This week we pick up our third MAC stadium this year with a visit to Ohio University. The Bobcats are hosting the Bulls of Buffalo and if the game is a bad one, we have an ace in the hole. This is the 50th year of the Athens Halloween Party. Apparently, this party in downtown Athens has had crowds of up to 30k. I have never been but I know a couple of folks who say it is a great time. Admittedly, we will probably be a bit old for the scene and will likely make an early exit. But, you never know. It is a Halloween party and we will be in costumes. This trip to see Ohio University could not have been timed better.
Last Week: Northern Light
Northern Illinois was our destination last week, but when my Thursday afternoon and evening schedule opened up, I called an audible. With tickets dropping to $20 on Stubhub for the Boston College – Virginia Tech game, I did some quick analysis and realized I could drive to Blacksburg, stay at a mountain Airbnb, and then catch my flight to Chicago on Friday with only about five more hours of driving. Two accidents on I-81 stopped me from getting to my buddy’s tailgate, but I did enter the stadium right to “Enter Sandman.” I love night games at Lane Stadium and this one did not disappoint. It made the frantic drive that afternoon entirely worth it.
On to Chicago I went, where my four hours of sleep from the previous night haunted me all day. Some beers on my friend’s deck followed by a few slices of deep dish pizza put me on an early trip to sleepy town. I awoke early Saturday and took a nice walk down to Lake Michigan. I was all ready for NIU. The weather and the company could not have been better. The tailgating, if not robust, was certainly enjoyable. Perhaps the only issue we had was that our grill master was not quite up to the task. Fortunately for me, some NIU football parents helped me out. We had high hopes walking to the stadium, but the game did not deliver. It was a 13 – 6 snoozer where the low score wasn’t due to dominant defenses but rather uninspired offense. The pre game at NIU is good, but the stadium experience has plenty of room for improvement.
Notes from last week.
- With our weekend host being an Indiana fan, their big game against Nebraska was must watch tv at our tailgate. The Hoosiers are the real deal. So much so that Game Day is heading to Bloomington this weekend as Indiana hosts Washington.
- Love to see the Service Academies keep winning. I have the Army-Navy game on the schedule this year and it should be a dandy.
- Not being in my man cave made Saturday night game watching tough. We watched the Georgia – Texas game, but I think I would have rather watched UCF vs Iowa State with its great back to back scoring.
- Speaking of Georgia – Texas game, while I think they got the right call on reversing the interference call. I do think it kind of rewarded the terrible water bottle throwing behavior of the UT students. Of course, the SEC has hammered those students by taking away their season tickets for the rest of the season.
The Picks
Week 8 Results
I would like to blame my terrible picks last week due to the constant interruption of my analysis by my buddy’s dog on Friday, but that would be unfair. I just stink. So much so that I thought a 4 game parlay was the ticket to shaking me out of my malaise. It was not. I went 2-2 on that one and 1-3 on Saturday
- The whole time we watched NIU, all we could think of was how did this team beat Notre Dame in South Bend?
- Turns out Georgia Tech was missing their starting QB – a little research would have helped there.
- The SEC is just wild. I really thought Texas would beat Georgia – handily.
- Kentucky may be the most inconsistent team in the nation. Thankfully, I went with Gators.
Week 9 Picks
Clearly, I have no idea what I am doing, but I figure I might as well see how much worse it can get when it comes to my picks. Buckle up, it’s going to be a rough ride.
- I like Boise State against UNLV. More specifically, I like their stud running back, Ashton Jeanty. Dude has been tearing up everyone the Broncos have played. I am hoping he does the same against UNLV.
- In the game I am at, I am going with the home team because it is always more fun to root with the local fans. That, and Buffalo burned me earlier this year when they played UConn.
- Again, I am going with my heart instead of my head by taking Navy over Notre Dame. It isn’t all emotion, the midshipmen are undefeated and ND did lose to a NIU team that I was not at all impressed with last week.
- This leads me to taking Ball State against NIU. The Huskies could only muster six points last week and the line is 12.5. How can I possibly lose?
On the larger scale, it feels like we will get a lot more clarity on who’s likely to make the playoffs. With apologies to Indiana, the big game this week is LSU at A&M. I like the Aggies at home in that one. Syracuse at Pitt is a good one on Thursday night. The Panthers feel like a shaky undefeated team, but they just keep winning. The 6-1 Illini team head to Oregon this week. The Ducks should handle them at home easily. Vandy did not put up nets for the visiting Longhorn’s this weekend but it was a funny rumor. It would be nice if their defense did put up a fight against Texas. I think the Longhorns have too much offense for the plucky Commodores. SMU and Duke are a pair of one loss teams playing each other. SMU should win and stay in the playoff hunt. Lastly, it is sad to see some perennial Group of Five powers struggle this year with the first year of the expanded playoffs. Tough times for Troy, App State and Wyoming.
That’s all I got, enjoy the games.
Tree