Florida St @ Miami, Tennessee @ Texas A&M, Virginia Tech @ North Carolina, Alabama @ Arkansas, etc.  

Podcast: Episode 15 - Oct 2nd, 2016

Gary chimes in with a Week 5 college football recap, discussing everything from a big weekend in all the Power 5 conferences.

Starting off with the SEC (0:30), Gary hits on the Tennessee / Georgia end of game fireworks and what happened to give Tennessee a chance to win, Alabama methodically whips Kentucky, LSU hammered Missouri in Ed Oregeron's first game, Ole Miss and Memphis put up a ton of points,  Texas A&M and South Carolina was your typical boring Muschamp game...