Pick Them Classic (Games) will be decided today. If any of the following teams win over the next few days, I will win New Pick Them (Confidence).
They're going to write "Up 228-64 And Lost" on my tombstone.
Penn St. v Boise St. +11: wishful thinking
Texas -13.5 v Arizona St.: Future Conference Mates Collide
Ohio St. -2.5 v Oregon: It's hard to win a rematch. Also it's idiotic that this is a rematch of a conference game.
Notre Dame v Georgia -2: I'm getting a sinking feeling about the future propaganda value of Georgia winning a national title in the first college football playoff with a backup quarterback.
More Surprising Probably:
1869 - ~2005: Boise St.
~2006 - Present: Arizona St.
------------------------------------------------
Penn St. -11
Arizona St. +13.5
Ohio St. -2.5
Notre Dame +2
Just submit whenever.
Penn St. -11 v Boise St.
Texas -13.5 v Arizona St.
Ohio St. -2.5 v Oregon
Notre Dame v Georgia -2
CRISIS GAMES:
date name: you v me
SMU +8.5 v Penn State: The 1982 Bowl
Clemson v Texas -11.5: man I'm glad there's a playoff, couldn't wait to watch Clemson and Texas play some more
Tennessee v An Ohio State University -7: Obviously Ohio State isn't my preference to win the playoffs, but it would be pretty funny about Ryan Day if they did.
Yes! It could have been a lot of places.
Indiana +7
SMU +8.5
Clemson +11.5
Ohio St. -7
Ok, playoff 1st round picks against the spread. Please submit Thursday at 5 pm. go get em, tiger.
Indiana v Notre Dame -7
SMU v Penn State -8.5
Clemson v Texas -11.5
Tennessee v Ohio State -7
Bowl picks? In THIS economy?
IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl: (34) South Alabama vs. Western Michigan: Jaguars baby! Remember when they scored 87 points? Also, why did they name a bowl after a noted terrorist group?
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl: Memphis vs. (8) West Virginia: two disappointed teams
Boca Raton Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. (29) James Madison: James Madison's reputation as president is, I think, highly inflated due to his (deservedly) well-regarded career prior to the presidency. Poorly handling a war that the USA didn't need to be in, appointing generally incompetent cabinet officials (try to name the most effective--you can't!), and ideological inconsistency in office are all reflections of the fact that he was simply not executive material. Imagine if Great Britain had decided to take the War of 1812 more seriously, or even if Napoleon had waited a year to try to retake power, and we're writing this Bowl Pick Them of Cricket or something.
Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk: California vs. (3) UNLV: You think I can take Cal football seriously? You can take that slop to the trough. Also: not even the dumbest bowl name.
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: (18) Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston: R+L stands for Ralph and Lauren, since they like to wear Ralph Lauren in New Orleans, the ones with the giant horse logo or the Polo Bear in a trench coat.
StaffDNA Cure Bowl: Ohio vs. (11) Jacksonville State: pretty quotidian matchup imo. "DNA staff" is my nickname for Tha Captain's penis, as in, "Hey buddy, let me see that DNA staff."
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: Tulane vs. (16) Florida: About to have a streak of "huh, so that's where that ended up in my confidence rankings" picks.
Myrtle Beach Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. (4) UTSA: Oh, to be in Conway, South Carolina, in late December.
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: (2) Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State: Turner "The Burner," remember him. Anyway, this classic contest is "all about the tater".
Hawai’i Bowl: (6) South Florida vs. San Jose State: Wasn't South Florida supposed to be good this year? If my life depended on naming a majority of conference tie-ins for bowl games this year, I would be a dead man.
GameAbove Sports Bowl: (31) Pittsburgh vs. Toledo: When I see "GameAbove" my brain does the prayer hands emoji.
Rate Bowl: Rutgers vs. (24) Kansas State: It's not the weirdest thing about the conference anymore, but it's weird that Rutgers is in the Big 10. There was only like a five-year period when that could have realistically happened, and it did, and we're stuck with it. Anyway: Rate Bowl? Is that the whole name?
68 Ventures Bowl: Arkansas State vs. (17) Bowling Green: One fewer than the venture we're all thinking of. [The humor is getting very blue in this Pick Them, not appropriate].
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: (22) Oklahoma vs. Navy: Navy is not a good football team??? This should be higher, confidence-wise.
Birmingham Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. (10) Vanderbilt: Fitting that Birmingham, the Athens of America, should host what has to be the highest average USN&WR academic ranking of any bowl this season.
AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Texas Tech vs. (14) Arkansas: Former Conference Mates Collide
DIRECTV Holiday Bowl: Syracuse vs. (13) Washington State: Wasn't there a moment when we all thought Washington State was good? I have not updated my priors about this season (or anything else in college football since 2006).
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: (21) Texas A&M vs. USC: All I am using as evidence for this pick is that Lincoln Riley had to tell the media that he was not a candidate for the Central Florida job.
Wasabi Fenway Bowl: (26) North Carolina vs. UConn: The fellas are going to send Mack out with a win. You could probably convince me this was a conference game.
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: Boston College vs. (5) Nebraska: bad boy mowers pinstripe bowl. Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. BAD BOY MOWERS PINSTRIPE BOWL BAD BOY MOWERS PINSTRIPE BOWL BAD BOY MOWERS PINSTRIPE BOWL
Isleta New Mexico Bowl: (12) TCU vs. Louisiana: ULL is better than people think, is that right? The line looks wrong on this one, but not wrong enough to actually pick Louisiana's finest institution of higher learning.
Pop-Tarts Bowl: Iowa State vs. (32) Miami: I hope they do exactly the same stuff that they did for last year's let's watch the pop-tarts bowl, and act like it's the first time--eating pieces of the mascot, going into the toaster with the dreams sign, the whole bit. Act like it's the first time it happened, and ignore the existence of last year's bowl game.
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop: Miami (OH) vs. (1) Colorado State: what in tarnation
Go Bowling Military Bowl: East Carolina vs. (19) NC State: This is the Scary Movie version of the Indiana-Notre Dame game. Remember when the dumbest bowl names were things like Meineke Car Care?
Valero Alamo Bowl: BYU vs. (15) Colorado: BYU is pretty good, but Deion loves to be on TV and will get going for a bowl game. He has done way better at Colorado so far than I expected, although a spectacular flameout still seems plausible.
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl: Marshall vs. (28) Army: "Army is good" is what I originally wrote, but I worry that reads like I had a stroke or am a disabled child playing with toys.
Transperfect Music City Bowl: Iowa vs. (9) Missouri: Trans Prefect is one of the reasons that idiots think the Western Roman Empire fell. Say "Music City is Iowa Mizzou" in a Fatboy Slim voice--you'll be glad you did.
Reliaquest Bowl: (35) Alabama vs. Michigan: lol, lmao
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: (23) Louisville vs. Washington: I guess this ended up here because Louisville mostly only lost to really good teams. Going back and doing the forensics on my confidence rankings/picks has been fun.
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: (33) South Carolina vs. Illinois: Do they make Citrus Cheez-Its? They should.
Kinder’s Texas Bowl: Baylor vs. (20) LSU: Nothing could be Kinder's than to question people's genders in the Booooowwwwlll Game.
Taxpayer Gator Bowl: Duke vs. (30) Old Mist: "Gator," "Old Mist," and "Duke" are the three price points of whiskey that I drink. Filled with regret for this choice, as it seems like the kind of game that Lane might totally check out of, but it's too complicated to change my confidence rankings.
Servpro First Responder Bowl: North Texas vs. (27) Texas State: Definitely feels like a conference game. North Texas is playing Texas State in Dallas.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl: (7) Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech: A bit of the shine is off PJ, but he's still a good coach.
Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo vs. (25) Liberty: the libs are at it again
For some reason, we're making this even more involved. There are three ongoing contests of wit and strength:
-Straight up homie Bowl Pick Them
-Confidence Rankings, with a higher number indicating more confidence
-Straight up homie Playoff Pick Them
Picks for the Bowl Pick Them/Confidence Ranking and the first round of the Playoff Pick Them are due by Friday, December 13, at 5:00 pm.
****
IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl: South Alabama vs. Western Michigan
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl: Memphis vs. West Virginia
Boca Raton Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. James Madison
Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk: California vs. UNLV
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston
StaffDNA Cure Bowl: Ohio vs. Jacksonville State
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: Tulane vs. Florida
Myrtle Beach Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State
Hawai’i Bowl: South Florida vs. San Jose State
GameAbove Sports Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Toledo
Rate Bowl: Rutgers vs. Kansas State
68 Ventures Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Navy
Birmingham Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt
AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Arkansas
DIRECTV Holiday Bowl: Syracuse vs. Washington State
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: Texas A&M vs. USC
Wasabi Fenway Bowl: North Carolina vs. UConn
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: Boston College vs. Nebraska
Isleta New Mexico Bowl: TCU vs. Louisiana
Pop-Tarts Bowl: Iowa State vs. Miami
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop: Miami (OH) vs. Colorado State
Go Bowling Military Bowl: East Carolina vs. NC State
Valero Alamo Bowl: BYU vs. Colorado
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl: Marshall vs. Army
Transperfect Music City Bowl: Iowa vs. Missouri
Reliaquest Bowl: Alabama vs. Michigan
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: Louisville vs. Washington
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: South Carolina vs. Illinois
Kinder’s Texas Bowl: Baylor vs. LSU
Taxpayer Gator Bowl: Duke vs. Ole Miss
Servpro First Responder Bowl: North Texas vs. Texas State
Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech
Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo vs. Liberty
****
Playoff Round One
#10 Indiana @ #7 Notre Dame
#11 SMU @ #6 Penn State
#12 Clemson @ #5 Texas
#9 Tennessee @ #8 Ohio State
