Week 8 Picks & More!

I just keep doing worse and worse with my predictions this season, but I must soldier on.

I was 0-2-1 against the spread last week and 1-2 straight up. My overall record for 2012 is 14-17-2 against the spread and 19-14 straight up.

On to this week...

Cornell -7 over Dartmouth

The Big Red got their mojo back with that win over Princeton last week. Now Dartmouth, with its very shaky pass defense comes into Ithaca. Good timing for Cornell, bad for the Big Green.

Yale +14 1/2 at Brown

The Elis have traditionally played well at Brown, even when the Bears field their best teams. Maybe it has something to do with the natural grass fields these teams are the last to use in the Ivies and the comfort level that creates. Either way, Brown will win this game, but they aren't blowing people out this year.

Penn +10 at Princeton

I think Princeton will win this game, but Penn will take this game too seriously to lose by two scores. 

Columbia Game Notes

The Columbia game notes for the game vs. Harvard, (the Lions are 30 1/2 point underdogs by the way), are a little more accurate this week than they have been in the past based on what we've seen on the field.

First: WR Isaiah Gross is no longer listed, as it's obvious his injury will keep him out for probably the rest of the season. The team stat page incorrectly says he played in four games, when it is really three. That's important because three games in a season is the cutoff for getting a 5th year medical exemption from the Ivy League. 

Second: the offensive line depth chart is more accurate as well based on what we've seen in the last few games. 

But the secondary starters are a bit off. I really haven't seen much of Brian DeVeau since the Princeton game, but he still is listed as the starter.

The notes also say that freshman Hank Trumbull should get some playing time along with fellow frosh Trevor McDonagh who got some snaps at QB last week. I thought he looked pretty good by the way, especially since it was his first playing time in a tight conference game.