Brett McMurphy's Weekly Picks: Song Remains Same for West Virginia

TCU coach Gary Patterson was so upset last weekend that ESPN's Lee Corso predicted the Horned Frogs would lose to Oregon State by three touchdowns that Patterson texted ESPN personnel to voice his displeasure.

Seriously? Patterson was upset a member of the media provided his team with great bulletin board material? Corso did Patterson a huge favor. To quote Kenny Bania: "That's gold, Jerry. Gold!"

More like 24-carat gold.

Patterson should have sent Corso roses and a thank you card for providing his Horned Frogs some of that good, old fashion "us against the world/prove the media wrong" motivation.

Heck, when Florida coach Urban Meyer heard last week his Gators were my best bet to beat Miami (Ohio) by five touchdowns, he promptly told his team to prove me wrong. And, 13 bad center snaps later, boy did the Gators do that, stumbling to a 22-point win.

I don't know about Corso, but to escape the wrath of Patterson this week, I, for one, am picking TCU to win. And win big in its home opener against Tennessee Tech, which lost a 44-3 nail biter at Arkansas last week. Go ahead Frogs, try and prove me wrong.

Reminder: this is for entertainment -- or a poor attempt at entertainment -- purposes. Before the season, I was staked an imaginary $5,000 bankroll. Each pick is for $50, except for (let's hope it's) a $100 best bet. Point spreads from Wednesday's USA Today. Onto the picks:

West Virginia at Marshall, Friday: When West Virginia played Kentucky for a spot in the Final Four last March, Bill Stewart and his family watched the game at Broadway Louie's, a sports bar in Myrtle Beach, S.C. When the Mountaineers won, WVU's football coach took the stage and led the crowd in a rousing rendition of "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Tonight, the Mountaineers visit Marshall in the Friends of Coal Bowl. The Thundering Herd is coached by WVU alum and former WVU assistant Doc Holliday, so he knows exactly what to expect. WVU has won all nine meetings by an average of 33 points. Start warming up the vocal chords, Stew: the song remains the same. West Virginia -13.

San Jose State at Wisconsin: Hopefully when San Jose State first-year coach Mike MacIntyre signed his contract, he included a clause to receive a percentage of the buyouts the Spartans get for their ridiculous road schedule. The Spartans received $1 million last week for their 48-3 loss at Alabama and will take home $825,000 for Saturday's visit to Wisconsin. MacIntyre shouldn't be too shell-shocked by the carnage he sees in Madison. After all, he was Duke's defensive coordinator the past two seasons. Come to think of it, he's probably seen worse. Wisconsin -38.

Michigan State vs. Florida Atlantic in Detroit: Ahh, remember the old tradition-rich days of the Big Ten? Only 10 members? Three yards and a cloud of dust? Teams actually playing their games on campus? Welcome to the new Big Ten: 11 (soon to be 12) members, three yards and a FieldTurf burn and teams playing in NFL stadiums. Indiana and Penn State will play later this year at FedEx Field and Saturday, Michigan State plays Florida Atlantic at Detroit's Ford Field. Despite the break in tradition, here's some long-standing Michigan State tradition: the Spartans usually keep it closer than expected the week before playing Notre Dame. FAU +28½.

South Florida at Florida: When this game was scheduled nearly 10 years ago, Florida originally was going to pay USF $500,000. However, the Gators instead agreed to pay USF $700,000, supposedly because it's more in line with current guarantee game payouts. In reality, though, UF paid USF the extra $200,000 after the Bulls agreed not to bother UF center Mike Pouncey when he's snapping the football. Florida -15.

LSU at Vanderbilt. When LSU coach Les Miles heard about the rash of staph infections at Tennessee, he couldn't believe how that occurred. Miles has never gotten a staph infection in his life, mainly because whenever he showers, he always wears his LSU hat. Vanderbilt +10.

Virginia at USC: Against Hawaii, USC coach Lane Kiffin opted to go for two points after each of the Trojans' first three touchdowns. So how can Kiffin top that in his first home game as the Trojans' head coach? Attempt an onside kick to start the second half with the Trojans up 21? Leave quarterback Matt Barkley in until he passes for more than 500 yards? Keep throwing deep into the end zone late into the fourth quarter? Actually, I'm counting on all of the above. USC -19½.

Rice at North Texas (best bet): Other than being the alma mater of Mean Joe Green, North Texas' football program is best known for being one of the locations from the movie "Necessary Roughness." Scott Bakula, Sinbad and SI swimsuit model Kathy Ireland were among the cast in the 1991 "comedy" about the green and white "Fightin' Armadillos." Perhaps it was appropriate parts of the comedy were filmed in Denton because North Texas' program since then -- except for Sun Belt titles from 2001-04 -- has basically been a big joke. Two years ago, Rice routed the Mean Green 77-20. This time the joke is on the Owls. North Texas -2½ .

"Cover Me's" Trifecta of Terror: After a surprisingly rough opening week for "Cover Me," my poorly named unidentified acquaintance, he promises he won't/can't do any worse this week. His picks: Alabama (-11½) vs. Penn State, Texas A&M (-19½) vs. Louisiana Tech and Florida State (+8) at Oklahoma.

Lock of the week: Kwikset 980 Series deadbolt, Venetian Bronze

Last Week

McMurphy's picks: 5-2-1 (best bets 0-1)

"Cover Me": 0-3

Season

Total bankroll: Down 80; 4,920 left

McMurphy's picks: 5-2-1; +85

"Cover Me": 0-3; -165

Brett McMurphy is a national college football writer for FanHouse. Contact him at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com or please follow him on Twitter.com/BrettmcmurphY