THURSDAY FOOTBALL PICKS!
Today let's have some fun, and pick a whole bunch of football games...as many big games coming up as we can, both college and pro.  And we'll do it in seven words or less!  A good challenge.

Here we go!
Last week's record--9-9.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL PICKS!

Maaco Bowl at Las Vegas--Boise State 14 over Arizona State.  MY PICK:  ARIZONA STATE.  Boise is good, but will be flat.

Hawaii Bowl--Southern Miss 6.5 over Nevada.  MY PICK:  SOUTHERN MISS.  Did you see USM take apart Houston?

Independence Bowl--Missouri 4.5 over North Carolina.  MY PICK:  MIZZOU.  Tossup game--go with tougher conference.

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl--Purdue 2.5 over Western Michigan.  MY PICK:  WESTERN MICHIGAN.  WMU--something to prove; almost beat Illinois.

Belk Bowl--NC State 2 over Louisville.  MY PICK:  NC STATE.  Game played in North Carolina; partisan crowd.

Military Bowl--Toledo 3 over Air Force.  MY PICK:  AIR FORCE.  AF option hard to prepare for.

Holiday Bowl--Texas 3 over California.  MY PICK:  TEXAS.  Longhorns young and improving.

Champs Sports Bowl--Florida State 3 over Notre Dame.  MY PICK:  FSU.  ND uncertain at QB; FSU better defense.

Alamo Bowl--Baylor 9.5 over Washington.  MY PICK:  BAYLOR.  Huskies can't stop RGIII.

Armed Forces Bowl--BYU 2.5 over Tulsa.  MY PICK:  BYU.  BYU will outscore u, TU.

Pinstripe Bowl--Rutgers 2 over Iowa State.  MY PICK:  RUTGERS.  RU close to home, something to prove.

Music City Bowl--Mississippi State 6.5 over Wake Forest.  MY PICK:  WAKE.  MSU defense lacking.

Insight Bowl--Oklahoma 14 over Iowa.  MY PICK:  IOWA.  OU probably wins; but flat=close game.

Meineke Car Care Bowl--Texas A&M 10 over Northwestern.  MY PICK:  NORTHWESTERN.  A&M's defense has stopped nobody.

Sun Bowl--Georgia Tech 3 over Utah.  MY PICK:  TECH.  Utah not prepared for Tech option.

Fight Hunger Bowl--Illinois 2.5 over UCLA.  MY PICK: ILLINOIS.  Only because UCLA slightly worse.

Liberty Bowl--Vanderbilt 2.5 over Cincinnati.  MY PICK:  VANDY.  Playing close to home.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl--Auburn 1.5 over Virginia.  MY PICK:  AUBURN.  From a tougher conference; will score points.

TicketCity Bowl--Houston 6 over Penn State.  MY PICK:  PENN STATE.  Because Cougars disappointed over loss of BCS.

Outback Bowl--Georgia 3.5 over Michigan State.  MY PICK: GEORGIA.  Spartans with bad bowl karma recently.

Capital One Bowl--South Carolina 2 over Nebraska.  MY PICK:  SOUTH CAROLINA.  Gamecocks and ol' ball coach will outscore 'em.

Gator Bowl--Florida 2 over Ohio State.  MY PICK:  OHIO STATE.  Buckeyes will win one for outgoing coach.

Rose Bowl--Oregon 6 over Wisconsin.  MY PICK:  OREGON.  Both teams score; Oregon scores more.

Fiesta Bowl--Oklahoma State 3.5 over Stanford.  MY PICK:  STANFORD.  High-scoring game; Andrew Luck finishes strong.

Sugar Bowl--Michigan 2.5 over Virginia Tech.  MY PICK:  MICHIGAN.  VT can't stop Denard Robinson in clutch.

Orange Bowl--Clemson 3.5 over West Virginia.  MY PICK: WEST VIRGINIA.  Clemson can score, but is too inconsistent.

Cotton Bowl--Arkansas 7.5 over Kansas State.  MY PICK:  KANSAS STATE.  KSU coach Bill Snyder--fantastic job.

BBVA Compass Bowl--Pittsburgh 3.5 over SMU.  MY PICK:  SMU.  Pitt distracted by coach leaving; SMU can score.

GoDaddy.com Bowl--Arkansas St. 1.5 over NortheBrn Illinois.  MY PICK: NORTHERN ILL.  The MAC is a tough league.

BCS National Championship Game--LSU vs Alabama--pick 'em.  MY PICK:  LSU.  Predicted final score:  LSU 3, Alabama 2.

NFL PICKS

Houston at Indianapolis.  LINE:  Texans by 6.  MY PICK:  COLTS.  Indy with momentum; Texans win, very close.

Cleveland at Baltimore.  LINE:  Ravens by 13.5.  MY PICK:  RAVENS.  Ravens angry; Cleveland--no Colt McCoy?  No chance.

Tampa Bay at Carolina.  LINE:  Panthers by 7.5.  MY PICK:  PANTHERS.  Panthers improving; Bucs' ship sinking fast.

Arizona at Cincinnati.  LINE:  Bengals by 4.  MY PICK:  BENGALS.  AZ historically not great out east.

Philadelphia at Dallas.  LINE:  Cowboys by 2.  MY PICK:  EAGLES.  Just not sure Cowboys' defensive problems fixed.

Denver at Buffalo.  LINE:  Broncos by 3.  MY PICK:  BRONCOS.  Tebow finds way to win again late.

San Diego at Detroit.  LINE:  Lions by 2.5.  MY PICK:  LIONS.  Thinking Suh and co. can pressure Rivers.

Oakland at Kansas City.  LINE:  Chiefs by 1.5.  MY PICK:  CHIEFS.  Kyle Orton makes big difference.

Miami at New England.  LINE:  Patriots by 9.5.  MY PICK:  PATRIOTS.  Tom Brady and no-huddle again nets Dolphins.

NY Jets 3 over NY Giants.  LINE:  Jets by 3.  MY PICK:  GIANTS.  Giants up/down team; this week, up.

St. Louis at Pittsburgh.  LINE:  off the board.  MY PICK:  STEELERS.  Rams so bad--won't matter if Big Ben hurt.

San Francisco at Seattle.  LINE:  49ers by 2.5.  MY PICK:  49ERS.  Seattle improved, no doubt; but Niners better.

Jacksonville at Tennessee.  LINE:  Titans by 7.5.  MY PICK:  TITANS.  Titans still with slim playoff hopes.

Minnesota at Washington.  LINE:  Redskins by 6.5.  MY PICK:  REDSKINS.  Redskins improving, still playing hard.

Chicago at Green Bay.  LINE:  Packers by 13.  MY PICK:  PACKERS.  Pack will atone; desperate Bears start--Josh McCown!?

Atlanta at New Orleans.  LINE:  Saints by 6.5.  MY PICK:  SAINTS.  Saints and D. Brees tough at home.

"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."--Vince Lombardi.