McMurphy's Picks: Texting Times for All

A recent Nielsen study indicated that the number of text messages being sent is dramatically on the rise, especially among those from 13-17 years old.

According to Nielsen, the average teenager now sends 3,339 texts per month. That's nothing. Brett Favre and Chris Rainey send that many texts weekly. Heck, Kelvin Sampson fired off that many every day while coaching at Indiana and Oklahoma.

Here are a few texts I received recently.

Kentucky wide receiver Randall Cobb: "How do u delete a Tweet?"

Former Minnesota coach Tim Brewster: "Any openings over there at AOL FanHouse?"

Former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer: "You got a number for Minnesota AD Joel Maturi?"

Former North Texas coach Todd Dodge: "Hey, is AOL hiring?"

Fulmer: "You got a number for North Texas AD Rick Villarreal."

Florida wide receiver Chris Rainey: "I want u to die."

Rainey: "Did I just text you? Sorry, my head's hurting. Don't know why I did that. I meant to say 'I want u to diet.' "

Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson: "Got Big East commissioner John Marinatto's cell? The number I have from last year no longer works."

Lenn in New York: "Thanks to your picks going 14-3 two weeks ago, I'm vacationing on the French Riviera for the next month."

Penn State coach Joe Paterno: "How can I get these damn kids off my lawn?"

Onto the weekly picks, found here every Friday. The past four weeks Cover Me" and I are on a 38-23 run against the spread, including 5-1 on our best bets. The fine print: before the season, I was staked an imaginary $5,000 bankroll. Each pick is for $50, except for the $100 best bet. Point spreads from Wednesday's USA Today.

South Florida at Cincinnati, Friday, Best Bet. USF announced Tuesday it will play home games in 2011 against UTEP and Florida A&M. Perhaps by then the Bulls' offense will have found the end zone. Cincinnati -7½.

Duke at Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils' rallying cry for this one: hey, at least we didn't lose to an FCS team this year. That's their only advantage. Virginia Tech -26½.

Michigan State at Northwestern. Michigan State is finally off house arrest and is now allowed to leave the Michigan state line. The Spartans venture to Evanston, Ill., playing their first game this season outside the state. They'll wish they stayed home. Northwestern +5.

Alabama at Tennessee. Recently an unidentified member of Alabama's 2009 national title team put his 2009 Alabama championship ring on sale on the Internet. A Tennessee player might want to consider purchasing it because that's the closest the Vols will come to any type of championship this season. Alabama -16½.

Wyoming at BYU. You would be hard pressed to find a team that's faced a tougher schedule than Wyoming. The Cowboys have already played Texas, Boise State, TCU and Utah. Think they'll be scared of BYU? Wyoming +10.

Florida Atlantic at Arkansas State. Google announced it will make the 2,000-year old Dead Sea Scrolls available on the Internet. I got a sneak peek at them the other day and came across coach Howard Schnellenberger's first pre-game speech. Florida Atlantic +7½.

Fresno State at San Jose State. Fresno State won't compare with some of the Spartans' earlier opponents: Alabama, Wisconsin, Utah, Nevada and Boise State. Then again, the Bulldogs don't have to. Fresno State -19½.

Iowa State at Texas. What do the Cyclones and Longhorns have in common? Not much, but they both won their last trips to Nebraska. The Longhorns are still patting themselves on the back for last week's victory. Iowa State +20½.

Georgia Tech at Clemson. This is a rematch of last year's ACC title game. In the Yellow Jackets' three road games this year, they have edged North Carolina and Wake Forest and lost at Kansas. This one won't be as close. Clemson -6

Nebraska at Oklahoma State. Curious what Nebraska's Warren Buffett and Oklahoma State's T. Boone Pickens are wagering on their respective alma maters. I'm sure it's either a crisp $1 bill a la "Trading Places" or something equal to the gross national product of the Falkland Islands. Oklahoma State +5½ .

Eastern Michigan at Virginia. The Cavaliers don't get to play many games where they actually are expected to win. This is one of them. Virginia -24.

Georgia at Kentucky. Who would have thunk it a couple weeks ago that Georgia would be the team with momentum entering the World's Largest Cocktail Party? The Florida game isn't until next week. This week, Georgia reminds Kentucky's Randall Cobb that he plays for a basketball school. Georgia -3½.

San Diego State at New Mexico, Best Bet. Usually I prefer not to take a team coming off a big upset win, but I'll make an exception with San Diego State. The reason? Just two years ago, the Aztecs lost at New Mexico 70-7. New Mexico won't score 70 points this entire season. San Diego State -23½.

"Cover Me's" Trifecta of Terror: Iowa -5½ vs. Wisconsin, Utah State +3 vs. Hawaii and his best bet: Idaho -23½ vs. New Mexico State.

About last night: On my Twitter page, I took Oregon -24 against UCLA. Don't you wish you followed me now? The Ducks rolled 60-13.

Lock of the Week: Emtek Decorative Brass Deadbolt Rectangular Style double-cylinder.

Last week

McMurphy's picks: 5-6

"Cover Me's" picks: 2-1

Season totals

Bankroll: Up 500 for season; 5,500 left

McMurphy: 38-31; +300 (3-4 best bets)

"Cover Me": 12-10; +200 (2-0 best bets)

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

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