5-at-10: Winston, Fab 4 picks, SEC items of interest and one-name Rushmore

Welcome back kiddies, it's Thursday and that means the weekend is here.

Remember the mailbag. Good times.

From the "Talks too much" studios, if a whisper from Nathan Bedford Forest to Tree Rollins happens and no one else is there does it make a sound?

photo Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.

Jameis Winston

What was that?

Man, Jameis Winston makes a river of questionable decisions.

The reigning Heisman winner was suspended for the first half of Saturday's ACC showdown with Clemson because he climbed on a table and yelled a hugely profane phrase that has become an interweb trend. The phrase, which was heard by dozens if not hundreds of FSU students, includes the 'F' word and the 'P' word. And, as Forrest says, that's all we got to say about that.

It's his fifth off the field incident that ranges from alleged theft of soda and confirmed theft of crab legs, this offensive attempt at humor to the sexual assault charges and investigation last year.

There is no-doubting Winston's talent. Dude can flat-out play.

This week's antics are a 20-year-old's poor attempt to be funny. It was bad judgment, which 20-year-olds are renowned for.

But the number of poor personal choices is striking. Johnny Football was no where near this much trouble.

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Fab four (times 2) picks

Normally we do a Fab 4 plus 1 picks and let the chips fall where they may.

Last week those chips fell right on our head. We went 2-4 against the number - even with these picks being for entertainment purposes only, it was our worst week since a 1-4 mark in October of last year. It happens and we brave the early successes with the struggles of the day and live to ask for more entertainment opportunities.

This week, as the games trickle by and we continue to learn which teams are worthy and which teams are hollow, we are tempted by a full slate of entertainment chances. Instead of choosing, we doubled the Fab 4 to the Great 8 and added a Thursday night special because we can.

We got back to our roots, too, and leaned toward some familiar trends and traits. We picked on teams with unknown quarterback situations (Utah State, SMU and Vandy), we valued teams who score quickly and can be offensively dominant (Texas A&M, Arkansas and Auburn) and we looked toward known hurdles like travel (La.-Louisiana), time adjustments (Hawaii) and general stinkiness (Southern Miss).

Follow along:

Auburn minus-8 over Kansas State: Auburn is going to score 40 or more in every game it plays until the Iron Bowl. Kansas State believes its ready for a home game against a top-five foe with a full house. But at K-State, a full house is about 50K - or about the same crowd Auburn had for its spring game. Call us a homer if you want, but as long as you show up with checks, you can call us angel in the morning, angel, and we're good.

South Carolina minus-21 over Vandy: There is not a number big enough here. Yes, South Carolina faces a real hangover possibility after a season-altering win over Georgia. But this Vandy team is overmatched at each phase.

Arkansas minus 13.5 over Northern Illinois: The Razorbacks are markedly improved and made a statement in last week's 49-28 win at Texas Tech. Arkansas ran the football on its final 30 snaps. Read that again.

photo Football tile

Missouri minus-13.5 over Indiana: Gary Pinkel may be the most underrated coach in the SEC. Plus, in this time when domestic assault is grabbing national attention and consternation, let's remember that last spring Pinkel dismissed his best player - Dorial Green-Beckham - after he assaulted a female. OK, as for the game, well, Indiana is good at running the football; Missouri has a deep and talented defensive front led by Shane Ray and has forced a turnover in 47 consecutive games.

Texas A&M minus-33 over SMU: Another number that we can't see getting too big. Texas A&M is a top-five national offense with almost 600 yards and more than 54 points per game. SMU is dealing with a new coach and a new starting quarterback. This one screams 65-10.

Boise State minus-17 over Louisiana-LaFayette: Late kickoff. Close to 2,000 miles of travel - and something tells us it will be economy-style - and a Boise State team that is starting to find its stride under a new coaching regime.

App State plus-3 over Southern Miss: We have a warning bell system set up in 5-at-10 compound when a few specific things happen: If someone is running with scissors, is about to go swimming before waiting 30 minutes to eat, and any time Southern Miss or Georgia State are favored to win football games. Yes please.

Colorado minus-7 over Hawaii: Lots of travel. Altitude. A 2 p.m. Eastern kickoff - that's 8 a.m. Hawaii time - and this pick is not about the teams as much as it's about the circumstances. Now that's research folks.

Arkansas State minus-2.5 over Utah State: A confusing line since Utah State is without Chuckie Keeton and Arkansas State is at home. Don't question the unknown, simply accept the opportunity.

Last week against the spread: 2-4

Overall against the spread: 9-8

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SEC items of interest

Here are five things we are looking forward to about this weekend of SEC football:

1) Hottest seat in the league versus the most talked about position

Playing quarterback at Alabama is by definition a spotlight gig. But after a 3-0 start and being ranked among the top 15 passers in the country, you'd think Blake Sims would be getting all-SEC buzz rather than all these "Who is the starting quarterback?" questions. This will be Sims' toughest test of the season. On the other sideline is the hottest chair in the SEC and maybe the country for Will Muschamp, who did little to quash the flames with a triple-overtime survival against Kentucky in the Swamp last week. Muchamp needs a resume-boosting victory, and a nationally televised win at Tuscaloosa would certainly qualify, but the questions and the unrest continue to swirl around a brilliant defensive mind who may be in over his head as the head coach.

2) NFL first-round 2015 vs. NFL first-rounder 2017

Florida defensively is good and defensive end Dante Fowler is legit. He's ranked among the top five defensive ends in the country by draft gurus Mel Kiper and Todd McShay. Alabama true freshman left tackle Cam Robinson will get the task of keeping Fowler out of the backfield.

3) How many Georgia running backs will go for more than 100 yards

photo Georgia's Todd Gurley, right, runs past the reach of Clemson's Tony Steward.

OK, Troy is terrible. Like really bad - like get blitzed at home by UAB bad - and a trip to Athens against a mad Georgia bunch is hardly the tonic for what ails Troy. (Rushmore of Troys? Troy Aikman, Troy McClure from the Simpsons, Troy Tulowitzki and Troy Polamalu maybe.) We know Todd Gurley will get more than 100 yards Saturday - he may need less than five carries to get there (provided offensive coordinator Mike Bobo remembers Gurley is on the field). We think Sony Michel will get there, too. Nick Chubb's time may be limited because of the thumb injury, so here's saying Keith Marshall gets to the 100-yard mark, too. So, like the licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, we'll say three UGA backs top the 100-yard barrier.

4) Will Mississippi State's experience be enough against LSU's talent

The Bulldogs are a complete and salty bunch. Dak Prescott is an experienced difference-maker at quarterback and MSU is underrated across each line of scrimmage. Still, few teams have as much talent 1-through-85 as LSU and fewer still go into Death Valley on a Saturday night and succeed. For the Bulldogs to push through an SEC West that has five of the top-10 teams in the country, they are going to have to upset someone. Could this be it? Intriguing, no?

5) Run, Arkansas, Run

Not since Forrest Gump or the FXX decision to run every Simpson - they've been on TV since 1989 for crying out loud - has there been a never-ending fun run like the Hogs put on Texas Tech last week. Arkansas went for 438 yards against the Raiders on a hot-tub-worthy 68 carries. Arkansas ranks third with an average of 362 rushing yards a game and is averaging 7.9 per carry. Wow. Saturday's foe Northern Illinois averages 325.3 rushing yards a game - which ranks third in the country. Let's set the total rushing over/under at 500 and this game may take like an hour and a half.

This and that

photo AT&T Field is the home stadium of the Chattanooga Lookouts.

- In honor of the Florida-Alabama game, we thought we'd rerun this oldie but a goodie. This is Rolling Tide.

- Hey the Braves won. Who knew that was even and option. Best part of the Braves season may be finding the potential of Alex Wood. Good stuff. Wood went six innings, allowing one run and fanned eight. He now has 10 consecutive quality starts and an ERA down to 2.78, which ranks seventh in the NL and 12th in all of baseball.

- Hey, the Twins are coming to Chattanooga, but you know that because David Paschall had the scoop in the TFP.

- Enjoy the off week UT and UTC fans. Reintroduce yourself to the family and such.

- Another day, another NFL player of domestic assault. Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer, who grew up in Cobb County and went to Georgia Tech, was arrested last night. He was deactivated from the roster this morning. Man, crazy times, no?

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Today's question(s)

We have two - a serious one and a Rushmore:

photo Jameis Winston talks to reporters Friday, Dec. 13, 2013, in New York.

Should Jameis Winston be kicked off the team? Go.

As for the other, well, let's give this a shot. Today's birthdays reminded us of a great Rushmore we had last year about actors that will forever be linked to one role. James Gandolfini would have been 53 today, and he will forever be recalled as Tony Soprano - whether he was in a role before or after The Sopranos.

Two other sports-related birthdays today have Rushmore possibilities. Lance Armstrong is 43 today, but with all the sports grossness around, let's let that steroid dog lie (see what we did there, Spy?).

Soccer icon Ronaldo is 38 today, and we wondered if he was on the one-name sports Rushmore? Pele's there. So is Tiger. Who you got?

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