2019-10-10 05:56

It looks like it's not my season regarding picking the right winners, at least in the ESPN Pick'em-game.
But, hey ... I try to get better. ;-)

You like some crazy news?

Here are some:

Les Miles, the HC of the Kansas Jayhawks, in his 1st year there, did fire his OC after 6 games, the last was against Oklahoma where they did only score 20 points. Funny thing is, so far did no team score more than Kansas against Oklahoma, except Houston on the 1st gameday.
I guess there were some 'misunderstandings' on the sideline and that OC and the HC did not agree anymore.
Well, he can make some vacation now, still getting 1 mio for the rest of the season and the next one.

Another crazy news is, that after Rutgers did fire their HC a few weeks ago, now the starting QB and the starting RB did decide to call it a season and asked to be redshirted, since they did so far only play in 4 games. That will allow them to play 1 more season, next year.
If this trend does continue (we had similar cases at Houston also this season), we will see a lot of shifting after 4 to 6 games each season.
I can understand that the players want to finish their career on a higher note that this Rutgers season, since it determines your draft status very much and that means at the end of the day money, but just quitting during the season ... is not a good sign also for draft scouts.
On top for Rutgers did another QB calls it quit because of medical reasons.
Next in line is a redshirt freshman and a true freshman.
Don’t bet on Rutgers I guess.

Next crazy stat is, that Southern Methodists (SMU) is 6-0 after a 3OT win this weekend and that's the best start since 1982!
In that 1982 season they did finish 11-1 after a 10-0 start and won a national championship behind later NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson.
Likely will SMU not have an impact on that dimension this season, but still a great start.

Last season I did some early analysis on the season at that point, asking for the TOP 4, if all remaining games are won by a bunch of unbeaten teams from all conferences.

There were Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, West Virginia and Colorado as unbeaten teams.
The case was, if all keep winning, except #1 Alabama (who were bound to clash with Georgia at some point), who would take the lead?
I doubted Notre Dame would get a seat, in that case.
At the end it was Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame as unbeaten teams, plus 1-loss Oklahoma.
Georgia lost twice, Ohio State only once, West Virginia lost 3 times and Colorado lost 7! times.

This does only show that you never know.
Of cause things can turn out as expected, but on the other hand it can become something different.
This game is quite injury driven and the colleges do have deep rosters, but suddenly you are thin on some position and those who then have to play were likely backups for a reason.

Why I'm saiyng this?

Because the season is far from over and whatever you might think will happen, or what I think will happen, will likely not happen 100%.
And that's the best in sports in general.

I had selected those 3 games as the BLOCK OF GRANITE GAMES FOR WEEK 6

Sat, Oct. 5
#14 Iowa @ #19 Michigan
What a boring game.
Michigan did score 10 in the 1st quarter, Iowa nothing.
Iowa did score 3 in the 2nd quarter and Michigan nothing.
Both teams did score nothing in the 2nd half.
Iowa did look awful on offense and did therefore lose the game against another bad playing team.
For me, Iowa does not look like a contender.
Michigan neither.
#14 Iowa 3 @ #19 Michigan 10 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 9-9

#7 Auburn @ #10 Florida
It looks like Dan Mullen did motivate his Gators a bit better for the 2nd half than Guz Malzahn did with his Tigers.
With 17:13 leading at halftime did Florida score further in the 2nd half, while Auburn did play a good 3rd quarter with no scoring on both sides, but were unable to score in the 4th and lost this crucial game.
Now with this game in the can, what do we take from it?
I say, Auburn did lose some ground in their division, but overall it looks like both teams were almost on the same power level, which is likely not enough to challenge the favorites.
Crucial games for Auburn are LSU and Alabama, while Florida needs to win against Georgia. unfortune for Auburn is, they play Georgia on top. Unfortune for Florida is, they play LSU next week on the road.
So final word on both teams for this week is: They will not win their divisions.
#7 Auburn 13 @ #10 Florida 24 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 9-10

#25 Michigan State @ #4 Ohio State
The game was over after the 1st half, when Ohio State lead 27-10.
The 3rd quarter was OK in terms of Spartans defense, but since their offense was unable to score, they did slowly ran out of time.
Then did Ohio State score on top of that in the 4th, while MSU did just not score.
The Spartans will likely play good against the Wolverines, but that is just something else.
Ohio State is and stays the hottest thing inside the BIG10.
#25 Michigan State 10 @ #4 Ohio State 34 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 10-10

Other interesting games:

Fri, Oct. 4
#18 UCF @ Cincinnati
UCF did lead at the half, but Cincinnati did score as only team in the 3rd to turn things around and when UCF did finally wake up late in the 4th, it was too late. The Bearcats won 27-24 to have an important win inside their conference.
Jacks interesting games Score: 14-5

Sat, Oct. 5
California @ #13 Oregon
That did more look like a BIG10 game that a PAC12 game, but Oregon won with a strong defense 17-7.
Cal was held scoreless after the 1st quarter.
Jacks interesting games Score: 15-5

Tulane @ Army
Great game, as it looks. Tulane did basically score a bit more than Army, both did play good, but Army made a few more mistakes and was kept in check slightly better. Hence Tulane got the win with 42-33.
Jacks interesting games Score: 16-5

Some other interesting results of week 6:
Texas Tech did upset ranked Oklahoma State 45-35. Good win for the Red Raiders.
Louisville won against Boston College 41-39. Louisville will have to prove they did improve next week at Wake Forest.
Iowa State did win against TCU 49-24. Quite a bad start for TCU inside the BIG12.
Central Michigan won against Eastern Michigan 42-16. That means the Trophy played out between WMU, CMU and EMU will be kept by WMU already.
Toledo did win against Western Michigan 31-24. Toledo looks like the favorite inside the MAC right now.
Georgia State won against Arkansas State 52-38. Big win for the Panthers.
Virginia Tech did rethink their effort and won against Miami on the road 42-35. I hope they can keep it up.
Navy won against Air Force 34-25. Now they Navy-Army game will be the decide for the Commander-in-Chief-Trophy.
North Carolina did win against Georgia Tech 38-22. Not sure the new HC of Georgia Tech will survive the 1st season. Likely he will, but look at that! They are 1-4 now.
Stanford did somehow find the strength to beat ranked Washington at home 23-13. PAC12 is crazy.
Pittsburgh did win against Duke on the road 33-30. ACC would be interesting if there wouldn't be that big dominating Clemson team.
And at last, Oregon State got their 1st PAC12 win against UCLA. Did I mention that the PAC12 is crazy?

And now let's move forward to week 7.
Some great matchups coming up, which will have huge impact on the conference landscapes and the playoffs.

I selected this 3 games as the BLOCK OF GRANITE GAMES FOR WEEK 7

Sat. Oct. 12
#6 Oklahoma vs #11 Texas
The likely most important game inside the BIG12.
Not always it's important regarding the final standings and the BIG12 Championship in terms of the winner takes it all, but since the 2 most influential teams to clash here and usually at least 1 team is in contention, a loss in this game is always not a good thing and on top of this there comes the rivalry rooting back to 1900, when the RED RIVER SHOWDOWN was played the 1st time.
Since then this game did have it all.
Last season the game was played only the 3rd time since ever twice a season (1901, 1903 and 2018).
Texas won the game during the season, Oklahoma the BIG12 Championship game.
This season we have again both teams ranked, but Oklahoma was so far perfect averaging 50+ points on offense per game, while Texas lost 1 game so far (against ranked LSU) and averages 40+ points per game.
It's traditionally played on a semi-neutral place, in Dallas Texas, inside the Cotton Bowl (the stadium, not the event).
As said, last season Texas did squeeze by Oklahoma, but this season I have the feeling that Oklahoma is more than an inch stronger than Texas.
Sure, the rivalry will spice up the intensity and the will to win, but I doubt that Texas will be able to control QB Hurts and how Texas will protect their QB Ehlinger is beyond me.
The lines of Oklahoma do look legit, and if Texas can keep up with that for the whole game, we will have a fun game.
Vegas has the Sooners favored by 10.5 points, I think they will even top that.
Sooners win.

#7 Florida @ #5 LSU
Again a SEC showdown you just have to love.
What's at stake?
If LSU loses, they do lose a little step to Alabama.
Of cause nothing is final, but this is important and since Alabama has this season a quite easy SEC East schedule, they will not stumble over a non-division-game (except a shot into their knees or something).
So losing here, this game, would be not so good for the division contention.
Florida did already beat Auburn, so they are right now on the plus side of that math in their division, but if they lose here, they lose a step toward Georgia.
Also nothing final, but important.
On top as a loser you will have a hard time getting into the playoffs, even if you keep on winning afterwards.
Played at Baton Rouge this game is in favor of LSU, and Vegas does grant a line of -13.5.
That's big.
After the game between Auburn and Florida I'm in doubt this will get out of hand that much, but on the other side is that LSU stadium a killer.
Very tough environment.
I go with LSU but I think it will be close.
Tigers win.

#1 Alabama @ #24 Texas A&M
For now did Alabama win everything and Texas A&M did so far not show they can content with the top.
They lost to Clemson and to Auburn already and the reason they are still ranked is that they did play on the same level or almost on the same level as those 2 teams. Likely also their HC does have some weight in that, likely many do just believe A&M will play on that level with Fisher as HC, they just have the bad games up front and not later in the season.
Well ...
Alabama did not show and sign of weakness so far.
The only reason this will not be a blowout (likely) is that this is played in Texas and Alabama will have to play against the 12th man.
A&M at home is not a bad thing and hopefully we will see something special.
Alabama is favored by 16.5 points, so an upset would be huge.
It CAN happen, we did see such upsets already, but it's highly unlikely.
Crimson Tide win.

Other interesting games:

#25 Cincinnati @ Houston
The next big game for Cincinnati and this time they might not be strong enough.
Cincinnati won against UCF last week and do now face 2-3 Houston who are under the reign of former West Virginia HC Holgorsen.
Houston lost to Oklahoma, Tulane and Washington State. Given Tulanes rise this season it's not as bad as 2-3 might look like.
Don't get me wrong, Holgorsen has likely some pressure already, but this is not really a bad football team.
Played at Houston this is a perfect trap game for the 7.5 points favored Bearcats to get eaten by the Cougars.
I'm willing to pick an upset here.
Cougars win.

#10 Penn State @ #17 Iowa
Another of those hard to pick BIG10 games (at least for me).
Iowa did show little offense against Michigan last week, but will play at home now, which might help.
Penn State did play well at home last week against Purdue, but the Boilermakers are not really in best shape this season.
Still the Nittany Lions are 3.0 point favorites.
I expect another defense match, but Penn State to be a bit better.
Nittany Lions win.

Washington State @ #18 Arizona State
And the next game to be featured in the PAC12-who-will-win-lottery.
Surprisingly the Vegas line is EVEN!
The 3-2 Cougars lost 2 in a row (the wild game against UCLA and at Utah) and do now travel to Arizona State, who lost so far only 1 game (at home against Colorado).
Maybe it's better so look against whom they won and that is for Wazzu New Mexico State, a FCS team and Houston, which is in total not that impressive.
For Arizona State that's Kent State, a FCS team, Michigan State and Cal last week on the road. That's a bit more impressive.
So how on earth can the line be even if we have a 4-1 team with a 'better' wins at home against a 3-2 team losing 2 in a row and with only wins against not so winning teams?
To make it short .... (even I can imagine a WSU win ...)
Sun Devils win.

Don't forget your Pick'em picks.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

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