5-at-10: Fab 4 (plus 1) picks, SEC items of interest, NFL projections, Eddie Murphy Rushmore

Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones (12) looks for a receiver during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Monday, Sept. 7, 2015.
Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones (12) looks for a receiver during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Monday, Sept. 7, 2015.

Morning.

From the "Talks too much" studios, let's make this happen.

Fab 4 (plus 1 pick)

Sometimes knowing which picks to to exclude is as important as which picks to include.

Last week, we hit four of five, and the lone miss was a Mississippi State pick that failed to cover at Southern Miss. Did it matter that the three other finalists - Florida State, Florida and USC - for the last spot hit?

Of course not because there are a handful of certain gambling rules.

Never play cards with a guy nicknamed after a city.

Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

Never doubt that hindsight is as pure as a momma's love.

That last one is put to the test again this week as there are a couple of playable games on the cutting room floor. Still, we pledged to stay within the five-game count, and if it's not broken, let's not fix it.

The 4-1 start is quite acceptable. Since these picks are for entertainment purposes only, hopefully you are dealing with house entertainment credits.

As for this week, we are keenly watching a couple of bankable trends.

First, it's a coaching cliche that you make the most improvement from week one to week two. Cliches happen because they prove routinely true. If that's the case, there are four games this weekend with teams are making their season debut because of last week's weather postponements.

Second, be cognizant of time zones. Teams - especially teams with limited financial resources who may travel on the cheap - that cross the country are often at a supreme disadvantage.

With that in mind, let's get to work.

Louisville minus-13 over Houston. Getting the Cardinals at home for less than two touchdowns is a very appealing price. When you factor in that Louisville scored 24 points in the final quarter and a half after making a quarterback change to the fleet-footed Lamar Jackson, well, this price looks more like stealing.

Ohio State minus-40 over Hawaii. Let's do some math. This game kicks off at what feels like 9:30 a.m. for the Hawaii players, who spent at least eight hours in a plane today. Now, add in the fact that Ohio State's second- or third-team guys are still going to be able to move the ball, well, that price seems more affordable.

Clemson minus-17 over Appalachian State. One team has DeShaun Watson. The other beat Howard last week - no not Howard School or even some dude named Howard. Quick Rushmore of Howard: Dwight Howard, Howard Cosell, Howard Stern and Ron Howard; we're pretty sure none of those guys were involved in App State's win last week either. We're also pretty sure all of those guys could suit up with the Mountaineers this week and it would not matter against Clemson.

Notre Dame minus-12 over Virginia. We're buying the Irish, especially the Green Machine defense that held Texas to its worst offensive showing since Santa Anna pulled up to the Alamo. Notre Dame held Texas to 163 yards of offense and allowed just two third-down conversions in 13 tries. Now we know some of that is one Texas, but are we ready to say Virginia is that much better offensively than the Longhorns? No, no we are not.

Arkansas minus-21 over Toledo. This is one of the four games involving a team making its season debut after Toledo's game last week was cancelled. The Rockets played about two quarters and led Stony Brook 16-7 before weather ended the opener. Arkansas is rolling and Bret Bielema is beaming. Now for some research (don't get spoiled), Toledo has five new starters on the offensive line and Kareem Hunt, the leading rusher in the MAC last year with more than 1,600 yards, has been suspended for this game.

Last week against the spread: 4-1 (80 percent)

This season against the spread: 4-1 (80 percent)

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photo Tennessee linebacker Curt Maggitt celebrates stopping Missouri on 3rd down during the Vols' football game against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.

SEC items of interest

As we do every week in this space, we'll offer up five things to keep an eye on across the SEC.

1. Is Tennessee ready for the moment? For the first time since Phillip Fulmer was involved, Big Orange Nation has every reason to salivate about the thought of UT winning a big game. For far too long the mindset of the program and its fans has been a realistic view of hoping to compete against the best teams in the nation. Now, the Vols are among them. After a river of high-profile recruiting classes, Tennessee is ranked in the AP poll for only the fourth time since the start of 2008. Now, they have to prove they belong with the upper crust on Saturdays as much as they have on the recruiting trail.

2. Staying with the Vols-Sooners, which defense will deliver the most stops? Each offense has an onslaught of talent and myriad of options, especially coming out of the backfield. In fact, if you were going to list the best running back tandems in the country, Oklahoma's Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon and Tennessee's Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara are among the best in the country. So the pressure on each defense - and the pressure on each offense to consequently keep serve in what appears to be a shootout - is paramount.

3. LSU opens for real. After the dress rehearsal that was the LSU rainout last week, the Tigers go to Mississippi State for a late-night kick in Starkville. The Bulldogs have all-star candidate Dak Prescott at quarterback and need to find answers at other spots. The Tigers have all-star candidates all over the field and need to find answers at quarterback.

4. How many does Nick Chubb get? The star Georgia running back has nine consecutive 100-yard-plus rushing efforts heading into Saturday's kill shot at Vandy. As bad as Vandy's home-opening, 14-12 debacle against Western Kentucky was, the defense looked pretty sharp at times. Job No. 1 for every Georgia foe is to try to slow Chubb, but that's not an easy task. If we set the baseline at 150 yards - which is kind of starting point for Chubb - we think he goes over.

5. Kentucky-South Carolina, what will happen? As TFP SEC ace and Press Row co-host David Paschall said on the air this week, it's been since the Rich Brooks regime that Kentucky has won an SEC road game. Yep, all the way back to 2009. That said, the Gamecocks are not going to be confused to the Fun-n-Gun bunch Steve Spurrier organized at Florida back in the 1990s. In a lot of ways, this could be a bowl-eliminator for two teams scanning their schedules and hunting for six wins.

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photo A freshly painted NFL football logo is shown in the south end zone of CenturyLink Field in Seattle in this Jan. 14, 2015, photo.

NFL is here

OK, the NFL starts tonight.

Let's do five wild predictions for the looming year for the (cue Ron Jaworski) the NATIONAL Football League.

1. Roger Goodell gets a contract extension. Forget the hand-wringing and the calls for his gig, Goodell's bosses are pleased with his doing. There will be some overhauls within the corporate flow chart, but bottom line is Goodell has been driving the bus as revenues have gone from $3 billion to more than $8 billion in the last five years.

2. Buffalo's Rex Ryan is coach of the year. How about that? Buffalo's Sexy Rexy has a defense that is potentially dominant and has a defensive line that is outstanding. He likes the mobility of Tyrod Taylor at quarterback and will ride Shady McCoy to the playoffs. It's 2015 - the year of B-Rex.

3. Sam Bradford is the comeback player of the year. If Bradford stays healthy, this is not that big of a leap. But picking Bradford to stay healthy is a risky call. That said, if stays upright, he could emerge as an MVP candidate in Chip Kelly's offense.

4. Tonight's Steelers-Patriots game sets TV records for the most watched regular-season sporting event ever. OK, we all know the NFL is the monolith of pop culture - it's the most-watched vehicle on five different networks - and with all the hype and hyperbole around the DeflateGate debacle, the attention for a team in the season opener has never been higher.

5. This is Peyton Manning's last season. We can see a scenario that late in the season, with a postseason spot already secured, Manning says this it. Then he leads the Broncos to the divisional round where they are bounced in Indianapolis, a fitting place for his finale. Immediately after the game, Butch Jones is there to try to make Manning the highest paid college quarterback coach ever, but NBC lures him to be the Sunday night commentator with Al and Chris with a monster deal and two new automobiles. "Man I love that new car smell."

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This and that

- Cool teammate story of the day: New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis left Bose headphones in the lockers of each of his teammates with a note that said, "Here's a little gift to get things going. Let's go Jets. Darrelle." Well-played sir.

- Cool dedication story of the day. Nevin Ashley made his big league debut last night and doubled in his first at-bat. Dude had spent 10 years in the minors http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25296373/nevin-ashley-doubles-in-run-in-big-league-debut-after-10-years-in-minors. As a sidetone, Nevin Ashley credited his wife, Ashley Ashley, for her support. Well-played all-around, Ashleys.

- Happy birthday Joey Votto, one of the best Lookouts ever. Here's hoping he got what he wanted today after an emotional outburst that got him ejected last night http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/09/reds-joey-votto-completely-loses-it-after-getting-ejected-in-pirates-game.

- Ronda Rousey is starring as Dalton in a "Road House" remake. Not sure this will work, because if they try to make this anything other than the campy home run that was Patrick Swayze's brilliance in the original that was so bad it was good, well, it could be rough. We have a feeling that this could be another Red Dawn debacle to tell you the truth.

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Today's question

News out that Eddie Murphy is being honored with the highest comedic honor in the landhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eddie-murphy-to-receive-nations-top-prize-for-humor_55f06680e4b002d5c07791f2.

We have to ask: What took so flipping' long?

Murphy was the funniest dude of his generation and second-place was not that close, making him the Michael Jordan of 1980s comedy.

With that in mind, what's your nominations for the Rushmore of Eddie Murphy vehicles? And yes, SNL has to count, as will his stand-up routines.

Go - and remember the mailbag.

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