The Lil Michigan’s – Eastern, Western and Central Michigan don’t get a lot of love. What I do get when I mention that I am going to one their games is crickets, lots of crickets. Last year I had to throw in a bonus game to see the Cleveland Browns (their upset of San Fran was the highlight of that weekend) to convince a buddy to see the Eagles and Broncos. This year, I gave my wife the old bait and switch – a couple of days at Mackinac Island for a Saturday at Central Michigan. She did put her foot down on tailgating. Sorry Chippewa faithful – my observation of your tailgating prowess will be from afar.
Last Week: Backyard Brawl Bonanza
It was certainly a no regrets decision to skip the Liberty game and instead, head up to the ‘Burgh to see the Backyard Brawl. The weather and tailgating was sublime, especially when the folks next to us were sharing pepperoni balls and Smith’s hotdogs (It’s an Erie thing). IC Light helped keep me cool and the Pitt insult shirt of Penn State resulted in many photos / inquiries. The cherry on top was a fantastic game where Pitt came back to score the last minute upset and save untold couches from a fiery death in Morgantown.
- First, apologies to Toledo who not only smacked around Mississippi State but stole their lunch money too (all $1.2M of it). I had disparaged that game and the $5 tickets. Clearly it was well worth the admission – well, maybe not if you were a Bulldog fan.
- In other non-conference matchups with the SEC, Boston College represented the ACC well despite the tight loss to Mizzou. Wisconsin, on the other hand, apparently didn’t know they were playing “that” Alabama. Badgers aren’t the powerhouse they used to be.
- On my long drive back from Pitt on Saturday night, I was picking up the Georgia – Kentucky game alternatively between the two schools broadcasts. Moral victory for the Wildcats I guess.
- Florida State – bleh.
The Picks
Week 3 Results
- Ugh – I drop below 500. Thankfully, there’s plenty of time to improve (or get worse).
- No issue with the result of the WVU – Pitt game. Losing the emotional hedge was definitely worth seeing those gap toothed hillbillies limp back to West Virginia.
- At least I can count on UMass to get destroyed by Buffalo. Really, the Minutemen should drop down to FCS. It looks like Nevada was out of gas against Minnesota. I went to the well one too many times with them.
- I picked the wrong PAC 10 rivalry to bet on. WSU exacts their revenge against Washington while Oregon State barely puts up a whimper against Oregon.
Week 4 Picks
Given my results this year, not sure why I would share my thoughts on my picks or why you’d care. Probably more valuable for reasons as to why not to go with my picks than anything else. Regardless, my logic(?) for this week’s picks is below:
- I don’t know much about Central Michigan, but I want to be able cheer with a little skin in the game this weekend. GO CHIPS!
- If I look at the Backyard Brawl objectively, WVU really did outplay Pitt. The Panther win was with a lot of smoke and mirrors. I look for the Mountaineers to bounce back strong.
- There is some dark recess in my mind that seems to have a highlight where Syracuse looked good this year. That is enough for me.
- I don’t love the UCLA pick, but they are getting a ton of points and I seem to remember the LSU defense looking not so great in a couple of stretches. I hoping the Tigers are just inconsistent enough to not cover.
I would guess that Tennessee at Oklahoma is the game of the week. It is getting ESPN Game Day so it has that stamp of approval. Tennessee tends to not play well in big games recently. It is enough that I am not picking that game. Utah vs Oklahoma State is good one too. If you were in Oklahoma, you could make those two games a double header. USC vs Michigan is the other notable game. I like the Trojans in that one. I’d say the Florida at Mississippi State is the dud of the week, but the teams are equally bad so it might be a good game.
That’s all I got. Enjoy the games.
Matt