The Dirty Dozen and Bottom of the Barrel: Anarchy...or Not?

Well, so far, we've had a few close calls, a few upsets (minor) and a lot of overhyping. All three things have defined a College Football season that so far can be defined as: Meh...

Outside last week when Jameis Winston cost himself the Heisman Trophy repeat and nearly cost Florida State a shot at a repeat title, everything that happened happened and no real chaos ensued...



Or not...

Surely that is in our future, but uh...not this week, the slate of games, while not exactly cupcake week, doesn't exactly feature any barn burners either. Those happen--we hope...in October.

It sure is helping our bottom line as evidence by us going 12-2 last week in picks. That puts the total thus far at 35-5, which folks, is pretty darn good.

With so little to talk about folks, we'll throw Casey out there and say "On with the countdown"


THE DIRTY DOZEN:

1) Florida St. 3-0. This pains us. Morally we want them to lose so maybe they understand how they are enabling Jameis Winston. But that ain't happening right now. This applies:



And that ain't happening this week. (This Week: at NC State. Our Pick: FSU 41, NCState 23)

2) Oklahoma 4-0. The Sooners had a tough time in West by god Virginia, but that wasn't a surprise. They still won. We aren't sold they are in this for the long haul, but there is nobody in the Big 9 we think that is capable of knocking them off. (This Week: BYE)

3) Oregon 4-0. The Duckies also struggled at Washington State, but did eeek out the win. We see this team as being very similar to Oregon teams in the past. They haven't played any of the PAC 12 teams that will push them hard. Yet. (This Week: BYE)

4) Alabama 4-0. Yes, the Tide annihilated a highly overrated Florida team. But this is still a team with flaws. However, Blake Sims has been a revelation and Amari Cooper has been fantastic. Oddly, the defense may be their biggest concern. (This Week: BYE)

5) Auburn 3-0. We were surprised to see how much they struggled with a game K-State team. Even though it was a road game. The Wildcats kept the Tigers offense largely in check. And had a chance to win, but didn't. One more week for Auburn before schedule gets tough. (This Week: vs. La.Tech. Our Pick: Auburn 49, La. Tech 12)

6) Texas A&M 4-0. Trill Hill continues to put up big numbers, the Aggies continue to roll. But consider the opponents, 3 cupcakes and a South Carolina team with so-so defense. It's about to get tougher as the SEC West schedule kicks in in earnest. (This Week: vs. Arkansas. Our Pick: Aggies 37, Ark. 23)

7) Mississippi St. 4-0. Yeah, beating LSU in Death Valley will get you here. Now can you stay? Dak Prescott was awesome and until a late 4th quarter collapse, so was the defense. They looked like a title contender. Will it last? (This Week: BYE)

8) Baylor 3-0. Stop us if you've heard this before. Tons of points, questionable defense and conference with few challengers. Oh, and likely to fold when pushed. Yeah, all these have described Baylor for the past couple of seasons. And that isn't going to change. (This Week: at Iowa St. Our Pick: Baylor 51, Iowa St. 38)

9) Notre Dame 3-0. Arggh! This hurts us to put these guys here. The schedule has been cupcake palooza. But they are ND and they get ranked if they win. And we don't wanna put a one loss team above them...yet. (This Week: at Syracuse. Our Pick: ND 30, Cuse 20)

10) Ole Miss 3-0. Again undefeated and they've dominated a string of cupcakes. What'cha gonna do when the pressure is on? Oh, did we add they are in the brutal SEC West? The schedule kicks in soon, but not this week. (This Week: vs. Memphis. Our Pick: Ole Miss 35, Memphis 21)

11) Georgia 2-1. Okay, yeah, we put a one loss team here. The feeling is this team will get better as the season goes on. The defense is the only question and they are young. But they won't be tested as much as we thought. Or will they? (This Week: vs. Tennessee. Our Pick: UGA 37, Vols 23)

12) Arizona St. 3-0. Time to find out if they are contenders or pretenders. And yes, they are undefeated. And no, they haven't really played anyone of note. That's about to change. (This Week: vs. UCLA. Our Pick: UCLA 28, Arizona St. 21)

THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL



5) UMass 0-4. Oh you poor Minutemen. You still are masters of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. And you've been a perennial occupant of our list of crappy teams. We don't expect that to change anytime soon. (This Week: vs. Bowling Green. Our Pick: BGU 13, UMass 12)

4) Rice Krispies 0-3. Sigh. We thought about making Rice Krispies jokes, but we've used up most of them over the past couple seasons. Regular readers..or reader should know this. So we will stop. (This Week: at Southern Miss. Our Pick: Southern Miss 21, Rice 17)

3) Troy 0-4. Zoinks. They play UGA, get ball first, drive down field and miss a field goal. They never came close to scoring again getting beat 66-0. Yes, 66-0. Sigh...(This Week: at LaMonroe. Our Pick: Monroe 45, Troy 13)

2) Miami OH 0-4. Another long time cellar dweller who hasn't really shown any signs of climbing out. MAC Inaction! Woooo! (This Week: at Buffalo. Our Pick: Buffalo 33 Wings, OH Miami 10)

1) SMU 0-4. How can you score 12 points in 4 games and call yourselves a Division 1 football team? Oh, and your coach walked away from the mess after 2 of those games. Don't expect to leave this spot all season long. (This Week: vs. TCU Our Pick: TCU 47, SMU 3)

Enjoy your late '70's early '80's concept music video: