Battle(s) of the Bluegrass!

At my time as an undergrad at Eastern Kentucky University, the Eastern/Western game was known as the "Battle of the Bluegrass". It was nearly always a competitive game and a great small college rivalry. However, there was really nothing "small" about this game. It didn't feel anything like a 1-AA football game. The atmosphere was great, students were into the games, and it was always the best tailgate of the year. I experienced the game twice at EKU and once in Bowling Green as a freshman, when I was the Colonel mascot!

As an EKU Alum, it saddens me that this game still doesn't exist and I think WKU fans should feel the same. From Western's perspective, they were making the move up to 1-A football and they thought they were better than EKU despite all the close games and the fact that Eastern beat them in one of the final meetings between the schools in Richmond. Perhaps, the real reason was that they felt they had more to lose from this game than to gain. Just maybe, they were scared as an FBS school to loose to an FCS school? After an 0-12 season a year ago, maybe the Hilltoppers regret dropping Eastern. Maybe they don't feel so superior anymore.


EKU VS. WKU, my sophomore year.

But in a way, the Eastern/Western rivalry lives on tomorrow. The Colonels travel to Louisville to face the Cards and the Hilltoppers come to Lexington to face the Cats. Instead of one "Battle of the Bluegrass", there's now two. Western is still searching for their first FBS victory and it's not going to happen tomorrow against UK. Eastern nearly shocked Indiana a year ago playing on the road in a Big 10 stadium and another OVC team has already made some noise this year when Jacksonville State knocked off Ole Miss. Ole Miss is much better than Louisville, and the Indiana team that the Colonels nearly knocked off a year ago may be better than Louisville as well, so I see no reason why EKU couldn't legitimately pull off the upset tomorrow.

On the other hand, Western is very unlikely to play competitively with the Cats. The Battle(s) of the Bluegrass tomorrow could serve as "bragging rights" between the Colonels and Hilltoppers. I like Eastern's chances to give a much better showing than the 'Tops. It's too bad they just can't play each other on the field. They think they're better than Eastern, but tomorrow might just show otherwise. Eastern could very well beat an FBS team before Western does, and the Hilltoppers get 12 chances a year to do it.

GO CATS, and GO COLONELS!

Ok, I'm going to admit now that I just saw that EKU lost 31-9 to Missouri State last week. Sleep well Cards fans, but not too well.

Brown's Picks

Last week was a little better for me. I went 3-2 which brings my season record to 10-11. Cincinnati is off this week so I added in my pick for the EKU game. Some good picks for this weekend should put me over .500 for the short time I've been picking games. Let's get to it:


Ohio St. ( -12) @ Michigan
No matter how poorly either of these teams has performed, the Buckeyes and Wolverines bring their A game for this one. Considered one of the best rivalries in all of sports, Ohio St. and Michigan will go at it this Saturday. Ohio St. has been rolling of late, beating Penn St. and Iowa in the last two weeks and clinching yet another trip to the Rose Bowl. After jumping out to a 4-0 record, the Wolverines have left 4 in a row and 6 of their last 7 (with the only win being against Delaware St.) I think this one will be close in the first half, but Ohio St. will eventually pull away and win by 17.

PICK: OHIO ST.

Virginia @ Clemson (-21.5)
-With a win on Senior Day in Death Valley, the Tigers will be heading to Tampa and to their first ACC Championship game. I think the key to this game is going to be the Virginia defense. Clemson has a number of weapons on the offensive side of the ball. By now everyone knows about CJ Spiller, but I think the big game is goign to come from Wide Receiver and return-man Jacoby Ford. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers handle the pressure of trying to wrap up a division title. I think Clemson wins pretty easily but I'm not sure if they cover the spread. I'm actually going to pick Clemson by 20, with a score of 30-10.

PICK: VIRGINIA

Kentucky @ Georgia (-9)
-Both of these teams come into this game with identical 6-4 records overall. One problem UK is going to face this Saturday is the potential lose of Sophomore Randall Cobb. In my opinion, Cobb has been the best offensive threat the Cats have had all year, leading the conference in touchdowns per game. Cobb didn't practice much this week and Coach Rich Brooks said he will be a game-time decision. With starting QB Mike Hartline already out, UK may need to rely on Cobb more than usual. Georgia has their big rivalry game next week against Georgia Tech and I think UK has a great chance to catch the Bulldogs looking ahead on their schedule. I think this one stays close for most of the game, but being between the hedges will prove too much for UK and their injuries. I like UGA by 10.

PICK: GEORGIA


LSU @ Mississippi (-4.5)
-LSU comes into this game at #8 and with hopes of sneaking into a BCS game. Mississippi is favored in this game, but I think they are going to need a big game from their defense to pull this one out. LSU has not been overly impressive on the offensive side of the ball this year, averaging only 25 points a game. On the other hand, Ole Miss is putting up 31 and 400+ yards of offense a game. This is going to be a tough game for the Tigers; Mississippi wins it by 7.

PICK: MISSISSIPPI

Eastern Kentucky @ Jacksonville St.
-On Thursday night Jacksonville St. demolished Tennessee Tech. That plays an important role in this game, because all the Colonels will have to do in order to win the OVC for a third straight year is beat the Gamecocks in Jacksonville on Saturday. Eastern is also trying to extend their streak of consecutive non-losing seasons. EKU is going to have a hard time handling a Jacksonville St. Offense that is scoring 35 a game. This one is going to be close but I like to Colonels to win the game and another conference championship.

PICK: EASTERN KENTUCKY




That's all for my football picks this week. Enjoy the football everyone!


GO TIGERS!
GO COLONELS!