Utah and USC were the only real teams from the region in action tonight and they both did well enough for themselves in the opening night of the 2010 season.

USC just finished using a surprisingly diverse and always talented offense to outrun Hawaii and Utah scored a major upset of (15) Pitt.

The big storyline out of the latter game will be Kyle Wittingham and his (mis)use of two timeouts and the end of regulation. I thought going into the game that Pitt breaking in a new QB on the road would be too much to overcome and in the end, it was Sunseri getting intercepted in overtime that sealed Pitt’s fate.

Utah has some real playmakers in Wide, Brooks, and Shaky Smithson.

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So, I recently discovered a 100% legal, free “gambling” website called Cent Sports.  Basically, the website will give you a starting budget of 10 cents for free and you can gamble it on any sports game you would like. If you get on a hot streak and build a bankroll, you can cash out and receive a check in the mail.  If you go broke and lose all of your money, Cent Sports will always give you another 10 cents to start with again.    So there’s no risk in losing money and potential to actually make real money.  Um, can I say AWESOME?

How does the website get away with this?  Well, the website generates enough traffic to make profit off of ads.  Most people that make picks on the site don’t make much money, instead using the website for fun.  Plus, it isn’t technically a gambling site because you are not allowed to add any of your own money.  The website itself has been reviewed by many different people and received good reviews.  It’s 100% legit.

I decided to post my picks for Cent Sports each Friday and track how my picks perform over the course of the season.  I’ll do some decent research and explain to the fellow readers my reasoning for my weekly picks.  If I actually do win some money off of this website, I’ll think of something fun to do with it.

FYI:  Click here to sign up for Cent Sports and make your picks

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So we’re slowly but surely coming to the end of NFL training camp and thus, Hard Knocks. I don’t think anyone is complaining.

This has been by far and away the most disappointing and boring season of the series to date. It seems all the success of the series has made HBO incredibly complacent. In the past they really focused on finding intriguing story lines. There were camp position battles, longshot rookies, and the token seasoned veteran either coming back from injury or just trying to hang on to a roster spot for another year. This season there’s been some of that, but if anything, HBO has been relying on a steady stream of Rex Ryan soundbites and Mark Sanchez brain farts to carry each episode and frankly, it’s just not working for me anymore.

The HBO series is beginning to ironically parallel this 2010 Jets team. They found a little success and got caught up in their own hype and at some point they will have to come face to face with the consequences of their actions or lack thereof.

A month ago the Jets were anyone and everyones favorite to win the AFC, including me. But what this series has revealed, is that the Jets are incredibly flawed and overrated.

One, they have a starting quarterback that had a 62 QB rating last season and thinks he’s a superstar. Two, their defense carried them a season ago and their best defensive player, Darrelle Revis, might not even play this season. Three, no one had high expectations for them last season and they sneaked in the playoffs and upset a few teams. Hats off to them on what they accomplished, but as well all know, it’s much easier to overachieve than to try and live up to high expectations, which they now have this year.

It’s funny how many people are backtracking on the Jets now, including me. I mean has a professional sports team ever fallen out of contention this fast without even playing a game!?

After seeing what I’ve seen, I don’t know how they will possibly finish with a winning record. If they do, it will be solely because of the defense.

There’s no running diary this week because frankly there wasn’t anything interesting enough to write about. Next week is the last week. Let’s hope the Jets and Hard Knocks get their acts together before it’s too late.

“Now let’s go eat our God damn snack!” Thanks Rex.

(15) Pitt @ Utah, Thurs. 5 PT, Versus: Dion Lewis is an explosive runner and Utah lost their top four tacklers from 2009. Uh-oh. But the Panthers will be playing two new starters at CB and three on the offensive line. This game also jumps out because of the fact Pitt seems ranked a bit high at fifteen and Utah probably isn’t getting the credit they deserve. Can Jordan Wynn continue the success he had in the Poinsettia Bowl against Cal? Pitt won’t have enough around new starting QB Tino Sunseri. Utah and The Muss celebrate: 27-19

Kevin Prince might be able to go after against K-State

UCLA @ Kansas State, Sat. 12:30 PT, ABC: Word now is that Kevin Prince may be able to go this weekend after all. If Prince plays and is 100%, the Bruins chances are greatly increased. K-State will look to pound the UCLA defense with Daniel Thomas and without Brian Price in the middle they could have success. UCLA has legitimate questions at every position on the offense including Prince’s health, and the running backs especially need to be much better than they were as freshman. Kansas State gets it done in the Little Apple: 24-18

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San Diego is hoping rookie Ryan Matthews can bring some balance back to the Chargers offense. Photo: CBS.com

Unfortunately for us on the left coast, the AFC and NFC West are the worst divisions in the NFL. But it also means that there are opportunities for anyone to catch fire and sneak into the playoffs. Today I preview the AFC West, home of the west coast’s best team, the San Diego Chargers. Make sure to check out my past entries previewing the NFC East and AFC South.

San Diego Chargers

Projected Record 12-4

For the past two years the Chargers have slowly evolved into a pass-first offense. That figures to change this year. Now they have fresh legs in the backfield with rookie Ryan Matthews and their star receiver Vincent Jackson’s future is unsure, which could return the Chargers to a run-first mentality with the ball.

The Chargers defense isn’t scaring anyone anymore. Their staple space-filler up front, Jamal Williams, is now in Denver and outside linebackers Shaun Phillips and Shawne Merriman are coming off less than stellar seasons. In the secondary, they gladly traded Antonio Cromartie to the Jets. Former first round pick Antoine Cason will take over A-Cro’s spot opposite Quentin Jammer. Overall the defense still has plenty of quality players; some of them just need to live up to their potential.

Philip Rivers topped 4,000 yards for the second straight season last year, but he will need either Malcolm Floyd or former Bill Josh Reed to step up to keep the Bolt’s air attack threatening. Vincent Jackson established himself as one of the best deep threats in the league last year and now he wants to be paid like it, but I don’t expect GM A.J. Smith to budge, meaning Jackson could be holding out for a long time. The rookie Matthews is an upgrade over the aging LaDainian Tomlinson in the backfield and is many writers’ preseason pick for offensive rookie of the year.

The Chargers are clearly the best team in a very bad division and with the AFC West playing the NFC West this season, the Bolts win total should be in double digits as they make the playoffs for the fifth straight year. The big question with the Chargers always is… Can they win the big game? Rivers has a 3-4 career playoff record and needs to take the Bolts deep in order to become an elite quarterback. more…

5. Kiffins Debut- No that is NOT a typo.

Both Lane and Monte Kiffin will debut in their new roles with the Trojans when the play Hawaii (8 PT ESPN). There is no doubt the discrepancy in talent will keep the Trojans constantly in control of the game. What I will be watching is how and if their attitude and body language changes when things go south.

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When the Oregon offense takes the field a week from today against New Mexico in Autzen Stadium it will feature Darron Thomas at quarterback. Coach Chip Kelly chose Thomas after a hard fought battle with Nate Costa that lasted throughout camp. The upside for Oregon this year and in the future is huge. The implications for Thomas this year and in his future are also enormous. Some of my initial thoughts on the choice…

Thomas and the Ducks face lofty expectations in 2010

• The coaches decided Thomas has enough now to beat the team they are playing now, New Mexico.
• The “competition” seemed more about Nate Costa needing to prove he either has improved or has the potential to do so this season.
• What Thomas can do for the Ducks in 2011 absolutely did not factor into this choice, but what he can do for them at the end of 2010 did.
• They also aren’t naive. They know the schedule and have studied the teams on the schedule this year and must believe Thomas has shown the ability to improve at a pace that will allow he and the team to peak at the right time.
• I wrote a piece when Jeremiah Masoli was suspended for the year called “The Dawn of the Darron Thomas Era”; that Costa might start was more of an aside to Thomas taking over the job and the start of a career that on the surface looks to have endless potential.
• Jeff Maehl made the point in the Oregonian that in his eyes, the competition is not over and that Thomas would be pushed all season by Costa, bringing out the best in him, I think he already has.

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What’s good, Left Coast?  TO may be the better hoopster, but Ochocinco’s “Ultimate Catch” appears to be Antoine Walker’s ex-wife.  Here’s the Saturday Sac-up!

PGA Tour: With Tiger & Elin officially divorced, it appears Tiger has re-focused his attention to his golf game shooting an opening round 65 on Thursday at the Barclays.  Sure, he shot 73 on Friday, but he goes into the weekend only four shots behind Jason Day, the tournament’s leader at eight strokes under-par.  Phil Mickelson missed the cut (yay!) after shooting two above-par rounds.  Sound Sound-product Ryan Moore also failed to make this weekend’s cut.

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Follow the manifesto, or you'll end up with the last place trophy like my cousin did

This weekend is the time of year most people (myself included) are conducting their fantasy football drafts.  Everyone has different strategies as to how to handle the draft.  Whether it’s making tiers of players at positions, strictly relying on a cheat sheet to take the best player available, using a position drafting strategy like RB/RB in the 1st 2 round no matter what, or just taking players you like to root for, there’s tons of ways to approach it.

I personally get somewhat overwhelmed with the amount of players to choose from.  I always feel like I can talk myself into any player.  For example, I could tell myself, “Anquan Boldin will be the #1 target for the first time, I gotta take him,” or “Jay Cutler’s got a new head coach, Mike Martz, and he loves throwing the ball, I gotta take him.”  I could honestly do this for anyone.  So a strategy I like to take is finding as many reasons as possible why NOT to take a player.  Crossing players off I don’t want makes my targeted list shorter and drafting easier.

I made a “Fantasy Football Manifesto” detailing 15 different warning labels I like to put on players to help me decide which players I don’t want.  The more “red flags” a player draws up from these warning labels, the easier it is for me to just say, “eh, I’ll cross him off my list.”

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