One of Each on Thursday

One of each. That's how we begin our 2010 Free NCAA Football Picks.

A win, a loss, and a push to start the year, ensuring that we are on the board in each category. Here's a breakdown of our Thursday plays:

The brunette: Minnesota covers against Middle Tennessee

Not always the sexiest pick that ends up being the most appealing. We liked Minnesota, but wee were in no way underestimating Middle Tennessee. The danger in betting on a bigger school against a lesser known school, even one that won double digit games a year prior, is that the public will swing the line against you. What opened -3 in favor of Middle Tennessee swung six points to a -3 Minnesota spread. Still, the Gophers covered by a touchdown and took care of business.

The blonde: Utah pushes against Pittsburgh

We really liked this play. A lot. But at the end of the day, the -3 spread wasn't enough to get anything more than a push out of it in an overtime thriller. It's always nice to have a stake in the bigger games of the day/week, so it was fun at least--but fun isn't always profitable. Had Utah forced the issue and gone for a touchdown in OT, we would have been bailed out. Unfortunately, they did the smart thing and got close and kicked it. Oh well.

The redhead: USC fails to cover against Hawaii

The flashy pick. In theory, USC should have stomped on Hawaii. Even on the road, USC is much, much more talented and should have been able to overcome, and even positively channel, all of the offseason attention. But every time the Trojans started to pull away, Hawaii marched down the field time and time again. In hindsight, the over obviously should have been the play, but we prefer picking spreads rather than over/unders, something we need to change. They are all worth the same after all.

Stay tuned for our Saturday Picks in the opening week of college football. Boy it feels good to say that.

YTD: 1-1-1... 50%