I listened to Infinity on High a bunch of times before this one caught me ear. Then I actually listened to it 5 times in a row. Yes, 5. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.

One day we’ll get nostalgic for disaster.

Look at this, a track from Infinity On High. This was the track that caught my ear the first time I listened to the album and it turned into a pretty big single. The YouTube video has over 39 million plays.

Back so a Take This To Your Grave Track. This song got stuck in my head and I didn’t even know what song it was. I spent a summer where the first two FOB albums I had was the only thing in my car. I guess after hearing those song it just seeped into my head and wouldn’t get out.

I’m going to have to speed these up if I’m going to be to #1 by Tuesday.

Bengals @ Steelers, Sunday 1pm
Matt: This is Pittsburgh’s time of year. They have already won 5 in a row and will be cranking it up as they head towards the playoffs. The Bengals are the surprise team of the year so far. They are playing well on both sides of the ball and Ced Benson is having a career year. If they win, they will have a huge leg up on winning the AFC North. I think if Benson can have a decent day on the ground, the Bengals have a good chance to win this one. I will be rooting for the Bengals, but the Steelers at home will be too tough. Steelers by a FG. Pick: Steelers
Ahad: I still find it hard to believe that the Bengals competing for the division title. Marvin Lewis stopped Chad whatever his last name is this week from sending mustard to the Steelers. Despite the fact that the Steelers have a short week, I still like them in this matchup. Losing Chris Henry will slow down the Bengals offense. The Steelers should be able to contain Benson. I don’t think the Bengals have the firepower on defense to win this one. Pick: Steelers
Mike: I’m on Matt’s page. I think more teams are going to jump on the Steelers 8-week preseason schedule that bleeds into the start of the regular season. It’s a pretty good plan. Let the other teams get beat up during the first quarter of the schedule. Take any wins you get as a bonus and go 10-2 the rest of the way against those banged up teams. You’ll make the playoffs every time. That being said, the Bengals are doing it. They aren’t looking ahead because their 3 games after this are against teams with 2 wins or less. Look at the Bengals schedule. They have 4 games left against teams that currently have 2 wins or less. They win those and they get to 10 wins, everything else, again, is a bonus. I think Steelers are rolling enough to pull this one out, but close. Pick: Steelers
Evan: Steelers

Chiefs @ Raiders, Sunday 4:05pm
Matt: These teams are jockeying for draft position for next year. The Raiders won the previous matchup this season by 3 points, and I would expect a similar game this time around. When Oakland has shown up this season, they haven’t played all that bad. They played two close games against the Chargers and beat the Eagles. The Chiefs cut LJ this week and will be relying on their youngsters to carry the load. I think the Raiders, with two week to prepare, will win this one. Pick: Raiders
Ahad: This game might be worse than the Detroit/St. Louis game. Maybe cutting LJ will cause the Chiefs to come together. Look for the Raiders to run the ball, because they sure can’t throw it. I think the running game will be the difference. Pick: Oakland
Mike: You know how in a lot of close matchups in the preview they say that the game will be lost by whoever makes the 1st mistake. What do you say here. The 5th mistake, the 20th? I just want to txt this one in. Pick: Raiders
Evan: Raiders

Eagles @ Chargers, Sunday 4:15pm
Matt: The Eagles did not fare too well on their last trip to the West Coast. The Chargers are playing better, but they always seem to underachieve early. This is their time of year as well, much like the Steelers, to make a strong push towards the playoffs. I expect the Eagles to play better than last week, and much better than they played against the Raiders. Look for the Chargers to blitz a lot to put pressure on McNabb. He did not handle the pressure that well last week. I think the team that wins the 4th quarter will win the game, and that is typically Philip Rivers’ time to shine. Pick: Chargers
Ahad: This week the Eagles have been hit with some losses in the secondary to go along with all of the other injuries. They will be without their 3rd and 4th corners for at least 4 weeks. Also the linebacker position has become a problem. They still might be feeling the impact of the loss to the Cowboys. The Chargers have become a passing team and will look to continue that this week. Things don’t look good for the Eagles this week. Pick: Chargers
Mike: I forget the rule about traveling west. The Chargers were able to overcome the traveling west, just barely, with help of the Giants being terrible. The Eagles are hurting though. The defense is dropping like flies. And where did Andy find this Peters guy? The only time I hear about him is when he gets hurt or has a penalty. I’m not going to get to watch this on but, if things don’t change, I think listening to Andy Reid calling plays while driving is more dangerous than txting. Pick: Chargers
Evan: Eagles

Patriots @ Colts, Sunday 8:20pm
Matt: Brady vs. Manning. Can’t beat it, really. So who’s defense will play better? My gut tells me the Colts, as they play better at home on the fast track. I still don’t think Brady is all the way back yet, and I don’t think the Patriots are as good of a team right now as everyone seems to be making them out to be. Their defense will be exposed by Manning. Pick: Colts
Ahad: The Colts undefeated streak ends here. They should have gone to OT last week, if not lost the game. The injuries on the defense will catch up to them at some point. Pick: Pats
Mike: I feel like we should have just let Matt go on his own this week. The Colts are winning on the Manning comebacks. Close games no matter who the opponent. This is a primetime prove yourself gave for both teams. The Colts are a few steps ahead of the Pats this year, so they need to go out and prove it. Pick: Colts
Evan: Patriots

Standings
Ahad 29-17 (3-2)
Matt 24-22 (2-3)
Evan 25-21 (3-2)
Mike 20-25 (2-3)

Current Pick Distribution

Daron: To be fair, the Iowa spread is horrible as well

Justin: oh i know

Daron: I saw 13.5-17.5

Justin: this is a shitty week

Daron: yeah. Utah, an effective team, that has done little yet, very little.

Justin: well they have a win over Louisville!!!

Daron: other than lose to Oregon

Daron: w00t

Justin: And a win at the unfriendly confines of CSU AND UNLV! Yeeeeeee!!!

Daron: Don’t go into Ft. Collins expecting a win! Well, at least that was true 8 or so years ago.

ANYWAYS, TCU is the new flavor of the week

Justin: TCU, on the other hand has the ever more valuable win at Clemson, a win at UVA, and their closest game, a tangle with AF

Daron: yeah. their defense has the fast and a lot of it. And can tackle

Justin: yeah, Utah’s offense is meh. With not much goin’ on through the air, but a decent running attack

Daron: eh, the norm for them

Justin: yeah

Daron: TCU by 10

Justin: sure

Daron: defense makes eat of them, not a pretty game, though

Justin: TCU also, by 17. No Cover.  27-10 or so

Daron: 20-10, maybe 27-10.  Real mehness

Also see: MWC looking to MAKE MOVES?

Daron: ohhh, bastards. Well

Justin: Yeah

Daron: Rittenberg calls it the Vandenberg vs. Silver Bullets game

Justin: There’s that whole no offense thing, on both sides

Daron: which is his cute name for the OSU defense

Justin: adorables!

Daron: yeah

Justin: Well the truth of the matter is, the offense who wins this game only needs to score maybe 10-13 points

Daron: yeah. I mean, I guess there’s a chance for some big plays

Justin: Sure

Daron: what with that being how both teams score

Justin: Pryor is the biggest big-play runner in the big 11 at this point

Daron: Yeah, I saw that. Disappointing

Justin: right?

Daron: he and Ralph Bolden

Justin: Yeah. 18 points against the Purdue defense in their loss, is uninspiring

Daron: truth. Granted, they’ve been different, since then

Justin: True

Daron: ie. Winning and less giving of possession to others

Justin: yeah, but, even with a 17 point win over PSU, just 8-17 for 125 and 2 TDs and he threw in 50 on the ground (on only 5 carries)

Daron: yeah

Justin: Meanwhile, Saine and Harron combined for 36 carries for 126 yards.

Daron: that’s really all it takes, because let’s look at what Iowa’s offense is going to do:

Very little

Justin: yes. Yeah so this game plays way to into Tressel’s wheelhouse

Daron: their ground game has slowed down some, and you figure that’ll continue against the bullets of silverness

Justin: He needs to do absolutely nothing to win this game. so, I think they succeed with it

Daron: same with a QB who looks talented, but not quite on the same page as the receivers

Justin: Sure, i.e. 62 yards and a score for Posey, but nothing else for any of the WRs. Anyway, I think this game is just about 13-7, fOSU

Daron: I could see 20-14, something like that tOSU

Another selection from From Under the Cork Tree.

Cause you’re just the girl all the boys want to dance with.

Texas A&M @ Oklahoma, Saturday 7pm
Evan: If there were ever a time to pick the aggies in this matchup, this is the year. At the same time, I think there best game will be when they play Texas. Pick: Sooners
Ahad: Definitely a down year for the Sooners, I can’t remember the last time they weren’t ranked. Injuries have definitely hit this team hard. Look for a lot of the younger guys to step up in order to set the tone for next year. Pick: Sooners
Matt: I think this game will be closer than the 20 pt spread for the favored Sooners, but they are at home and should avoid the upset. Pick: Sooners
Mike: So somehow I completely missed the Oklahoma loss to Nebraska last week. That throws off my theory of the Sooners still winning the games they should. Nebraska does have a tough defense, so they only lose me half way. A&M I don’t trust and they only get any credit for their win over Texas Tech which lacks any explanation. Pick: Oklahoma

Auburn @ Georgia, Saturday 7pm
Evan: My string of dominance in picking evenly matched SEC battles continued with my Arkansas over S.C. last week. This is a pretty big rivalry despite being in separate divisions. Mark Richt is a good coach and he will have his team psyched up for this night game between the hedges. Pick: UGA
Ahad: Being this an SEC game, I must go along with Evan. Pick: UGA
Matt: I have to agree…I have no inkling either way. In my mind, I would think Auburn has outperformed Georgia this year, because I feel like the Bulldogs have underachieved. Georgia is at home, and they are favored, and Evan picked them, so I can’t go wrong, right? Pick: Bulldogs
Mike: Am I the only one suspicious that Evan picked first and everyone else followed his SEC lead? Call me crazy but I like Auburn this year. Sure hey had a rough patch, but really, you don’t just invite Furman over and expect to walk away with a win. Just like Georgia and Tennessee Tech. Auburn is getting back to where they belong with the 10th ranked rushing offense (and 12th ranked total offense). The D isn’t equally tough. Georgia just hasn’t been impressive. Their average game score is 27.1-26.1. I may be out of my mind going against our SECoracle, but I must. Pick: Auburn

Texas Tech @ Oklahoma St, Saturday 8pm
Evan: I haven’t paid a lot of attention to either of these teams this year. Pick: Oklahoma St?
Ahad: Mike Leach’s teams will always be able to put up points. The question normally is will the defense be able to stop anyone. In this case, I don’t think so. Pick: OK State
Matt: Oklahoma State dominated an improved Iowa State team last week. Texas Tech has played well at times this season, and other times not so well (Texas A&M). This will be high-scoring, as usual, and I think Tech will score just enough to win. Pick: Texas Tech
Mike: Ring the scoring alarm. This is the real who is OKSt test post-Dez. I think his loss evens up this matchup. If you take the A&M game off the board for Tech, they’ve had a nice year. When I flip my Big 12 coin this year, it always comes up Texas. Pick: Texas Tech

Notre Dame @ Pittsburgh, Saturday 8pm
Evan: Pitt only has one loss, making people think they are better than they are. Notre Dame would have been the easy pick in this game except for their perplexing display against Navy last week. Still, I’m going to go with the Irish to go into Pitt and win this one, though I have no logical reason to believe this will/should happen. Pick: Irish
Ahad: People have been calling for Charlie’s job, especially after last week. If he comes up on the wrong end of this game, it will be tough for the university to bring him back next year. For some reason I think ND comes up with a win in this one. (Plus, Pitt can’t be ranked higher than PSU). Pick: ND
Matt: Pitt has been playing really well and Notre Dame is coming off a loss at home to Navy. I agree with Ahad that Notre Dame will be playing for Charlie’s job for the rest of this season. I don’t think they will be able to save him. Pick: Pittsburgh
Mike: The ND loss helped make me feel better during the second have of the PSU game. I’m normally not a Pitt fan (which bothers my mom as she thinks I should support my sister’s school) but I like this team and I really have no ties to Big East football. I’ve happened to see a lot of ND this year. They are always on TV and this year most of those games have been close, to inferior opponents. I can’t say there have been many time this year that they have played decent all around football. Their offense has been good in some games but the poor defense has overshadowed it. Now I’ve seen very little Pitt but they look to be putting up more points than they need. They’ve been getting out to leads and holding them. Pick: Pittsburgh

Average Games
Syracuse @ Louisville – Both teams are winless in the Big East. I have to pull for Syracuse to turn things around.
Michigan St @ Purdue or Northwestern @ Illinois – Pick your region Big 10 matchup. What? MSU/Purdue is on ESPN? Northwestern/Illinois is on ESPN Classic? It’s ESPN’s week for Big 10 action, but these 2 define Big 10 Network overflow channels.
Tennessee @ Mississippi – Both 2-3 in conference. SEC doesn’t get picked for average games very often.
Western Michigan @ Eastern Michigan – Eastern Michigan may be winless but when directional Michigans get together you throw out the records.

Standings
Matt 33-17 (3-2)
Mike 29-21 (2-3)
Evan 28-22 (3-2)
Ahad 26-24 (2-3)