Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

The knockout pools seem to be working ruthlessly well this year.

At the quarter point of the NFL season, many of the pool participants already have been KO’d.

With upsets like Washington over New Orleans in week 1, Arizona over New England in week 2 and Oakland over Pittsburgh in week 3, it’s no surprise that many of the pools already are rebooting.

Knockout pools are the simplest way to participate in NFL wagering. All you do is select one team to win each week. Win, and you move on. Lose, and you’re knocked out. The catch is, you can only choose a team one time. That’s what makes it a challenge.

There’s usually a point late in the season that you’ve used up the New Englands and Houstons and San Franciscos, and all that’s left to select from are the bottom feeders.

There’s no exact science to this, but if you want to last a while, it’s wise to scan the NFL schedule to see what the future matchups are and also to see what weeks the teams have their byes.

It’s one thing to save Baltimore and Green Bay for later, but if they are your only remaining good teams and they both have the same bye week, what good are they?

What you’re looking for each week is the matchup of the really good against the really bad. Mediocrity is your enemy.

A good play is to find a decent team playing at home after a bad road loss. Lots of motivation there. That’s why Denver over Oakland worked last week. It didn’t hurt that the Raiders can’t beat anyone except Pittsburgh.

On the other hand, it’s iffy to pick a road team unless it is a big mismatch. The Bears at Jacksonville this week looks tempting, but the Jags are just pesky enough to make picking against them at home a dangerous gamble.

Of course, there is no gambling involved with the Mighty News-Gazette Divine Nine. They’re all winners:

No. 1: Amarillo Slim (one of the all-time gambling greats). No. 2: Jimmy the Greek (the NFL Today has never been the same without him, Brent Musburger and Phyllis George). No. 3: Vegas. No. 4: Bama. No. 5: The Texans. No. 6: The Niners. No. 7: Miguel Cabrera. No. 8: The Pats. No. 9: Archie Moore (The king of knockouts. He had between 130-145).

To the picks:

FSU (-14.5) at N.C. State: The Wolfpack used to be a thorn to the Noles, but they’ve been pruned. Noles by a non-thorny 29.

LSU (-2.5) at Florida: It’ll be like old times at Florida Field today. Full house, deafening noise. Too bad LSU is just good enough to spoil things. Bayou Bengals by 3.

Nebraska at Ohio State (-3.5): Is there a difference between red and scarlet? Yeah, about four points. Buckeyes by 4.

Georgia at South Carolina (-2): We all know how much the Ol’ Ball Coach loves playing Them Dawgs. Gamecocks by 3.

West Virgina at Texas (-7): Can the Horns stop Mountaineers QB Geno Smith? Unlike Baylor last week, they might try a blitz once in a blue moon. Horns by a Blueish 2.

The paid professionals:

Miami at Cincinnati (-3.5): Fins might have found their QB, at last. Unfortunately, so has Cincy. Bengals by 4.

Chicago (-3) at Jacksonville: The Bears are on the road again after a Monday nighter in Dallas. That would be big trouble most anywhere else. Da Bears by 4.

Atlanta (-3) at Washington: Both squeezed last-second wins last week. Falcons do it again. Black Birds by 2.

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh (-3.5): Only because they already are on the verge of being KO’d … Stillers by 2.

San Diego at New Orleans (-3.5): How is the winless team favored here? It’s a knockout nightmare. Saints by 2.

Brian “Big Man” McBride’s Super Sniffer Upset Special: N.Y. Jets over Texans by 3.

Andrew “Flaming Spear” Sullivan’s FSU Massacre of the Week: Noles by 18.

Petey “The Gators Are Going To Win” Covino says: Gators by 5.

Tom “Captain” Kirk’s Beam Me Up Scotty Prime Time NFL Pick of the Week: Texans over Jets by 7.

Young Jackson says: Bulldogs by 1 in SEC Game of the Century of the Week Upset Classic; Gators by 3 in Hide the Women and Children, This Will Be Ugly Upset Special.

Last week: KO’d  Cranium (7-3, 31-10) conked Phragile Philly (6-4, 28-13).