Frank's Forecast #1

All righty, here we go!

We are now officially in the regular season, which means it's time for me to dust off the crystal ball I've had in storage since my time down in St. Marys.

Of course, down there, I was much more familiar with the teams (there being only four in our coverage area). But I'll give high school a shot, plus of course a few good college matchups and the NFL.

As for the picks, I don't do scores, just margins. The odds of picking exact scores are just slightly below those of hitting the Powerball or getting struck by lightning.

Here we go:

HIGH SCHOOL

Jamestown Red Raiders (0-1) at Lancaster Redskins (0-1) — Both teams lost their opener, with the Red Raiders getting shut out and Lancaster losing to Orchard Park. We'll go with the hometown boys — JAMESTOWN By 6

Salamanca (0-1) at Southwestern (1-0) — The Warriors got rolled by Fredonia 33-0, while the two-time defending Class C champs are at 30 wins and counting after thumping Falconer 41-13. — SOUTHWESTERN by 20

Allegany Limestone (1-0) at Falconer (0-1) — As noted above, the Golden Falcons are looking to bounce back. The Gators edged Cassadaga Valley 30-26. A-L won't get five turnovers this week — FALCONER by 7

Randolph (1-0) at Cattaraugus-Little Valley (1-0) — Both won big last week, the Cardinals over Pine Valley (42-14) and the Timberwolves over Forestville (48-8). Defending state champs get the edge, as long as there's no tornadoes — RANDOLPH by 10

Portville (1-0) at Frewsburg (1-0) — More blowouts! The Panthers beat Franklinville 41-8 and Da Bears romped over Ellicottville 52-6. Described as a "huge game" by the Bears coach, I think they'll be up for it — FREWSBURG by 14

Clymer (0-1) at Westfield (1-0) — The Pirates fell in triple OT to Sherman, and Westfield edged Panama 13-12. Betting on similar territory this week — CLYMER by 2

Chautauqua Lake (1-0) at Silver Creek (1-0) — The Thunderbirds rolled over Brocton 57-0, while Silver Creek took down Maple Grove to get some revenge for a playoff loss. Black Knights keep rolling — SILVER CREEK by 14

Fredonia (1-0) at Cassadaga Valley (0-1) — Both played on Saturday. The Cougars rebound if they hold onto the ball — CASS VALLEY by 7

Brocton (0-1) at Sherman (1-0) — Bulldogs trying to come back after a year off. Sherman earned its win last week, gets another this week — SHERMAN by 14

Maple Grove (0-1) at Panama (0-1) — Red Dragons are probably looking to take out some frustrations after last week. — MAPLE GROVE by 21

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COLLEGE

ESPN will have my attention Saturday with three Big Ten matchups.

I am very happy that the Big (Soon To Be Twelve) Ten actually made a sensible decision regarding the lineup once Nebraska joins the club. OSU and that school up north in different divisions, but still playing every year in the last game. All the other important rivalries will be kept in place as well.

San Jose State (0-1) at #11 Wisconsin (1-0) — Badgers roll at home — WISCONSIN by 28

#12 Miami (FL) (1-0) at #2 Ohio State (1-0) — I seem to remember a game a few years back. God, that was a GREAT night (and early morning) As for the current version, both won their "warmups" with no problem and no injuries. The Bucks planted Ken Dorsey and McGahee back in the day. They'll take care of "J12" (Jacory Harris) and company this week, but OT wouldn't surprise me — OHIO STATE by 10

#18 Penn State (1-0) at #1 Alabama (1-0) — Even without Mark Ingram, the Tide will likely pull away from JoePa's gang — ALABAMA by 14

Over on ABC:

Iowa State (1-0) at #9 Iowa (1-0) — Battle for the Cy-Hawk trophy goes to the black and gold — IOWA by 21

#17 Florida State (1-0) at #10 Oklahoma (1-0) — Sooners had a tight one, while FSU played a cupcake. Going with the relative "upset" here — FLORIDA STATE by 10

And on NBC:

Michigan (1-0) at Notre Dame (1-0) — Both played well last week, to my surprise. My two favorite teams are Ohio State and whoever's playing That School Up North — NOTRE DAME by 3

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As for the NFL:

Minnesota at New Orleans — Hey, did you hear Favre is back? — VIKINGS

Detroit at Chicago — Bears aren't that good, but Lions are worse — BEARS

Oakland at Tennessee — Another year of suffering begins in the Bay — TITANS

Miami at Buffalo — Bills fans, at least you only have to memorize one starting time — DOLPHINS

Atlanta at Pittsburgh — Dennis Dixon, your starting quarterback — STEELERS

Denver at Jacksonville — Go with Jones-Drew and company — JAGUARS

Indianapolis at Houston — Peyton and friends roll big — COLTS

Carolina at NY Giants — Big Blue win debut in new home — GIANTS

Cincinnati at New England — Ownes and Ochocinco will have some great celebrations — BENGALS

Cleveland at Tampa Bay — What the heck, we'll pick both Ohio teams — BROWNS

Arizona at St. Louis — Remember when the Rams were acutally good? — CARDINALS

San Francisco at Seattle — No idea, so go with home — SEAHAWKS

Green Bay at Philadelphia — Aaron Rodgers settling in nicely — PACKERS

Dallas at Washington — Be really cool for Cowboys to play SB on home field — COWBOYS

Baltimore at NY Jets — 80,000 drunk NYers make a difference — J-E-T-S

San Diego at Kanas City — Chiefs haven't won this matchup in quite a while — CHARGERS