NFL Picks & College Pick's by Football Forecasters

9/16/02 Update Our "A+" play falls for the 2nd week in a row - first BYU and now Seattle. We're beginning to think we should leave the hard luck "+" sign off our flagship selection. If you saw the games you'd realize we made a good call: The first of our NFL picks, Seattle, out first downed Arizona, and out-gained them 433-356, yet couldn't put up the points in the red-zone. Six trips in enemy territory yielded 13 pints. Rookie TE Jerramy Stevens had his hands on TD receptions in the endzone on two different drives - net points on those drives - "0". Dilfer had a very good day, I wonder what Billick thinks of this guy now? It didn't help that RB Thomas Jones had a career day in the NFL - rushing for 173 yards...100 more than his previous best. The Cardinal O-line simply overpowered the Seattle front. As we've stated numerous times on this page - we only bump our best plays by 1% of our total bankroll.... Seeing performances like this is why we limited our play to 5%.

Our opinion on the Monday night selection is Philadelphia. 3-4% at less than a FG, 2-3% if we're asked to lay a FG or more.

I've disabled our old e-mail address for the time being. The new address is linked at the bottom of the page. Too much crap from advertisers and repeated mailings of the Klez worm virus were being received at our old address. Sorry for any inconvenience to our regular correspondents.

MISSION STATEMENT: We give our NFL football picks against the Vegas line, and College football picks against Vegas odds every week. Be aware that this is a dynamic site, we actively upgrade/downgrade the selections through out the week. Check in by the middle of the week for a listing of games we have selected, AND be sure to check in before game time, as very often one or both of us will zone in on a play the day before kick-off. We'll make 1-15 combined College and Pro football picks a week. We do not promise to pick 100% winners. However, historically we will pick a majority of winners over the course of the year. Expectations are too pick a simple majority, a 54-66% winning ratio is a realistic goal. You will serve as our sports monitor, all of our picks will be stored on a weekly basis in the "Past Picks" link at the bottom of this page. We will be sending our A and A+ plays to The Sports Eye monitoring service. This page is a no-nonsense banner free site. We don't recommend a service or affiliate with casinos--it's just us baby.

Two seasons ago I received an e-mail saying he "needed a winner", asking on a scale of 1-10 "how strong" our A+ play was this week. I replied that it's wrong about 30% of the time--so it must be a "7". Unfortunately that weeks play was in the 30% category. Folks there's no such thing as a lock--if you need one then you're in the wrong place and playing the wrong game. I strongly recommend a short read on money management linked via "Vegas Tips" at the bottom of this page.

We are monitored by YOU, and the Sports Eye monitoring service. You can contact us by e-mail, or post to the message board linked at the bottom of this page. During week 7 of the 2001 season Footballforecasters enjoyed the highest ratio and largest bank of all monitored sites, outperforming the pay for services "Mensa" and "Platinum" award winners. However the award we appreciate the most is knowing we have assisted our visitors with an entertaining and sometimes profitable weekend. We will continue to give our best effort to maintain the high standard of success we have come to enjoy.

NFL & NCAA Opinions Free, courtesy of Footballforecasters. Strictly for entertainment and discussion purposes only :)

Team	W/L	comments
@Ohio State	W	WSU can't stop anybody. They are capable of putting up the points, but their defense is very suspect, while the Buckeyes have a very solid defense, especially in the secondary. There are two unit to unit matchup advantages here favoring Ohio St: The Buckeye offense going against the Cougar defense, and the solid WSU passing game throwing into the strength of the Ohio defense. We don't mind laying the points and look for OSU to win by 13.

Team	W/L	comments
@Virginia Tech	W	Thursday 9/12/02 Virginia Tech has treated us well over the years when playing in Blacksburg. Leftwich has not ever faced a defense like this. ESPN Prime time means the Hokies will be up for this one, as the bulk of the media play has been on Marshall's opportunity to gain BCS exposure with a win. It's still just a football game and the Thundering Herd is overmatched. It's a large number, but we're laying it at less than 13.
@Penn State (+)	W	Paterno with two weeks to prepare for a big game is always dangerous. Penn St may pull out the SU victory in this spot.
South Florida (+)	L	The Bulls, a favorite of ours last season, are a respectable team. Coach Nutt had some extra motivation to lay it to the Broncos last week (coach for Boise made some jabs at coach Nutt in the press), who were without their starting QB Dinwiddie The Bulls have their key players back this year and are very athletic - we're looking for them to keep it close.
@Houston	W	A mediocre CUSA team that is starting to believe in themselves is hosting a team they should be able to throw on.
@Arizona (+)	W	We were mildy surprised at this number. Utah has been a favorite play of ours over the past two years. With the Utes upset win over USC in a bowl game last season, Vegas has finally caught up with Utah. The strength of the Utes has been their defense. However the Wildcats are returning a highly experienced offense. The Utes (a turf team) are playing on grass. The scorecasting models indicate a low scoring affair with the Wildcats pulling out the straight up win. Keep in mind that the Cats contend in the Pac 10, while the solid Utes compete in the Mountain West Conference. B+ Play
Pittsburgh	L	This looks like it will be a down year for UAB
Toledo (+)		Downgraded to no play. I hedged my play by placing Southern Miss and Minnesota on a two team parlay *Winner!*

ALSO LIKES: Southern Miss, Tulane, Iowa St. Notre Dame, SJSU, Central Michigan, Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina, Wake Forest, North Carolina

Team	W/L	Comments
@Seattle vs Arizona	L	One team is playing in their brand new stadium for the first time, giving them a solid emotional lift for their first division home game of the year. It doesn't matter who starts at QB for Seattle (although it looks like underrated Dilfer will be able to go), the defense will be pumped up and they have one of the top cover men in the league in Shawn Springs, to negate the phenomenal Arizona WR David Boston (yeah it was a run-on sentence - so what). Speaking of run-ons, Seattle's Shaun Alexander will be able to move the ball on the ground against a porous Cardinal run defense. While Arizona's highly touted Thomas Jones hasn't been able to run the ball consistently - to win on the road you have to have a good running game, and the Cards rush attack is struggling. The dismal Seattle performance at Oakland last week gives us good value here. Our favorite pick this Sunday. A+ Play

Team	W/L	Comments
Buffalo (+) @Minnesota	W	Bledsoe has the perfect game for the Minnesota Dee. Buffalo is strong in the secondary and should be able to control Moss. The Bills will put up their share of points and may pull off the upset.
NYG (+) @STL	W	13 is too many to give this solid NY defense - we'll bite.
Philadelphia @Washington	W	Monday Night We're hitting this one on the ML. Spurrier is going to see what a real NFL defense is all about.

ALSO LIKES: New Orleans - ML play, Miami - ML play, Oakland, Tampa Bay, New England

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2002 Year To Date Statistical record (ATS)
YTD awards from The Sports Eye monitor (over 200 serviced)
2002	WON	LOST	PCT%
A+ Play	0	2	0
A Plays	4	2	66%
B Plays	17	11	61%
Totals	21	15	58%