5-at-10ish: SEC items of interest, Fab 4 picks, baseball's best, Rushmore of memorable athletes' endorsement

Tennessee linebacker Colton Jumper (53), a former Baylor School player, celebrates after Saturday's home win against Florida. As exciting as the victory was for the Vols, they say they're ready to move on as another SEC East game awaits this week at Georgia.
Tennessee linebacker Colton Jumper (53), a former Baylor School player, celebrates after Saturday's home win against Florida. As exciting as the victory was for the Vols, they say they're ready to move on as another SEC East game awaits this week at Georgia.

SEC items of interest

Tennessee train keeps rolling? The Vols have turned the corner and now own an 11-game winning streak. Have they been easy? Not even a little bit considering the way the Vols have had to rally from early holes so far this season. Also of note, in that 11-game win streak, UT has been favored in all of those games and a double-digit favorite in eight of them. They are a touchdown-underdog at Texas A&M this week, so this will be their toughest test, talent-wise, in that span. Add in the spice that John Chavis threw around this week - the former UT defensive coordinator and current A&M DC said A&M's stadium is the loudest he's ever seen - and this one could be fun.

Alabama takes another team's best shot. This time it's Arkansas taking a swing at the top-ranked Tide. The big question here will be how freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts handles his second road test as a starter. He was up-and-down at Ole Miss as the Tide needed three-non-offense scores to prevail. Here's betting Hurts continues to mature and plays pretty well.

Battle for the basements. There's a real chance that the losers of the Auburn-Mississippi State and the Vandy-Kentucky games will finish last in the West and East, respectively. So in the desperation bowls, it will be interesting to see which of these quarterback-challenged ounces can make enough plays for their coach to remain smiling at least one more week. (Side note: Dan Mullen can smile all he wants. Even if MSU finishes last in the West, there's no heat on him. The other three however are certainly hearing the whispers and feeling the tinge in their trousers.)

When will UGA-USC kick? The weather is going to dictate a bunch this college football weekend. From puzzling over/unders to rain-soaked games to who knows what. (Side note: The Swamp in Gainesville, likely will be just that if LSU and Florida play Saturday.)

As for the Bulldogs and the Gamecocks, there is talk that the game could be moved to Sunday or even Monday. That's fine by us and likely would be good by the teams too - South Carolina has a bye next week; Georgia has the next best thing to a bye, as it faces Vandy.

photo Auburn running back Jovon Robinson sidesteps the tackle attempt of Memphis defensive back Dontrell Nelson during the Birmingham Bowl last December. Robinson has been dismissed by Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.

Fab 4 picks

We have been making against-the-spread picks - for entertainment purposes only of course - in this space since the start of the 2011 season.

We are now better than 60 percent over that time. That's pretty entertaining, right?

We have referenced several of the maxims and guidelines we have fashioned into our rules. Here's a quick recap:

Rule 1: Any line that looks too good to be true almost certainly is.

Rule 2: Nobody is 'due' - the only things that are 'due' are library books and postage.

Rule 3: We are hunting games to make 'entertainment' not games that will be entertaining. This is important to remember because if you are checking the TV listings before you are checking the spread, that's fine. An extra 20 entertainment vouchers for the action on a game you are planning to watch, that's cool. That's part of the fun, but you have to recognize it for what it is - simply buying the adrenalin on a game that could go either way. (And if you are putting vouchers on every game that you watch, well, that's a different animal entirely.)

Rule 4: Picking winners is great, but finding losers is just as profitable.

Rule 5: To quote Crash Davis, "A player on a streak has to respect the streak. You know why? Because they don't happen very often."

This is true for teams on a roll or pickers on a roll, who may believe they are winning because they are wearing their lucky socks and sitting in the same spot on Saturday afternoons. We have not listed these in a while, and there certainly will be more added as we continue to hunt entertainment.

Also of note, there are several games that have potential entertainment on the line, but the impact of Hurricane Matthew could change the dynamics greatly. Games like Florida-LSU, where Gainesville could see as much as 10 inches this weekend, or even as far up the coast as UNC-Va Tech, two high-flying offenses that may be water-logged Saturday afternoon, could be impacted. Keep an eye out and check the weather gang.

This week's best entertainment options (lines are from Vegasinsider.com from Thursday morning):

Louisiana-Monroe minus-3 over Idaho. We are going to buy the half of course, and we are going to take the opposite side of the Idaho Potato Cakers all season. Man, from the Frank and Sly Stallone category of brothers in the opposite ends of their respective professions, meet the Petrinos. Bobby, who coaches at Louisville, is a hot name for every major job in the country; Paul, who coaches at Idaho, is best known for fighting with reporters and being the Petrino that did not mess around with an Arkansas volleyball player. So there's that.

Ohio minus-12 over Bowling Green. First-year BGSU coach Mike Jinks and Co. are reeling. 1-4 overall - that one win was a 27-26 win over North Dakota as an 18-point favorite - and bagel-and-5 against the number. Ohio played Tennessee very tight through three quarters and defensively is sound. Again, a chance to ride a loser as much as find a winner.

FSU plus-3 over Miami. Miami is unbeaten and riding high and has an future NFL quarterback and in the top 10 nationally. FSU is on the short list of the most disappointing teams in the country. The game is in Miami, which is enjoying the reunion tour with first-year coach and Hurricanes alum Mark Richt. Everything is lined up for Miami to roll, right? Nope. FSU has more talent across the board, and man this feels like a major violation of rule one, right? Right.

Notre Dame plus-3 over NC State. Another game in which a) the wrong team is favored, talent-wise, and b) a soggy field making an extra field goal even more valuable. This is one that Brian Kelly really needs, and true need is just as good as real value.

Ohio State-Indiana over 58. OK, maybe we need to put float another idea that may need to become a rule: When Ohio State and Urban Meyer have an over/under that is less than 60 you have to go over. So far this year, the Buckeyes have scored 77, 48, 45, and 58 points. Yes please.

Stanford-Washington State over 57. We also like Washington State as a home dog, but the desperation of a Stanford team is tough ignore. Still (cue the research music - and don't get spoiled), of the last time Mike Leach and WSU have been an underdog, they are 8-1 against the spread with six outright wins. Leach, one of our favorite coaches in any sport anywhere because he's not bashful about speaking his mind, said to reporters this week that Stanford is "kind of a quieter place to play, kind of a 'bring your own energy' place. Crowd-wise, it's one of the quieter stadiums." Still, the Cardinal without their top two corners are going to have to score points to stay in a game that could become a shootout.

Auburn minus-2 over Mississippi State. This one potentially could determine who finishes last in the SEC West. And amazingly, with as crazy as that side of the league and the jockeying of position for everyone after Alabama, who knows how high the winner could place. That said, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn feels like the more desperate guy with the better defense, and we'd like to know the number of times those qualities have been connected in Malzahn's coaching career. That won't make it easy but that should be enough, unless this one ends in the infamous 3-2 score that this game had eight years ago.

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

This season: 18-9 against the spread (67 percent).

photo San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner (40) winds up during the first inning of a National League wild-card baseball game against the New York Mets on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

The best in the game

The overall numbers side with the left-hander in L.A.

Clayton Kershaw has been the best pitcher in baseball over the last six years, and can make a hard argument for being one of the best overall players. He's 126-60 for his nine year career (an amazing .677 winning percentage) and has a career ERA of 2.37.

In the last six years, he has made six all-star teams, finished in the top three of the Cy Young voting five times and has 14 shutouts and 23 complete games in 180 starts.

This year, despite a lengthy injury which cost him another ERA title because he did not pitch enough innings to qualify, he posted a mind-numbing 170 and 11 walks (one intentional). Simply put he's enjoying an all-time stretch that compares favorably to Koufax in the 60s, Seaver in the 70s, Mike Scott in the 80s, Maddux in the 90s and Clemens in 2000s.

And you know what? Madison Bumgarner is better, because he's better when it counts the most.

Bumgarner got his eighth career postseason win Wednesday with a magical four-hitter in a 3-0 wildcard win over the Mets.nConsider the following:

Bumgarner has now pitched 23 consecutive scoreless innings in win-or-go-home games, and all of those were on the road.

The last time he was in the playoffs he pitched five innings of scoreless relief in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series to close out the win. (And he did that on two days rest.) In the playoffs for his career, Bumgarner is unreal. His regular season numbers are fine - he's got 100 career wins and a 2.99 ERA but has never finished higher than fourth in the Cy Young voting. In the playoffs, though, Bumgarner is 8-3 with a 1.99 ERA. Want some more? He's now 2-0 with two shutouts in wildcard games, and in five World Series games he's 4-0 with a 0.25 ERA and has a save.

Wow.

Kershaw's postseason struggles have been well-documented. He's 2-6 with a 4.59 ERA in 13 playoff games. He'll get a chance to try to rework that image when he faces the Nationals on Friday.

Who would you take? The guy who has dominated the regular season and helped your team to the postseason each of the last four years or the guy that has been an October ace for a team that has become an even-year juggernaut?

This and that

- Speaking of the Mets and postseason baseball, this was an excellent Tweet from ESPN business reporter Darren Rovell: $785,992: What the Mets paid Noah Syndergaard & Jose Reyes combined this season. $1,193,248: What the Mets paid Bobby Bonilla this season.

- The sad tale of Todd Marinovich is back again, as he was formally charged with trespassing, public nudity and drug possession following his August arrest when he was found naked in someone's backyard. Here's a look at the lifelong roller coaster Marinovich has been on and we can all agree that it would rank really high on the strange scale to find a high naked man in your backyard on a random August day, right?

- This makes me sad for our future. There is a Washington state private high school that started the season 3-0 by outscoring its foes 170-0. No, that's not the part that makes me sad. The school - Archbishop Murphy - has won its last three games, as well. Nope, still not the part that makes me sad. Those last three wins have been by forfeit because the other team's parents have voted not to play because Archbishop's players are too big. Man, that's amazing.

- OK, here's the next tale of adults acting the fool. Here's the details of an all-out brawl that started and escalated when the families of the combatants got involved. It's pretty surreal. Now know it happened at a Chuck E. Cheese. E. Gad.

- So Wal-Mart pulled the 'Tranny Granny' Halloween costume from its shelves because it was potentially offensive. Buckets. If we are going to start classifying Halloween costumes on the 'acceptable scale, then maybe we should just do away with Halloween altogether. Wal-Mart is OK selling a costume called 'The female flasher,' a costume of alleged pedophile Michael Jackson, and a female SWAT police costume that is way more stripper than trick-or-treater. And who knows what will happen when the PETA people see you can dress up like bacon and eggs. Oh the humanity.

- Speaking of protests, the best female chess player in the U.S. is boycotting the world championships in Iran because women are oppressed there. Nazi Paikidze said plainly she "will not wear a hijab," referring to the traditional head covering females wear in Iran and other Muslim states. Here's the story. There are interesting sides to this discussion.

Today's question

Lots to discuss here today, and you guys were great yesterday. We'll revisit some of that in the mailbag. Deal? Deal.

As for a question, well, let's stretch our wings a bit, shall we? On this day 50 years ago, Jim Palmer became the youngest pitcher to throw a Wolrd Series shutout. Palmer had a Hall of Fame career for sure. But for a lot of folks, his lasting image may have been the 'Jockey' underwear ads.

Rushmore of the most famous athlete-product endorsement deals.

Go - and remember the mailbag.

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