RANDOMIZATION: 11/16/07 OH AND PICKS TOO

If you can follow along, I should throw in a prize at the end. I should, but I won't.

• UMD sweeps Michigan Tech? I hope so, but a split or three points is more likely. This is a tough team to sweep, being that they rarely get outworked and they have really solid goaltending.
• Barry Bonds got indicted. Call me crazy, but the most intriguing revelation in the indictment is that he has apparently tested positive for steroids. So much for that argument in your denials lies, Barry. Have fun in hell, watching ARod break that record. Legitimately.
• Speaking of ARod, it's amazing what can happen when you keep Scott Boras out of things.
• Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie doesn't have a contract yet. He was hired in April. Next time you whine about your workplace dragging their feet on something, keep this in mind. It happens to rich people, too. Then again, we should all be so lucky as to work under a memorandum of understanding that requires that we be paid $2.3 million per year.
• The Brewers have an undeserving Rookie of the Year in Ryan Braun. I mean, the guy is fantastic, but I would have voted for Troy Tulowitzki first and second if I had a vote. Better all-around player this year. Next week, the Brewers might get the payback, as I tend to believe Matt Holliday or Jimmy Rollins will be an undeserving MVP over Prince Fielder. This one isn't as clear-cut as I thought Braun v Tulowitzki was, so it's harder to figure out.
• Best pitcher in the AL in 2007: C.C. Sabathia. After the voters gave the 2005 Cy Young to Bartolo Colon over the immensely superior Johan Santana, I wondered if they could get one right. Kudos.
• Hats off to all our area football teams and players. Only one team (Cook County) got to the Metrodome, but it was a fun season nonetheless. If I had a vote for Area Player of the Year, I'd give it to Matt Kilpo of Duluth East. No one meant more to his team, even if East's record wasn't all that impressive.
• Someone buy Marian Gaborik a new groin.
• Pavol Demitra, too.
• UMD volleyball coach Jim Boos is a fantastic guy to talk to. His team is unbelieveable. The 28-1 Bulldogs are two wins away from the Elite Eight in Division II as I type this, and if they can make it, they've at least got a very real shot to host the event for the first time ever.

On to picks. We'll start with the college games.

Last week: 13-8
Season: 113-49

Home team in CAPS
Wisconsin over MINNESOTA
Ohio State over MICHIGAN
Purdue over INDIANA
MICHIGAN STATE over Penn State
ILLINOIS over Northwestern
IOWA over Western Michigan
Oklahoma over TEXAS TECH
West Virginia over CINCINNATI
GEORGIA over Kentucky
CLEMSON over Boston College

...and the NFL

Last week: 7-7
Season: 95-53

Home team in CAPS
GREEN BAY over Carolina
MINNESOTA over Oakland
Tampa Bay over ATLANTA
CINCINNATI over Arizona
DETROIT over N.Y. Giants
INDIANAPOLIS over Kansas City
PHILADELPHIA over Miami
JACKSONVILLE over San Diego
Cleveland over BALTIMORE
HOUSTON over New Orleans
Pittsburgh over N.Y. JETS
DALLAS over Washington
SAN FRANCISCO over St. Louis
SEATTLE over Chicago
New England over BUFFALO
DENVER over Tennessee