I warned ‘em.
I told you guys, too.
I warned ‘em, the staff who try to pick the outcome of games – college and NFL – here every week for TFB that I would not only catch up with them after a bad week, but I would pass ‘em and take the lead.
And that’s exactly what’s happened in our college picks. I’ve overtaken the field, passed it, and I’m about to lap it.
Nothing like a little prognostication smack-talk before everything gets rolling on a college football Saturday.
Let’s get on with it. It’s the Third Saturday in October, which means ‘Bama-Tennessee in Tuscaloosa this time. But we also get third-ranked Ohio State hosting seventh-ranked Penn State, Utah at Southern Cal, Duke and Florida State (who would’ve ever thought that might be an anticipated matchup in football?); the Bret Bielema Bowl: Bielema and his current team, Illinois, host one of his former teams, Wisconsin, today; and we get the Lane Kiffin Bowl down in Auburn. Remember the controversy if Kiffin was leaving Ole Miss for the Plains? I don’t believe that was ever really in the works. But he goes there today to coach against ‘em.
Scores from this week that you might have missed: On Tuesday (yeah, Tuesday), Liberty beat Middle Tennessee State, 42-35; Jacksonville State topped Western Kentucky (see what I did there?), 20-17; and South Alabama pasted the heck out of Southern Miss, 55-3.
On Wednesday, Florida International beat Sam Houston State, 33-27 in double overtime, and New Mexico State beat UTEP, 28-7. Thursday night, Rice beat Tulsa, 42-10, and James Madison won again, beating Marshall, 20-9.
In the only game on Friday night, Temple hosted Southern Methodist (better known as SMU), and regretted it, I’m sure: SMU won, 55-0 (sorry, Fletch).
Here’s Saturday’s schedule, and all times are Central Standard time:
No. 7 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State, 11 a.m., FOX
Central Florida at No. 6 Oklahoma, 11 a.m., ABC
No. 22 Air Force at Navy, 11 a.m., CBS
Mississippi State at Arkansas, 11 a.m., ESPN
Rutgers at Indiana, 11 a.m., Big 10 Network
Boston College at Georgia Tech, 11 a.m., ACC Network
Baylor at Cincinnati, 11 a.m., ESPN+
Memphis at Alabama-Birmingham, 11 a.m., ESPN2
Western Michigan at Ohio, 11 a.m., CBS Sports Network
Charlotte at East Carolina, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Louisiana Monroe at Georgia Southern, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Akron at Bowling Green, 1 p.m., ESPN+
Washington State at No. 9 Oregon, 2:30 p.m., ABC
No. 17 Tennessee at No. 11 Alabama, 2:30 p.m., CBS
South Carolina at No. 20 Missouri, 2:30 p.m., SEC Network
North Texas at No. 23 Tulane, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2
Minnesota at No. 24 Iowa, 2:30 p.m., NBC
Wisconsin at Illinois, 2:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 (FS1)
Northwestern at Nebraska, 2:30 p.m., Big 10 Network
South Florida at Connecticut, 2:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network
Pitt at Wake Forest, 2:30 p.m., ACC Network
Oklahoma State at West Virginia, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
Central Michigan at Ball State, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+
Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+
Buffalo at Kent State, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+
No. 8 Texas at Houston, 3 p.m., FOX
Toledo at Miami-Ohio, 3 p.m., ESPNU
Texas-San Antonio at Florida Atlantic, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Hawai’i at New Mexico, 5 p.m.
Virginia at No. 10 North Carolina, 5:30 p.m., CW Network
No. 13 Ole Miss at Auburn, 6 p.m., ESPN
Texas Tech at BYU, 6 p.m., FS1
TCU at Kansas State, 6 p.m., ESPN2
Appalachian State at Old Dominion, 6 p.m., NFL Network
Coastal Carolina at Arkansas State, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Colorado State at UNLV, 6 p.m.
Utah State at San Jose State, 6 p.m., CBS Sports Network
No. 2 Michigan at Michigan State, 6:30 p.m., NBC
No. 16 Duke at No. 4 Florida State, 6:30 p.m., ABC
Army at No. 19 LSU, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network
No. 14 Utah at No. 18 Southern Cal, 7 p.m., FOX
Clemson at Miami, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia State at Louisiana, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Nevada at San Diego State, 8 p.m., FS2
Arizona State at No. 5 Washington, 9:30 p.m., FS1
No. 25 UCLA at Stanford, 9:30 pm., ESPN
First, a little news: As I write this, ESPN.com is reporting that Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson’s status is in question for today’s home game against No. 7 Penn State (Ohio State star RB TreVeyon Henderson game-time decision). Not good news, could very much adversely affect this game. Let’s hope Henderson gets to play. I don’t want to hear any grumbling or excuses from either side after a top-10 matchup like this.
Staff picks
So, the panel kind of wrote me off, did they? (Not really. But for the sake of this column, we’re gonna make believe they did). Said I was done, huh? Said…
Oh, forget it.
We have a panel of eight picking our games. I, of course, am the leader and I now have a 65-25 record over the 90 games we’ve picked, prior to today’s games. My lovely daughter Ashtyn, who probably shouldn’t be ALLOWED in the freaking picks, is 63-27 and my biggest rival from here on out, I think. Correspondent Shelby Thompson Molandes is a game behind that, at 62-28. My lovely wife and correspondent Jenna Lucas is 61-29. Staff photographer Alex Nabor and correspondent Mitchell Molandes are both 60-30. Our videographer, Jacob Lucas, who’s at the Alabama-Tennessee game today – not that I’m jealous, or anything – is 59-31. And our associate editor, Clayton “Fletch” Fletcher, lost his mind picking 100,000 upsets in 90 games, and is currently bringing up the rear in this convoy at 56-34.
On to the picks.
Friday’s game is in the books already, between SMU and Temple. Calling it a game was a bit of a stretch, my bad. Everybody had picked SMU, so everyone gets a win on that (8-0, unanimous).
Penn State at Ohio State: This makes me laugh, because it just shows, I hope, how close this game could be. Jenna, Clayton, Jacob and myself took Penn State in a bit of an upset. The rest of the crew chose Ohio State, so the pick, officially, is a dead-even 4-4 split.
Central Florida at Oklahoma: UCF might be a dangerous Big 12 team one day. I don’t think today is that day. The pick: a unanimous 8-0 in OU’s favor.
Washington State at Oregon: The Cougars will have to really avoid getting in trouble here. After last week’s loss as time expired in Washington, the Ducks are likely as mad as little wet hens. The pick: Oregon, unanimously (yes, even Fletcher).
Tennessee at Alabama: For many years, the Volunteers were Alabama’s big rival, not Auburn, likely simply because Tennessee, back in the day, was really good year-in and year-out, and Auburn was… well, not. And Alabama dominated this series since coach Nick Saban arrived in 2007. But the Vols won in Knoxville last year and stirred up a hornet’s nest. How dare they win a game! (LOL). The pick: Shelby and Mitchell both picked UT; the rest of us took Alabama, so 6-2 in ‘Bama’s favor.
South Carolina at Missouri: This is actually a no-kidding big game in the SEC East. Mizzou only has one loss, with coach Eli Drinkwitz beating back those he’s-gonna-be-fired rumors. The pick: Missouri, unanimously (8-0). I’m somewhat surprised by that. But still.
Oklahoma State at West Virginia: When South Alabama went to Stillwater and blasted Oklahoma State, I thought, “Wow, Oklahoma State must be pretty bad.” Now, after watching South Alabama since then, I’m thinking, “Wow, South Alabama is really good.” The pick here: a 4-4 split, with Fletch, Alex, Shelby and Ashtyn taking OSU and the rest of us on West Virginia.
Texas at Houston: Houston’s Hail Mary to beat said West Virginia was a pretty exciting play. They may need a few Hail Marys to beat the Longhorns, and I don’t mean the play. The pick: Texas, unanimously.
Texas-San Antonio at Florida Atlantic: Fletch and I interviewed UTSA quarterback Frank Harris at the American Athletic Conference media days in Arlington, and found myself coming out of it a Frank Harris fan. He’s not the biggest, but wow, he’s fun to watch. Wins and losses haven’t gone his way much, this year. But looking forward to seeing what he does from here out. The pick: A 5-3 split, with Jenna, Jacob and Shelby taking FAU, the rest of us taking UTSA.
Ole Miss at Auburn: I love to watch Kiffin coach. I loved it when he told Saban, many years ago, when Kiffin was the coach at Tennessee, that “we’ll get you next year,” or whatever he said. The guts to say that to Saban – you’ve gotta admire his nerve. I loved it when he was at Alabama and would throw his arms in the air to signal “touchdown” when Amari Cooper would make a catch. I just love Kiffin. And the Auburn fans that wanted him to leave Oxford and come to their program? I completely understand it. But I don’t personally believe that was ever really in the works. I think it was a pipe dream. Today, Auburn wakes up. The pick: 7-1, with Mitchell being the one who took Auburn.
TCU at Kansas State: We’ve hit the portion of the schedule where Big 12 teams are jockeying for position, because there are no divisions: the top two teams make the championship game. It’s simple, but wow. Anyway, the pick: another 4-4 split.
Michigan at Michigan State: Now THIS would be an upset: the Spartans are without head coach Mel Tucker, who was fired earlier this season and is now suing the university, and Michigan appears to be rolling. “That’s why they play the games,” I can hear ESPN legend Chris Berman say. I don’t believe Michigan is the second-best team in the country – I think they’re the beneficiaries of a WEAK schedule. I do think they’re way better than to lose this game, though. The pick: 7-1, with Jacob being the lone Michigan State believer.
Duke at Florida State: Florida State, after years of mediocrity, appears to finally be back. We’ll know more when they face Georgia or somebody in the College Football Playoff, because if Duke doesn’t get them, they may not get got, as they say, in the regular season. The pick: Jacob and Fletch take Duke, and everyone else says FSU, a 6-2 split.
Utah at Southern Cal: Well, the luster came off this about the time USC quarterback Caleb Williams threw his third interception in the first half against Notre Dame in a game where the outcome wasn’t in doubt at all in the second half. I’m beginning to think USC is a media darling and that’s why they were top-10 ranked to begin with. Still, I’ll take ‘em to win this one at home. The pick, officially: A 4-4 split, wow. Seriously, wow. Fletch, Alex, Shelby and Ashtyn take Utah; everyone else takes USC.
Clemson at Miami: Oh, what could’ve been, if Clemson hadn’t gotten their butts kicked by Duke in the season opener, and had Miami decided to – you know – kneel out the clock against Georgia Tech, instead of running a freaking play, fumbling away that game, losing any momentum they had to go on the road and face North Carolina. It’s weird that Clemson is out of the national title picture so early. But the girls on our panel (Shelby and Ashtyn) took them in the official pick, which is 6-2, in Miami’s favor.
Y’all go have fun and watch football.
