I went 13-7 last week and was the only one in my group to pick Missouri over Oklahoma. Let's see if I can keep up the momentum to move up from third place.

Tough games to pick this week:

• Michigan State (5) +6.5 at Iowa (18). It was tough to watch Iowa lose last week to Wisconsin, which is turning into the team-that-I-don't-not-like-but-can't-like-anymore. Michigan State remains undefeated and is ranked fairly high, but I don't see Iowa losing this game. Are they going to win by a touchdown? I hope so. While the best game of the college football season for me is always Ohio State-Michigan, I would like to see a lot more buzz for the Nov. 20 meeting between the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes.
• Missouri (7) +7.5 at Nebraska (14). The Tigers are hot. I'm disappointed they're only ranked 7th, and that they're underdogs at Nebraska this weekend. Maybe that's because of home-field advantage. I'd like to see a close game with Missouri on top, but if they don't win, they'll at least score within 7.5 of the Cornhuskers.
• Utah (8) at Air Force +7. The Falcons are 5-3 with five overwhelming wins, two close losses and one big loss to the No. 4 team. Can they beat the undefeated Utes? They have a good chance at a win, or at least at making this game come down to a field goal.
• Oregon (1) at USC (24) +7. Maybe this is an easy game to pick. The Trojans have been underperfoming this season, and the Ducks' momentum can't be stopped. Say it with me: Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!

-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

By Nick Carrabine
NCarrabine@News-Herald.com

LeBron James isn’t walking through that door anytime soon.

The 2010-2011 NBA Season is officially upon us and it’s time for the Cavs, and fans, to move on, even though LeBron himself is doing more and more to pile it on (See: Nike commercial released Monday, which I don’t care to get into.)

He’s not a part of this team anymore, just as he isn’t a part of this city, nor our lives anymore.

We must, as in all past years in this tortured town, get over it.

To read more of this blog, and to comment, click here.

After having a few average weeks, I've dropped in my college football pick'em to fifth place. Here's hoping to making up some games this week to work my way back into the top spot.

Tough games to pick this week:

• Mississippi +9.5 at Arkansas (21). Ole Miss has won a few decisive games and lost a few close ones. The point spread on this game seems a little too big for how comparable I feel these teams are. I'm pulling for the underdog. 
• Wisconsin (10) +5.5 at Iowa (13). I was not happy with Wisconsin's performance last week that pushed my Buckeyes out of the top spot. What I have been happy with is the Hawkeyes' performance this season. I'm predicting Ricky Stanzi will lead Iowa to another win.
• Oklahoma (3) at Missouri (18) +3. What a meeting between two Big 12 teams that are each leading their divisions. The Sooners will be the Tigers' first ranked opponents this season, but I don't see their momentum slowing down. I see a great prime-time match-up with Missouri coming out on top.

-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

After my post last week, a fan of mine reader asked that I include information about local D2 and D3 teams. For the past six weeks, I've been making predictions and giving commentary on D1 teams that are part of my college pick'em. I don't know enough about D2 and D3 football to make any sort of comment on how I believe they'll perform. Check out News-Herald.com/Sports for D2 and D3, but keep reading here for your D1 needs.

On with the picks!

Last week I was 3-1 with the games I highlighted in this blog, 9-11 for the week. I'm sitting one point out of first place. Let's see if I can move up with Week 7.

Tough games to pick:

• Iowa (15) at Michigan +3. Ricky Stanzi and the Hawkeyes rocked Penn State last week. After five weeks of great wins, Michigan suffered a big blow at Michigan State. Maybe the Wolverines will be ready for a comeback when they are back in the Big House. But I'm going to pull for the Lake Catholic grad and Iowa this week.
• BYU +29 at TCU (4). I picked BYU last week as usual, and the Cougars were good to me. This week, however, I can't do it. I think it's pretty safe to say that BYU won't knock off the undefeated Horned Frogs. The spread of 29 points is pretty big, but TCU has been pretty much crushing its opponents. Sorry, BYU, but I'm going to have to stop picking you sometime, and this week seems like the week to do it.
• Ohio State (1) at Wisconsin (18) +4. This will be a great Big Ten game. I love that the Buckeyes are favored, and even though they're favored only by 4 at a ranked conference opponent, I can't see them losing this game. Wisconsin will put up a good fight, but Ohio State will win by at least a touchdown.

-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

Week 5 recap: I correctly picked the three games I highlighted last week, but I don't know if that's because I'm awesome at picking (which I am) or because the games weren't as tough to pick as I predicted. I went 10-10 and sit in second place in my pick'em group.

Week 6 already? Tough games to pick:

• San Diego State at BYU +5.5. I think the guys in Sports are laughing at me for believing in BYU, but for some reason I still do. Maybe it's because when I started doing college football pick'em, they won by a few touchdowns every week. I'm hoping they'll come back, so I'm going with them again this week. This is probably a mistake.
• Michigan State (17) +4.5 at Michigan (18). Possibly the marquee match-up of the week between ranked, undefeated in-state rivals. This is what college football is all about. I don't like that school up north, so I'm going with State on this one. Maybe that's more of a hope than a prediction, but so was my previous pick.
• Virginia +7.5 at Georgia Tech. The Cavaliers and Yellow Jackets both have two losses, and last year the Yellow Jackets stomped the Cavaliers, 34-9. But Virginia has earned a couple fairly decisive wins this year, and one of their losses was by only a field goal. Let's go Cavs!
• Florida State (23) +6 at Miami (13). The past few years when I've selected Florida State in pick'em, I've been disappointed that they couldn't win or beat the spread. But this year I've been impressed with the football they've been playing, and while Miami has been playing well, I think this meeting will go in Florida State's favor. And, my close friend from childhood is a Seminole, so I'm picking FSU for Melissa.

A few weeks ago, one of my friends in my pick'em group asked what my secret was. I guess from looking at this, you could assume that my secret is picking with my heart instead of my mind. Isn't that always the reason the girls win these things?


-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com