Yeah...
NOTE---He used to be the "Most Interesting Man in the World"...circa late 1970's...
Anyway....
It appears the state of Mississippi is the place to be in College Football this season. At least the past two weeks. Mississippi was perhaps one of the most "un-loved" football states in the world...until this year.
We don't know if someone there sold their soul to the devil for this success...
If you don't get this reference---The movie is called Crossroads from 1986, look it up, it will then make sense..
Moving on--one of the things that makes us laugh in Sports is the "If the playoff happened today?" question.
Mostly because we have far too long left to go in the season. A lot will happen. Teams will lose. And there will be doubts about who should be in the playoffs. Yet Sports talking heads keep telling us the teams each week will be THAT team. Lots will change...
Count on it...
But enough of that, you are here for our poll and our picks. Of course you are, we are very good at such things, better than given credit for.
And did we add, modest? That's because we were 11-3 last week. Yeah...And that makes us 67-13 on the season, which is pretty damn good.
But enough of that, as our pal Casey Kasem once said "On with the Countdown"...
THE DIRTY DOZEN:
1) Florida St. 6-0. Yes. We still have these clowns at #1. No, they haven't been pretty. They've won, but barely. And no, they really haven't played anyone of significance. But they are the defending national champs. And their only remaining test comes this week. (Aside from the Winston shenanigans) This Week: vs. Notre Dame, Our Pick: FSU 41, ND 37
2) Mississippi St. 6-0. Okay, we know everyone has these guys at #1, they've beaten overrated Texas A&M and Auburn in consecutive weeks. They are solid. Dak Prescott is the new Tebow...blah, blah, blah. And yeah, they'll stay here a couple weeks. But won't finish here. This Week: BYE
3) Ole Miss 6-0. The Rebs have not been pretty but they've won. The defense is good. Really good. The offense is good enough. But they are in the SEC west and we don't think they'll run the table. But we could be wrong. This Week: vs. Tennessee, Our Pick: Ole Miss 28, Tennessee 21
4) Notre Dame 6-0. Yeah...sigh...they are 6-0. Everett Golson has been clutch and they are Notre Dame. But they're also undefeated, which is enough to get them into this slot. For now. We don't believe the Irish are as good as advertised. A few "pundits" are picking them to win this week. We aren't among them. This Week: See #1
5) Baylor 6-0. Does anyone believe this is a title contending team? Sure, they can outscore you. And that goes a long way. But they can't stop anyone. If not for some odd decisions by Gary Patterson last week, the Bears would have lost. Really, they would have. But they survived and have only Little 9 (Big12) games left. This Week: at West Va., Our Pick: West By-Gawd 47, Baylor 46. UPSET!!
6) Auburn 5-1. Okay, count us among those surprised the Tigers lost last week. But they've been struggled the past couple of weeks, the offense not as good as advertised. Nick Marshall has been good, not great. And there are some tests left. This Week: BYE
7) Alabama 5-1. So the fighting Sabans have come back to earth. A loss to Ole Miss and they were lucky to escape last week vs. Arkansas. The offense has been less than consistent though the defense is still pretty good. And they are Alabama. This Week: at Texas A&M. Our Pick: Bama 31, A and M 21
8) Oregon 5-1. The Duckies got their hiccup out of the way early. Injuries on the O-Line have hurt, but they are getting healthy again. And they have Marcus Mariota, which is enough most weeks to win. The hard part of the schedule is over. This Week: vs. Washington, Our Pick: Oregon 48, Wash. 21
9) Michigan St. 5-1. The best team in the B1G, we think. But that's not saying much. Outside the loos at Oregon, they haven't been challenged much. And won't be for a couple more weeks. Enjoy the ride for now. This Week: at Indiana, Our Pick: Mich.St. 41, Indiana 23
10) Oklahoma 5-1. The Sooners almost let an outgunned Texas team come back and beat them. Which alone is enough to raise questions. Outside the loss to TCU, they've dominated the Little 9 (Big12). That won't change...for now. This Week: vs. Kansas St., Our Pick: OU 37, K-State 33
11) Georgia 5-1. Ok, raise your hand if you thought the 'Dawgs would crush Mizzou, in Mizzou? Without their best player. Nick Chubb is a beast, the defense is improving. But unless the figure out how to throw deep, they'll get beat again. Just don't know by who. This Week: at Arkansas, Our Pick: UGA 34, Ark 31
12) Ohio St. 4-1. Wait! What! A second B1G (Big10) team in the dozen. Yeah, we know, but there was a full-on-eclipse this month too. And Hawaii is gonna get hit by a 3rd hurricane this year. But hey, the Buckaroos have played well, scoring a ton of points. They haven't missed much. And the schedule, while cupcake city, is manageable. This Week: vs. Rutgers. Our Pick: tOSU 27, Rutgers 23
THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL:
Somehow, UMass won a game last week. Sure, it was only Kent State, but they managed to figure out how not to lose it, which for them is a marked improvement. So they escape this list...at least for a week.
5) Appalachian State 1-5. If not for the fact they played Campbell, they'd be winless. And sure, they've been close to winning. But that doesn't count. The move to FCS has not been kind, but if they're lucky, they might get off this list. This Week: at Troy, Our Pick: Troy 33, App St. 31
4) Miami, OH 1-6. They're back. Sure, they finally broke a 21-game losing streak a couple weeks ago vs. UMass. Which bought them one week. The Redhawks followed that with a resounding loss...to Akron. MAC action baby! This Week: at Northern Illinois, Our Pick: N.Ill 43, Miami OH 21
3) Kent State 0-6. We give you the FCS's worst running team. 68-yards a game. The defense and passing attack isn't much better. But they play in the MAC, so anything could happen. This Week: vs. Army. Our Pick: Army 37, Kent 21
2) Idaho 0-6. Another team that does pretty much nothing well. Which is why they are ranked here. They did...briefly scare Ga.Southern....briefly. This Week: vs. New Mexico St, Our Pick: NM State 31, Idaho 21
1) SMU 0-5. Lucky for them, the BYE has no defense, otherwise they'd have lost on the off week too. The only thing to look ahead to, they scored 24 the last time out vs. a ranked team. Sure they gave up 45, but ya gotta start somewhere. This Week: vs. Cincinnati, Our Pick: Cincy 54, SMU 10
And there you go. It should be a good week to watch some football. So watch away...and we'll leave you with one of our favorite new groups, St. Paul and the Broken Bones
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