COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Tua was mopping up the first half, trying to send a message to the “committee” no doubt. And. poof! There goes his season and the Tide’s hope of yet another Final Four. He led Bama to a big double win for Silent Bob, one of 6 wins AND 6 covers. It was a road win, one of 5 road wins. And defensive points, one of 3 teams to get those – including a shutout from Va Tech. It’s a record-setting 67 point week in the pool and moves S.Bob back into first place.

Who hates Iowa? I would guess the entirety of the pool (current and former).

The haters gathered and saw Jon’s Beloved suffer their first defeat, one of three losses for Eli Gemstone. He scores a week-low 28 points, 18 of those from Boise in his double win over New Mexico.

John McKay, on the bright side, had another 6-0 week, Georgia posted 11 points in it’s win at Auburn. (Woulda, coulda, shoulda been a good doubler), He’s in 2nd place.

In 3rd – Mike Lynn, going 5-1. Kansas State’s home loss to West Virginia tripped him up. And Iowa was on the bench.

The Buckeyes finally had a spread (52.5) they couldn’t cover in Meathead’s double game. So if you had Rutgers and the points… you won. Buffalo’s MACtion loss cost him a 6-0 week.

Earnest sits in 5th, scoring 54 points this week. His Sooners are turning into his “cardiac kids” again surviving in his double game.

Double-digit favorites Duke and MTSU were both home losers for Gob.

Bevo posted his highest weekly total of the year – 43 points! Michigan had a good cover double win over Sparty. Army and BYU bested FCS opponents. But those damn Red Raiders denied him 6-0 with a home loss to TCU.

I file this report embedded (unfortunately) in the shadows of the B1G10 offices near O’Hare Airport in Chicago. 1200 cancellations Monday. C’mon Chicago, you’re better than that.

On to week 11:

John McKay and Mike Lynn are tied at the top. J. McKay went 3-3, but managed 31 points led by the Dawgs shutout of Missouri. Irony would have it that Penn State would be one of his losses and greatest wins on the same day. Mike Lynn’s only loss this week was K State at Texas, he started LSU over Bama but not doubling the Tigers might haunt him down the stretch.

Silent Bob posted his 2^nd straight sub-20 point week and falls back a bit in 3rd. Losses by SDSU, Wyoming, and Bama in his double game, coupled with App State’s win over So Carolina sitting on his bench.

Low score of the week goes to 4th place Meathead (12 points). UCF, Fresno St, Wash St, Wake Forest. Losers all. But the Buckeyes keep rolling along.

Earnest and Eli post 6-0 weeks. Eli wins the week with 49 points. HUGE win out of his Golden Gophers! Earnest needs OU to hold on for dear life in his double win.

3-3 weeks for Gob and Bevo. Gob posts 29, led by Clemson’s 18 point road/cover win over NC State.

Bevo is setting a new standard for last place. He’s 101 points behind 6^th place Gob. Losses by ODU, Arkansas, and So Carolina this week. He’s losing to his guy by 90 points.

 

We are all well aware the Greatest Pool in the History of the World is not a sprint. It’s a long, arduous journey with  potential disasters looming week after week. (See Bevo). The great marathoners say that the first part is the easy part, the kick down the stretch is where the guttiest competitors win or lose the race. And as Ricky Bobby says, “If you aint first, you’re last.”

“Emotion is highly overrated in football. My wife Corky is emotional as hell but can’t play football worth a damn.” – John McKay’s steady hand has his squad in first place after a season-high 63 point week. Lovie covers in his doubler, Georgia gets ranked points beating the Gators. He goes 6-0 and gets the very rare 6-0 vs. the spread.

It started bad Thursday night for Silent Bob with App State losing and he never recovered. Fla State and No Illinois also lost, he left Memphis and their win over ranked SMU on the bench. Liberty gets 18 in his doubler – and that’s his total for the week.

Meathead sits in 3rd, just 2 points back going 5-1. Syracuse got throttled at home for his only loss.

Late-night losses spoiled Mike Lynn’s week. Luckily it was turn back the clock night so he could watch his Rainbows lose to Fresno He sits in 4th, the worst of the best.

51 points back from 4th place is Gob – the best of the worst. His doubling of MTSU was admittedly a random call and did not work out. He goes 4-2 and scores a week-low 11 points.

Earnest sits in 5th after a 5-1 bounce back week. The Huskies have been a major disappointment this year for EB – losing at home to the Utes.

Remaining in 6th and 7th, Eli and Bevo. Eli’s only loss this week was the head-to-head Lazerus play between Nevada and New Mexico. Bevo’s lowly Huskers fell again at Purdue and Troy lost to “something called Coastal Carolina”.

We head to week 11 and November, where champions are crowned.

Oh Lord, it’s hard to be Bumble
When you’re a loser in every way
I can’t bear to look at the scoreboard
I keep losin’ each game after game
To know me is to hate me
I know I’m a shell of a man
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be Bumble
Cause I’m pickin’ the worst that I can

I guess you could say I’m a loser (Yeah)
A tri-captain, tough and proud
I could have more wins if I wanted
But then I wouldn’t stand out from the crowd
Some folks say that I’m just stubborn
Hell, I’ll double those Longhorns all year
But I can no longer be Bumble
Just call me the name of that steer!

Welcome to the Pool, Bevo! An epic weeks calls for a name change fitting our favorite Beezer – Yes 0-6 for the week. That’s hard to do! Way, way harder than 6-0. There have been a handful of O-fers in our history. Texas, Army, Troy, Iowa State, So Carolina, and Texas Tech. The latest and, for the the record at -16, the Greatest losing line-up in recorded history. Congrats, losing the week wasn’t easy.

Also in contention, a god-awful 1-5 line-up for a -6 week. Oklahoma with a double loss at Coach K, Wisconsin has crashed, Pitt, Virginia, and Missouri were all losers for our longest-suffering player. The championship drought will continue, for him mirroring his beloved woebegone NFL team, welcome to to pool….

Earnest.

Three teams were 6-0 this week. Mike Lynn’s LSU team continues to rack up ranked bonus points. He wins the week with 55 points.

Silent Bob remains in the lead scoring 53 for the week, getting defensive bonus points in 4 games and getting 4 road wins. His Crimson Tide gets LSU in 2 weeks: 1 vs. 2.

John McKay’s 6-0 week was good for 39 points, 2-4 against the spread. Oregon scrambled to beat Wazzou in his doubler, he’s fading in the standings.

Meathead went 4-2, losses by ECU and Fresno State. Ohio State piles up more double points, 22 against Sconny. He leads the pool with 162 double points.

Gob (4-2) – The Flaints were just the aints this week.

Eli (3-3) – Joe Montana’s not walking through that door. The most ironic thing this year in the pool is that Eli’s best team, smartest pick in the draft, point-getting machine is the Golden Gophers led by head coach PJ Fleck. Keep enjoying the victories, Eli!

*Murderer’s Row got trounced this week scoring 70 points.

 

In 2004, the Greatest Pool in the History of the World ended with an all-time great (moniker) champion, Keith Jackson. One week into the 2005 season it was apparent that the name would be tarnished long-term, so Keith became…

Millie Jackson.

15 years later, our champion has once again proved “unworthy” of his name, a name he bore proudly. Questionable decisions abound. (Doubling Toledo – 52-14 losers at Ball State). Boise State and Miami were also losers, he scored a pool-low 14 points. He’s now on the long. hard road to redemption….The (trying-to-be) Righteous Doctor…

Eli Gemstone.

PJ also flirted with a name change this week, scoring 16 points and plummeting to 6th place in the pool. A double-loss by Sconny to Lovie (Boomer did cover, BTW) and losses by Washington and Mizzou.

Meathead climbed up the charts to #2 this week, scoring a season-high 59 points. Ohio State tallied 20 Friday night. Buffalo pitches a shutout over Akron for 11 more. 6-0 and 5-1 vs the spread.

We’re all chasing that kind of week, and chasing Silent Bob. He goes 5-1 with Cal’s loss to the Beavers his only hiccup. Bama loses Tua and doesn’t cover – he scores 39 for the week.

John McKay  witnessed the Gopher game (with plenty of elbow-room) and went 6-0 this week. Ahh, New Jersey in the fall in all her glory.

Mike Lynn and Gob were 5-1. Gob’s Stanford losing to UCLA and ML losing the direction Michigan tussle with W losing to E. (sounds like Disney uniforms)

Bumble remains in the basement. He needed a Texas-sized miracle to beat Rock Chalk in his double game. Army and NC State were losers.

Don’t despair Bumble, salvation may be headed your way. He comes Eli.

 

The biggest game of the weekend (in the pool) turned into a back-and-forth-who-can-outdumb-the-other showdown between two of the worst game coaches in college football. It was especially interesting for those of us who were in Athens this year and got to see first-hand, the rabid home fan base in a frothed-up frenzy, knowing the single-file lines out of Sanford were a lot less vociferous than they were post-Irish. It was John McKay’s first double loss of the year, a -6 loss coupled with the Fighting Solich’s home loss to the Saluskis of Northern Illinois. He scores a pool-low 22 for the week.

Meathead and Walter were also in the 20’s this week. Toledo (26 point faves) and Vandy (15) lost at home to Bowling Green and UNLV for Walter. Meathead loss 3 games (Wake F, E Mich, Miss St) but got bailed out by a shoutout double win from powerhouse Indiana over Rutgers, who’s up next for PJ  in the gauntlet that is B1G 10 Football.

Memphis lost it’s first game of the year dealing Silent Bob his only loss on the week. Alabama is covering spreads this year which is bad news for the rest of the pool. The Tide tallies 18 and S Bob wins the week with 44 points. (Point of clarification: SB is, in no way, a reference to Thing. Our leader has been quiet this year and as Wiki says….True to his name, Silent Bob rarely speaks, but when he does, he often has something eloquent or logical to say, delivering thought-provoking monologues to the other characters only in appropriate situations)

Also 5-1, Gob and PJ. Tulsa loses to Navy by 28 at home for Gob and Virginia loses to the Miami Criminals for PJ in the awful ACC Coastal. Right now it’d be Duke vs. Clemson in the title game.

Bumble and Mike Lynn were 4-2. Army has returned to form this year losing to W Kentucky, and BYU is a train wreck, losing to USF for Bumble. Likewise, Maryland and Iowa continue to chalk up losses for M Lynn on a weekly basis.

It’s anybody’s game after 7 weeks. Well, maybe not Walter. And certainly not Bumble. But, other than that…

Walter, Meathead, PJ, and Silent Bob are beating their guys. The Sisters lead the Row by a mere 7 points.

7 points after 7 weeks? It’s a College Football Pool Miracle!

 

This is a very complicated case, Maude. You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you’s. And, uh, lotta strands to keep in my head, man. Lotta strands in old Duder’s head.

Some of the strands from week 6:

Gob loses his double game with Auburn in the Swamp, and falls to 6^th place.

Florida was stowed away safely on PJ’s bench. He needed the points, going 3-3, scoring a pool-low 22 points with losses by Okie St, Washington, and Arkansas St.

Buffalo. UCF. East Carolina. E Michigan. All losers for Meathead (23 points).

Mike Lynn’s “Lazerus” move resulted in 6 total points. Might need to re-think that strategy.

Jon McKay, Walter, and Bumble were 5-1, Walter wins the week with 46 points.

He’s quietly become our new leader. Mr. Consistent, scoring 51 week 1 and 40 or more points every other week this year. His awesome line-up this week?

Memphis (2X), San Diego St, Va. Tech, Air Force, and Liberty.

Baffling wisdom from….

Silent Bob.

Here’s the Logjammin’ leaderboard.

Lots of points available on the board next week with ranked match-ups. Check out this week’s picks for the match-ups of the week.

A month in and, for the first time since 1969, the top 6 teams in the AP pre-season college football poll remain the top 6 after the first month.

Not that it’s been a cakewalk for everyone:

Good ol’ Dabo’s prayers were answered in Gob’s double-game win over the Tar Heels. Gob goes 6-0 this week, but 1-4 vs. the spread.

PJ wins for the 3rd straight week posting another 50 points. OU leads the way again, with Wisconsin making a nice 1-2 punch every week.

Bumble, poor Bumble. Loses another doubler with Iowa State’s loss to Baylor. Add losses by Troy, NC State, and BYU. Bumble mimics his Husker’s performance this weekend, posting the first single-digit score of the year in the pool. 8 points for the week. He’s 40 points points out of 7th – our own UMass.

Skunk, and Walter were 6-0 this week, Meathead 5-1. Skunk leads in wins (29) but is 9 games under .500 vs. the spread. Meathead is in 2nd, only 2 points out and Walter had a big ol’ hole to dig out of.

John McKay managed 4 wins out of a depleted roster. Losses by USC and Marshall. Mike Lynn got losses from North Texas and Purdue.

We march on to October….

From the cozy confines of Sanford Stadium and the hallowed halls of greatness, comes this week’s college football pool update.

We bore witness to John McKay’s Dawgs knocking off Walter’s Fighting Irish in a top 10 showdown and a head-to-head battle in the pool . They both went 4-2 this week, Walter also losing his double game as Arizona State got dinged by Colorado. That’s the Buff’s 2nd double upset, knocking off Bumble’s Huskers in week 2. Ohio and TCU were home losers for John McKay.

Meathead also drops 2 – UCF gets nicked by Pitt and Washington State loses a wild one at home to UCLA. Bah, indeed.

Gob got a nice upset win out of Auburn at College Station. Clemson racks up another 16 – Gob leads the pack with 66 points in double games.

Skunk picks up his first loss of the year in that A&M vs. Auburn game. Alabama posts 18 points in his double game routing So Miss on their annual march through the patsies.

Bumble loses with Arkansas at home against San Jose State. How bad is the lower half of the SEC?! Real bad. Troy notches 20 in a road double win.

Utah loses at USC Friday night looking like a botched first round pick by Mike Lynn. Ironic, isn’t it? Mike Lynn. Botched pick? You get it.

PJ positively wins his 2nd straight week with a big 55 points and after being left for dead 2 weeks ago finds himself in 3rd place. Sconny manhandles Harbaugh’s squad and Washington gets a big double-win at BYU.

We got ourselves a barn-burner brewing boys!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 3 turned out much wilder than the experts (present company included) anticipated. Thirteen Las Vegas favorites lost outright and the FCS continues to be a thorn in the side of middle-of-the-road Power 5 teams. (See Ga Tech above).

We were 40-8 overall and 18-14 vs. the spread. The race has tightened up at the top and everyone is chasing Meathead. He backed up last week’s 59 points with a solid 44 point (5-1) week – losing to Kansas State at home with Miss. St. The Buckeyes continue racking up double points with 18 at Indiana.

PJ (6-0) wins the week with 54 points. The Sooners post 18, his Gators won the battle over Kentucky but may have lost the war with a brutal QB injury.

Walter and Skunk also go 6-0 this week, The Gophs are livin’ right, narrowly winning Walter’s double game. Skunk’s Hokies survived a scare vs. Furman.

John McKay goes 5-1, The Fighting Lovies dropping a home game vs. the Mighty EMUs.

Mike Lynn, Gob and Bumble were 4-2. The Ramblin’ Wreck (indeed) and Maryland losing for Mike Lynn; BC and Michigan St for Gob; and Troy and NC State for Bumble, the only guy yet to crack the 100 point mark this year.

Pre-season is over as big conference match-ups really pick up this week. And John McKay, Mike Lynn, Walter, and Bumble will be in attendance at THE game of the week Saturday night between the hedges. The Irish and Dawgs looked very good on Saturday. Let’s get it on! Walter vs. John McKay – double death match!

All of the Sisters are beating or tied with their guys. Keep it up, gals.