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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS- (covers.com): 6 college football teams that should surprise in 2007. We’re a solid three months and change away from the 2007 season’s official kickoff, but sportsbooks are already offering props on national and conference championships, meaning season win totals can’t be far behind. So now that college football is on your mind again, here are six teams we believe could be great bets this season. Keep in mind that the point is not whether these teams are in the hunt for the BCS Championship. These are generally squads whose records last year didn’t quite reflect their talent level, which will probably keep public bettors away this year. Add in some friendly schedules and you’ve got some schools that could end up in a more prestigious bowl game than most folks expect. In any case, these schools are likely to get friendlier lines in September than they'll see at the end of November. Presented in alphabetical order (all odds from TheGreek.com sportsbook unless otherwise noted): Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (+1000 to win the ACC Coastal Division) The Yellow Jackets featured college ball’s most dangerous offensive weapon last year in Calvin Johnson. He’s gone now, likely taking some public money away from Georgia Tech. That gives the Jackets, who could’ve easily claimed an Orange Bowl slot last season, unexpected value for bettors. Taylor Bennett replaces Reggie Ball at quarterback after a great spring camp and tailback Tashard Choice returns to the backfield. More importantly, almost every starter on Tech’s monster defense returns. The Jackets open against Notre Dame and close against Georgia, a tough pair of non-conference games. They could sweep all 10 games in between those bookends, however, as they’re at home for the bulk of their tough ACC games. North Carolina State Wolfpack (+650 to win the ACC Atlantic Division) The Wolfpack trademark under former head coach Chuck Amato was inconsistency, an adjective never used to describe Amato’s replacement Tom O’Brien. Boston College became an automatic bowl team under O’Brien and Pack backers hope for more of the same in Raleigh. Bettors’ expectations, however, will be somewhat lower than your partisan NC State fan, especially with a trip to Boston College and home games against Clemson and Louisville all in September. NC State could steal one of those three, however, and set itself up for an 8-4 or even a 9-3 season behind a running game ready to shine under a coach who loves to run the ball. Northwestern Wildcats (+2500 to win the Big Ten) No one expects Northwestern to win its back-to-back games against Ohio State and Michigan at the end of September, but the Wildcats could still exceed expectations thanks to avoiding Wisconsin and Penn State in their Big Ten schedule. This will be the team’s second season under Pat Fitzgerald, who’ll be far more prepared than he was when pressed into unexpected duty last year. Bettors can’t underestimate the negative effect that former coach Randy Walker’s tragic offseason death had on the team last fall. Northwestern has the offensive talent to put up points and a defense that should be much improved from last year. The Wildcats also have a home-heavy schedule that could boost them all the way to eight or nine wins before bowl season. Oklahoma State Cowboys (+1200 to win the Big 12) College Football News likes the offensively-gifted Cowboys as a darkhorse Big 12 champ, based on the returning youngsters in the program. TheGreek.com lists OSU +800 to win the Big 12 South, the second-longest odds of the six teams involved. There are no worries about Oklahoma State putting points on the board, but the upsets against the conference’s bigger programs could happen if new defensive coordinator Tim Beckman can tighten up the Cowboys’ overall defense. Opening the season with a visit to Georgia should show how potent the offense really is. The Cowboys’ massive test (and biggest opportunity for backers) is an October featuring road games against Texas A&M, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Oregon Ducks (+5000 to win the national championship) Last season’s disastrous finish should leave a bad taste in the mouth of the betting public, but it could also inject lots of value in a Ducks squad that answered its quarterback question and is ready to challenge the Pac-10 big boys. Dennis Dixon charged ahead of Brady Leaf in the spring and should line up behind center all season in new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s spread offense. Dixon will have skilled weapons at his disposal as good as, if not better than, all of Oregon’s opponents this year. The Ducks’ early-season visit to Michigan is the unquestioned killer road game on the schedule. They get USC, Cal and Washington State at home and that makes Oregon a decent play to take the conference at +650 at TheGreek.com. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (no odds yet available) Boise State was last year’s non-BCS conference star, TCU is expected to fill that role this year, and everyone’s eyeing Utah, Hawaii and BYU too. Tulsa might not be able to beat all five, but a glance at their schedule suggests they might offer the best value in the mid-major bunch to reach double-digit wins this year. All three of the Golden Hurricane’s toughest conference games are at home and a September win over BYU would set the tone for a 10-win campaign despite mighty Oklahoma rolling into Tulsa a week later. Tulsa lost Steve Kragthorpe who took over the head job at Louisville but Tulsa replaced him with a head coach (Todd Graham) and offensive co-ordinator (Gus Malzahn) whose combined goal is to light up C-USA. InsideTulsaSports.com reports that senior quarterback Paul Smith quickly took to the team’s hurry-up, no-huddle offense. NCAA FOOTBALL PICKS: (associated press): notre dame not ready to name starter. The competition to replace Brady Quinn as Notre Dame's starting quarterback was narrowed to three Wednesday instead of the two coach Charlie Weis wanted. Evan Sharpley, Jimmy Clausen and Demetrius Jones will vie for the job, Weis said. ''Each of these three young men brought something unique to the QB competition. Evan ran the operation the best, Jimmy threw the ball the best and Demetrius made the most plays. For these reasons, they will compete for playing time,'' Weis said. That left sophomore Zach Frazer out of the running. SPORTSBETTING.COM has listed the Irish at +5000 to win the 2008 BCS championship. Weis had said before spring practice began that he wanted to narrow the competition to two QBs by late May. Sharpley, Quinn's backup last season, is the only one of the three with game experience. He was in eight games last season, but threw just two passes, completing a 7-yarder against Michigan. Clausen is the most highly touted player to arrive at Notre Dame since Ron Powlus in 1993. Clausen enrolled at Notre Dame in January after graduating from high school early. Jones avoided possible controversy last week when prosecutors in LaPorte County dismissed a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession against Jones after the owner of a car he was driving said in court papers was sure Jones didn't know the marijuana was in the ashtray. Notes: Weis also announced that cornerback Gary Gray, who enrolled in January after graduating from high school early, had shoulder surgery and is expected to miss the season. Gray was injured most of the spring. ... Notre Dame will use Big East officiating crews this season instead of crews from the Big Ten.
NCAA FOOTBALL FREE PICKS- (associated press) : texas player charged with dwi.

Texas defensive end Henry Melton was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated early Friday.
Melton was pulled over in the popular Sixth Street entertainment district after officers noticed his truck driving in an unsafe manner, police spokeswoman Laura Albrecht said. University spokesman John Bianco said school officials were looking into the arrest. It was not immediately clear if Melton has an attorney. The junior was a backup running back his first two seasons with the Longhorns before moving to defensive end this spring. Melton was expected to compete for playing time after the departure of both of last season's defensive end NCAA FOOTBALL PICKS- (associated press): louisville dismisses players.

Louisville cornerback Lamar Alston and defensive end Jonathan Holston have been dismissed from the team. Alston, a junior, played in 12 games and recorded six tackles for the Cardinals in 2006. Holston was limited to three games due to an injury and was credited with one tackle. Coach Steve Kragthrope on Wednesday did not specify why the players were dismissed. NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL FREE PICKS- (covers.com): reports on sec spring meeting. Florida president Bernie Machen began planning a college football playoff after the Gators looked like they'd miss out on the title game last December. On Friday, he got a chance to pitch his idea to other decision-makers. Machen proposed his playoff plan on the final day of the Southeastern Conference's annual spring meetings, telling fellow school presidents and chancellors that the current Bowl Championship Series is simply leaving too much money on the table. ''Everybody wants to talk about it. I want to talk about it,'' Machen said. ''To give me time on the agenda is an encouraging sign. I've done my homework, and we're just going to talk about it. We've never sat down and had a detailed (meeting to ask), 'What do you like about the BCS? What would you like about a playoff?''' Machen's plan is complex, and it does not include details like how many teams would be involved in the playoff or when and where games would be played. The basis of his proposal is to form a limited liability corporation that, much like the BCS, would work outside the framework of the NCAA. He wants to keep the current bowl structure intact and then distribute revenue to all 119 Division I-A schools instead of keeping most of the money for the schools in the six BCS conferences. Machen believes the market would determine the playoff system, whether it be a four-team, eight-team, 16-team or ''plus-one'' format. ''There are no specifics,'' Machen said. ''The plan will evolve if people want to do it, based upon the market and the restrictions people put on it.'' The Pac-10 and the Big Ten have been strongly opposed to a playoff, wanting to stick closely to the Rose Bowl tradition, and coaches across the country said they would be hesitant to back a plan that might devalue the bowl system. But Machen believes that could change if the powerful SEC leads the charge for a playoff. ''We're one of the - some would say the - biggest player in college football, and if we made a move in that direction I think it would be a significant step that the others would have to pay attention to,'' Machen said. So could the Pac-10 and Big Ten be swayed? ''At this point, it's a little early to figure who's in and who's out,'' Machen said. ''Nobody's in because we don't have anything yet. If there's a playoff, I hope everybody would be in on it.'' Sportsbook.com has USC listed at +250 to win the BCS Championship game in 2008. SEC commissioner Mike Slive, also the BCS coordinator, recently asked the league's college leaders to start thinking about the future of the BCS. If they talk about it now and continue their discussions every time they meet over the next 18 months, Slive believes they could have a firm plan in place when it's time to renegotiate the next BCS contract. The current deal expires after the 2009 season. Slive acknowledged that the BCS is far from perfect. ''There's an annual nervousness that exists throughout the fall,'' Slive said. ''Weekend to weekend, there's a different set of issues that arise. The last couple of years it's obviously been successful and had a lack of relative controversy. Hopefully it will work out in the future.'' Slive also cautioned about trying to overhaul a system that has been good for the sport. ''Television ratings are up, attendance is up, interest is up every single weekend,'' he said. ''You can give the BCS some credit for the continued popularity of college football. You can be a critic of it, but even the most severe critic has to recognize that the current postseason format has continually reinforced the popularity of college football.'' There are sure to be critics of Machen's plan, and it was unclear whether even the SEC would support it. Vanderbilt chancellor Gordon Gee said there was little Machen could do to change his mind. ''In the spirit of academic vitality, one always listens to a proposal before you vote against it,'' Gee said. ''I've heard every variation from every possible person in America. I get e-mails all the time lobbying me from committed fans that have brilliant ideas. I'm not sure any variation on that would be anything fairly new.'' Gee, like many of his colleagues, believe adding more games while trying to maximize revenue would send the wrong message to universities and student-athletes. ''We've been consistent all along that we're trying to bring some semblance of integrity and some semblance of balance back into what we're doing, and this moves in exactly the wrong direction,'' Gee said. ''This is a slippery slope toward us finally just throwing in the towel and saying what we're about is fielding football teams and we have a university on the side, and I'm just not in favor of that.'' Slive said he didn't expect school presidents and chancellors to make a decision Friday regarding Machen's proposal. But he thought it was a good starting point for future discussions. ''We still have another year or so to think about it,'' Slive said. ''The question is: How do we preserve everything we have and at the same time, if there's something that's a little bit better, then maybe we ought to look at that?''
NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL FREE PICKS: (associated press): ncaa president looks at 5 year rule NCAA president Myles Brand said he isn't necessarily opposed to a recent proposal by the NCAA football issues committee that would extend player eligibility in the sport to five years. Brand, speaking Friday at the Women's College World Series, even said the idea ''might be favorable'' if it included the elimination of the practice of redshirting. Brand said that 80 percent of Division I football players are being redshirted and that it takes the average student about 4.7 years to graduate from college. ''I think if we do it right, to make sure student-athletes actually have educational activities throughout their five years, which approximates the actual practice, and we do away with medical redshirting (and) actual redshirting, I don't see anything wrong with that,'' Brand said. The NCAA football issues committee, led by Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson, has requested that the proposal be discussed at the spring meetings of Division I football-playing conferences. Even if the idea gains support, it would have to go through several NCAA committees before a membership vote. During a wide-ranging news conference, Brand also said that he doesn't sense support among universities for a college football playing system, that the Academic Progress Report system - which measures eligibility and retention of student-athletes and mandates penalties for schools not meeting certain requirements - ''is not going anywhere.'' FREE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS- (covers.com): hoosiers coach still under going treatment.

Indiana football coach Terry Hoeppner is still undergoing medical treatment and remains intent on returning to the sideline this fall. Athletic department officials released a short statement from Hoeppner on Tuesday, the first update on his health since an announcement nearly two months ago that he would not coach spring practice to recuperate from brain surgery. ''I continue to receive medical treatment and remain inspired to return to coaching when my health permits,'' Hoeppner said. ''I love Indiana University and Indiana football and will make decisions in the best interest of the program, as I have always attempted to do.'' Sportsbook.com has Indiana listed at +5000 to win the National Championship in 2008. Hoeppner had brain surgery twice in a 10-month span and has now left the team three times since December 2005. His last major public appearance was in late February when he spoke during an NCAA luncheon in Indianapolis. He also attended a news conference earlier that month to announce Indiana's newest recruits although the assistant coaches answered most of the questions and provided most of the details. Hoeppner left Miami (Ohio) in December 2004 to return to Indiana, his home state, and take over a Hoosiers program that last went to a bowl game in 1993. A year later, he had a tumor removed from his right temple and last September he had a second operation on the right side of his head. He then left the team for two weeks but watched both games from the press box before rejoining the team. Hoeppner later implied follow-up tests showed no recurrence of the tumor, but that doctors had removed only scar tissue. Hoeppner is 9-14 in his two seasons at Indiana, and he has reinvigorated enthusiasm in the program by reaching out to students and fans. In December, Hoeppner signed a two-year contract extension that would keep him in Bloomington through June 2012. But last month, Hoeppner announced he was skipping spring practice to regain his strength and energy, and when the Hoosiers played their annual crimson-and-cream game on April 14, he did not attend. Assistant Bill Lynch filled in as interim coach during each of Hoeppner's absences. Indiana also has two football camps scheduled in mid-June, but there has been no announcement regarding whether Hoeppner would run them. Athletic director Rick Greenspan has not provided many updates on Hoeppner's condition, citing both privacy concerns. In Tuesday's statement, Hoeppner again asked the media to respect his privacy, and Greenspan said he hoped Hoeppner would recover quickly. ''Hep's health is of the utmost interest and concern to us,'' Greenspan said. ''We'll continue to provide him with all of the support that we can with hopeful anticipation that he'll get well as quickly as possible.''

FREE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS- (associated press) mother of stabbed punter say's he's doing fine.

Florence Mendoza squirmed in a fourth-row bench Thursday as lawyers discussed the case against the former Northern Colorado backup punter accused of trying to kill her son. ''I don't think anybody would like to sit and hear what went on the night that their son was hurt,'' Mendoza said after a motions hearing for Mitch Cozad, charged with attempted first-degree murder in a knife attack on her son Rafael, the starting punter. ''It's hard (being here),'' she said. Rafael Mendoza was attacked on Sept. 11 in a dimly lit parking lot outside his apartment in Evans, a small town adjacent to Greeley. He suffered a 3- to 5-inch-deep wound in his kicking leg. Cozad, of Wheatland, Wyo., has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $500,000 bail. If found guilty of attempted murder, he could face up to 48 years in prison. Police have said they believe Cozad stabbed Mendoza to try to get the starting job, and the case drew quick comparisons to the assault by Tonya Harding's hit man on Nancy Kerrigan. Cozad's case is scheduled to go to trial July 30. A pretrial readiness conference was moved up to July 2, the last day the judge will accept a plea agreement. Asked whether talks were under way about a plea deal, defense lawyer Joseph Gavaldon said only that ''they're always ongoing.'' District attorney spokeswoman Jennifer Finch declined to comment. Florence Mendoza said she doesn't know how she'd feel about a plea deal. ''I think that would be up to my son,'' she said. Prosecutor Michele Meyer called four witnesses: two Evans police officers; a university police officer; and Nathan Cole, the university's coordinator for student rights and responsibilities. Cole testified about bringing an eviction notice and a no-trespass letter to Cozad's dorm room on Sept. 12. Cozad, who was suspended from the university and kicked off the team, had an hour to vacate his dorm room. While Cozad waited in Cole's office for his mother to pick him up, Evans police arrived, handcuffed Cozad and took him away, Cole said. After nearly two hours of testimony Thursday, Florence Mendoza walked outside and leaned against a concrete wall in the bright sun. She said her son still can't put the attack behind him. ''Too soon,'' she said. ''I think he's doing the best he can to handle it.'' Rafael Mendoza returned to the team just two weeks after the attack and averaged 39.9 yards on 56 punts last season. He hopes to punt for the Bears again next fall, his mother said. ''You've got to try out, same as every year,'' she said. COLLEGE FOOTBALL FREE PICKS: (associated press) odds to win 2008 national championship. USC +250

Florida +700

Michigan +800

LSU +1200

Texas +1000

West Virginia +1200

Oklahoma +3000

Penn St +3500 Arkansas +3500

Georgia +4500

Nebraska +3500

Virginia Tech +3500

Ohio St +2000

Florida St +3500

Wisconsin +3500

Texas A&M +6000 Louisville +2000

Auburn +6000

California +5000

Tennessee +5000

Miami FL +4000

Rutgers +5000

Notre Dame +4000

Alabama +7500

Iowa +10000

UCLA +5000

Clemson +7500

Oregon +10000

BYU +20000

Colorado +20000

South Carolina +10000

TCU +20000

Arizona St +20000

Oregon St +20000

Boston College +20000

Missouri +20000

Texas Tech +2000

Boise St +20000

Arizona +20000

Wake Forest +20000

Maryland +20000

North Carolina St +20000

Georgia Tech +20000

Hawaii +20000

Oklahoma St +20000

Pittsburgh +20000

Kansas St +20000

Purdue +20000

South Florida +20000

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