I had a pretty good season with my picks last year, unless you count the bowl season, which I have conveniently left out of the percentage below. There will be a few changes to the predictions this year. I won’t be including Auburn’s games in the predictions or in the results. I’ve realized that choosing with my heart tends to hurt my performance. My Auburn game prediction will be included at the end of that week’s game preview.
I’m also changing the title for the non-SEC games. As you probably never even cared to know, it used to be labeled “Other Games That Might Tickle Your Fancy”. I guess I thought that was funny two years ago, but now it’s just dumb. So now they are labeled “Other Games of Note”.
As always, feel free to post your picks in the comments section below the post. I dare you to try to beat my C+ average.
This Week: 11-2
Last Season: 102-30 (77.3%)
9/2
Southern Miss at South Carolina – Will Steve Spurrier finally have a successful season at South Carolina? Will Stephen Garcia finally give Gamecock fans a reason to be excited? We’ll find out tonight in the first game of the 2010 College Football Season.
I have a feeling South Carolina will play a little flat in the first half, but the talent level is a little better in Columbia than it is in Hattiesburg, so South Carolina will pull it out in the 4th quarter.
South Carolina 27, Southern Miss 10
South Carolina 41, Southern Miss 13 – SUCCESS!
9/4
Miami (OH) at Florida – John Brantley gives Florida fans a reason to forget about Tebow, but then the Jorted-wonders realize they are playing a different Miami.
Florida 49, Miami 7
Florida 34, Miami 12 – SUCCESS!
Louisiana-Lafayette at Georgia – Somehow Georgia is supposed to be good with a brand new quarterback and a running back that’s driving around hitting people. Too bad they will get at least one win this year since they open up with the Ragin’ Cajuns. Are there any other teams whose mascot has an an apostrophe in the name?
Georgia 38, Louisiana-Lafayette 10
Georgia 55, Louisiana-Lafayette 7 – SUCCESS!
Kentucky at Louisville – Two new coaches square off in the annual season-opening UK-UL match-up. Kentucky was the better team last year and return most of their playmakers, so they should take this one in heated battle on the hardwood…oh wait.
Kentucky 27, Louisville 20
Kentucky 23, Louisville 16 – SUCCESS!
Jacksonville State at Ole Miss – The Masoli-bomb is going to hurt the Rebels. Not the fact that he’s not playing, but the fact that they just found out that he’s not playing 2-3 days before the season starts. Jax State will hang while Ole Miss stumbles around on offense, but the talent difference will show up late in the game.
Ole Miss 20, Jacksonville State 10
Jacksonville State 49, Ole Miss 48 (OT) – FAILURE
Tennessee-Martin at Tennessee – Most people are expecting the Vols to have an absolutely dreadful season. Things aren’t always as bad as they seem, and they aren’t always as good as they seem, but I think things are going to be pretty bad. Good thing Tennessee opens up against their Martin brethren.
UT-Martin’s Auburn style jerseys will have the fans and players yelling “oh no, not 6 in a row” at first, but once they realize they are playing the SkyHawks and not the War Eagles, the Vols will calm down and pull out a ho-hum win.
Tennessee 30, UT-Martin 14
Tennessee 50, UT-Martin 0 – SUCCESS!
San Jose State at Alabama – Mark Ingram isn’t playing due to injury which has prompted every person in the world to say something to effect of “Who cares? Richardson is the better back anyway.” They are right about one thing…who cares? Oh well, there goes the split-Heisman.
Alabama 45, San Jose State 7
Alabama 48, San Jose State 3 – SUCCESS!
Tennessee Tech at Arkansas – How many schools in Tennessee have a football team? Geez.
Arkansas 63, Tennessee Tech 3
Arkansas 44, Tennessee Tech 3 – SUCCESS!
Memphis at Mississippi State – Memphis isn’t good at football. Mississippi State isn’t as bad at football.
Mississippi State 28, Memphis 9
Mississippi State 49, Memphis 7 – SUCCESS!
Northwestern at Vanderbilt – Some people call Northwestern “Purple Vandy”. If there ever was a game to have zero attendance due to a study group, this would be the one. Vanderbilt is back to being Vanderbilt now that Bobby Johnson is gone, and as we saw in the Outback Bowl, Northwestern is moving on up.
Northwestern 31, Vanderbilt 14
Northwestern 23, Vanderbilt 21 – SUCCESS!
LSU at North Carolina – Worst “Kickoff Game ” Ever. UNC won’t have at least 16 players. LSU still has Les Miles as their coach. I wouldn’t watch this one if you paid me.
LSU 24, North Carolina10
LSU 30, North Carolina 24 – SUCCESS!
Other Games of Note
Oregon State at TCU – We’re going to find out really quick if Oregon State will be able to help the college football world and knock off Boise State in a few weeks after seeing how they fare against the Horned Frogs. I still think TCU is too strong.
TCU 34, Oregon State 23
TCU 30, Oregon State 21 – SUCCESS!
9/6
Boise State at Virginia Tech – I’ve really never disliked Boise State. Their Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma a few years ago was awesome, but when the media finds someone to like, they latch on and don’t let go. Boise State plays two tough games this year, and with their high preseason ranking, they could likely play themselves into the National Championship game by winning two of their first three games.
Everyone always says that if Boise State played in the SEC, they would lose 4-5 games a year. Now the new thing for the Boise-lovers to say is that if Boise State was in the SEC they would have SEC talent, therefore they would be just as good. Well, they aren’t in the SEC so the talent argument is out, but they can schedule tougher opponents. If their conference hurts them, then they should get out of the conference.
Anyway, this is supposed to be a prediction. Everything I just said won’t matter. Virginia Tech will end all this madness for us in the first week of the season.
Virginia Tech 30, Boise State 24
Boise State 33, Virginia Tech 30 – FAILURE
