Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Football Future-see 2012: Week Eight


Record
Week 1…..8-1
Week 2…..5-0
Week 3…..2-3
Week 4…..5-0
Week 5…..4-1
Week 6…..2-3
Week 7…..5-1
Week 8…..4-1
Overall..…35-10

Review/Preview:
Back to five games this week, as last week’s six games were picked to fill an obligation from week one (Louisiana Tech vs Texas A&M). I went 5-1 last week…not bad. I just should’ve been smarter on the Red River Blowout. Georgia is back on the schedule this week. If you were wondering about which rankings I use (since the ranking in the picks don’t match the Right Wing Top Ten), just look at ESPN’s college football schedule. Whatever ranking they use, (Coaches Poll, AP, or BCS) is what I use. The last two weeks, the #5 team in the poll has gone down to defeat. Georgia was trounced by South Carolina, West Virginia was trounced by Texas Tech…and now #5 is Notre Dame, playing host to BYU. The pressure is on you, Brigham Young. Can you keep up the Curse of #5?

The Games:

6 LSU at 18 Texas A&M .....CORRECT
Texas A&M has adapted to SEC play far better than fellow newcomer Missouri. While Mizzou is 0-for-the-SEC, Texas A&M is 2-1 in conference play, losing only to Florida. Their upcoming run is tough, though, with LSU, at Auburn, at Mississippi State, and at Alabama comprising their next four games. Going 2-2 in that stretch is admirable. Anything more is impressive. 1-3 is more realistic. LSU is coming off a big win over South Carolina. The Tigers are looking to build up some momentum going into their November 3 match-up with top-ranked Alabama.
FINAL SCORE: LSU 24, Texas A&M 20

7 South Carolina at 2 Florida .....CORRECT
You want a game of the week? I got your game of the week. Connor Shaw leads the powerful Gamecocks into the Swamp to take on Jeff Driskel and the Gators. Both of these teams are in the toughest stretches of their respective seasons. Florida’s current run includes LSU, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Georgia. The Gamecocks had Georgia, LSU, Florida, and Tennessee. This might be a better game than last week’s LSU-SC tilt, and this one is very difficult to predict. I give the edge to Florida in the Swamp.
FINAL SCORE: Florida 31, South Carolina 28

11 Georgia at Kentucky .....CORRECT
The bye week came at the perfect time for Georgia. The Dawgs will have nearly two full weeks to stew on a 35-7 loss to Darth Visor and the Gamecocks. Kentucky, just last week, gave up 49 points to Arkansas…yes, that Arkansas. If the anemic Razorbacks can hang 49 on Kentucky, what can Georgia do to them? I would not want to be a Wildcat this Saturday.
FINAL SCORE: Georgia 56, Kentucky 10

4 Kansas State at 13 West Virginia .....CORRECT
How ‘bout this? Two Big XII games on the slate. This is the bigger of the two match-ups. If not for South Carolina and Florida playing this week, Morgantown would’ve been a good destination for ESPN’s Gameday crew. For weeks the Mountaineer offense was putting up huge numbers. Geno Smith looked to have already secured the Heisman. Then they ran into a Red Raider buzz saw last week that held the WVU offense to 14 points and a mere 408 yards (the Mountaineers season average is somewhere around 540). The problem for West Virginia is that Kansas State is better than Texas Tech. If this game were at Manhattan instead of Morgantown the points would be worse.
FINAL SCORE: Kansas State 45, West Virginia 34

17 Texas Tech at 23 TCU .....INCORRECT
The other Big XII clash on our slate is a match-up of Texas Tech and TCU. Texas Tech is coming off a dismantling of then-#5 West Virginia. TCU is coming off a 28-point win over Baylor. I’m not really familiar with either team here, so I’m curious to see how close I can get on this pick. Going by the rankings, I guess that makes this an upset pick.
FINAL SCORE: TCU 27, Texas Tech 24

The Right Wing Top Ten (25)
In the initial release of the Right Wing Top Ten(25), I left USC off the rankings completely. Why? I was still thinking about them being banned from postseason play. They aren’t, anymore. So we’ll get them on this list. Sorry, Men of Troy. I’ll give you the whole Top 25, free of charge…
25. Texas A&M Aggies
24. Texas Tech Red Raiders
23. Boise State Broncos
22. Northwestern Wildcats
21. Iowa State Cyclones
20. Cincinnati Bearcats
19. Texas Christian Horned Frogs
18. Ohio Bobcats
17. Louisville Cardinals
16. Clemson Tigers
15. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
14. Florida State Seminoles
13. Mississippi State Bulldogs
12. Oklahoma Sooners
11. USC Trojans

10. Georgia Bulldogs (BCS #10: USC)
Georgia had a week to get over the humiliating loss at Columbia. I would not want to be a Kentucky Wildcat this Saturday.

9. Oklahoma Sooners (BCS #9: LSU)
Oklahoma not only won the Red River Rivalry game, they made Texas look bad…very bad.

8. South Carolina Gamecocks (BCS #8: Oregon State)
The Gamecocks lost a heartbreaker to LSU in Death Valley, so it’s nothing to be ashamed of. A one-loss SEC champion will most likely still play for the national championship.

7. Louisiana State Tigers (BCS #7: South Carolina)
LSU and South Carolina are, after Saturdays clash, basically on equal footing as far as I’m concerned. I really feel like, top to bottom, the SEC East is better this year than the West.

6. Oregon State Beavers (BCS #6: LSU)
Who, at the start of the season, would’ve pegged Oregon State to be a top ten team? Trouble is, it might not last. The Beavers QB is hurting, and without a QB in the PAC-12, your days are numbered.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (BCS #5: Notre Dame)
Notre Dame should’ve at least played an overtime against Stanford. The non-touchdown call on 4th-and-Goal really aided the Irish. Still, undefeated with their schedule is impressive.

4. Kansas State Wildcats (BCS #4: Kansas State)
Kansas State is 5-0 in one of the better national conferences, and is still flying under the radar. I don’t even have to change that description.

3. Florida Gators (BCS #3: Oregon)
The BCS says Florida is the #2 team in the country. As much as I love the SEC, I still think you should have only one team per conference in the national championship game. But Florida is a good team, and may prove to me that they deserve the #2 spot.

2. Oregon Ducks (BCS #2: Florida)
Possibly the fastest offense in the nation gives Oregon a stranglehold on second place.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (BCS #1: Alabama)
As I said last week, Alabama is simply the best team in the nation.

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