You may not be surprised to learn that no one in our Pick Six group expects the Jayhawks (0-5 overall, 0-2 Big 12) to outscore the Red Raiders (4-2, 1-2). This is, after all, a Texas Tech team that averages 52.7 points a game. And its only losses have come to Baylor and TCU.

Maybe KU can at least stop its trend of declining point totals.

– 38 vs. South Dakota State, 23 vs. Memphis, 14 vs. Rutgers, 13 vs. Iowa State, 7 vs. Baylor

We’ll find out Saturday afternoon.

*– Don’t forget to check out our [college and pro pick ’em contests][1] to win weekly and season-long prizes. –*

WEEK 7 MATCHUPS
—————

**Alabama at Texas A&M**

**Michigan State at Michigan**

**Florida at LSU**

**Oklahoma at Kansas State**

**USC at Notre Dame**

**Texas Tech at Kansas**

Picker	Alabama at Texas A&M	Michigan St. at Michigan	Florida at LSU	Oklahoma at Kansas St.	USC at Notre Dame	Texas Tech at Kansas
Tom Keegan	Texas A&M, 24-23	Michigan St., 21-20	LSU, 38-24	Oklahoma, 42-31	Notre Dame, 34-28	Texas Tech, 59-17
Matt Tait	Alabama, 27-17	Michigan, 38-24	LSU, 31-21	Kansas St., 31-30	Notre Dame, 28-23	Texas Tech, 63-17
Scott Stanford	Alabama, 38-28	Michigan, 17-7	LSU, 38-21	Kansas St., 45-17	Notre Dame, 42-7	Texas Tech, 56-49
Andrew Hartsock	Alabama, 64-62 (3OT)	Michigan, 5-4	LSU, 55-14	Kansas St., 44-43 (OT)	Notre Dame, 38-17	Texas Tech, 75-15
Gary Bedore	Alabama, 22-20	Michigan, 30-22	LSU, 29-19	Oklahoma, 25-19	Notre Dame, 40-29	Texas Tech, 47-10
Chris Cottrell	Alabama, 20-13	Michigan, 31-24	LSU, 35-28	Oklahoma, 29-28	Notre Dame, 38-21	Texas Tech, 55-7
Benton Smith	Texas A&M, 27-24	Michigan, 23-20	LSU, 28-24	Kansas St., 34-28	Notre Dame, 38-33	Texas Tech, 52-24
Bobby Nightengale	Alabama, 44-28	Michigan, 17-14	LSU, 28-10	Kansas St., 31-27	Notre Dame, 45-20	Texas Tech, 56-21
Chris Duderstadt	Alabama, 35-31	Michigan, 21-13	LSU, 31-14	Oklahoma, 38-34	Notre Dame, 42-28	Texas Tech, 70-13
Kurt Gatson	Alabama, 28-24	Michigan, 24-17	LSU, 28-21	Oklahoma, 30-24	Notre Dame, 35-28	Texas Tech, 49-17

QUESTION OF THE WEEK
——————–

**South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier unexpectedly resigned this week, in the middle of the season, deciding to throw in the towel (and probably his visor) instead of staying the course. What abrupt retirements/resignations from athletes/coaches stand out in your mind as the most odd or surprising of all time?**

—

Last week: 4-2 | Season: 27-9

> The one I remember most is Magic
> Johnson’s announcement that he was
> HIV-positive and was retiring from the
> NBA.

—

Last week: 4-2 | Season: 26-10

> I remember being very confused when
> former Nebraska quarterback Eric
> Crouch retired from the NFL during his
> first season with the St. Louis Rams.
> Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ripping
> the guy for his decision to walk away
> from football. And I actually always
> liked Crouch as a player. I just
> always thought that in order to retire
> from a career you had to have one
> first. Crouch left the Rams after
> suffering an injury before ever
> playing a game. On the flip side of
> the equation, of course, is former
> Denver Broncos QB John Elway, who
> famously retired after a Hall of Fame
> career that ended with Elway hoisting
> the Lombardi Trophy for the second
> year in a row. Oh, what? That wasn’t
> the question? My bad.

—

Last week: 4-2 | Season: 26-10

> There is probably something obvious
> that I’m not thinking of. All that
> comes to mind is Bill Guthridge
> resigning at Carolina in the summer of
> 2000. I remember I was coming back from dinner in downtown Lawrence when
> I heard the news. And all hell broke
> loose so to speak from that moment on,
> until a week later when then-KU coach
> Roy Williams decided to decline the
> job. Since I was just about to go on
> vacation and had to cancel my vacation
> and instead head up to Chapel Hill for
> the week of the 4th of July, I’d say
> that was the most abrupt resignation
> of all time.

—

Last week: 3-3 | Season: 26-10

> Former Detroit Lions running back
> Barry Sanders. He was one of my
> favorite NFL players when I was a kid,
> and it was hard to understand why he
> would walk away from the game after 10
> straight seasons of 1,000-plus rushing
> yards from 1989-1998 (including 2,053
> in 1997). He was less than 1,500 yards
> away from breaking Walter Payton’s
> career rushing record (now held by
> Emmitt Smith). It’s a lot easier to
> understand now, though. You don’t see
> many running backs putting up big
> numbers in their 30s, much less
> playing. The video game-like jukes he
> made can add up, especially with the
> toll that the astroturf of the
> Silverdome (the Lions’ old stadium)
> probably took on his knees. That’s not
> even getting into how many undiagnosed
> concussions he might have had.

—

Last week: 3-3 | 26-10

> Roberto Duran, who gave up in the
> eighth round of his fight with Sugar
> Ray Leonard, saying, “no mas.” Roberto
> Duran was a tough dude, and I figured
> he could win any fight at any weight.
> Shocking when he gave up against
> Leonard just six months after whipping
> Leonard in Montreal.

—

Last week: 3-3 | Season: 26-10

> Jim Brown and Sandy Koufax, both
> wearing No. 32, were the two best
> athletes on our black-and-white TV
> when I joined my older brothers to
> watch sports. I was just beginning to
> become a sports fan and they both
> retired in their primes within a
> year’s time. I felt cheated. A check
> of the records shows Brown led the NFL
> in rushing (1,544 yards) and rushing
> touchdowns (17) in his final season,
> 1965. Koufax led the league in wins (27), ERA (1.73), innings (323) and
> strikeouts (317) in his final season
> (1966). … I covered both of Michael
> Jordan’s retirement press conferences
> and he sounded the exact same at both,
> so I felt safe in predicting the
> second time that he would return,
> which he did with Washington, for
> which he hogged the ball.

—

Last week: 4-2 | Season: 25-11

> Nationally, Michael Jordan, Pat
> Tillman, Ricky Williams and Barry
> Sanders were memorable. Locally, I was
> stunned by Marian Washington’s
> resignation/retirement in the middle
> of the 2004 Kansas University women’s
> basketball season.

—

Last week: 5-1 | Season: 24-12

> Johnny Keane resigning as manager of
> the St. Louis Cardinals after they won
> the 1964 World Series to manage the
> Yankees, the team the Cardinals
> defeated in the Series.

—

Last week: 3-3 | Season: 21-15

> The most surprising retirement for me
> was Barry Sanders, especially the way
> he did it so quietly. He was so close
> to the NFL rushing record that I just
> couldn’t believe it. I still remember
> watching SportsCenter and the breaking
> news announcement in stunned
> disbelief.

—

Last week: 3-3 | Season: 20-16

> I remember getting in the car after
> school one day in the fall of 1997 and
> being shocked to hear on the radio
> that North Carolina coach Dean Smith
> had retired. UNC had just played in
> the Final Four and had Vince Carter
> and Antawn Jamison returning for what
> proved to be another Final Four team,
> so the timing just didn’t make sense.
> Of course, learning years later about
> his declining health and battle with
> Alzheimer’s, it is understandable. I
> wonder how long he would have kept
> coaching if he didn’t have that going
> on.

—

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/footballpicks/

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