Monthly Archives: October 2018

Bowl Predictions 2018: Week 1

And here go again!

The first edition of my bowl predictions are now up. As per usual, we’ll be attempting to forecast who will go where at the end of the season. I wound up two teams short, but from where I sit now there’s no need to panic quite yet, as these things tend to even out.

So, for now, enjoy my guesses! As usual, the closer we get to the end, the better they’ll be, and the longer these posts will be discussing my forecast.

This Weekend in College Football: Week 9

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Wisconsin @ Northwestern (FOX): In a reminder that, perhaps, the Big Ten West isn’t very good, this is a match of two potential contenders! Okay, sure, most folks expected the Badgers to be here, but nonetheless Northwestern has been arguably just as good. Wisconsin may also be down a quarterback, but it’s not like Alex Hornibrook has been awesome anyway. I’ll stick with the Badgers.
  • Clemson @ Florida State (ABC): FSU’s gotten better as the year has gone on, but it’s still hard to see this as anything other than a Clemson rout.
  • Purdue @ Michigan State (ESPN): Welcome to Hangover Saturday, Purdue! Arguably, both Purdue and Wazzu will get matchups this weekend that are probably the teams you’d least like to play after scoring a potential program-defining win. In particular, I don’t like the Boilermakers’ odds having to venture up to East Lansing.
  • Texas Tech @ Iowa State (ESPN2): For two games in a row, Iowa State has shut down some pretty good offenses, or at least managed to outscore them themselves. I’ll go ahead and favor them here.
  • Massachusetts @ Connecticut (ESPNU): You could watch this, but just don’t. UConn I guess?
  • Vanderbilt @ Arkansas (SEC): Neither of these teams have been especially competitive in SEC play, but the Razorbacks have arguably looked worse, so I’ll go with the ‘Dores.
  • Army @ Eastern Michigan (CBSS): Army all the way.
  • Wake Forest @ Louisville (ACC/RSN): Wake all the way.

12:20: North Carolina @ Virginia (Raycom): UVA is good, or at least, improved this season. For Carolina, it’s been disappointing, even considering they weren’t expected to be good to begin with. I’m going with the Cavs here.

3:00:

  • Texas Christian @ Kansas (FS1): I guess these two oddly timed games are trying to convince people to tune in during commercial breaks during the later games? I dunno, seems pretty desperate. TCU should be able to get back to .500 here.
  • Oregon State @ Colorado (Pac12): Oregon State is a pretty good salve for a team that’s gone from 5-0 to 5-2.

3:30:

  • Kansas State @ Oklahoma (FOX): Hard to see this year’s K-State putting up much resistance versus Kyler Murray and company.
  • Florida vs. Georgia (@Jacksonville, FL; CBS): Well, here we are. My main take on this game is that predicting either team would be in the position they’re currently would’ve been very difficult as recently as a few weeks ago. Florida has gotten here by guile. They blew out Tennessee, sure, but their other games were nail-biters and they got the win over LSU. Georgia blew out everyone and looked otherwise like they weren’t stoppin’ till the SEC Championship, but they derailed—big time—in Baton Rouge. It wasn’t just that they lose to LSU, it’s that it wasn’t really much of a content. So how do you read this one? Will Georgia’s offense wilt once again against a legitimately good defense? If that does happen, can Florida’s offense hang around long enough to get some breaks and score some points? That’s the scenario I’m going with, but really no outcome in this game would surprise me.
  • South Florida @ Houston (ABC/ESPN2): Here’s a somewhat under-the-radar G5 game that could determine the P5 bowl game rep, much less the AAC champion. I’m going against the Internet grain and picking USF here.
  • Arizona State @ Southern California (ABC/ESPN2): I have no idea what’s going on with USC, and most people don’t either, but have they considered Arizona State might be just what the Trojans need right now?
  • Iowa @ Pennsylvania State (ESPN): With two conference losses, Penn State is probably not a factor in the East anymore, but what they do here could go a long way toward untangling the West. But boy howdy, Iowa’s actually looked… good? It’s weird. These are two teams going different directions right now, and I’m taking Iowa on the road.
  • Northern Illinois @ Brigham Young (ESPNU): NIU?
  • Illinois @ Maryland (BTN): Maryland.
  • Cincinnati @ Southern Methodist (CBSS): Cincy.
  • Duke @ Pittsburgh (ACC/RSN): Duke.

4:00: Kentucky @ Missouri (SEC): Here’s your hipster college football pick of the week. Mizzou can score points but doesn’t play a lot of defense, Kentucky does the opposite. Usually this favors the team that’s good at defense, so that’s what I’m going to go with.

6:30: Washington @ California (FS1): UDub.

7:00:

  • Texas A&M @ Mississippi State (ESPN): TAMU isn’t exactly striking fear into anyone’s hearts, but Miss State just has so many problems on offense right now it’s hard to go with them.
  • North Carolina State @ Syracuse (ESPN2): Speaking of hangover games, NC State sure did get obliterated by Clemson last weekend, eh? And again, Syracuse is probably who you won’t want to play, but I certainly favor the Wolfpack in this situation.
  • Tulane @ Tulsa (ESPNU): Tulane?
  • Boise State @ Air Force (CBSS): Boise.
  • Washington State @ Stanford (Pac12): And here we go. Are you for real, Wazzu? I sure hope so. If you’re hungover, this is like trying to distract from that pounding headache with by taking a brick to the face.

7:30:

  • Tennessee @ South Carolina (SEC):  Lightning round! Gamecocks.
  • Florida International @ Western Kentucky (beIN): FIU?

8:00:

  • Texas @ Oklahoma State (ABC): Hey Texas, you for real? They’ve got a good chance to keep it real and ride all the way to the Big 12 championship, but they’ve got to win games like this.
  • Notre Dame vs. Navy (@San Diego, CA; CBS): This isn’t even an especially feisty version of Navy, so yeah, Notre Dame should roll.

10:30:

  • Oregon @ Arizona (ESPN): Oregon.
  • Hawaii @ Fresno State (ESPN2): Fresno.
  • San Diego State @ Nevada (ESPNU): SDSU.

This Week in College Football: Week 9

Surprisingly pretty packed! Let’s get to it.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday

7:00:

  • Toledo @ Western Michigan (ESPN2): The Rockets aren’t very good this year, but Western Michigan is 6-2 and already 4-0 in the MAC. They should be favorites here.
  • Baylor @ West Virginia (FS1): Baylor is 4-3 but still has a long way to go, and West Virginia should be looking to get back on track at home after what happened in Ames.
  • Ball State @ Ohio (CBSS): It’s double-MACtion! This game may actually be more intriguing than the other game, in that this should be close. That said, I’m taking the Bobcats.

7:30:

  • Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech (ESPN): And the whole reason why I’m doing a weekday preview this week: this game. I don’t like to think of it as the battle for “the real Tech”, because the answer should be obvious if given any thought. At any rate, in terms of this being a football game, who the heck knows. You’ve got a team that should able to run the dang ball versus a team that lost to Old Dominion. Sitting at 3-4 on the season at this point, I just feel like we’re playing with house money. Hopefully the team can stop forcing things and just play, which is all you ask for in what should be a raucous environment in Blacksburg.
  • Appalachian State @ Georgia Southern (ESPNU): If you’re a neutral, this might be the game of the night. These rivals are undefeated in Sun Belt play, have one loss on the season, and App State is even ranked for the first time ever. And for good reason, I think they’re the better team and should win.

Friday

6:30: Louisiana Tech @ Florida Atlantic (CBSS): It’s not been a good year so far for the Fightin’ Lane Kiffins, and it doesn’t look to be getting better with the Bulldogs coming to town.

7:00: Miami @ Boston College (ESPN): And there’s the big Miami let down we were all waiting for, a 16-13 disaster in Charlottesville that leaves the Canes with no obvious quarterback. BC is having a very solid season and sports a couple of close losses. On paper, they shouldn’t stand a chance, but if that were the case Miami would be national title contenders every year instead of modern-day Miami. Going with the Eagles.

8:00: Indiana @ Minnesota (FS1): I think the Hooisers are going to take out some frustration here.

10:00: Wyoming @ Colorado State (CBSS): Back in August, I probably would’ve told you to circle this Friday-night Mountain West game on your calendar. With the teams a combined 5-11 overall here in late October, well, not so much. Wyoming has had the misfortune of starting their MWC schedule with four of the conference’s better teams (Boise, at Hawaii, at Fresno, and then Utah State, for good measure), so the Rams should be a welcome reprieve.

10:30: Utah @ California-Los Angeles (ESPN): UCLA looks to make it three-in-a-row to which I’ll say… eh, I wouldn’t count on it.

This Weekend in College Football: Week 8

Man, if last week was Blood Week, then this is ugh week.

Okay, look, I’m sorry, come back. It’s been a long week over here at ASimSports HQ and this edition will be quicker than usual. Bowl prediction season is coming up soon, and they will debut either next week or the week after depending on how much time I have.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Oklahoma @ Texas Christian (ABC): The Sooners figure to be able to bounce back against a TCU team that looks kind of mediocre at this point.
  • Michigan @ Michigan State (FOX): No one should watch that game, which means… everyone is going to be watching to see what wacky thing goes down in this game. Are the conditions going to be right? Let’s check the forecast for kickoff: 49°F, rain, wind 13mph out of the WNW. Then consider the line is Michigan by 7.5. Take Sparty and the under if you’re putting on this, but I have Michigan straight up, allowing Harbaugh to get to 2-2 against Michigan State.
  • Auburn @ Mississippi (ESPN): Auburn still has a decent defense, but their ability to score points is under some doubt. Ole Miss, of course, has the opposite problem. What will happen when they meet? Who knows, but I have Auburn.
  • Maryland @ Iowa (ESPN2): I think I have Iowa here.
  • Illinois @ Wisconsin (FS1): Badgers.
  • Cincinnati @ Temple (ESPNU): Hey, maybe watch this instead! The continuing quest to see who will finish behind UCF in the AAC continues, but Cincy is sneakily undefeated! I mean, it’s because they pretty much haven’t played anyone, but still. I’ll take them to remain so in their first true test.
  • Tulsa @ Arkansas (SEC): Arkansas?
  • Northwestern @ Rutgers (BTN): I’ve run out of things to say about Rutgers. They will somehow top themselves and go down as the worst major conference team in history.
  • Miami @ Army (CBSS): Army appears to be… good? Yeah, I know.

12:20: North Carolina @ Syracuse (Raycom): ‘Cuse.

12:30: Virginia @ Duke (ACC/RSN): I don’t think Duke is good, I just think we might be terrible. I still like them better than Virginia.

3:30:

  • Colorado @ Washington (FOX): Huh, are the Buffs still undefeated? Oh, they lost to USC last weekend, that makes sense. Okay, good, because they’re probably about to get pummeled by a mad UDub team.
  • Pennsylvania State @ Indiana (ABC): After facing two good defenses, the Hoosiers will be a welcome sight for the Nittany Lions.
  • Alabama @ Tennessee (CBS): It is very definitely the Third Saturday in October. However, all you need to know about this Alabama team is that their fans are stressing because they might have to start their backup quarterback. Which, in fairness, is a worry for many teams. But most teams don’t have a quarterback that has won a national championship as their backup, and most teams haven’t been so efficient this season that Jalen Hurts, said backup, has compiled the following stat line as he has played in every game: 37 for 50 passing (74%) for 568 yards (11.36 yards per attempt), 5 TD, 1 INT. This is dumb and everything is pointless.
  • North Carolina State @ Clemson (ESPN): “NC State is good this year”, I say. “Who have they played?” you say. Yeah, I’ll take Clemson here.
  • Wake Forest @ Florida State (ESPN2): Let’s see, this Wake team is fresh off losing 63-3 to Clemson. FSU just suffered an emotional 28-27 loss to Miami. Which, in fairness, Miami looked like the better team throughout, but still. So this could go several ways, but let’s revel like the heathen kings of old (by which I mean, 10 years ago) and go with Wake.
  • Kansas @ Texas Tech (FS1): Kansas: not as bad as Rutgers! Someone should make that a t-shirt. Anyway, Red Raiders all the way here.
  • Southern Methodist @ Tulane (ESPNU): A battle of 2-4 teams on an ESPN. Yeah, it’s a week with a lot of byes, all right. Going purely with helmet designs as a measure of quality, I’m going with Tulane.
  • Minnesota @ Nebraska (BTN): The Big Ten’s two most hyped coaching hires of the past two seasons face-off with a combined record of 3-9. Oof. But what the heck, I’ll take the Huskers to get on the board. Happy Scott Frost Day, oh, and if you’re feeling chair-itable, then head this way.
  • Houston @ Navy (CBSS): While Army is on an upswing this year, Navy isn’t. Going with Houston.

4:00:

  • Memphis @ Missouri (SEC): After Bama gets up 35-0 on the Vols after the first quarter, switch to the SEC network and see if Mizzou can hold on against Memphis. My bet is that they probably can, but it figures to be more interesting, at least.
  • California @ Oregon State (Pac12): Oregon State is such a nonentity to me right now that I can’t even conceive of what I might say about them, so let’s do at least a tad of research… ah, they’re 1-5 with nary a FBS win. A crappy Arizona team beat them 35-14. Yeah, I’ll take Cal.

7:00:

  • Mississippi State @ Louisiana State (ESPN): LSU, just get through this and please only go into that game against Alabama with just 1-loss and secure that 8:00 PM CBS double-header slot. You may be our only hope.
  • Central Florida @ East Carolina (ESPN2): UCF.
  • Connecticut @ South Florida (CBSS): USF.

7:30:

  • Oregon @ Washington State (FOX): You’ve heard about the Gameday thing. You know that Pullman is kind of a weird place anyway, and this time of year it’ll be plenty dark by 7:30. For as potentially boring as all the early games may be today, this one may be completely bonkers and worth it. I have to take Wazzu here.
  • Ohio State @ Purdue (ABC): Buckeyes.
  • Fresno State @ New Mexico (ESPNU): Fresno.
  • Vanderbilt @ Kentucky (SEC): Kentucky?
  • North Texas @ Alabama-Birmingham (beIN): Go Blazers.

8:00: Southern California @ Utah (Pac12): If no one has done it already, I should register isuscbackornot.com because, well, I think they might be back?

10:30:

  • Arizona @ California-Los Angeles (ESPN2): Hopefully that Oregon-Wazzu game lives up to the billing, because this is all we’ve got for #Pac12AfterDark this week and just, ugh. UCLA I guess?
  • San Jose State @ San Diego State (CBSS): Aztecs.

This Weekend in College Football: Week 7

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Nebraska @ Northwestern (ABC): The forecast for Scott Frost’s first win as Nebraska’s head coach looks cloudy. But hey, how about a distraction?
  • Florida @ Vanderbilt (ESPN): I guess Florida is good? Or at least okay? Definitely better than Vandy, though.
  • Iowa @ Indiana (ESPN2): There’s a Hooiser fan out there somewhere is mad that Kentucky now has both a good football team and basketball team, while Indiana arguably has neither.
  • Minnesota @ Ohio State (FS1): Buckeyes.
  • Oklahoma State @ Kansas State (ESPNU): Sooners.
  • Tennessee @ Auburn (SEC): Hey, uh, TIgers, um, what are you doing? Everyone’s worried about y’all. The thing you’re supposed to be good at is offense, and you are not good at it this year! I had to momentarily stop to think “hey, wait a second, Tennessee might beat them”. I mean, they probably won’t, but boy howdy that’s where we’re at with Auburn right now.
  • Rutgers @ Maryland (BTN): I wonder if at the Big Ten conference offices this is known as the Regret Bowl. Did the conference ultimately benefit at all from adding these teams? I’m sure they did, but still. Anyway, Terps roll.
  • Akron @ Buffalo (CBSS): Speaking of MAC teams that have beaten Rutgers by 29 points, Bulls roll.

12:20: Duke @ Georgia Tech (Raycom): Okay, so now we know exactly how bad Louisville is (real bad). We also know how badly Paul Johnson hates traveling defensive coordinator Brian Van Gorder (real bad). That said, or defense still looks… well, I won’t say “real bad”, but you get the idea. That said, I just hope we acquit ourselves against the Blue Devils better than we did last year.

12:30: Louisville @ Boston College (ACC/RSN): Boston College might try to see if they can break the 600 yard rushing mark that we couldn’t quite get to last week. (We probably would’ve hit it, except we were down a possession in the fourth quarter due to a 95-yard pick-six.)

2:30: Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame (NBC): In case you don’t know, the corner of the Internet I hang out in has been calling Pitt to upset Notre Dame all year. So, here were are. Go Panthers.

3:30:

  • Georgia @ Louisiana State (CBS): At least Georgia and Bama will play in the SEC Championship this year.
  • Washington @ Oregon (ABC/ESPN2): Hey, Pac-12 you finally got a marquee game on in the daytime! Good job! Oh, wait, nevermind, you’re doing a reverse mirror with two AAC teams. Wonderful, great. At any rate, this should be a cracker of the game, even though I think Washington’s defense will allow it to prevail. But, that said, with it being at Autzen, I kinda wish it was at night, you know?
  • Central Florida @ Memphis (ABC/ESPN2): I’m mostly joking above because this should also be a cracker of a game. The rest of the G5 world is sort of waiting for UCF to lose, sort in the same way most of the P5 world is waiting for Alabama, Georgia, or Ohio State to lose. In the G5 scenario, it’s a bit more dire because until they lose UCF are massive favorites to return to a New Year’s Day bowl game. So, with that, I expect them to continue to prevail.
  • Baylor @ Texas (ESPN): TEXAS IS BACK. Well, okay, maybe. I mean, they’ve beaten Oklahoma before and had it not being particularly indicative of anything, which still seems like the more likely scenario. The real test are games like this, which Texas should win.
  • Purdue @ Illinois (FS1): Purdue: who knows? But hey, they’ll beat Illinois.
  • Army vs. San Jose State (@Santa Clara, CA; ESPNU): Do you know the way to… the northern reaches of Santa Clara? Yeah, not as catchy as the original, but hey if they wanna play in the Bay Area’s soulless NFL stadium, well, I guess it works just as well as getting blown out by Army in Spartan CEFCU Stadium.
  • Texas A&M @ South Carolina (SEC): Texas A&M went out and ruined a good thing (that is, Kentucky’s undefeated season). This game figures to be… really boring, honestly. Neither team is exactly full of offensive savants, and for the second week in a row it figures to pretty damp in Columbia, SC. So, I’m going with the Aggies, I guess?
  • Michigan State @ Pennsylvania State (BTN): I actually still do have BTN, but I still just have it in standard definition. Will this be the one time a year I watch it for an extended period? Honestly, I figure no, because I don’t think the Spartans are really that good, whereas Penn State was still a few plays away from being a Top-5 team.
  • Temple @ Navy (CBSS): Navy didn’t just lose to Air Force last week, they lost 35-7. That’s… bad. I’m going with Temple here.

7:00:

  • Missouri @ Alabama (ESPN): (*distant clap of thunder*) LIGHTNING ROUND! Bama.
  • Miami @ Virginia (ESPN2): Miami.
  • West Virginia @ Iowa State (FS1): Unless something weird happens ’cause AMES AFTER DARK, WVU all the way.
  • Virginia Tech @ North Carolina (ESPNU): VPI.
  • Houston @ East Carolina (CBSS): Cougars.
  • California-Los Angeles @ California (Pac12): UCLA. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

7:30:

  • Wisconsin @ Michigan (ABC): I guess I really should drop of LIGHTNING ROUND (*thunder noises*) for this game, but I mean… there’s not a whole lot of evidence that Wisconsin will be able to beat any of the Big Three Big Ten East teams this year, which is bad because they both have this and Penn State on the road. I mean, geez, you can see this scenario playing out now, right? Some bounces go the wrong way, and suddenly the Badgers have 2 or 3 conference losses and things get dicey. So as to not put too fine a point on this, but Wisconsin really needs to win this game. And honestly, I don’t think they will. (*thunder noises*) LET CHAOS REIGN IN THE BIG TEN WEST (“The Immigrant Song” begins playing out of nowhere)
  • Mississippi @ Arkansas (SEC): So, yeah, the Big Ten is the land of gray winter skies, snow, and beer. Add in a good portion of the population being of Scandinavian descent, and you have college football’s most metal conference. The SEC, well, the SEC is a lot of things, but I think most would agree metal isn’t one of them. And this game is about as far from metal as you can get. Anyway, Ole Miss should win this game for the first time since 2013.
  • Middle Tennessee State @ Florida International (beIN): MTSU figures to seize control of the CUSA East in this one.

10:15: Hawaii @ Brigham Young (ESPN2): Hey y’all, Hawaii is 6-1 and fun again. You should watch them, they figure to win!

10:30:

  • Colorado @ Southern California (FS1): Did you know the Buffs are 5-0? While it’s tough to pick them on the road, USC has, shall we say, vastly underperformed this year, so what the heck, let’s put the Pac-12 South into full chaos mode and go with Colorado here.
  • Wyoming @ Fresno State (ESPNU): Yeah, Wyoming’s not good this year.
  • Boise State @ Nevada (CBSS): Boise was knocked off their perch with a loss to San Diego State last weekend, but the Aztecs themselves are pretty good. They’re probably out of contention of the New Year’s Six spot, but they should still beat Nevada.