The Picks: No more Heisman ballots?

The next time you see some hack writing about his or her Heisman ballots (yes, we granted women the right to vote for Andre Ware), I want you to go all George Costanza on them and say with great emphasis — Ah-HA!

Because there are no Heisman ballots. Not physical ballots anyway. Instead for the first time in the history of the voting, all of the voters did not receive ballots but simply a password to enter their votes electronically.

I feel bad for Tim Tebow. He only got to fill out one actual ballot. Which is one more than Ron Powlus.

But as long as his laptop doesn't freeze he does get to vote this year. (Yo, Tim, you can't vote for Paul, John and Matthew ... although I voted for George and Ringo once).

It should make the Heisman harumphs a little nervous that some overzealous Gator fan could hack into the computer and rig it so that Emmanuel Moody wins. But hey, it's the new world.

And it's a new day for The Picks. After all of those 6-4 weeks, there was a one-game improvement. Kind of like Lane Kiffin. Last week's 7-3 record puts the season's mark at 66-34. Yes, I do see the glass as two-thirds full.

With all of this momentum going in the right direction, you'd think Dr. Football would be inspired. Have you seen this week's games? I thought we already had a Stinky Saturday. This must be the sequel.

Or maybe it's just the way this season has turned out. Everybody is waiting for Florida-Alabama with the winner facing Texas on Jan. 7. Thanksgiving and Christmas? Bah humbug, and pass the hype.

Hey, this season has flown by fast enough. Don't try to fast forward it into December.

Florida International at Florida: Every time someone mentions Florida's opponent this week I flash back to a Dennis Miller concert when he was spoofing the cuisine of the International House of Pancakes and wondering if the place came with a syrup steward. My mind tends to wander on weeks like this. Florida, 45-14.

Maryland at Florida State: Ann Bowden, the wife of the FSU coach, said this week the school needs Bobby more than he needs the school because of all of his "connections." Huh? If his players need floppy hats, used hankies or sunglasses, he's the man to see. Ball plays? Forget it. FSU, 34-17.

Ohio State at Michigan: This game was hard to watch when it mattered. This time around it matters only to fans of the Buckeyes and Wolverines. I mean, when the biggest story of the week is RichRod announcing that they've fixed the file system for logging practice hours, come on. Really? Ohio State, 27-14.

UConn at Notre Dame: I received several e-mails wondering why I left Connecticut out of The Picks. Thanks for noticing that I'm picking their games each week as a small tribute to the tragic death of Jasper Howard. The Huskies were off last week. Kind of like this week. UConn, 34-24.

LSU at Ole Miss: Here's a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier. Before the season, we thought this might be for the SEC West title. Instead, it's for the Capital One Bowl. Ole Miss, 27-24.

Vanderbilt at Tennessee: Turns out that, on top of everything else, the Tennessee coach is a liar. He said on Wednesday of last week that nobody had been arrested from his team when he had already disciplined Nyshier Oliver for shoplifting. How many of you would like to see Kiffin locked in a room with Mark Mangino for an hour? Tennessee, 30-19.

Mississippi State at Arkansas: Mississippi State's Anthony Dixon needs 301 yards in his last two games to catch James Johnson for the school's single-season rushing record. Hey, I'm trying to give you a reason to watch this game. Arkansas, 35-10.

Kentucky at Georgia: It says a lot about your season when people aren't talking about where you will be bowling or whether you can win 10 games but instead the big controversy is that fans are leaving too much trash behind after games. Insert your own red and black joke here. Georgia, 23-20.

Kansas at Texas: Mangino has some issues as you may have been reading. Apparently he has real anger-management problems and at least one columnist suggested that it's because of his weight (close to five bills). All I know is Bevo is nervous about being in the same stadium. Texas, 45-21.

Oregon at Arizona: Best game of the week and it's not close. The two teams have five losses combined. That's the kind of week it is. Oregon, 43-41.