Week 13 Football Picks/13-14

Good evening everyone.  I took the lead in Lucki Duck's pick 'em contest last week and the Steelers beat the Lions, but outside of that, not a lot of good things happened in the football world. My fantasy team is currently trying to atone for its tie as Drew Brees and Garrett Hartley battle the Falcons.  In case you didn't read the blog last night, these last 2 weeks include must-win games for my Bikini Hill Bobcats, while I need either of the pair of teams ahead of me to lose both of their final games in order for me to reach the playoffs (last week's tie put me 1 1/2 games out of 1st/2nd place in my division - 12-team league, with the top 2 teams in each division moving on). Last week was brutal for the blog's favorite college teams as Texas State lost 38-21 at Arkansas State, while the Longhorns took a 38-13 loss at DKR against Oklahoma State.  Once again, none of the experts (celebrity or otherwise) picked the exact final score of a game, but everyone gets another chance as the Bobcats host Western Kentucky on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. This game will be televised on the Longhorn Network for those of you who can't be there in person.  Seemingly like clockwork this season, the Bobcat home game has brought out the worst in the weatherman. Saturday's forecast for San Marcos, America gives us a high of 43 degrees, a low of 39 degrees, and a 60% chance of rain with the wind blowing at 17 miles per hour - LOVELY...  In the meantime, the Longhorns will be preparing for their Thanksgiving meeting with Texas Tech. Without any further ado, let's get to our celebrity experts...

Celebrity Experts (Last weekend 5-10/Overall record of 100-71 on Bobcats and Longhorns games)

Saturday, November 23rd - Texas State Bobcats (6-4) vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (6-4)

TXST  47-21     Nick Kass - Harper's Public House
TXST  31-21     Gabby Contreras - Texas State Superstar & 2013 Homecoming Queen Nominee
TXST  21-7      Alyssa Lesa - TXST Student/Blogger/Sam's Warehouse Accounting Associate
TXST  28-24     Ashley Brannan - Texas State Alum & Well-Renowned Tailgate Crasher
TXST  27-12     Daniel Guerrero - Mayor of San Marcos, Texas
TXST  24-16     Zane McCoy - Texas State Student/The Marc
TXST  24-17     James McDuffie - Texas State Fan & This Blog's Ticket Sponsor  ;)
TXST  27-24     James Needham - Texas State Senior/Louie's Oyster House & Beer Garden
TXST  46-17     Ana Marie - Supercuts, Manager
W KY  42-36    Leanne Calderon - DCI Biologicals/Concordia University
W KY  31-27    Pete Wyatt - Brother/Horns & Cowboys Fan/Judson Alum


And yes, you read that correctly - both the Bobcats and the Hilltoppers come into this game with 6-4 records and both are tied for 5th place in the Sun Belt Conference at this point in time.  With the Bobcats being bowl eligible for the first time, there is an effort to pack Bobcat Stadium for this game so that our attendance numbers will look more attractive to the bowl selectors.  While we do have to contend with that brutal weather forecast, these are the shiny new lids that the Bobcats will be sporting on Saturday...

Speaking of shiny, glittery stuff, here's our favorite ticket writer from Las Vegas...  :)  Live from the Palace Station Sportsbook, here's Joey...

Joey's Parlay Card (Last weekend 1-1/Overall record of 15-7 on Aggies, Bobcats, & Longhorns games)

Another week gone by in the books.  Oh, I should have said another winning week has gone by in the books.  The best part of a new week is that we get another chance to beat the books.  The Texas State Bobcats have the defense working - they are plus six in the turnover battle this year. The D is licking their chops as this week Texas State takes on a Western Kentucky team where QB Brandon Doughtry has 14 picks and has lost 8 fumbles.  It's another close one to the end, but the Bobcats pull out the victory 27-24.  Injuries were big in the loss against Oklahoma State last week and the Longhorns have nothing to be thankful for as they take on the Texas Tech Red Raider high-flying offense on Thanksgiving Day.  I'll make a prediction now and stick with it.  The Longhorns have twelve days to get ready for the Red Raider attack, but few teams have been able to slow it down and right now the Longhorns just don't have the personnel.  The air-raid offense is too much and Texas Tech wins this game easily 38-20.  Finally, my New Mexico State University Aggies get to fly to Florida and play against Florida Atlantic.  NMSU has the 123rd-ranked defense in the country and Florida Atlantic can become bowl eligible with wins in the next 2 weeks.  The Aggies have played well at home, but on the road it's a different team.  FAU sinks my Aggies 42-14.  That's it for this week's parlay card - may all of your tickets be winners.


Making his Thanksgiving pick A FULL WEEK ahead of time - Joey IS an overachiever Alyssa!  :) Joey always gets his copy to me before Alyssa does, so...  ;)  Well, the Texans/Jaguars matchup on Sunday looks EXACTLY LIKE Alyssa's photo does for Houston - VERY PROMISING...  ;)  And here's our favorite Texans' fan, Alyssa...  

Alyssa's Corner (Last weekend 2-1/Overall record of 15-15 on Texans, Bobcats, and Longhorns games)

Happy Thursday everyone.  I have had a roller coaster of a ride my first six months in adulthood. I've had car issues, apartment issues, and now tooth issues.  As you all remember from my post last week, I have a toothache.  Well this toothache is actually an infected tooth and now I have to wait until Monday for a root canal.  As you all can imagine, I'm in a bit of pain.  But tomorrow is payday and I am excited for that.  Tonight a crazy storm is going to come through Abilene:  Hail, sleet, and rain!  Now for my predictions...

Texans vs. Jaguars:  17-14 Texans...if we lose this one, then we really have hit rock bottom...
Bobcats vs. Hilltoppers:  24-17 Bobcats


Okay, first off, Alyssa was the only resident expert to pick against BOTH the Bobcats and the Longhorns last week (and she was right, of course)...  Second, her quote, "if we lose this one, then we really have hit rock bottom..." was the very first part of her post that I read tonight, and I immediately laughed, which makes it very similar to this photo...

Yes, the blog has a new mascot for this weekend's games as Belle wearing the cow costume just wasn't winning enough games for me...  However, if you take a close look at this feline's face, I'm sure that you'll agree that Muddy is in a dead heat with Belle for the title of "most thrilled cat in the universe..."  ;)  Just like with Belle in the cow costume, I can't help but laugh every time that I look at this photo...  This is my good friend Kelley's daughter Lyndi, with her cat Muddy (which she sometimes pronounces 'Money'), and "money" is what I need on my picks this week...  Do you see what I did there everyone?  ;)

Coach (Last weekend 0-2/Overall record of 12-8 on Bobcats and Longhorns games)

Well, my Bobcats are bowl eligible, we have shiny new helmets, and we're making a concerted effort to get people into Bobcat Stadium on Saturday.  Despite being 4-point underdogs, I have to go with the Maroon & Gold...  Bobcats 23-19 over the Hilltoppers...  And I hate to say it, but despite posting losing records over the last couple of weeks, I really am confident in my 'Ten Best Bets' again this weekend.  I'm sure that as you're reading this, your reaction is probably similar to Leanne's...

Again, another picture that I couldn't pass up...  :)  Hopefully I'll shock everyone this weekend with a winning record here...  ;)


Coach's Ten Best Bets of the Week (Last weekend 4-5-1/Overall record of 57-60-3)

LSU (-4) vs. Texas A&M - Hostile crowd in Baton Rouge/Geaux Tigers!...
Texas A&M/LSU (Under 71) - The Tigers play some D, which is why I also like the (-4)...
Baylor/Oklahoma State (Under 78 1/2) - Again, garbage weather in the South on Saturday...
Chiefs (-5) vs. Chargers - The Cali boys have to play at K.C...
Steelers (+2) @ Browns - Beat the Lions by 10, so give us 2 at Cleveland - OKAY...
Cowboys (+2 1/2) @ Giants - Taking the points with the better offense...
Jets/Ravens (Over 39 1/2) - Just a super low number - the defenses might score for me too...
Carolina (-4) @ Dolphins - Streaking Panthers facing just over half of Miami's starting O-Line...
Patriots (+2 1/2) vs. Broncos - Give Pats points at home in hostile, cold environment - OKAY...
Broncos/Patriots (Under 55) - Manning isn't a cold weather QB, and audibles will be hard...


And that's it my friends...   I'll be heading down to San Marcos on Saturday, and hopefully I'll run into Gabby and her "beer purse" at the tailgate, I'll take in a Bobcats win, and then I'll cash in one of the $25.00 tabs that I've won in the Bobcat Nation Sports Bar & Grill football pick 'em contest before heading down to the Square later in the evening...  ;)  Have a great football weekend everyone!