Weekly Staff Pick ’em – Round 3

This is round 3 of the weekly staff pick 'em where the Crimson Slate staff along with a guest picker examine the top games of the week across the NBA, NCAA, and NFL. This week's special guest picker is our good friend Marcus Kent. Here are the results from last week:

Micah: 4-6
Blake: 6-4
Shawn: 6-4

Overall:
Micah: 12-8
Blake: 11-9
Guest: 12-8

We'll keep a running tally each week of the previous week's results as well as the overall numbers. Here are the picks for round 3:

NBA

Chicago Bulls (6-2) at Toronto Raptors (6-1)
Micah's Pick: Bulls 92  85
Seeing as how my NBA picks were so spot on last week (not), I'm gonna take another stab at it this week and hope for the best. Admittedly I have not watched a ton of NBA games yet this season, but I like the core of the Bulls this season.

Blake's Pick: Raptors 101 – 94
A healthy Rose is good for Chicago. Championship good. The Raptors have it rolling in Toronto. They could very well be the 2 seed in the East behind these Bulls. The Raptors are at home and that’s a big thing in the NBA.

Marcus' Pick: Raptors 105 – 92
That team up north keeps on winning and keeps on getting no love from the national media despite having the best record in the East. I expect a statement win regardless of how well Rose plays.

 

San Antonio Spurs (3-3) at Golden State Warriors (5-1)
Micah's Pick: Warriors 111 – 103
Popovich is already resting his senior players just a few games into the season. We all know the Spurs don't take the regular season serious for some reason and they especially don't care about these games in the first month or two. The Warriors burned me last week, I won't doubt them this week.

Blake's Pick: Warriors 104 – 99
As my cohort in crime mentioned earlier… Pop is already resting the Big 3. The Spurs are 2-3 and I don’t think they even care. Pop may want to be the greatest 8 seed of all time. The Warriors are legit good. They may have the best 1-2 guards in the game on the same team.

Marcus' Pick: Warriors 102 – 99
Steve Kerr is proving why he was such a hot coaching commodity last summer as he has the Warriors looking in mid-season form.

 

NCAA

Mississippi State Bulldogs (9-0) at Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1)
Micah's Pick: Crimson Tide 20 – 13
Bama always seems to find a way to win and I see them squeaking out yet another one at home. Miss St has impressed everyone this year, but an undefeated season, especially in the SEC, is just almost impossible these days.

Blake's Pick: Crimson Tide 28 – 20
This one is HUGE. I think whoever wins this game will have their spot stamped in the playoff. The SEC West will again dominate the east in the SEC title game, sending the West champ to the playoffs. Alabama is starting to click. Mississippi State is the darling. I go with the home crowd.

Marcus' Pick: Bulldogs 42 – 38
Mississippi St continues its run as they go deep into the Lion’s den and win a tough physical fight.

 

Florida State Seminoles (9-0) at Miami Hurricanes (6-3)
Micah's Pick: Hurricanes 31 – 30
Florida State has been flirting with disaster all year long. They have nearly been upset too many times and I'm thinking this is finally the week it happens. As I mentioned in the previous prediction, it is very hard to go undefeated in the current landscape of college football. Doing it back to back years? I just don't see it happening.

Blake's Pick: Hurricanes 30 – 27
The Canes are going to be AMPED about this one. Duke Johnson and crew will get some big yards. I’ve picked against Florida State twice, and I’ll do it again. UPSET CITY IN SOUTH FLORIDA!

Marcus' Pick: Seminoles 42 – 31
Florida State will struggle early as they always do, but rally in the 2nd half to win the game.

 

Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-1) at Wisconsin Badgers (7-2)
Micah's Pick: Cornhuskers 35 – 24
Nebraska is 8-1? Who knew. Big 10 football isn't the most entertaining thing to watch in the world, but give me the Cornhuskers to make a push for a conference title.

Blake's Pick: Cornhuskers 27 – 21
Major Big 10 title hopes come alive after the Spartans go down last week. Nebraska is quietly 8-1 with their sole coming in the hands of Michigan St, in East Lansing, by 5 points. Wisconsin seems to be rolling as well. I like Bo Pelini and Abdullah to win this one.

Marcus' Pick: Cornhuskers 24 – 21
Two of the top running backs in the country square off in what could be classic. I think whoever as the ball last will win the game and Nebraska will keep its playoffs hope alive as Ameer Abdullah carries Nebraska home.

 

Oklahoma Sooners (6-3) at Texas Tech Red Raiders (3-6)
Micah's Pick: Sooners 47 – 20
If the Sooners don't come out and absolutely obliterate the Red Raiders, well the season is nearing catastrophe levels already, let's just assume they take care of business the rest of the way out for all of our sanity.

Blake's Pick: Sooners 38 – 24
OU is out of the relevant goals this year. No chance at a National Title or Big 12 title. The only thing they have to look forward to is pride. Can they muster some mojo to finish they year. Tech is in shambles at the QB position. Their best two now play at Virginia Tech and waiting on the bench at OU. 

Marcus' Pick: Sooners 35 – 21
If the Oklahoma team and coaching staff that was in Norman last week travel to Lubbock and make Kliff Kingsbury look like Bill Belichick, expect a head coaching vacancy to open up on their way back. That won’t happen as the Sooners cruise past the Red Raiders.

 

NFL

Philadelphia Eagles (6-2) at Green Bay Packers (6-3)
Micah's Pick: Packers 41 – 28
Since starting off the season a bit sluggish, the Packers have been red hot behind Aaron Rodgers. You're telling me this high profile match-up is Rodgers vs Sanchez? Ha, give me the discount double check in a landslide.

Blake's Pick: Packers 31 – 20
The Eagles must resort to Mark Sanchez for a few weeks to guide the troops. The Packers are nearly unstoppable at the time. All I can think about is Sanchez’s butt fumble…

Marcus' Pick: Packers 35 – 27
I’m picking the Packers to win this game for two reasons: They are rolling since Aaron Rodgers said “Relax” and they are playing at home where they’re nearly unbeatable.

 

Detroit Lions (7-2) at Arizona Cardinals (8-1)
Micah's Pick: Lions 27 – 17
While the Cardinals have been on a terror and feature the league's best record, losing Carson Palmer will hurt. The Lions just got Megatron and Reggie Bush back from injuries, look for them to knock off the Cardinals.

Blake's Pick: Cardinals 24 – 20
The Cardinals took a MAJOR blow by losing Palmer for the year, again. They’re really sound on defense and I still think they’re okay with Stanton. The Lions are pretty good, but they’re not LEGIT.

Marcus' Pick: Lions 28 – 24
This game should be a barn burner as the two best teams nobody likes to talk about battle it out. Drew Stanton will look well, but the Lions will beat the Cardinals.

 

New England Patriots (7-2) at Indianapolis Colts (6-3)
Micah's Pick: Patriots 42 – 31
Speaking of red hot, the Patriots have been dismantling every team in their way recently. Tom Brady is on a mission to prove he is still elite and capable of carrying his team. Luck will get his, but Brady wins this battle.

Blake's Pick: Patriots 31 – 27
Tom Brady is on another magical run. The Colts are "fair" on defense. I like Brady in just about every matchup, but Luck will get his, too. In the end, it’s all about experience.

Marcus' Pick: Colts 31 – 27
I’m picking the Colts to win this game as they’re coming off their bye week.

 

Seattle Seahawks (6-3) at Kansas City Chiefs (6-3)
Micah's Pick: Seahawks 24 – 13
The Seahawks have not been very impressive this season. After dominating the super bowl last year, they came out a bit flat this go round. I don't feel great about this pick, but it's more of an indictment against the Chiefs than an endorsement for the Seahawks.

Blake's Pick: Seahawks 23 – 17
The Chiefs just seem to "find a way." The Seahawks are sorta wobbling. I think this is the Seahawks' last run, as my prediction of Beast Mode Era will end after this season. Little too much L.O.B. for Alex Smith

Marcus' Pick: Chiefs 21 – 17
Seattle’s new found run game will hit a brick wall as they get a taste of their medicine and experience just how loud it can get in Kansas City. Expect the Chiefs to win this grind out game.

Micah Hixon

A die hard Sooner fan through and through. Micah transferred his allegiance to the Oklahoma City Thunder the year the Mavs won the title (go figure). He believes the Thunder and Sooners have many titles to come in the not too distant future. Most of his comments are not backed up by any sort of fact based reasoning, but you can trust him.

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