2020 College Football Discussion and Pick 'Em Thread

[NewYorkExpress]

Also, Texas State is leading Boston College 14-7 at the half.

I think we all picked Boston College (I know I did.)

[NewYorkExpress]

It's over in Lubbock! The Longhorns survive the upset attempt 63-56!

[NewYorkExpress]

Don't look now, but Mississippi State leads LSU 17-14 and has outgained them 281-120 so far.

If you get this one right and the rest of us get this wrong I think I'll jump off the roof of my apartment.

That's a pretty extreme reaction. Are you an LSU fan or something?

Not really. I just think LSU is the superior team by a significant margin. They really shouldn't be losing to Mississippi State if they want to have any chance of being in contention for a New Year's Six berth (I think the playoff is out of reach this year- they aren't quite good enough to win the SEC.)

Their ceiling was never high enough for that. The only two reasons for that number next to their name is because a) two conferences are not being ranked; and b) they won last year and get undue respect until they lose. Both are in the 15-30 range. The gap isn't the humongous.

Given the way LSU played today, they aren't beating Alabama, and they probably won't beat Auburn either, so a New Year's Six bowl is out of the question (unless Auburn does even worse for some reason, or they upset Alabama/Auburn). They'll also have serious problems with Florida too.

I'd expect either a 6-4 (with losses to Mississippi State, Alabama, Auburn and Florida), or 7-3 (they beat one of Florida/Auburn) season.

Mississippi State still has a bit of ways to go for me to take them seriously, but the schedule makers did them a few favors. I see a 7-3 season, counting the LSU game, in their future (losses to Alabama, Auburn and Georgia), with an outside chance of an 8-2 (if they beat Auburn or Georgia). If they go 8-2 that might be good enough for an SEC Championship game spot, assuming Alabama also loses twice (and that one of their wins is against Alabama, of course.)

[NewYorkExpress]

Just a reminder that Tennessee had an agreement inked with Mike Leach in the middle of their fanbase's collective hissy fit and could have had an interesting team.

Even with Mike Leach, Tennessee isn't beating Alabama and Georgia this season. Florida and Auburn are stretches this season too.

[NewYorkExpress]

Miami's very good defensive line vs FSU's still-bottom-10 offensive line makes this a particularly bad matchup for us. I was telling anyone who asked that Miami would cover. I just don't know why they made it the gameday game.

I would have gone with Kentucky/Auburn or Pittsburgh/Louisville.

Army/Cincinnati wouldn't have been a bad choice either, actually for Gameday.

[NewYorkExpress]

Florida (South Carolina came really close against Tennessee, but the Gators are an even stronger team. This won't be close)

TCU (My "upset special" for the week. The Big Twelve has been a mess so far, as exemplified by Oklahoma losing to Kansas State last week. TCU defeating Texas in this rivalry game wouldn't shock me at all.)



Pittsburgh (I'm not entirely sure why Pittsburgh dropped three spots after beating Louisville. I get adding the Big Ten and Pac-12 teams back into the poll, but it doesn't make sense to do that until they actually play their first game, in my opinion. As for this game, NC State is a mediocre team. Pitt should win this.)

Georgia State (Sure, the Panthers haven't played in a while, but they looked more impressive losing to Louisiana than East Carolina did in losing to UCF)

Arkansas State (Both Coastal Carolina and Arkansas State have impressive wins this year...but Arkansas State's win over Kansas State is more impressive at this point than Coastal Carolina's win over Kansas)

Baylor (Baylor has a slightly better team, but this game is a tossup.)

Texas San-Antonio (It's tough to go on the road and win, but I feel good about taking the unbeaten team here)

Texas A&M (The other "upset special" on my board. If Jimbo Fisher doesn't win this game, I'd wonder about his job security. If it weren't for COVID, I'd actually say he might be on the hot seat, but beating Nick Saban solves most woes. Also, if it weren't for the Auburn/Georgia game, I'd say this would be the perfect choice for College Gameday.)

North Carolina (The Tar Heels are a stronger team than Boston College)

Cincinnati (South Florida got blown out by a ranked Notre Dame, Cincinnati beat a ranked Army team. Easy call)

Oklahoma State (I still think Kansas doesn't win a game this year)

SMU (Memphis hasn't played in a month, so they are going to be rusty compared to SMU)

Kansas State (Kansas State's win over Oklahoma should fill them with confidence)

Charlotte (The 49ers may have lost to Appalachian State, but they are one of the better teams in Conference USA)

Kentucky (Ole Miss is one of the worst teams in the SEC)

Middle Tennessee (Big Rivalry game, but Middle Tennessee is the superior team)

Navy (The Midshipmen take the early lead in the race for the Commander in Chief's Trophy. So...will Trump or Biden (or both if Biden wins) go to the Army/Navy game?)

Auburn (Georgia did not look impressive against Arkansas, and Auburn looked really good against Kentucky)

UCF (Could UCF make the playoff? They already are #11 in the AP poll, and they probably won't be that far behind in the first playoff poll.)

Mississippi State (Unlike the LSU game, Mississippi State is the clear favorite to win here)

Oklahoma (Iowa State is better than Kansas State. However, Oklahoma shouldn't have lost that game, and they won't lose this one either)

LSU (I'll admit, the loss to Mississippi State gives me pause, but Vanderbilt is a significantly worse team)

Clemson (Clemson is the far superior team here. I wouldn't be shocked if Trevor Lawrence ended up on a lot of people's Heisman's ballots)

South Alabama (I legitimately have no idea who wins this game. I'm literally throwing a dart at the wall and hoping it sticks here)

Tennessee (Missouri simply isn't strong enough to beat the Volunteers)

Thank you GeorgiaModerate for letting me know that I missed the Missouri/Tennessee game.

[NewYorkExpress]

It's early, but we've got a couple of teams already on upset alert.

First, in Austin, early in the Second Quarter, TCU and #9 Texas are tied at 14

Meanwhile, it's halftime in Pittsburgh, and NC State leads #24 Pitt 17-13.

[NewYorkExpress]

Good battles going in both Austin and Pittsburgh.

Texas leads TCU 29-26, while NC State leads Pitt 24-23. Both games are in the Fourth Quarter.

Meanwhile, we've gone final in both Gainesville and Knoxville. No surprises at all, both Florida and Tennessee get easy wins over South Carolina and Missouri.

Florida wins 38-24, while Tennessee emerges with a 35-12 victory.

That Florida/Texas A&M game next week in College Station should be interesting, especially if A&M can beat Alabama today.

For that matter, next week's Tennessee/Georgia game rivalry game in Athens should be really fun, especially should Georgia beat Auburn tonight...

[NewYorkExpress]

That TCU-Texas game ending was both epic and almost killed me at the same time.

For those who weren't watching, Texas got all the way down to the TCU 1 with around 2:30 left and them fumbled it to TCU at the TCU 1. TCU managed to get a 1st down after Texas burned 2 time outs. It was 4th down and 6 with 6 seconds left, so Gary Patterson decided to just try and run the clock out and not even give it back to Texas. The QB Duggan kept running backwards and it resulted in a safety with 0 seconds left. However, a flag (offensive holding) was called with 1 second left, which resulted in chaos. It ended up being that the flag did not carry over, so the game ended 33-31 TCU

It took four years, but I finally made an upset pick that actually panned out in my favor.

Meanwhile, NC State upset #24 Pittsburgh 30-29.

In terms of in progress games... SMU leads #25 Memphis 24-3, #12 North Carolina is up on Boston College 14-13, and #2 Alabama is struggling early against #14 Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide lead by a 21-14 margin. All three of those games are in the Second Quarter.

[NewYorkExpress]

Going to the 4th Quarter, Iowa State up 23-20 on #18 Oklahoma...

[NewYorkExpress]

Arkansas just 90 seconds away from defeating #16 Mississippi State.

They lead 21-14.

[NewYorkExpress]

And down goes Oklahoma!

[NewYorkExpress]

Florida

North Carolina

Texas (Oklahoma is in complete freefall)

Louisiana

NC State

South Carolina

Syracuse

Georgia

BYU

Texas Tech (My upset special of the week. If this game gets into a track meet, as is normal in the Big Twelve, advantage Texas Tech)

Arkansas State

Troy

Auburn (Arkansas isn't good enough to beat two ranked teams in a row)

Boston College

TCU (I'm surprised neither TCU or Kansas State are ranked after TCU's win over Texas, and Kansas State's wins over Oklahoma and Texas Tech)

Florida International

Florida Atlantic

Alabama (The Crimson Tide's win over Texas A&M shows me that they are back to their old selves. They should win the SEC West easily.)

Navy

Miami (FL) (The other upset special on my board. It's hard to bet against Dabo Swinney and Clemson, but the Hurricanes have been on fire the past three weeks)

Mississippi State (Yeah, Mississippi State just lost to Arkansas, but Kentucky has not looked good at all this year to this point)

Louisiana Tech

Marshall

Charlotte

LSU

[NewYorkExpress]

Down goes Florida, 41-38!  Congrats to JGibson, who was the only one to pick A&M.  Mizzou leads LSU 45-41, 3+ minutes left.

Welp, there goes any hopes for a playoff run. We finally get a god-tier QB & the defense sh*ts the bed.

You can still win the SEC and make the playoff. Just have to beat Georgia and Alabama (easier said than done, of course)

[NewYorkExpress]

SMU (The Mustangs did just have a pretty impressive victory over Memphis)

BYU (It probably says something that the Cougars are the toughest opponent BYU has faced to this point)


Cincinnati (Cincinnati has a win over a ranked Army team, and possible wins over ranked SMU and Memphis/UCF teams. Could that be enough to get them into the playoff, if they remain undefeated, and win the AAC?)

Miami (FL) (Pitt hasn't played an opponent as tough as Miami yet)

Auburn (South Carolina did beat Vanderbilt, but I wouldn't be surprised if that ended up being the Gamecock's only win)

Kentucky (It's a rivalry, and a big trap game for both teams , given they play Alabama/Georgia next week. If a tie game was possible to pick, I would pick it here)

Navy (ECU just isn't very good)

South Alabama (I'm not sure why we included this one. Surely there were better games to choose from?)

Temple (Other than beating The Citadel, South Florida has not looked good at all this season)

Liberty (If Liberty wins this game, plus their matchups with NC State and Virginia Tech and finishes unbeaten, you could make a good argument that they should be in a New Year's Six Bowl.)

West Virginia (The game with Texas Tech at the end of the season might decide whether Kansas actually wins a game this year)

Army

UAB

Notre Dame (It's worth noting the Fighting Irish could be unbeaten until Clemson comes to South Bend on November 7. The winner of that game probably has a guaranteed playoff spot, regardless of what happens the rest of the way in the ACC)

Florida (The wheels have completely come off for LSU. If it weren't for COVID making most coaching jobs safe, I'd question whether Ed Ogereon will keep his job)

NC State (The Wolfpack have played very well this year. They might well be legitimate ACC contenders)

UCF (Closest thing to a tossup on the schedule this week in my opinion)

Wake Forest (Another tossup game, the Demon Deacons have looked better than the Cavaliers to this point)

Arkansas (The Razorbacks looked very impressive against both Mississippi State and Auburn. Ole Miss shouldn't be a problem for them)

Oklahoma State (This might be the easiest pick on the board. Then again, this is the Big Twelve)

Missouri (The Tigers are coming off a big win at LSU and they are facing the only team worse than them in the division. I smell a blowout.)


Alabama (The winner probably has a guaranteed slot in the College Football Playoff waiting for them.)

Boston College (My "upset special". Virginia Tech couldn't stop North Carolina and had trouble stopping Duke. Boston College has only allowed 30 points or more in a game once this season to this point, to Pittsburgh last week, and they won that game.)

[NewYorkExpress]

@NY Express: you didn't pick Miss. St-Texas A&M (please reply with the pick rather than editing your OP).

I thought I did pick that one.

Anyways... I'm taking Texas A&M.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://ugawire.usatoday.com/2020/10/14/alabama-hc-nick-saban-tests-positive-for-covid-19-georgia-football/


Man, I wish this didn't happen. I wanted UGA to beat U of A fair and square, but now they have a lame excuse if they lose

If the Alabama/Georgia game doesn't get postponed, I am switching my pick in that game to Georgia.

[NewYorkExpress]

Week 7 games:

Friday, October 16th

#17 SMU @ Tulane 6 PM EDT ESPN

#15 BYU @ Houston 9:30 PM EDT ESPN

Saturday, October 17th

Pittsburgh @ #13 Miami (FL) Noon EDT ACCN

#14 Auburn @ South Carolina Noon EDT ESPN   This feels like a classic "losing coach is getting fired this year" game

Kentucky @ #18 Tennessee Noon EDT SECN

Navy @ East Carolina Noon EDT ESPN+

Texas State @ South Alabama Noon EDT ESPNU

South Florida @ Temple Noon EDT ESPN+

Liberty @ Syracuse Noon EDT ACCNX

Kansas @ West Virginia Noon EDT

Army @ UTSA 1:30 PM EDT CBSSN

Western Kentucky @ UAB 1:30 PM EDT

Louisville @ Notre Dame 2:30 PM EDT NBC

Duke @ NC State 3:30 PM EDT ACCNX

UCF @ Memphis 3:30 PM EDT ABC

Ole Miss @ Arkansas 3:30 PM EDT ESPN2

#11 Texas A&M @ Mississippi State 4:00 PM EDT SECN

Virginia @ Wake Forest 4 PM EDT ACCN

Marshall @ Louisiana Tech 6 PM EDT CBSSN

#3 Georgia @ #2 Alabama 7:30 PM EDT CBS  My mind says Georgia could or even should win this year, but my every instinct screams that they'll disappoint like they always do

Boston College @ #23 Virginia Tech 8 PM EDT ACCN

Thank you for leaving FSU off this list.

Unless Auburn actually ends up with a losing record (they won't, counting this game as a win, they should also beat Ole Miss, LSU, Mississippi State and at least one of Tennessee/Texas A&M), Gus Malzahn isn't being fired. Even then I don't think he gets fired unless he loses every game left on the schedule, and that's unlikely.

Will Muschamp on the other hand probably would be fired this year if it weren't for COVID (for one thing, he'd have Clemson, a key rival AND a certain loss on his schedule, and his only SEC win likely would still be Vanderbilt. I'm not sure he'd survive that in a non-COVID year.)

[NewYorkExpress]

It's going to be a lot harder to make the pick em games in the next couple of weeks given that the big ten and mountain west are coming back next week, more filtering will occur so we shouldn't have "gimme" games anymore.

Maybe not the Mountain West. Most years, that conference is Boise State, and then everyone else.

[NewYorkExpress]

Apparently Nick Saban will be coaching tonight.

As such, I'm switching my Georgia/Alabama pick back to Alabama. (good thing the game isn't until 7:00).

[NewYorkExpress]

South Carolina just upset Auburn.

[NewYorkExpress]

South Carolina just upset Auburn.

There are Fire Gus years and Make Gus a Saint years. This is a Fire Gus year. They might actually do it too.

So, if Tommy Tuberville had to choose between going back to Auburn as head coach, and being a U.S Senator, which do you think he'd choose?

[NewYorkExpress]

This Bama-Georgia game is shaping up to be an instant classic, but I have a flight I have to leave for before the crack of dawn tomorrow.  I just feel like, if I go to sleep, something insane is going to happen that I'll miss!

I seem to recall switching my pick in that game twice (I guess the switch back to Alabama never got recorded)

[NewYorkExpress]

Well, with the Big Ten and Pac-12 (among others) due to begin play in the next few weeks, I thought I'd take my first shot at predicting the College Football playoff matchups and the other New Year's Six bowls.

Orange Bowl: Penn State vs Notre Dame

Peach Bowl: Iowa State vs Oregon

Fiesta Bowl: Texas A&M vs Minnesota

Cotton Bowl: SMU vs Miami (FL)

Rose Bowl (CFP): #3 Ohio State vs #2 Clemson

Sugar Bowl (CFP): #1 Alabama vs #4 Oklahoma State

[NewYorkExpress]

Wisconsin (I feel for Lovie Smith and Illinois. They've got maybe two wins on that schedule- Rutgers and Nebraska, and neither of those games are going to be easy.)

UAB (This seems like a pick'em game to me. I'm going with UAB, as they are the home team)


Ohio State (This one won't even be close)

NC State (My first "Upset Special". I just can't get over North Carolina's loss to Florida State last week. NC State has no bad losses.)

Kansas State (I still don't think Kansas wins a game this season)

Georgia Southern (Coastal Carolina is punching way above their weight in the Sun Belt)

Ole Miss (Another "upset special". I think Auburn will be reeling after the loss to South Carolina)

Oklahoma (Neither team has looked particularly good so far this season)

Memphis

Florida State (Louisville has looked horrible all season, and Florida State really impressed in their win over North Carolina. I think Mike Norvell just kept himself off the hot seat for all of next year (since they don't play Florida this year).)

UCF (UCF has been a disappointment this season. That said, they still should win this game)

Notre Dame (Pitt's lost three in a row. No reason to think they'll win this one either)

Oklahoma State (The Cyclones are the first real test for Mike Gundy and the Cowboys, and an upset is very possible, but I think they'll come out victorious)

Penn State (This shouldn't be close)

Virginia Tech

Texas

Iowa

Kentucky

South Carolina (LSU is falling apart at the seams. Will Ed Orgeron be fired?)

Boise State (In most years, the Mountain West is Boise State and then everyone else)

Michigan (Minnesota had a magical year last year. They aren't repeating that two years in a row)

Hawaii (I admit to having no idea how Hawaii, who has to travel the most of any school in the country, intends to play any sport during this pandemic)

SMU (Another "upset special". Is this the year SMU is declared "back"?)

Air Force