I have no idea what's going on with the Experts' win-loss records. They sure seem to fluctuate.

I did have the top record for Week 3 with a 13-7 showing, but I'm more embarrassed by my 0-3 performance in my top plays. I guess after a 5-1 start, I was due to take a hit.

After Week 3, Jerry Hinnen's 38-22 leads the Expert standings. Dennis Dodd and I are tied at 35-25, followed by Chip Patterson's 34-26, Brett McMurphy's 33-27, Bruce Feldman's 32-28, Tom Fornelli's 29-31 and Adam Jacobi's 28-32.

On to Week 4

SATURDAY
At No. 25 Georgia Tech -5.5 vs. North Carolina
San Diego State +8.5 at No. 22 Michigan
At No. 21 Clemson +3.5 vs. No. 11 Florida State
No. 13 Virginia Tech -19.5 at Marshall
No. 14 Arkansas +12.5 at No. 3 Alabama

Western Michigan +14.5 vs. No. 24 Illinois
No. 7 Oklahoma State +3.5 at No. 8 Texas A&M
No. 15 Florida -17.5 at Kentucky
Vanderbilt +16.5 at No. 12 South Carolina
At No. 18 South Florida -27.5 vs. UTEP

At No. 17 Baylor -19.5 vs. Rice
At Wyoming +23.5 vs. No. 9 Nebraska
At No. 16 West Virginia +6.5 vs. No. 2 LSU
Missouri +21.5 at No. 1 Oklahoma
Tulsa +29.5 at No. 4 Boise State

No. 23 USC +2.5 at Arizona State
No. 10 Oregon -15.5 at Arizona +15.5

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TOP HANDICAP PLAYS (All games Saturday)
Tulane +10 at Duke
Kansas State +12.5 at Miami
OVER 43 Florida at Kentucky

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WEEK 3 HANDICAPPING (0-3 last week; 5-4 overall)
The three losses:
Toledo +20 in an 40-15 loss to Boise State
Nevada -6.5 in only a 17-14 win at San Jose State
OVER of 51.5 in Notre Dame 31, Michigan State 13

Great finish to the college football season last night.

Again, I'd like to point out my comment from my Week 2 picks on Sept. 9:
"No. 21 Auburn over Mississippi State (Tigers my sleeper of the year)"

And of course -- well not really, based on my season record -- I picked Auburn to win last night. Dodd was the only expert to do so (maybe all the experts except for Chip Patterson should be replaced next season).

I was completely wrong on the high-score prediction. I had a feeling it would be low scoring heading into the game, but much easier to say after the fact. Hope no one got burnt on playing the over.

FINAL Expert Picks standings
Bowls: Patterson 22-13, Jacobi 19-16, Darst 18-17, me 18-17, Dodd 18-17 & Horowitz 17-18
Overall: Patterson 258-81, Darst 252-87, me 248-91, Dodd 245-94, Jacobi 244-95 & Horowitz 239-100

Underdog moneyline strategy
Had you followed this theory, you would have been ahead 112.8 units. And to think it started out 0-5.

Remember I said not to play any games of this theory after Dec. 31 (No underdogs won outright after this date). But if you want to know the final tally for all the bowls, here you go:

Underdog moneyline strategy
0-1/-10: New Mexico: BYU wins as FAV vs. UTEP (+320)
0-2/-10/Total -20: Humanitarian: Northern Illinois wins as FAV vs. Fresno State (+111)
0-3/-10/Total -30: New Orleans: Troy wins as FAV vs. Ohio (+110)
0-4/-10/Total -40: Beef O’Brady’s: Louisville wins as FAV vs. So. Miss (+120)
0-5/-10/Total -50: Poinsettia: San Diego St. wins as FAV vs. Navy (+130)
DNP: Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State wins as FAV vs. Utah (+550)
1-5/+31/Total -19: Hawaii: Tulsa (+310) wins as DOG vs. Hawaii
DNP:  Little Caesars: FIU opened as DOG, wins as FAV vs. Toledo
1-6/-10/Total -29: Independence: Air Force wins as FAV vs. Ga. Tech (+125)
2-6/+13/Total -16: Champs Sports: N.C. State (+130) wins as DOG vs. West Virginia
3-6/+13/Total -3: Insight: Iowa (+130) wins as DOG vs. Missouri
3-7/-10/Total -13: Military: Maryland wins as FAV vs. East Carolina (+270)
DNP: Texas: Illinois opens as DOG, wins as FAV vs. Baylor
3-8/-10/Total -23: Alamo: Oklahoma State wins as FAV vs. Arizona (+170)
4-8/+25/Total: +2: Armed Forces: Army (+250) wins as DOG vs. SMU
5-8/+10.3/Total +12.3: Pinstripe: Syracuse (+103) wins as DOG vs. Kansas State
DNP: Music City: North Carolina wins as PICK vs. Tennessee
6-8/+39/Total +51.3: Holiday: Washington (+390) wins as DOG vs. Nebraska
7-8/+17/Total +68.3: Meineke Car Care: South Florida (+170) wins as DOG vs. Clemson
8-8/+11.5/Total +79.8: Sun: Notre Dame (+115) wins as DOG vs. Miami
9-8/+21/Total +100.8: Liberty: UCF (+210) wins as DOG vs. Georgia
10-8/+12/Total +112.8: Chick-Fil-A: FSU (+120) wins as DOG vs. South Carolina
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10-9/-10/+92.8: TicketCity: Texas Tech wins as FAV vs. Northwestern (+250)
10-10/-10/+82.8: Outback: Florida wins as FAV vs. Penn State (+210)
10-11/-10/+72.8: Capital One: Alabama wins as FAV vs. Michigan State (+250)
10-12/-10/+62.8: Gator: Mississippi State wins as FAV vs. Michigan (+145)
10-13/-10/+52.8: Rose: TCU wins as FAV vs. Wisconsin (+130)
10-14/-10/+42.8: Fiesta: Oklahoma wins as FAV vs. Connecticut (+520)
10-15/-10/+32.8: Orange: Stanford wins as FAV vs. Virginia Tech (+155)
10-16/-10/+22.8: Sugar: Ohio State wins as FAV vs. Arkansas (+130)
DNP: Go Daddy.com: Miami (Oh) opens as FAV, wins as DOG vs. Middle Tennessee State
10-17/-10/+12.8: Cotton: LSU wins as FAV vs. Texas A&M (+110)
10-18/-10/+2.8: BBVA Compass: Pittsburgh wins as FAV vs. Kentucky (+165)
10-19/-10/-7.2: Fight Hunger: Nevada wins as FAV vs. Boston College (+250)
DNP: Title game: Auburn opens as FAV, wins as PICK vs. Oregon

Thanks to those who often checked in. I was stunned to see each weekly blog received over 1,000 views and the Bowls pix blog received over 17,000 views. Maybe some of you were checking in to see who not to bet on, but I hoped some of the information helped.

Enjoy the offseason -- and feel free to check out CBSSports.com's baseball coverage through the year as that is my primary job here.

JR

Are you ready for the Bowl Season? First kickoff is less than 16 hours away.

Even though I failed to defend my regular-season title among the experts, I look to bounce back with my bowl picks … but I have always struggled this time of year. You never know what team will show up; if a team is so bummed it's not playing in a bigger bowl (See Alabama) and isn't as focused as it should be.

But below, I'm making my picks anyway. More importantly, I'd like to point out my underdog moneyline strategy, which I will keep an updated scorecard for on the comment part of this blog.

The idea: Play the moneyline on the underdog for every bowl through Dec. 30. In the picks below, I list the moneyline in parentheses from scoresandodds.com.

Ex: BYU over UTEP (+320) means, even though I'm picking BYU to win to help my standings vs. the experts, I'm suggesting to play UTEP at +320 to win outright. I will keep records for my picks and the underdog moneylines for all the games. But I don't like the underdog moneylines after Dec. 30.

Some games won't have a +moneyline next to it, because there isn't one if the game is virtually a pick 'em.

Before getting to my winners below, a quick reminder of the Expert Picks regular-season standings: Chip Patterson 236-68, Darst 234-70, me 230-74, Dodd 2227-77, Jacobi 225-79 & Horowitz 222-82.

HANDICAPPING
As for my regular-season suggestions, I finished 19-23-1. I know, not good, but we'll get three of them back on Day 1 as I like the lines on all three games (UTEP +11½, Northern Illinois -1½ & Ohio +2).

There are a total of seven games I like. Add Central Florida +6½, Michigan State +9½, TCU-Wisconsin over of 58½ and Kentucky +3½.

If there are any more that pop up, I'll post on the comment board of this blog.

Good luck and have a happy holiday & bowl season.

THE WINNERS
SATURDAY, DEC. 18
New Mexico:  BYU over UTEP (+320) – Take the 11½ points
Humanitarian: Northern Illinois over Fresno State (+114) – Lay the 1½ 
New Orleans: Ohio (+110) over Troy – Take the 2 points

TUESDAY, DEC. 21
Beef O'Brady's:  Southern Mississippi (+120) over Louisville

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 22
Maaco: Boise State over Utah (+485) 

THURSDAY, DEC. 23
Poinsettia: San Diego State over Navy (+165)

FRIDAY, DEC. 24
Hawaii: Hawaii over Tulsa (+305)

SUNDAY, DEC. 26
Little Caesars: Florida International (+108) over Toledo

MONDAY, DEC. 27
Independence: Air Force over Georgia Tech (+125)

TUESDAY, DEC. 28
Champs Sports: West Virginia over North Carolina State (+125)
Insight: Missouri over Iowa (+108)

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 29
Military: East Carolina (+240) over Maryland
Texas: Baylor over Illinois (+110)
Alamo: Arizona (+175) over Oklahoma State

THURSDAY, DEC. 30
Armed Forces: SMU over Army (+250)
Pinstripe: Kansas State over Syracuse
Music City: Tennessee (+110) over North Carolina
Holiday: Nebraska over Washington (+400)

FRIDAY, DEC. 31
Meineke Car Care: Clemson over South Florida (+170)
Sun: Notre Dame (+125) over Miami
Liberty: Georgia over Central Florida (+210) – Take the 6½ points
Chick-Fil-A: South Carolina over Florida State (+135)

SATURDAY, JAN. 1, 2011
TicketCity: Texas Tech over Northwestern (+300)
Outback: Florida over Penn State (+250)
Capital One: Alabama over Michigan State (+310) – Take the 9½ points
Gator: Mississippi State over Michigan (+170)
Rose: Wisconsin 36 (+120), TCU 28 – Play the over of 58½
Fiesta: Oklahoma 42, Connecticut 13 (+475)

MONDAY, JAN. 3
Orange: Stanford 38, Virginia Tech 30 (+140)

TUESDAY, JAN. 4
Sugar: Ohio State 31, Arkansas 24 (+145)

THURSDAY, JAN. 6
Go Daddy.com: Miami of Ohio over Middle Tennessee State

FRIDAY, JAN. 7
Cotton: LSU over Texas A&M (+101)

SATURDAY, JAN. 8
BBVA Compass: Kentucky (+145) over Pittsburgh – Take the 3½ points

SUNDAY, JAN. 9
Fight Hunger: Nevada over Boston College (+310)

MONDAY, JAN. 10
BCS title game: Auburn 43, Oregon 38 (+135)

I went 14-7 in Week 10. I know. Not good. Not good at all.

I lost (bad) on Utah over TCU. The Horned Frogs have proved to me they’re one of the best teams in the country. I lost on Alabama (to LSU), Oklahoma (to Texas A&M), Missouri (to Texas Tech), South Carolina (to Arkansas), Florida State (to North Carolina) and Texas (to Kansas State).

Against the Experts, I remain three back of Chip Patterson (177-48 overall), while Darst was the big mover of the week, going 16-5 and tying me with an overall mark of 174-51 The rest: Jacobi 170-55, Dodd 166-59 & Horowitz 160-65.

On to Week 10

FRIDAY
No. 4 Boise State over Idaho (Play the over of 63)

SATURDAY
No. 1 Oregon over California
Georgia 31, No. 2 Auburn 30 (Newton news will be a big enough distraction)
No. 3 TCU over San Diego State (Lay the 26.5)
No. 5 LSU over Louisiana-Monroe (Take the 32.5)
No. 6 Wisconsin over Indiana

Arizona State 38, No. 7 Stanford 31
No. 8 Ohio State over Penn State
No. 9 Nebraska over Kansas (Play the over of 61)
No. 11 Alabama 31, No. 17 Mississippi State 10
No. 12 Oklahoma State over Texas

No. 13 Iowa 33, Northwestern 27
No. 14 Arkansas over UTEP
No. 15 Utah 32, Notre Dame 23
No. 16 Virginia Tech 23, North Carolina 20
No. 18 Arizona over Southern Cal

No. 19 Oklahoma over Texas Tech
No. 20 Missouri over Kansas State
No. 21 Nevada over Fresno State (Play the over of 68.5)
No. 25 Florida 31, No. 22 South Carolina 21
Baylor 40, No. 23 Texas A&M 37 (Take the 3)
No. 25 UCF over Southern Miss

Rutgers over Syracuse (Take 3)
Georgia Tech over Miami (Take 3)
Tulsa over Houston (Enjoy watching the over of 76, but not a suggested play)

WEEK 10 HANDICAPPING ROUNDUP (1-4)
My deepest apologies … and glad I wasn’t in Vegas.

I thought for sure Oklahoma (closed at -5) would trounce Texas A&M. Guess not as Sooners lost 33-19. I liked Nebraska (closed at -6) over Texas Tech, which won 24-17.

Lost on unders of TCU 47, Utah 7 (closed at 51½) & Oklahoma State 55, Baylor 28 (closed at 72½ -- OK State led 24-0 at the half; Doh!).

My one correct pick was North Carolina +10½ at FSU. The Heels won 37-35.

Let's see how my eight suggested plays fare this week.

I went 16-5 in Week 9, but it will go down as 15-5 since the experts didn't pick last Tuesday's obvious Boise State win over La. Tech.

That makes me 160-44 on the season. I'm now three games back of Chip Patterson, who went 17-3.

Overall standings:  Chip 163-41, me 160-44, Darst 158-46, Jacobi 157-47, Dodd 153-51 & Horowitz 147-57.

I lost on USC (to Oregon), FSU (to N.C. State), Miami (to Virginia), Texas (to Baylor) and Georgia (to Florida).

Now to Week 10's picks

THURSDAY
No. 20 Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech

SATURDAY
No. 1 Oregon over Washington
No. 2 Boise State over Hawaii
No. 3 Auburn over Chattanooga (Total joke of scheduling)
No. 6 Utah 20, No. 4 TCU 17 (Play the under of 52)
No. 5 Alabama 24, No. 12 LSU 16

No. 7 Wisconsin over Purdue
No. 9 Nebraska over Iowa State
No. 10 Stanford 35, No. 13 Arizona 27
No. 11 Oklahoma over Texas A&M (Lay the 3 points – the line should be 10-plus)
No. 14 Missouri over Texas Tech (Lay the 4 points)

No. 15 Iowa over Indiana
No. 16 Michigan State over Minnesota
South Carolina 31, No. 17 Arkansas 27
No. 19 Oklahoma State 38, No. 22 Baylor 33 (Play the under of 73)
Clemson over No. 23 N.C. State

No. 24 Florida State over North Carolina (Take the 10½ points)
No. 25 Nevada over Idaho

Michigan over Illinois
Air Force over Army
Texas over Kansas State

WEEK 9 HANDICAPPING (0-1)
I suggested the over in Nebraska 31, Missouri 17 (closed at 55½).
Sorry. Can't win 'em all ... but notice, I have five suggestions with the big play on the Sooners.

Wow, did I get my butt kicked in Week 7. I apologize for posting such garbage on here this past week. I went 14-10 – and this was picking games straight up! Uggggh. I guess we’re all allowed to have a bad week, but this was just brutal.

The 14-10 showing makes me 128-34 on the season. The so-called experts are led by Darst, Dodd & Chip at 127-33.

I need to get back on track, so on to Week 8.

THURSDAY
No. 1 Oregon 41, UCLA 23

SATURDAY
No. 3 Oklahoma 33, No. 18 Missouri 28
No. 4 TCU over Air Force
No. 5 Auburn 32, No. 6 LSU 27
No. 7 Alabama over Tennessee
Northwestern over No. 8 Michigan State (Play the over of 53)

No. 9 Utah over Colorado State
No. 13 Iowa 27, No. 10 Wisconsin 20
No. 11 Ohio State over Purdue (Lay the 23.5)
No. 12 Stanford over Washington State (Play the over of 63.5)
No. 14 Nebraska 45, No. 17 Oklahoma State 40 (Play the over of 60)

No. 15 Arizona over Washington
No. 19 South Carolina over Vanderbilt
No. 20 West Virginia over Syracuse
No. 21 Arkansas over Mississippi
No. 22 Texas over Iowa State

No. 23 Virginia Tech over Duke
No. 24 Mississippi State over UAB
No. 25 Miami over North Carolina

Clemson over Georgia Tech
Texas Tech over Colorado
Georgia over Kentucky

WEEK 7 RECAP (14-10)
Losses  on Ohio State (to Wisconsin; yea, I predicted OSU 33-16. Ouch!), Nebraska (to Texas), South Carolina (to Kentucky), Nevada (to Hawaii), Texas Tech (to Oklahoma State), Texas A&M (to Mizzou),  Florida (to Mississippi State), Air Force (to San Diego State), N.C. State (to East Carolina) & Syracuse (to Pitt)

Handicapping: I was 1-2 on my strong plays; I was correct on the over (closed at 54.5) in Iowa 38, Michigan 28, but missed on the over (closed at 48.5) on TCU 31, BYU 3 & was wrong on taking Florida -9.5 in a 10-7 loss to Mississippi State.

In my small plays, I went 1-1, liking the under (closed at 75.5) in Hawaii 27, Nevada 21 & suggesting the over (closed at 50) in Purdue (28-17).

So I even sucked here after nailing six in a row over the previous two weeks.

Dropped three games last week, going 15-3. That makes me 97-19 on the season, remaining tied with J. Darin Darst; Chip Patterson goes 16-2 last week to join us. Meanwhile, CBSSports.com Senior Writer Dennis Dodd still leads among the so-called experts, but he lost five games last week to fall to 98-18.

It's only a matter of time till I go sprinting past these guys – starting with my upset special in Columbia, S.C.

My Week 6 picks

THURSDAY
No. 7 Nebraska 35, Kansas State 23

FRIDAY
No. 22 Oklahoma State over La.-Lafayette

SATURDAY
No. 19 South Carolina 20, No. 1 Alabama 17
No. 2 Ohio State over Indiana
No. 3 Oregon over Washington State
No. 4 Boise State over Toledo
No. 5 TCU over Wyoming

No. 8 Auburn over Kentucky
No. 9 Arizona over Oregon State
No. 10 Utah over Iowa State
Texas A&M over No. 11 Arkansas
No. 14 Florida 17, No. 12 LSU 16 (Yep, I'm predicting a Tigers safety)

No. 13 Miami 30, No. 23 Florida State 24
No. 16 Stanford over USC
No. 18 Michigan 35, No. 17 Michigan State 33
No. 20 Wisconsin over Minnesota (22 points? Too many for this rivaly. Take it)
No. 21 Nevada over San Jose State

No. 24 Missouri over Colorado
No. 25 Air Force over Colorado State

Georgia over Tennessee
North Carolina over Clemson
Cal over UCLA

WEEK 5 RECAP (15-3)
Lost on USC to Washington (Trojan fans can't be too happy), N.C. State to Va. Tech (I did say take the 4 points) & Boston College to Notre Dame (I said take the 3 points).

As for the handicapping, I was on fire last week, going 5-0!!! (Why wasn’t I in Vegas???): I suggested taking the points with the Hokies & Irish mentioned above and I hit the overs in Oklahoma-Texas, MSU-Wisconsin & Michigan-IU. Unfortunately, there weren’t many things that caught my eye for Week 6, only liking the 22 points in Minnesota-Wisconsin.