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Correction: A Thursday Tulsa World Sports column incorrectly listed a selection for the winner of the upcmong Dallas-Minnesota NFL game Sunday. This story has been corrected. Outpick the Picker: Think you can outpick the Picker? Take him on every week of the football season.
HERE ARE some midseason prizes. Sappiest horse movie ever: "Secretariat." For a better use of money, take what you would have spent on tickets and snacks to the simulcast joint and make some bets. Worst sporting event ever: Exhibition NBA basketball. It's like watching volleyball practice. Worst college pre-game: ESPN. Worst college post-game: ESPN. Worst pro pre-game: ESPN. Worst pro post-game: ESPN. Worst management of a sports monopoly: ESPN. Best pictures: ESPN. Worst NFL analyst: Phil Simms. Must be paid by the irritating phrase. Best NFL analyst: Troy Aikman. Doesn't get in the way. Best sports show: NFL wrap Sunday night on the NFL Network with Deion, Michael Irvin and Steve Mariucci. Overrated college team: Oregon. Pinball offense versus cardboard defenses. Underrated college team: Alabama. Who do you like better on a neutral site? Overrated college player: Stanford quarterback, has the long throw of a scholar. Worst assistant hire: Former TU man Keith "Burnsie" Burns at K-State. Best assistant hire: Former TU man Gus at Auburn. Worst media: Oklahoma City. They were homers and afterthoughts before an NBA team arrived. Skill isn't transferable. Best conference: SEC. You want some of Loopy Les or Auburn? Most overrated conference: Pac-10. Seems to find itself to be above tackling. Best mascot: The Oregon quack. Most depressing sideline: Penn State. Come on, JoePa, move up a few rows. PICKS Saturday Homecoming State at OU (-23): Talk about an unpredictable conference. How did K-State beat UCLA? How did UCLA beat Texas in Austin? How did KU beat Georgia Tech? How did Colorado beat Georgia? How did North Dakota State beat KU? How did OU beat Florida State by so many? How did Iowa State score 50-some in beating Texas Tech by two touchdowns? Iowa State has a quarterback who can move, a puzzle Venables seems to find confusing. But the visitor's defense is air-like. OU should be surprisingly near the top of the first BCS poll next week. OU over the Cyclones by 24. Oklahoma State at Texas Tech (-2): PR flak aside, OSU's defense was pathetic against the swamp people. The Cowboy defenders seem content to sit back and rush four and hope the opposing quarterback's arm tires in the fourth quarter from all the completions. New Tech coach Tupperware looks like he brought a defense from the unemployment office. Sounds high-scoring, but with 90-percent completion rates, the clock seldom stops. Season maker or breaker for OSU. State last won here when the helmets were leather, the posts were wood, the field was marked with chalk, and students didn't chant obscenities. Tech by 1. Tulane at Tulsa (-17): Fair enough. Tulsa by 14. South Carolina (-6 1/2) at Kentucky: You know how college kids handle success like SC defeating the number one team. For days and nights. Visitors by 7. California at USC (-3): Always viewable when a bully gets taken down. Cal by 3. Texas at Nebraska (-9 1/2): To the numerous so-called experts who think Texas actually has a chance to win this game, we have the following question: What's the matter with you bush leaguers? Nebraska was good last year, it's better this time; Tex has gone the other way. True, the Nebraska quarterback is fresh and throws punts. But the big game is in Lincoln - they'll be atop nearby silos just to see the stadium. Nebraska by 14. Iowa (-4) at Michigan: Mich has to gang tackle a dummy. Iowa by 7. Missouri at the Aggies (-2 1/2): Mo off the radar. The Aggie quarterback throws them off the radar screen. Mo by 3. Ohio State (-6) at Wisky: Show time for Homerstreit and the Game Day cheerleaders who have to pump up Wisconsin to justify the hype. The State QB seems to be trying out for the NFL, and is running less. State by 4. Arkansas at Auburn (-3): Ark readjusts sights for Cotton. Man mountain Auburn quarterback too much. Auburn by 4. Sunday Kansas City at Houston (-5 1/2): KC has it all but a quarterback. Which is like saying that Escalade has it all except for a motor. Houston by 7. San Diego (-5 1/2) at St. Louis: Rams might not score again this season. SD by 7. Baltimore at New England (-3 1/2): Marriage to runway star has Brady posing in the pocket like a male model, locks flying in the breeze. NE by 3. Dallas at Minnesota (-3 1/2): Why do people keep asking what's wrong with Dallas? The answer is simple: it's the quarterback. The Cowboy program is so unstable under Romo, a mere first-round playoff game is celebrated. Romo's interceptions and fumbles seem more tragic than most - they're either going into or out of an end zone. Minnesota by 3. Indianapolis (-4 1/2) at Washington: Neither are scoring machines, they're more like washing machines, with spin cycles about a lack of points at press conferences afterward. Indy by 3. Monday Tennessee (-3) at Jacksonville: Only fantasy footballers and gambling junkies looking to get even will stay this course. The well-balanced viewer will switch to Showtime to see who Dexter is slicing and dicing. Tennessee by 6.
