10 Top 10s For College Football: The Week Before the Bowls
December 14, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
Top 10 Teams
1) Utah-Still haven’t lost, does the Tide hand them one?
2) Boise- No BCS but personally I think their opponent, TCU, would beat Ohio State as well.
3) Texas-Third in the BCS, second in the Heisman voting, first in the Fiesta?
4) Oklahoma-Congrats Sam Bradford.
5) Penn State-Getting no respect.
6) USC-Based purely on their loss.
7) Texas Tech-Snubbed in the BCS and the Heisman race, will have something to prove on the second.
Florida-The only one loss team to lose at home.
9) Alabama-It may get ugly against the Utes.
10) Cincinnati-Underrated as they played the bulk of the season with their fourth string QB.
Top 10 Players of 2008
1) Tim Tebow-Got the most first place votes for the Heisman and gets mine as well.
2) Terrance Cody-The difference maker in Tuscaloosa.
3) Colt McCoy-There were times I thought he would never have another incomplete pass.
4) Rey Malalgua-Unbelievable talent.
5) Sam Bradford-The Heisman winner.
6) Janoris Jenkins-If you saw the Gators play this year you heard his name more than Tebow.
7) Shonn Greene- Single handily resurrected a program and saved a coaches job.
Ian Johnson-A lifetime achievement award.
9) Aaron Curry-One of the best in the country.
10) Knowshawn Moreno-Is there anything he doesn’t do well?
Top 10 Big Games of 2008
1) USC 35, Ohio State 3-Most people thought the title game was going to happen in September this year.
2) Alabama 41, Georgia 30-It was over by the end of the first quarter.
3) Texas 45, Oklahoma 35-Not sure what this really meant.
4) Oklahoma State 28, Missouri 23-Missouri was ranked No. 3 at the time.
5) TCU 32, BYU 7- It wasn’t as close as the score.
6) Penn State 13, Ohio State 6-How the Big Ten was won.
7) Texas Tech 39, Texas 33-Also one of the most exciting games of the year.
Oklahoma 65, Texas Tech 21- The style points put the Sooners in the title game.
9) Oregon 65, Oregon State 38-103 points later the Trojans were in the Rose Bowl.
10) Florida 31, Alabama 20-Last but not least.
10 Upsets That Shaped The 2008 Season
1) Alabama 34, Clemson 10-Clemson was a five point favorite, what a joke.
2) Oregon State 27, USC 21-The Trojans were 23 point favorites.
3) Alabama 41, Georgia 30- The Tide were getting seven in this one.
4) Mississippi 31, Florida 30-Ole Miss was 2-4 against teams with a winning record this year, this was one of the two; they were 25 point dogs in The Swamp as well.
5) Texas 45, Oklahoma 35-Sooners were favored by seven.
6) Texas Tech 39, Texas 33-Knocked the Horns from the title game.
7) Iowa 24, Penn State 23-One point separates the Lions from the title game; they were favored by eight.
Georgia Tech 45, Georgia 42-Made even the most die hard SEC fan think twice about the strength of the conference.
9) Buffalo 42, Ball State 21-We didn’t have to worry about Ball State and the BCS as the 15 point favorites went down hard.
10) East Carolina 27, Virginia Tech 22- How soon we forget.
Top 10 Things I Hope We Don’t See In 2009
1) Stoppage after every play-Every fumble, reception, Interception, etc is a tive minute stoppage, and people wonder why the game takes too long?
2) OJ Simpson-This guy’s act is so stale, let’s just leave him in his jail cell for a while.
3) The BCS- Wishful thinking.
4) Brent Musburger-Talk about stale acts.
5) Bad Rule Changes-The clock rules were a joke, see No. 1.
6) 6-6 teams going to bowl games-This is a huge part of the problem and why there is no playoff.
7) 1-AA teams on the schedule-These games shouldn’t count as one of the 12 games; we’re going to see a lot more of these as less teams from major conferences qualify for bowls.
Bad Officiating-Maybe it’s time to hold these guys accountable for changing outcomes through horrible calls.
9) Inconsistency-Watch five games at once, a penalty in one game is a no call in others, especially regarding celebrations and sideline infractions.
10) Media Spin-Take away these guys vote and poll while we’re at it too, they are clueless and obviously only support whomever their employer has an interest in.
Top 10 Things That Defined The 2008 Season
1) The Spread Offense-Will be the answer to a trivia question someday.
2) The Horse Collar- Making it illegal made it a mainstream word.
3) The Big 12- Had the game of the year almost every week.
4) Tim Tebow’s Speech-Was good to his word after the loss to Ole Miss.
5) BCS Controversy-Part of every season it seems.
6) Tommy Bowden-The fraud finally held accountable, no wonder they started winning once he was gone.
7) Weeknight Games-Not just one here and there, multiple games almost every night.
Impact Freshman-They are playing right away everywhere, leaving even faster.
9) Weather Postponed Games-Seems to be happening more and more.
10) ESPN-I don’t watch their pregame or postgame stuff but from what I’ve learned what they say seems to be more important than what happens on the field.
Top 10 Impact Freshmen of 2008
1) Julio Jones-All he was billed to be and then some.
2) Sean Spence-Hits like a Mack Truck.
3) AJ Green-Even made Matt Stafford look good from time to time.
4) Janoris Jenkins-May have been what was missing for the Gators.
5) Robert Griffin-Mr. Excitement.
6) Terrelle Pryor-Will he bring the Buckeyes a title?
7) Jacquizz Rodgers-Would anyone complain if I put him No. 1?
Kellen Moore-Didn’t look like a freshman.
9) DeAndre Brown-If he’s at a bigger school more people know who he is.
10) Marcus Forston-Going to be a force.
Top 10 Ways I Plan On Fighting College Football Withdrawal
1) Working on my book-I don’t think this will make me rich but that isn’t the point of it.
2) Expanding my site into a network of Sports Sites-Exciting stuff already in the works; NFL, MLB, CBB, NBA, NHL, etc., going to have it all.
3) Interviewing Writers-Going to need a lot of fresh content, can’t do it myself.
4) Working with my Tech Guy-I don’t know anything about this stuff but I’ve seen the mock ups for the new sites and get ready for some jaw dropping stuff.
5) Integrating more with my Blogging community-Things have happened so fast I’ve put off a lot of requests.
6) Take a vacation-I’ve been going full speed for months on end.
7) Get back in good shape-I’ve spent a lot of time sitting and eating the past few months, time to work it off.
Learn how to text message-Been on my list for years, not really that interested.
9) Clear off the TIVO-No idea how long that stuff will stay but I haven’t watched most of it.
10) Relax-Something I probably don’t do enough.
10 Things I Learned When I Converted My Newsletter To A Blog
1) Spammers are everywhere-I get a spam comment every six minutes on average; very thankful for spam blocking software.
2) College Football fans are everywhere-I read every email and comment, sometimes over 500 a week; thanks for all of them (at least most of them).
3) Having a community is a great thing- I enjoy having hundreds of thousands of people to talk college football with.
4) There are some mean people out there-Some ignorant and spineless ones as well.
5) There are websites built on stolen content-And they don’t credit the author or the source either.
6) There are a lot of people who know a lot about college football-Pretty amazing how regional coverage really works.
7) Traffic is the most important thing-You can be a great writer or picker or whatever but if no one reads it what’s the point.
Most people prefer facts and analysis-While my 10 top 10’s is my most popular Bleacher Report series, it is far and away the least popular series as far as traffic at The College Football Place.
9) If you build it and provide quality, they will come-I went from a standing start to over 350,000 monthly visitors in five months, I thank everyone for being part of it all.
10) Short is sweet-I know my videos are too long, at least my paragraphs aren’t what they used to be; the Internet reader is a different breed.
10 Odd Things In College Football
1) Firing Tommy Tubberville-It’s been a week and I still don’t get it.
2) Hiring Gene Chizik-Not sure if he’s Head Coach material, his Iowa State team didn’t look to be going in the right direction.
3) Contract extensions for Head Coaches-It seems these guys get one right before a horrible season.
4) People who pick games without point spreads-There’s a reason there are so many college football games that have double digit point spreads, this isn’t the NFL where anyone can really beat anyone.
5) The vote of confidence-Is it really the kiss of death?
6) What is a reviewable play-The worst calls aren’t reviewable because no one could have dreamed up they would have happened.
7) No Coach accountability for players who get in trouble-Don’t they promise parents to take care of their kids?
A win against a 1-AA team counts as much as beating a ranked team-When did this happen? Teams were always penalized for these games.
9) Some conferences have championships and others don’t-Is this record padding?
10) There is less talk of a playoff than ever-Everyone seems to be afraid of upsetting someone.
Visit Mitch anytime at The College Football Place
Can I get One More No-Playoff Rant and then I will let the Subject die?
December 9, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
God, I really do hate this time of year.
I didn’t mean the Holidays.
It is time for the mass media to bash the Bowl Championship Series and call for a college football playoff.
After spending my career as a sports writer, 28 years, covering college football for newspapers and writing books about college football, I have a very strong opinion on this matter.
I have studied the bowls and their affects on college football, been to every bowl several times over (except of course for the myriad of new, silly-named bowls that have fallen from the sky recently like confetti at a championship parade).
I also have studied the proposed plus-ones, eight-team and 16-team playoffs from all angles: attendance, TV ratings, revenue, affect on bowls, travel, affect on rivalries, etc.
My conclusion, which is the conclusion I held 15 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago and today, is that a college football playoff system (other than a so-called Plus-One) would not improve the overall game of college football.
Notice my words “would not improve.”
Would a playoff be popular?
Of course. It would be the here and now, as well as the flavor of the month in December’s SportsCenter highlights.
But it would come at the expense of the rivalries, which usually fall on the final week of the regular-season and define the game itself. If there was a playoff in 2006, do you think No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan would have played their starters well into the fourth quarter? It was life and death as it was. If there would have been a playoff, the loser would have said, “No problem. The playoff is what matters. We’ll play them again when it counts.”
Imagine that.
That scenario goes for Florida-Florida State, USC-Notre Dame, Auburn-Alabama, USC-UCLA, etc., when both teams are good enough to be in the playoff system. And if you look at the history of the game, that would include many, many seasons.
It would come at the expense of the popularity and importance of the regular season.
During a recent ABC broadcast, I heard Kirk Herbstreit ask Brent Musburger, “You an NBA fan?”
“Oh,” Musburger hedged, “Once the playoffs start, I watch the NBA.”
I wanted to jump out of my Lazy-Boy and scream, “Hello!!!Brent, you just answered you own question about college football’s regular-season.”
It doesn’t need a playoff to be popular. Attendance and TV ratings continue to climb, each and every season — without a playoff.
Revenue and media attention continue to increase — without a playoff.
Good or bad, the pressure and accompanying salaries of coaches continue to skyrocket — without a playoff.
My other conclusion: The BCS system, as criticized as it is, is the best system we’ve ever had. I remember the days when there were split national champions, as recently as 1994 and 1997 (in some seasons, there were three and four, if you count the many publications).
I remember the days when a No. 1-ranked team went to the Orange Bowl and a No. 2 team went to the Sugar Bowl. I remember when bowl deals were worked out behind the scenes and set in early to mid-November, only to watch them often backfire like my old ‘72 Dodge Dart.
These days, (ESPN’s) Mike Golics of the world, whose perspective is as deep as Michigan’s offensive line, have said, “They have playoffs in Division II or III and it seems to work…”
Don’t compare major college football to the sub-division (formerly Division I-A), or Division II or III. It does not apply. They don’t fill large stadiums nor have televised regular-season games. Can you name their rivalries? Can you name the last five champions?
Do not apply it to NCAA basketball or March Madness, a sport in which you can play two games in two days. It does not apply. Does anyone really care what happens in November or December? And truly, what does a conference championship mean in that sport?
No, my friends, the bottom line is this: College football is truly unique. It is unique because from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, when the attention and intensity and importance of every single game is unparalleled.
It is that way BECAUSE there is no season-ending playoff system.
Now, recently, the President-Elect, who has spent the same time studying this issue as it takes Percy Harvin to score from the 15-yard line, knee-jerked and called for a playoff.
The reassuring aspect is that the NCAA presidents in control of this issue will not relent and agree to a playoff (and I have talked to several of them since the President-Elect made his statement) because they too have studied this issue. They know what the President-Elect does not.
College football works brilliantly as it is. It always has, since those polls and bowls were first conceived in the height of the Great Depression.
And from where I stand today, it likely always will.
Ten Top Tens After Week Nine In College Football
October 26, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
Top Ten Teams
1) Texas-Longhorns schedule starting to wear on them?
2) Penn State-Great win in a great game
3) Alabama-Just not sold on the Tide.
4) Utah- Possible BCS buster that get the least mention?
5) Boise State-Possible BCS buster that gets the most mention.
6) Tulsa-Still to play this weekend
7) Texas Tech-Longhorns next.
Ball State-Continues to win easily.
9) Oklahoma State-Clearly the best of the 1 loss teams.
10) Georgia-From over rated to under rated in a month and a half.
Ten Best Games I Watched Yesterday
1) Penn State 13, Ohio State 6 – Even Brent Musburger couldn’t ruin this one.
2) Michigan State 35, Michigan 21- Was more exciting than the score indicates.
3) Texas 28, Oklahoma State 24- Mike Gundy’s team can play some football.
4) Florida Atlantic 29, Louisiana Monroe 28- Got to love Gameplan, TD with about 20 second left.
5) Northern Illinois 16, Bowling Green 13-Haven’t seen a good wind game in a while.
6) Miami 16, Wake Forest 10- Miami is going to be very very good in the very near future.
7) Virginia 24, Georgia 17- While many think the ACC is really bad it’s also really even.
Duke 10, Vandy 7 - That was a really big win for Duke on a lot of levels.
9) Boise State 33, San Jose State 16 – Garbage points dressed up the score.
10) Georgia 52, LSU 38 – That Knowshawn Moreno kid is pretty good.
Ten Things My Wife Got Sick of Hearing Yesterday
1) “They’re really trading some helmet paint in Columbus”-I think I said it 65 times during the game.
2) Crunching- What can I say?, I like snack food with my football.
3) “Go!”-Her response, “they can’t hear you through the TV”
4) “Are you going to get the Pizza?” – It’s getting chilly in Chicago.
5) “Miami Won”- In hindsight I think she figured that out the first time I told her.
6) “You _______” -I can’t even type those words.
7) “The fix is in”- I’m starting to see spots where it may actually be.
“Do we have Ice Cream?”-If we had it at noon chances are we still had it every hour after that since we hadn’t eaten any.
9) “Stupid Kicker”-Used either for a kicker on the other team that makes one as well as your kicker who misses one.
10)”Where’s the remote?”-My wife seems to think there’s a magical place where the remote is “supposed to go”.
Ten Big Winners
1) Kristofer Green- The winner of my week 9 picking contest. Congrats! (11-4 against the spread, no one else even close).
2) Penn State- The Lions couldn’t wait to be king.
3) Oklahoma State- Got more respect losing than they did all season losing.
4) Jordan Corso- 6-2 against the spread, this guy is good.
5) Georgia Bulldogs- Made a statement heading into their big game next week.
6) Texas Tech-That was a butt whooping from start to finish.
7) Louisville- Don’t look now but the Cardinals are 5-2.
Michigan State- Always fun to beat your rival on the road.
9) Duke-Snaps a 6 game losing streak to Vandy.
10) Maryland – The Terps are 6-2.
Ten Big Losers
1) Pittsburgh- No one loses important games like Wanny.
2) Phil Fulmer – A bad call goes against his team and they quit on him.
3) South Florida-Not going to be the season they had hoped for.
4) Auburn- Will they even make a bowl?
5) Colorado – That’s what you call a “spanking”.
6) Ty Willingham- Gets no revenge, just left with a bad football team.
7) Kansas- Weren’t even competitive.
Kentucky -They were losing 42-3 at Halftime.
9) Georgia Tech – Double digit favorite loses outright.
10) Tuesday Night Football – The Temple-Ohio game was just brutal to watch.
My Ten Best Picks in Week 9
1) TCU- My highest rated pick ever in the new rating system was a blowout winner.
2) Rutgers- I was feeling pretty lonely on this one.
3) Oregon-Ducks won easy, only disappointment was that I didn’t rate it higher.
4) Michigan State- So easy I was scared.
5) Notre Dame- Smelled like a mismatch.
6) Oklahoma- After further review, the KSU defense still stinks.
7) Troy- Not sure why not too many are on board with the Trojans.
Arizona- The public was big on USC; public big usually means go the other way.
9) Minnesota- I didn’t understand this line and I still don’t.
10) Rice- Got to love picking a dog that’s a blowout winner outright.
My Ten Worst Picks in Week 9
1) Northern Illinois-Really not a horrible pick but tough to handicap that there is going to 45 M.P.H. winds.
2) Tennessee- The Vols quit.
3) Cincinnati- Most of the losing score was in the final minutes but still never got it going.
4) Ball State- Just too many points, garbage field goal got me (”stupid kicker!”)
5) Auburn – Now they can’t tackle either.
6) Illinois- It’s been a pattern of good week, bad week; this fit the bad week and it was, we’ll be on them next week.
7) Northwestern- Just were turnover happy yesterday.
UCLA- Not good.
9) San Jose State- Just not enough depth.
10) New Mexico State- Like they should be laying 14 points to anyone?
Ten Most Popular Picks in The Free Weekly Picking Contest
1) Pittsburgh – 9 1/2 – This one hurt the most people.
2) Oklahoma-18 – I guess this one was pretty easy.
3) Oregon – 3 1/2 – And I thought I was so smart for picking this one, go figure.
4) Ball State- EMU really isn’t good.
5) Missouri- I didn’t touch this one.
6) Texas Tech-Most has this one pretty highly rated.
7) Minnesota- With that line it made a lot of sense.
Troy- If you read my site even once a week you know all about Troy.
9) Northern Illinois- I’m guilty as charged.
10) Texas- The Horns should have been easy money.
Ten Pre-Season Predictions I Made ( I can admit it)
1) Colt McCoy would continue to be inconsistent-I was close…not.
2) Clemson would lose at least 4 games- Bingo!
3) The officiating would continue to get worse- Let’s not forget about the Red River game and all of the others.
4) Duke would be decent- They are.
5) Tennessee would be good- Unless you count being good at stinking I wasn’t even close.
6) Oregon would beat USC- They only lost 44-10, that’s not that bad.
7) TCU would finish 5th in their division- I apologize to all TCU fans but I didn’t save your emails to email you it personally.
Penn State was going no where-Unless you count a trip to the National Championship game in Miami something I was spot on.
9) Juice Williams will win the Heisman- Yeah right, he’s pretty good though.
10) The BCS wouldn’t work again- The jury is still out.
Ten Games I’m Looking Forward to For Week Ten
1) Georgia-Florida- Everyone’s pre-season pick as game of the year.
2) Texas-Texas Tech- In hindsight, Texas is the one with the brutal schedule.
3) Tulsa-Arkansas- Let the prognosticating begin; there’s about 100 angles on this one.
4) Nebraska-Oklahoma- Just to see all of the old highlights, and there are some great ones.
5) Miami-Virginia- It’s a fun time to be a Canes fan again though they are a year or two away.
6) Pittsburgh-Notre Dame-Could be entertaining.
7) Oregon-Cal- Sounds like a track meet type of game.
Wisconsin-Michigan State- Maybe Wisky has the ship righted?
9) West Virginia-UConn- Big East battle.
10) Western Kentucky-North Texas- Someone has to win.
See all of Mitch’s Articles and Videos as well as Joining fellow Bleacher Kristofer Green as a WINNER of Mitch’s weekly picking contest at The College Football Place.
Football Friday: Nittany Cryin’ Edition
October 24, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
BUCKEYES vs. NITTANY LIONS
No. 10 Ohio State (7-1, 4-0) vs. No. 3 Penn State (8-0, 4-0)
Date: Saturday, October 25
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Place: Ohio Stadium – capacity 101,568
TV: ABC will televise the game. Brent Musburger will call the play-by-play and will be joined in the booth by Kirk Herbstreit. Lisa Salters is the sideline reporter.
Radio: [...]
Go to Source
Ten Top Tens After Week Eight in College Football
October 20, 2008 by feed · Leave a Comment
Top Ten Teams
1) Texas—Easy winner stays on top.
2) Penn State—Overcame more than just a deficit in a game yesterday.
3) Alabama—Looking for a place to fall down.
4) Oklahoma State—No one believes except them.
5) Boise State—If they could only play all of their games on the blue turf, they would never lose.
6) Utah—And Colorado State was playing pretty well coming in.
7) Texas Tech—I know their fans don’t like me, but after yesterday, do they blame me for what I’ve said?
Tulsa—I was going to make them seventh in honor of the 77 they put up yesterday.
9) Oklahoma—Blew a cover on a last minute TD—never trailed but looked hung over.
10) USC—That loss may still be too much to overcome—OSU rematch in the Rose Bowl?
How My Ten Highest Rated Picks of the Week Did (Based on my new confidence rating system I used this week)
1) Texas (-4)—My newsletter called for a Big 12 style blowout and I believe that’s what we saw. Win
2) Oregon State (-13 1/2)—My Part One leadoff game was money. Win
3) Troy (-7)—Did you guys know I’m a member of their team site? Win
4) FAU (+1/2)—I am perfect on the year in games involving Western Kentucky. Win
5) Arkansas (+9 1/2)—Almost too easy. Win
6) Georgia (-14 1/2)—Not the only kicker who cost me yesterday. Loss
7) Wake Forest (-1 1/2)—Does anyone know what we’ll see from Maryland week to week? Loss
Illinois (-15)—For those playing at home, Indiana hasn’t covered all season. Win
9) Air Force (-5)—I went from not touching to strong play—remind me to stick with my first impression. Loss
10) Northern Illinois (-9 1/2)—Holy Toledo, the Huskies kicked some butt. Win
Ten Things I Still Don’t Understand
1) Bleacher Report Writer Rankings—Not that I care too much, but I’m the lowest ranked, highest ranked writer according to this system, and it isn’t even close. Does anyone understand what that means?
2) Why refs can’t spot the ball correctly—I thought this was the basics.
3) Why a fumble can’t just be a fumble anymore—Maybe this is the part of the game that is too long.
4) Why Nick Saban isn’t crucified more—The guy had 10 offseason arrests (that’s a whole category in my weekly list if I wanted it to be) and a miserable graduation rate.
5) How Brent Musburger gets the featured game every week—Maybe they figure it’s usually a blowout anyway, so people are going to be tuning out.
6) This whole FBS and FCS thing—I just know the BCS is a bunch of BS.
7) Why Game Plan isn’t in HD—Charge a few extra bucks, I’m in. You had me at H.
How attendance records get broken every week—Do they set up a few folding chairs or something?
9) Offsetting Penalties—A guy flinching and a decapitation offset each other.
10) Celebration Rules—Talk about random: You can just flip the channels and see flag or no flag for the same thing.
Ten Guys Who Got it Done This Week
1) Sam Bradford—468 Yards, three TDs
2) David Johnson—434 Yards, five TDs
3) Colt McCoy—Three incompletions—we’ve been saying this almost every week.
4) Jevan Snead—Pure guts.
5) Juice Williams—A future NFL top five pick.
6) Tim Hiller—471 yards in the loss to their rival.
7) Knowshon Moreno—172 on the ground, all of them athletic plays.
Dennis Kennedy—277 yards rushing.
9) Austin Davis—461 yards and four TDs for the freshman.
10) Bernard Hopkins—Was a huge underdog against Kelly Pavlik.
Ten Things Announcers said Yesterday that Mitch will re-word in plain English
1) “Let them stay in it”—They got lazy, sloppy, and content.
2) “He’s a load”—That guy is too fat.
3) “McCoy is wielding a scalpel”—The Missouri defense is really bad.
4) “I don’t know the rules”—Gary Danielson should get a different job.
5) “Oh, I don’t know about that”—I can’t say what I want or I may lose this cushy gig.
6) “That’s not reviewable”—A call so bad no one could have ever thought the scenario would come into play.
7) “He had all the time in the world”—Actually, every time I heard this the QB did have and still probably has all the time in the world.
“It’s getting chippy out there”—Better call the cops—this may get ugly real soon.
9) “They came out ready to play”—We’re about to see highlights of a blowout by a team that trailed.
10) “The Referees are having a discussion”—Might as well change the channel because this is going to take a while.
Ten Games That Surprised Me
1) Maryland 26, Wake Forest 0—Maryland may be the most up and down team ever.
2) Ohio State 45, Michigan State 7—Not the outcome, more the score.
3) TCU 32, BYU 7—This was just plain ugly.
4) Wisconsin 16, Iowa 38—I didn’t think the Badgers were that bad, but they clearly are.
5) Tennessee 34, Mississippi State 3—I didn’t think the Vols could score over 30 in an SEC game.
6) Pittsburgh 42, Navy 21—Thought it would be closer—called it a coin toss when someone asked me.
7) Miami 49, Duke 31—I’ll take it.
Utah 49, Colorado State 16—I didn’t pick this one, but there is nothing consistent going on out there.
9) Rutgers 12, UConn 10—Three missed field goals really cost the Huskies.
10) Boston College 28, Virginia Tech 23—I don’t think BC wins three times in 10 games if they played that many.
Ten Things I’m Excited About
1) My new confidence rating system for my picks—10-3 against the spread in the games I rated the highest is a much better indicator than my overall record, though I’m not sure I can maintain that level.
2) My Free Game Picking Contest—I’m not sure how many people I’ll have the first week, but I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.
3) More Conference Games—Can you say “no more patsies”?
4) Halloween—Is there ever such a thing as “leftover” candy?
5) New Projects and Content for My Blog—I’ve been approached by several people for some really exciting joint ventures and some really good writers and game pickers as well. We’re not going to recognize the place by this time next year.
6) Blocking and Tackling—Are there two better words in the English language?
7) For the election to be over—Let’s get back to what the Fall is all about: College Football.
Bad Weather Games—Coming soon to a stadium near you.
9) National Signing Day—Less than four months away.
10) The one-year anniversary of me quitting smoking—I smoked for 28 years and quit cold turkey. Miracles happen.
Ten Topics I’m Done Discussing
1) Tommy Bowden—At least until he gets another gig.
2) The BR Writing Contest “Situation”—I had totally forgotten about the contest, but all of the people involved in the controversy are great writers who I vote for often.
3) The Election—Did I ever start?
4) Why I think Alabama is a filthy program—Maybe you guys should just Google “Alabama arrested players.”
5) Chase Daniel for Heisman—I think he ended this drivel himself.
6) A College Football Playoff—It isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
7) Why I hate the NFL—I’m thinking of giving them another shot. Can they just allow pass coverage for me?
Preseason Rankings—Is anyone going to write a comparison piece to the current rankings?
9) The Chicago Cubs—No longer lovable losers, now just losers.
10) People who send me hate mail—Thank you for reading my articles and watching my videos—I appreciate your comments.
Ten Strange Things I Saw On TV Yesterday
1) More Tipped Balls Caught—It’s been like this all year.
2) Houston Nutt’s Pincher Signal—Are we going to see a Rock Lobster video on YouTube from an SEC school?
3) Sarah Palin on SNL—How weird was that?
4) UGA Taking pictures with the Homecoming Queen—Uga was getting the better treatment.
5) Tay Cody on A Golf Cart—I think they should have used a Truck (Get well soon—like or hate the Tide, he’s been one of the best players in the country this year and an absolute difference maker).
6) Idaho-Louisiana Tech—Nothing in particular, just that the game was on TV at all.
7) Mark Mangino running out with his team—I never thought he ran.
Oklahoma linemen breathing heavily—The hurry-up is tiring their own players out.
9) No Tommy Bowden on the sideline during a Clemson loss—It felt kind of empty.
10) All of the missed field goals—It used to seem so automatic.
Ten Games I’m Looking Forward To This Week
1) Penn State-Ohio State—A changing of the guard?
2) Texas-Oklahoma State—If either of these two runs the table, they’ve earned it.
3) LSU-Georgia—No, I’m not kidding. This is the schedule so far.
4) Texas Tech-Kansas—A real test for the Red Raiders.
5) USC-Arizona—All of the sudden real interesting.
6) Boise State-San Jose State—Don’t kid yourself. This is one heck of a matchup.
7) Kentucky-Florida—Should be a good one.
Michigan-Michigan State—Throw out the records for this one.
9) Alabama-Tennessee—Would a win save Fulmer’s job?
10) Wake Forest-Miami—I may be the only one who cares.
Visit Mitch anytime at The College Football Place.