Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Back when The Betting Man was in college – living at the incomparable 711 W. Dickson – one of his fraternity advisors occasionally would mail some inspirational/motivational something he’d found.

It might be a quote from a famous athlete or army general. It might be some advertisement that had tickled his fancy. It might be anything along those lines.

He used one such phrase in an effort to inspire us during rush, which, as anybody knows, is the lifeblood of any fraternity. Our fraternity had been climbing the ladder, so to speak, and this advisor – clearly encouraged – repeatedly reminded us, “The worm has turned.”

TBM couldn’t help thinking of those days last week, when he bounced back from two consecutive losing weekends to win a modest (and mythical) 70 bucks. It wasn’t enough to bring TBM back to even for the season, but it was a needed boost of confidence – sort of like that advisor padding the rush fund when things were going good.

But enough about the good ol’ days and worms, which TBM mostly encountered at the bottom of tequila bottles. It’s time to get on with this week’s picks.

The Bandwagon Pick: Regular readers will remember TBM’s friend, Skinny. Skinny liked Alabama last week, laying a boatload of points at Duke. Skinny turned out to be right.

Well, this week Skinny likes Stanford to roll Notre Dame. And this week, Skinny is hardly alone.

TBM couldn’t go anywhere earlier this week, it seemed, without coming across somebody predicting an Irish demolition at the hands of the Cardinal. Then TBM started thinking about that first half he watched a couple of weeks ago, the one during which Stanford made UCLA look like Arkansas State’s scout team.

Granted, TBM never likes it when a line moves as much as this one has – Stanford opened as a 1-point favorite, but is now -4 ½ — but TBM also thinks the early money is the smart money in this case. With that in mind, TBM’s taking Stanford for $50.

The “No, I’m Not Smoking Heroin” Pick: TBM has to admit it: He likes Ole Miss this week.

Yes, TBM understands the scorn those words will bring. Yes, TBM knows Ole Miss has lost to Jack Crowe State and Vanderbilt.

But TBM knows that leads to a lower-than-normal line in this week’s home game against Fresno State. He also knows the history of Houston Nutt when his back is against the wall.