The Dirty Dozen and Bottom of the Barrel: I Want You to Want Me

Yeah, kinda gave that away in the headline, didn't I?

Oh well, that doesn't matter. What does matter, we're two weeks away from Conference Championship weekend.

And what follows that?

The coaching carousel…oh wait, that's a different column.



Now imagine you are Auburn…and you have another week to wait. Before you play Alabama. With a chance to ruin their season. And make the BCS the hot mess it should always be….

Tell 'em Naitch:



But really, truly, it's been a strange but true season where only the strong survive (no, I'm not posting an REO Speedwagon song here)

Got that Stanford?

Anyway, another great week for us. Yes, that's right 15-0 baby! I picked the USC upset, look it up. Overall, that makes us 128-19 on the season.

But enough about us, as Casey Kasem always said, "On with the countdown"

THE DIRTY DOZEN:

1) Florida State 10-0. No, Jameis Winston isn't going to be suspended before the season ends. Yes, FSU isn't going to lose the rest of the season. That includes the ACC title game. Yes, they are the best team in CFB this year. Such is life. This Week: FSU 57, Idaho 3

2) Alabama 10-0. They aren't always pretty, but pretty much they always win. Beating Miss State was an unexpected struggle. The question is are they already looking ahead to the Iron Bowl? And are they really the "Best Team"?



Tell 'em Naitch. This Week: vs. Chattagnooga (really?) Our Pick: Alabama 48, UTC 10

3) Baylor 9-0. Yes, we are believers. Call them outliers, not a "Name" program, whatever you want, we love teams that aren't supposed to be in the Top 5, being in the Top 5. If you haven't seen these guys play, and you are a football fanatic, you really should watch. This Week: at Oklahoma St. Our Pick: Baylor 47, Okie St. 30

4) Ohio St. 10-0. Best band, 4th best team. Life. We've said it before, the big 10 is killing you. We've seen some OSU fans whining about Baylor's schedule? Really? This Week: vs. Indiana Our Pick: tOSU 53, Indiana 21

5) Oregon 9-1. We're guessing the Ducks sent a nice thank you gift to Ed Orgeron after this past week. Pac 12 Title hopes--re-energized. We don't think the Ducks will get higher than this though and if one of the one loss teams runs the table and wins their conference, they'll be bypassed. This Week: at Arizona. Our Pick: Oregon 51, Arizona 28

6) Missouri 9-1. Now we find out if you belong. Two games. One the road, one at home. Win them and you go to Atlanta. Lose one...or both. And it's Outback Bowl time for you. James Franklin is back can he carry you over the finish line? This Week: at Ole Miss. Our Pick: Mizzou 33, Ole Miss 23

7) Auburn 10-1. Yes, Tiger fans, you are a MUCH improved team. But miracle or not, you did not deserve to win vs. Georgia. You can't give up 21 4th quarter points to anyone and be a title contender. Sorry. Harvey-Clemons knocks that pass down, this is a different conversation. But better days are ahead, so enjoy the ride. This Week: BYE (resting up for 'Bama)

8) Clemson 9-1. So, it appears, somewhere, you guys found your Mojo. Or at least Tajh Boyd did. Except he's kinda beat up now after destroying Georgia Tech. Good thing the next game is a practice game. This Week: vs. Citadel. Our Pick: Clemson 41, Citadel 9

9) Fresno St. 9-0. Okay, this is our poll. No 2 Loss teams allowed. Plus we can have our personal favorites. Ha! This is looking an awful lot like an undefeated team ya know. Derek Carr has thrown for 32 TD passes already. And has 2 games left. Top that! This Week: vs. New Mexico. Our Pick: Fresno St. 37, New Mexico 17

10) Northern Illinois 10-0. Keeping with our theme of undefeated here. The Huskies just keep on rollin'. Sure they are only 16th in the BCS, but you try going undefeated unless you are Alabama or Florida State….Plus we love us some Jordan Lynch. 21 Passing TD's, 14 Running. Top that Derek Carr. This Week: at Toledo. Our Pick: NIU 41, Toledo 31

11) UCF 8-1. So the Knights are 8-1 and play in the AAC (the aack!) But hey, they're dominating it. And are on the list of teams that should've beaten South Carolina (talking bout you Mizzou).  We're pretty sure Georgie isn't going to let them cough up a hairball here (haha!). This Week: vs. Rutgers. Our Pick: UCF 33, Rutgers 21

12) Duke 8-2. So we lied about the 2 loss thing. Is Duke this good? No, probably not. But they aren't bad either. And are getting no love. Coach Cut is one of the nicest guys in the biz and obviously is a pretty darn good coach. They could win 10 by seasons end. Wow! This Week: at Wake Forest. Our Pick: Duke 31, Wake 21

THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL:



5. UConn 0-9. I'll bet the folks in Storrs will be really happy when the season ends. If it feels like it dragged on forever, it's because it has. Really, we can't add anything else to their misery. Nor do we want to. This Week: at Temple (yikes). Our Pick: Temple 17, UConn16

4, Hawaii 0-10. So, good thing the weather is nice there in Hawaii. The football sure isn't. bwahahaha! Thank you very much, we'll be here all week. Try the veal. Oh, where have you gone Norm Chow, where have you gone? You were an up and comer not so long ago. ---sigh--- This Week: at Wyoming Our Pick: Wyoming 41, Hawaii 33

3) Georgia St. 0-10. Say this for the Panthers, they haven't quit fighting. They just keep losing. We keep saying it. You need FCS talent to play in the FCS. The Panthers were a bad FBS team, that doesn't translate into success. This Week: at Arkansas State. Our Pick: Ark State 45, GaState 30

2) Miami (OH). 0-10. We finally realized the OH stands for "Oh, gawd they are awful." And if it weren't for Southern Miss, this is your "Worst Team in College Football". Bar none. Really, the Redhawks don't do anything well. Certainly, they haven't added to the MAC-action. This Week: vs. Buffalo. Our Pick: Buffalo 47, Miami (O)

1) Southern Miss 0-10. Poor, poor Southern Miss. We approach another holiday season and they still haven't won a game. That makes the 3rd, since they haven't won dating back to late December…of 2011. Which ironically was a bowl game. This Week: vs. Middle Tennessee. Our Pick: MTSU 44, S. Miss 12

SPECIAL MENTION: Florida 4-6. This is the worst Gator team in, well, a couple decades. They can't throw, they can't run, they can't score and well, they've lost 5 in a row. This week they play our Alma Mater (Ga. Southern) a team the Gators should easily beat by 30 or more. There within lies the challenge. To win by 30, that would mean Florida would have to score at least 30. And maybe we are wrong, but we don't see that happening. This Week: vs. Ga. Southern. Our Pick: UF 17, Ga.Southern 10.

((NOTE---To my Florida friends. (Yes, I grew up in Florida), if you lose to us. You WILL NOT ever hear the end of it. I do not expect to beat you. Nor should we beat you. For your sake, that needs to be what happens. Consider yourselves warned))

Tell 'em Mick: