2021 College Football Discussion and Pick'em Thread

[GeorgiaModerate]

538 has their annual college football playoff predictor up: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2021-college-football-predictions/

A writeup is at https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/yes-college-footballs-playoff-race-really-is-more-wide-open-than-usual/.  TL;DR: Alabama and Georgia are (unsurprisingly) the current co-favorites, but more teams than usual have a real chance to make the playoff this year.

[JGibson]

Week 5

Friday, October 1st

Houston @ Tulsa 7:30 PM EDT ESPN

#5 Iowa @ Maryland 8 PM EDT FS1

Saturday, October 2nd

#8 Arkansas @ #2 Georgia Noon EDT ESPN

#14 Michigan @ Wisconsin Noon EDT FOX

Tennessee @ Missouri Noon EDT SECN

Pittsburgh @ Georgia Tech Noon EDT ACCN

Minnesota @ Purdue Noon EDT BTN

Texas @ TCU Noon EDT ABC

Western Michigan @ Buffalo Noon EDT CBSSN

#7 Cincinnati @ #9 Notre Dame 2:30 PM EDT NBC

Eastern Michigan @ Northern Illinois 2:30 PM EDT ESPN+

#12 Ole Miss @ #1 Alabama 3:30 PM EDT CBS

#3 Oregon @ Stanford 3:30 PM EDT ABC

#6 Oklahoma @ Kansas State 3:30 PM EDT FOX

Syracuse @ Florida State 3 PM EDT ACCN

Texas Tech @ West Virginia 3:30 PM EDT ESPN2

Tulane @ East Carolina 3:30 PM EDT ESPN+

Central Michigan @ Miami (OH) 3:30 PM EDT ESPN+

#10 Florida @ Kentucky 6 PM EDT ESPN

#21 Baylor @ #19 Oklahoma State 7 PM EDT ESPN2

Liberty @ UAB 7 PM EDT CBSSN

Boston College @ #25 Clemson 7:30 PM EDT ACCN

#22 Auburn @ LSU 9 PM EDT ESPN

Washington @ Oregon State 9 PM EDT PAC12

Arizona State @ #20 UCLA 10:30 PM EDT FS1

[Dereich]

Friday, October 1st

Houston @ Tulsa 7:30 PM EDT ESPN
#5 Iowa @ Maryland 8 PM EDT FS1

Saturday, October 2nd

#8 Arkansas @ #2 Georgia Noon EDT ESPN I want to believe. Go hogs
#14 Michigan @ Wisconsin Noon EDT FOX
Tennessee @ Missouri Noon EDT SECN
Pittsburgh @ Georgia Tech Noon EDT ACCN Georgia Tech could win by 30 or lose by 50 and I would not be surprised. The Coastal is pure chaos this year
Minnesota @ Purdue Noon EDT BTN
Texas @ TCU Noon EDT ABC
Western Michigan @ Buffalo Noon EDT CBSSN
#7 Cincinnati @ #9 Notre Dame 2:30 PM EDT NBC
Eastern Michigan @ Northern Illinois 2:30 PM EDT ESPN+
#12 Ole Miss @ #1 Alabama 3:30 PM EDT CBS I want to see the upset purely to see how mad Saban gets at losing to Lane Kiffin
#3 Oregon @ Stanford 3:30 PM EDT ABC
#6 Oklahoma @ Kansas State 3:30 PM EDT FOX
Syracuse @ Florida State 3 PM EDT ACCN I need to believe
Texas Tech @ West Virginia 3:30 PM EDT ESPN2
Tulane @ East Carolina 3:30 PM EDT ESPN+
Central Michigan @ Miami (OH) 3:30 PM EDT ESPN+
#10 Florida @ Kentucky 6 PM EDT ESPN
#21 Baylor @ #19 Oklahoma State 7 PM EDT ESPN2
Liberty @ UAB 7 PM EDT CBSSN
Boston College @ #25 Clemson 7:30 PM EDT ACCN
#22 Auburn @ LSU 9 PM EDT ESPN
Washington @ Oregon State 9 PM EDT PAC12
Arizona State @ #20 UCLA 10:30 PM EDT FS1

[GeorgiaModerate]

#8 Arkansas @ #2 Georgia Noon EDT ESPN I want to believe. Go hogs

Which one are you picking?

[Dereich]

Whoops. Edited.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Looks like Preseason #14 Miami (FL) is not going to be bowl eligible. Praise Catholic Jesus. The U might be deader than Nebraska.

*FPI still keeps them at 60% chance. But those next three games are daunting. They could win their last four given the Tech schools are coming to Miami Gardens, but I have to think they drop one. Last night was a home game too, and it didn't help them prevail against what appears to be a worse team than either of those. Massey is far less kind. Maybe D'Eriq King really will save them down the stretch.

[DINGO Joe]

Tulsa
Iowa
UGA
Michigan
Missouri
G-Tech
Purdue
TCU
WMU
Cincy
NIU
Alabama
Oregon
OU
FSU
WV
Tulane
Miami
Florida
OSU
Liberty
Clemson
LSU
Washington
UCLA

[GeorgiaModerate]

Tulsa
Iowa
UGA
Michigan
Missouri
G-Tech
Purdue
TCU
WMU
Cincy
NIU
Alabama
Oregon
OU
FSU
WV
Tulane
Miami
Florida
OSU
Liberty
Clemson
Washington
UCLA

Missing one.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

What a joy to see the remnants of the ultra-cocky American conference be rebuffed by Colorado State and the Air Force Academy. No truce to be called in the Border War!!

Sure, I was all about the AAC > ACC because who isn't for the little guy, but the nobodies got egos way too big for their britches real quick, especially in basketball (Wichita State lol). Think they can destroy the beautiful rivalries of the Mountain States? Give me a break. Time for the MW to poach SMU and Tulsa and kill what's left of the "P6" (or make MW the all but certain 6th).

Tulane, South Florida and East Carolina can go begging the C-USA to form a more regionalized structure with them. These scraps are below the Sun Belt and have no value outside of Tulane baseball. Maybe these two conferences together can go tell Temple to pound sand and have fun with UMass and UConn - the proudest Temple tradition of all.

[NewYorkExpress]

Adding a pick that I want counted as my 25th pick in place of Northern Illinois/Eastern Michigan.

I'm taking Utah State to beat BYU tonight.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Adding a pick that I want counted as my 25th pick in place of Northern Illinois/Eastern Michigan.

I'm taking Utah State to beat BYU tonight.

Sorry, you don't get to choose your own slate of games to pick.  If you don't want to pick the NIU-EMU game that's fine, but if you don't then it will be counted as a loss. 

If you really don't know who to pick, you could always flip a coin.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Friday, October 1st

Houston @ Tulsa 7:30 PM EDT ESPN

#5 Iowa @ Maryland 8 PM EDT FS1

Saturday, October 2nd

#8 Arkansas @ #2 Georgia Noon EDT ESPN

#14 Michigan @ Wisconsin Noon EDT FOX

Tennessee @ Missouri Noon EDT SECN

Pittsburgh @ Georgia Tech Noon EDT ACCN

Minnesota @ Purdue Noon EDT BTN

Texas @ TCU Noon EDT ABC

Western Michigan @ Buffalo Noon EDT CBSSN

#7 Cincinnati @ #9 Notre Dame 2:30 PM EDT NBC

Eastern Michigan @ Northern Illinois 2:30 PM EDT ESPN+

#12 Ole Miss @ #1 Alabama 3:30 PM EDT CBS

#3 Oregon @ Stanford 3:30 PM EDT ABC

#6 Oklahoma @ Kansas State 3:30 PM EDT FOX

Syracuse @ Florida State 3 PM EDT ACCN

Texas Tech @ West Virginia 3:30 PM EDT ESPN2

Tulane @ East Carolina 3:30 PM EDT ESPN+

Central Michigan @ Miami (OH) 3:30 PM EDT ESPN+

#10 Florida @ Kentucky 6 PM EDT ESPN

#21 Baylor @ #19 Oklahoma State 7 PM EDT ESPN2

Liberty @ UAB 7 PM EDT CBSSN

Boston College @ #25 Clemson 7:30 PM EDT ACCN

#22 Auburn @ LSU 9 PM EDT ESPN

Washington @ Oregon State 9 PM EDT PAC12

Arizona State @ #20 UCLA 10:30 PM EDT FS1

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I've decided to enter the Pick 'Em contest, and I will take BYU this evening. I think they are overrated, but the Aggies are quite a ways down from their peak and are really lucky to have a winning record right now.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I've decided to enter the Pick 'Em contest, and I will take BYU this evening. I think they are overrated, but the Aggies are quite a ways down from their peak and are really lucky to have a winning record right now.

The BYU game isn't actually in our pick'em list.  Tonight's games on the list are Houston-Tulsa and Iowa-Maryland (both of which have started, so it's too late to pick them).

But I do agree with your assessment of both BYU and Utah State.

[GeorgiaModerate]

It's possible that Tulsa is not in fact the best 1-3 team in the country.

[7,052,770]

It's possible that Tulsa is not in fact the best 1-3 team in the country.

Anybody who has an FCS loss isn't the "best" of anything.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

UC-Davis is better than three Pac-12 teams (at least) and is almost certain to go undefeated this season given how atrocious Eastern's defense has looked.

[DINGO Joe]

Thanks.  Fixed, I expect the Tigers will win.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Thanks.  Fixed, I expect the Tigers will win.

That's a fairly safe bet in that game.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

The Pedos should not be ranked fourth. Somebody needs to clip their wings.

[Santander]

The Pedos should not be ranked fourth. Somebody needs to clip their wings.

As much as I would like to see it, I don't see Indiana being that team. I told you all Penn State are playoff contenders before the season.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

The Pedos should not be ranked fourth. Somebody needs to clip their wings.

As much as I would like to see it, I don't see Indiana being that team. I told you all Penn State are playoff contenders before the season.

They do play Iowa next week

[Santander]

The Pedos should not be ranked fourth. Somebody needs to clip their wings.

As much as I would like to see it, I don't see Indiana being that team. I told you all Penn State are playoff contenders before the season.

They do play Iowa next week

That should be a great game. I think Michigan will fall back to earth, but Iowa and Penn State are both great teams.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I'm admittedly biased, but it would be hard to convince me right now that Georgia isn't the best team in the country.

[Хahar 🤔]

I'm admittedly biased, but it would be hard to convince me right now that Georgia isn't the best team in the country.

The same Georgia team that beat a mediocre Clemson team by all of seven points?