Weekly Picks

Early game this week, so my weekly picks are early. Deal with it.

Hawaii @ Louisiana Tech

Colorado @ West Virginia

Southern Miss @ UAB

Pittsburgh @ Louisville

Utah St. @ BYU

Virginia Tech @ Duke

Michigan @ Michigan St.

Clemson @ Maryland

Wisconsin @ Minnesota

Virginia @ North Carolina

South Florida @ Syracuse

East Carolina @ Marshall

Tulane @ Army

Toledo @ Ball St.

Northwestern @ Purdue

Arkansas St. @ Iowa

Alabama @ Kentucky

Cincinnati @ Miami (OH)

Temple @ Eastern Michigan

Kansas St. @ Iowa St.

LSU @ Georgia

Penn St. @ Illinois

UCLA @ Stanford

Washington @ Notre Dame

Florida St. @ Boston College

NC State @ Wake Forest

Central Michigan @ Buffalo

Memphis @ UCF

Air Force @ Navy

Western Michigan @ Northern Illinois

New Mexico @ Texas Tech

FIU @ UL-Monroe

Ohio @ Bowling Green

Wyoming @ Florida Atlantic

UNLV @ Nevada

Ohio St. @ Indiana

Ole Miss @ Vanderbilt

Oregon St. @ Arizona St.

Kent St. @ Baylor

SC State @ South Carolina

Georgia Tech @ Mississippi St.

Texas A&M @ Arkansas

Tulsa @ Rice

Auburn @ Tennessee

UC Davis @ Boise St.

USC @ California

Oklahoma @ Miami (FL)

SMU @ TCU

New Mexico St. @ San Diego St.

Houston @ UTEP

Washington St. @ Oregon

Colorado St. @ Idaho

Upset Picks

Michigan St. over Michigan - If I keep picking Michigan St., they're bound to win one. Aren't they?

Stanford over UCLA - I like Stanford to knock off the Bruins at home. The Cardinal may be one of the more balanced teams in the nation right now.

Washington over Notre Dame - The Willingham Bowl goes to the Huskies this year. Notre Dame hasn't faced a QB like Jake Locker yet.

Tennessee over Auburn - This game means a lot to both teams. I think whoever loses this may start to head South and even miss a bowl game. The game is in Knoxville so the edge goes to the Creamsicle Crusaders.

Week 2 Picks

Last Week - I don't remember.

My predictions were a little off last week. I had to shake the rust off of a long ass summer. I'm back this week baby! Hopefully....

Here's this week's absolutely right picks.

Clemson @ Georgia Tech
Colorado @ Toledo
Syracuse @ Penn St.
North Carolina @ Connecticut
Eastern Michigan @ Northwestern
Western Michigan @ Indiana
Central Michigan @ Michigan St.
Stanford @ Wake Forest
Fresno St. @ Wisconsin
Duke @ Army
Pittsburgh @ Buffalo
Iowa @ Iowa St.
Troy @ Florida
Marshall @ Virginia Tech
Arkansas St. @ Nebraska
Kent St. @ Boston College
Morgan St. @ Akron
Texas @ Wyoming
Houston @ Oklahoma St.
BYU @ Tulane
TCU @ Virginia
Notre Dame @ Michigan
Howard @ Rutgers
Idaho @ Washington
East Carolina @ West Virginia
Louisiana Tech @ Navy
SMU @ UAB
UCLA @ Tennessee
Weber St. @ Colorado St.
Eastern Washington @ California
Jacksonville St. @ Florida St.
James Madison @ Maryland
Murray St. @ NC State
FIU @ Alabama
Vanderbilt @ LSU
Idaho St. @ Oklahoma
South Carolina @ Georgia
Bowling Green @ Missouri
Mississippi St. @ Auburn
Air Force @ Minnesota
Ohio @ North Texas
Hawaii @ Washington St.
Kansas St. @ UL-Lafayette
Illinois St. @ Illinois
New Hampshire @ Ball St.
Memphis @ Middle Tennessee
Texas Southern @ UL-Monroe
UCF @ Southern Miss
Rice @ Texas Tech
SE Missouri St. @ Cincinnati
Kansas @ UTEP
South Florida @ Western Kentucky
Western Illinois @ Northern Illinois
USC @ Ohio St.
Miami(OH) @ Boise St.
Prairie View A&M @ New Mexico St.
Tulsa @ New Mexico
Southern Utah @ San Diego St.
Northern Arizona @ Arizona
Purdue @ Oregon
Utah @ San Jose St.
Oregon St. @ UNLV

Upset Alerts

East Carolina over West Virginia - WVU was the most disappointing team to me in week 1. They looked horrible against Liberty. This could be another upset victory for the Pirates.

Air Force over Minnesota - Minny needed overtime to beat Syracuse last week. Air Force hung up 70. I'll take the Falcons.

Washington St. over Hawaii - How sad is the PAC-10 when one of their schools beating a WAC team is considered an upset?

Notre Dame over Michigan - Granted, this isn't an upset. However, this makes two straight weeks that I've picked the Irish to win a game! That's a new record.

10 Things That Won't Change In '09

This year more than ever there seem to be many certainties heading into the college football season. I can't remember the last time the pre-season poll looked so similar to the previous' season's final poll. Also, there has never been an instance when every single Heisman finalist invited to NYC has returned to play another year of football.

Here are my thoughts on the things that I expect to see remain the same this season.


1. Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy will be invited back to NYC.

I don't know if Tebow, Bradford and McCoy will be the only Heisman finalists invited to New York, but I do know they will each get an invite once again. It would be Tebow's third trip to New York and the second for both Bradford and McCoy. Tebow should improve his passing numbers tremendously this season thanks to the implementation of a more traditional scheme and the arrival of QB coach Scott Loeffler. Bradford will more than likely put up some ridiculous numbers for the third straight season. Alone with Timmy, Bradford is trying to become only the second player in college football history to win two Heismans. For what it's worth, I thought McCoy should have won the Heisman last season. If he puts up the same numbers this year, and beat Sam Bradford head to head once again, I don't see how the voters can deny him this time around.



2. Michigan will miss a bowl.

It was tough at times watching Michigan struggle the way they did last year. That is until I remembered Rich Rodriguez was their head coach. This season RichRod has proclaimed that Michigan will go with a new 3 QB look to start the season. There is no way that this is anywhere near to good news for the Wolverines. Also, defense in Ann Arbor these days is almost non-existent. Michigan should improve on their 3 wins from a season ago, but not by much.






3. Three Big XII South teams will be ranked in the top 5 by season's end.

Last year, Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech all were ranked in the top 5 at one point. Proving that the Big XII South was the best division in all of college football. This season Oklahoma and Texas will both start out ranked in the top 5. I expect Oklahoma St. to join them at some point as well. The Cowboys have a chance to prove themselves early with a home game against the Georgia Bulldogs. Luckily for fans, all three teams will play each other this season, and since the Big XII has a very judicial way of deciding who gets to represent the South in the title game, there will be no controversy or arguments in the case of a three way tie.



4. Randy Shannon will cry.

Last year it was a late field goal by Urban Meyer's Gators that send Shannon off. The guy cried and cried and cried..... In fact, I bumped into Shannon over the Summer and he still seemed a little teary eyed. What will set him off this year? A hard tackle by an FSU player? A late game touchdown by a South Florida player? Maybe he'll stub his toe while running from the tunnel....



5. A Non-BCS team will go undefeated.

Last year Utah pulled off this tremendous feat by knocking off Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to cap off an undefeated season. This season there are several teams who are contenders to pull of this feat. TCU, Utah, BYU and Boise St. are all ranked by most publications in the top 25. TCU, Utah and BYU all face each other, so their road will be a bit tougher than Boise St.'s. My money is on the Broncos to go undefeated. Chris Petersen is one of the best coaches in the nation and Kellen Moore is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Plus, if Boise St. can take care of Oregon early in the season, they pretty much have smooth sailing the rest of the way through.



6. An SEC West team will lose to a irrelevant Non-BCS team.

This ugly trend started two years ago when Alabama inexplicably lost to Louisiana-Monroe late in the season. Last year, in a not so big of an upset, Louisiana Tech knocked off Mississippi St. Some say that loss is what gave Sylvester Croom the final push to leave Starkville. This season, I like LA Tech's chances of pulling off another mild upset. Auburn opens up it's season at home against the Bulldogs in Gene Chizik's first game as head coach. Imagine the uproar in Auburn when the Bulldogs leave the field with a 16-10 victory over the Tigers. Chizik did lose to Kent St. last season while coaching Iowa St....



7. The ACC race will come down to the final week.

The ACC was average at best last season. No one could pull itself away from the crop. That led to an above average race to reach the title game. Virginia Tech, Boston College, Maryland, Florida St., North Carolina and Georgia Tech all had a chance to reach the conference championship at season's end. In the end, Virginia Tech and Boston College would emerge as the two teams. I expect more of the same this season. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech seem to be the cream of the crop heading into the season. Florida St. looks to be much improved. Butch Davis has things rolling in Chapel Hill, and I think NC State may be ready to turn the corner. It will be a fun race.



8. Mark May will continue to blow his load over USC.

I just don't get it. Mark May has never been able to complete one sentence without mentioning USC in his life. I imagine he yells out VICTORY when pleasuring himself to Pete Carroll's latest book. I have to admit, I am rather impressed with Mark May's ability to spew nonsense at the top of his lungs while continuing to hold SC's manpiece firmly in his mouth. I can't imagine what the May household would look like if USC were to make it back to a title game this season. I hate to even think about it....





9. Oklahoma will lose a BCS bowl game.

It's gonna happen. You know it, and I know it. Oklahoma will ride a spectacular, awe-inspiring offense and a slightly better than average defense to yet another BCS bowl game. It was become an annual tradition, the Sooners will drag their entire fanbase to whatever unlucky city hosts them. The fans will continually and relentlessly rape the ear canals of the general population with unforgiven cries of "BOOMER! SOONER!" all throughout the week. Of course, the fans will turn to blabbering Randy Shannons as soon as they realize their team is going to lose yet another BCS game. The only question is which team will have the luxury of facing the Sooners this season. It could be a repeat of last year's championship game against the Gators. Or they could face Boise St. in the Fiesta bowl once again. Or maybe Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Either way, they're losing.



10. The Florida Gators will win the National Championship.

Bookmark this page and reference it. Come back after the Gators go back to back and revel in my genius.

CFB 365 Ultimate Fantasy League

OK. So I hung up the Ol' blogging shoes for a while there. I guess you could call me the Sterling Sharpe of blogging. I came out with a fantastic flurry only to fade down the stretch and call it a career. A very short career. The truth is, running a daily blog by yourself is VERY time consuming and difficult. Even for someone as awesome as me, I just found it not worth the energy. Well, I'm back baby. I won't be making daily updates like in the past. I'll just update whenever I have the free time. Starting now.
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I'm sure most of you have read the ESPN fantasy 40 team college football league. The league consists of 40 teams selected by slack jawed yokels, Schlabachacasdh (or whatever the hell is name is) Forde and Maisel. Well, while reading their horrible excuse for a column, I decided that I could do better than them. I have created an 84 team fantasy league. The leagues consists of 7 conferences. All 6 BCS conferences and the Mountain West.

Now, I have altered the conferences to make sure we get some awesome fake football. Each conference will have 12 teams. There will be two divisions of 6, ensuring that every conference will have a championship game at the end of the season. I have also taking the liberty of moving some teams out of their current conferences into a situation that makes a little more sense.

Each team will play an 11 game season. They will play all 5 of their division opponents as well as one pre-determined intra-division opponent every year. (i.e. Florida v. LSU) Also, each team will play two alternating opponents from the opposite division every year. The other 3 games will be made up of out-of-conference opponents. One will be a pre-determined opponent that they will face every year. These match-ups will either be continuations of long-standing rivalries (i.e. Florida v. Florida St.) or teams that I feel match-up pretty well with each other every year. (i.e. Alabama v. Michigan.) The other 2 out-of-conference games will be determined by me. Each team will play one of these games on the road and the other at home. I have tried my best to make match-ups that are rather intriguing. For example, Florida will play Notre Dame and Ohio St., Texas will play LSU and Auburn, USC will play Virginia Tech and Utah, etc.

There will be a 16 team playoff at the end of the season. All 7 conference winners and 9 at large teams will make the tournament. The first and second round will be played at the home of the higher seed. The "final four" and championship rounds will be played at neutral site venues.

Each week will be played out congruently with the real college football season. Outcomes will be determined by real life factors. Injuries or how a team has played in the real season will effect how the team will do in my league.

I'll post the 7 conferences that I have created, along with schedules at a later date.

At the end of each season, I will assess every team and see which ones should be upgraded or downgraded to a particular conference. Also, I like the idea of relegation. Say one of the 84 teams I pick stinks it up this year, and a team that is consistently decent has a solid year. I will look to replacing said horrible team with said less horrible team.

This might sound somewhat confusing, but trust me, I know what I'm doing.
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Along with these fantasy updates, I'll continue to do my weekly previews and reviews that were big hits in yesteryear. I won't be doing the Heisman watch, weekly picks or rankings anymore. Those just took up waaayyyy too much time. If you're new to CFB365, which I'm sure you are as my grand total of 3 readers probably gave up on me, take the time out to peruse my old articles and find out what this site is all about. Enjoy the season, and please joining my follower list.

Weekly Picks

Last Week - 37-13

What can I say? I'm a beast when it comes to these here picks! If I didn't love college football, I would be on the first flight to Vegas to place my bets right now. The only upset pick I missed last week was Michigan over Northwestern. I guess that's what I get for going with Lil' Blue.

Here's this week's edition of my dominance.



Northern Illinois @ Kent St.
Ball St. @ Central Michigan
Miami(FL) @ Georgia Tech
Buffalo @ Bowling Green
Miami(OH) @ Toledo
Fresno St. @ San Jose St.
Michigan @ Ohio St.
NC State @ North Carolina
West Virginia @ Louisville
Army @ Rutgers
Clemson @ Virginia
Indiana @ Purdue
Tennessee @ Vanderbilt
Eastern Michigan @ Temple
Citadel @ Florida
UCF @ Memphis
Colorado St. @ Wyoming
Syracuse @ Notre Dame
Arkansas @ Mississippi St.
Tulane @ Tulsa
Washington @ Washington St.
Florida Atlantic @ Arkansas St.
Michigan St. @ Penn St.
Air Force @ TCU
Ole Miss @ LSU
Stanford @ California
Illinois @ Northwestern
Boston College @ Wake Forest
Akron @ Ohio
Marshall @ Rice
UTEP @ Houston
Cal Poly @ Wisconsin
North Texas @ Middle Tennessee
Iowa St. @ Kansas St.
Louisiana Tech @ New Mexico St.
Boise St. @ Nevada
Duke @ Virginia Tech
BYU @ Utah
Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati
Oregon St. @ Arizona
East Carolina @ UAB
Iowa @ Minnesota
UL-Monroe @ FIU
UL-Lafayette @ Troy
Florida St. @ Maryland
Texas Tech @ Oklahoma
UNLV @ San Diego St.
Idaho @ Hawaii
Connecticut @ South Florida



Upset Alerts

Central Michigan over Ball St. - The Chippewas are the two-time MAC champions. Something tells me they aren't going to just give that title away.

Florida St. over Maryland - Maryland is the truest definition of a helter skelter team. I think the 'Noles take it to them this week.

Arizona over Oregon St. - I really want the Beavers to win just so they can keep the Trojans away from the PAC-10 title. However, Arizona is a very dangerous team, especially at home. I think Tuitama goes off this week.

BYU over Utah - One thing I've learned from watching college football all my life; Always go with the underdog in the Holy War!

Weekly Picks

Last Week- 36-18

Last week's results reminded me of the night I lost my virginity. I started out like a rock star. I was the king of the world. Everything I was doing was working and I could do no wrong. Of course, at the end of the night, I was curled up into the fetal position crying like a little baby.

The disappointing home stretch last week won't deter me from making my picks this week. Let's see if I can stay strong like bull throughout.


Ball St. @ Miami(OH)
Temple @ Kent St.
Central Michigan @ Northern Illinois
Buffalo @ Akron
Virginia Tech @ Miami(FL)
Wyoming @ UNLV
Cincinnati @ Louisville
Indiana @ Penn St.
Ohio St. @ Illinois
Rutgers @ South Florida
Northwestern @ Michigan
Duke @ Clemson
Notre Dame @ Navy
Purdue @ Iowa
Texas @ Kansas
Georgia @ Auburn
Middle Tennessee @ Western Kentucky
New Mexico @ Colorado St.
UL-Monroe @ Ole Miss
Toledo @ Western Michigan
Utah St. @ Louisiana Tech
East Carolina @ Southern Miss
UAB @ Tulane
South Carolina @ Florida
North Carolina @ Maryland
BYU @ Air Force
Wake Forest @ NC State
California @ Oregon St.
Minnesota @ Wisconsin
Arizona @ Oregon
Nebraska @ Kansas St.
UL-Lafayette @ Florida Atlantic
Texas A&M @ Baylor
San Jose St. @ Nevada
UCF @ Marshall
Boise St. @ Idaho
New Mexico St. @ Fresno St.
Washington St. @ Arizona St.
Missouri @ Iowa St.
USC @ Stanford
Connecticut @ Syracuse
Mississippi St. @ Alabama
Utah @ San Diego St.
Oklahoma St. @ Colorado
Boston College @ Florida St.
Troy @ LSU
Tulsa @ Houston
Vanderbilt @ Kentucky
SMU @ UTEP
UCLA @ Washington


Upset Alerts

Oregon St. over California - I mainly picked this one because I want the Beavers to win out and take the PAC-10 title. I'd like to see USC bitch about not making the national championship without winning their pitiful conference.

Baylor over Texas A&M - The Aggies are a horrible football team, and Robert Griffin and Baylor are on the come up. I look for Art Briles to coach the Bears to their biggest victory in a long while.

Rutgers over South Florida - Rutgers finally looks to be clicking. This is bad news for a struggling South Florida team.

Michigan over Northwestern - The Wolverines are coming off a pretty big win in Minneapolis. Also, I don't care how bad Michigan is, there's no way Northwestern should be able to walk into the Big House and win.

Wild Week 2

Week 2 of the college football season is in the books. I must say that if the season keeps progressing like this, this may be the best CFB season in recent memory. There were several great games to watch this weekend. Here are a few of the top stories from the week.



The Big Ten is a slightly better conference than the MAC.


The conglomerate that is Ohio football paid a visit to Columbus this week. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they ran into an upstart Ohio St. looking for the upset. The inferior Buckeyes stole the victory from the mighty Bobcats by getting away with a block in the back on a punt return in the fourth. This bunch of lovable kids from Columbus may be the story of the year after pulling this one off. Let's see if they can ride the momentum to pull off some more upsets.

Another powerful MAC team bit by the upset bug was the Miami(OH) Redhawks. The Redhawks were in a tight battle against underdog Michigan all game long. The scrappy Wolverines were able to pull away with a late touchdown in the fourth.

Both of these victories have catapulted the Big Ten pass the MAC in conference prestige. This conference definitely deserves to have an automatic BCS berth.



Charlie Weis is the worst head coach in the history of coaching.


Notre Dame was pushed to the brink by the San Diego St. Aztecs. This is the same Aztec team that was coming off of a loss to Cal Poly! Notre Dame escaped the victory after forcing a SDSU fumble as the Aztecs were at the goal line looking to put the nail in the Irish coffin. I really hope this quiets the Notre Dame douchebag faithful that seem to have a blinding faith in Mr. Weis. Also, can we please stop mentioning Weis in the same breath as other great coaches. It isn't fair to the profession. The only good thing about Weis is that he makes Notre Dame horrible. Anything that makes that happen is cool with me.



Washington got jobbed.


Seriously, how in the hell can the refs make that call at that point in the game? Ty Willingham needs all the help he can get to stay employed in Seattle, and apparently the refs aren't giving him any. These new rules are disgusting. Football is a passionate sport that sometimes evokes passionate responses from those individuals that partake in this sport. Who cares if you hurt the feelings of an opposing team. How about that team try to actually STOP that player. That way, there's nothing for said player to celebrate.

I'm not putting the whole loss on the refs. Who's to say BYU doesn't beat Washington in overtime anyway? However, the fact that the Huskies didn't get that chance due to a horrendous call is a travesty that should not be allowed.


Other notable stories from week 2.

• Missouri is a legit national title contender.
• Fans that chant "SEC" are the most obnoxious fans in the world.
• The ACC is total horse shit.
• There's a game being played in Los Angeles next week. I don't know if you heard.
  

Weekly Picks

Alright, time for my weekly picks post. Last week I went a respectable 60-14. I'm ashamed to admit that I went against all my beliefs and drank from the Clemson kool-aid this off season. I did go with Utah in the mild upset over Michigan, however.

Here are my week 2 picks. Again, feel free to e-mail me your picks or leave them in a comment if you think you can do better.

Upset alert: I really wanted to pick Southern Miss over Auburn, but I hear the Tiger camp is extremely focused for this one. I went with Auburn, but I wouldn't be surprised if Larry Fedora's bunch pulled it out.

Home	Away	My Pick
Vanderbilt	South Carolina	South Carolina
Ball St.	Navy	Ball St.
Ohio St.	Ohio	Ohio St.
Wisconsin	Marshall	Wisconsin
Illinois	Eastern Illinois	Illinois
Boston College	Georgia Tech	Georgia Tech
Michigan St.	Eastern Michigan	Michigan St.
Michigan	Miami(OH)	Michigan
Temple	Connecticut	Connecticut
Iowa	Florida International	Iowa
Purdue	Northern Colorado	Purdue
Auburn	Southern Miss	Auburn
Nebraska	San Jose St.	Nebraska
Army	New Hampshire	Army
Virginia Tech	Furman	Virginia Tech
Washington	BYU	BYU
Georgia	Central Michigan	Georgia
Oklahoma	Cincinnati	Oklahoma
Oregon	Utah St.	Oregon
Penn St.	Oregon St.	Penn St.
Wake Forest	Ole Miss	Wake Forest
Colorado St.	Sacramento St.	Colorado St.
Colorado	Eastern Washington	Colorado
Notre Dame	San Diego St.	Notre Dame
Louisville	Tennessee Tech	Louisville
Syracuse	Akron	Syracuse
Clemson	Citadel	Clemson
Wyoming	Air Force	Wyoming
Virginia	Richmond	Virginia
Florida Atlantic	UAB	Florida Atlantic
East Carolina	West Virginia	West Virginia
Idaho	Idaho St.	Idaho St.
New Mexico	Texas A&M	Texas A&M
Florida St.	Western Carolina	Florida St.
Kentucky	Norfolk St.	Kentucky
North Carolina St.	William & Mary	North Carolina St.
Pittsburgh	Buffalo	Pittsburgh
Eastern Kentucky	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky
Washington St.	California	California
Missouri	SE Missouri St.	Missouri
Alabama	Tulane	Alabama
Kansas	Louisiana Tech	Kansas
UCF	South Florida	South Florida
Arkansas	UL-Monroe	Arkansas
Iowa St.	Kent St.	Iowa St.
Indiana	Murray St.	Indiana
Duke	Northwestern	Northwestern
Baylor	Northwestern St.	Baylor
North Texas	Tulsa	Tulsa
Mississippi St.	SE Louisiana	Mississippi St.
Arkansas St.	Texas Southern	Arkansas St.
Middle Tennessee	Maryland	Maryland
TCU	Stephen F. Austin	TCU
Western Michigan	Northern Illinois	Western Michigan
Oklahoma St.	Houston	Oklahoma St.
Kansas St.	Montana St.	Kansas St.
Bowling Green	Minnesota	Bowling Green
Florida	Miami(FL)	Florida
LSU	Troy	LSU
Utah	UNLV	Utah
Memphis	Rice	Rice
SMU	Texas St.	SMU
Nevada	Texas Tech	Texas Tech
Arizona St.	Stanford	Arizona St.
Arizona	Toledo	Arizona
UTEP	Texas	Texas
Hawaii	Weber St.	Hawaii