TNIAAM College Football Pick'em: Week 1 Schedule, Betting Lines & Rules

Everyone loves to gamble, however, not everyone has the cash to gamble -- especially, poor college students. So, to help try and feed everyone's gambling addiction, I decided to take it upon myself and set up a weekly college football pick'em contest for TNIAAM contributors and readers.

I figured this would be a good way to not only post the weekly ACC football schedule, but to also get a good discussion going for those that watch way too much football on Saturdays.

Below are the rules (they're very simple) and schedule for Week 1 of the college football slate! I hope you're as excited as I am.

Rules

The rules are simple, all you need to do is post your picks in the comments section. The way you should post them is by typing out the team you want to pick, NOTHING ELSE. Here's a fake example:

DILLON PANTHERS
WEST DILLON LIONS
THE LITTLE GIANTS
ORLANDO SHARKS
WHEATON WARBIRDS
SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY MUD DOGS
WEST CANAAN COYOTES
ESU TIMBERWOLVES

This format makes it easier for me to keep track -- I'll do so via Excel spreadsheet -- and easier for you because you will not need to log into a Yahoo! or ESPN account each week. You just need to see the games in the article and pick'em.

Selection of pick'em games consists of Syracuse games (duh), ACC games and Top 25 showdowns.

Everyone will be picking against the spread. Pushes count as ties. In case you don't know, if a team is listed as +12 they're GETTING 12 points; if they're listed as -12, they're GIVING 12 points.

At the end of the season, I will toss out your worst week. This allows for a picker to miss a week without a big punishment. If you miss two weeks, I will no longer keep track of your picks.

Deadline for picks are before kick-off of the first listed game. So, this week it is 6 p.m. on Thursday.

On Mondays, I will post a weekly recap with results and complete standings. On Tuesday or Wednesday, I will post the schedule and betting lines for next week's games.

All-in-all, this isn't rocket science. Just pick the games in the comments section. If you like to discuss the games with other TNIAAMers feel free to do so, BUT IN A SEPARATE COMMENT. I will not claim responsibility, if I can't find your picks in a 250-word essay.

(I posted an example below with my Week 1 picks.)

This should be a lot of fun for everybody and should spark a lot of discussion. As of right now, there are no prizes to be given out to the winner, but I am sure if enough TNIAAMers get in and continue to pick games we could get some solid prizes together. As of right now, I am promising nothing but pride!

Here are the Week 1 games:

Games

Thursday, August 27

6:00 p.m. on ESPN - North Carolina (+12) at South Carolina

6:30 p.m. on ESPN3 - Presbyterian at Wake Forest (-38.5)

Saturday, August 28

Noon on ESPN3 - Elon at Georgia Tech (-46)

Noon on ESPNews - Villanova at Boston College (-16.5)

12:30 p.m. on ESPN3 - FIU at Maryland (-21)

12:30 p.m. on ACC Network - Louisiana Tech at N.C. State (-14)

3:30 p.m. on ESPNU - BYU at Virginia (+1)

3:30 p.m. on ABC/ESPN2 - Penn State vs. Syracuse (+8)

4:00 p.m. on ESPN3 - North Carolina Central at Duke (-33)

5:30 p.m. on ESPN - Alabama vs. Virginia Tech (+19.5) in Georgia Dome

8:00 on ABC - Georgia at Clemson (+2)

Monday, Sept. 2

8:00 p.m. on ESPN - Florida State at Pittsburgh (+10)

Top 25 Showdown Game

Sat., 9 p.m. on ESPN - No. 12 LSU (-4.5) vs. No. 20 TCU in Arlington, TX

Note: If am I missing any rules I should have included let me know. But know this, the format will not change. Enjoy picking all!