As I get close to finishing out this quest, there are definitely weeks where I don’t have a lot of options. With less than ten to knock out, some weekends are just open. I have a list of stadiums that I’d like to revisit for any number of reasons. I also keep track of my “local” FBS schools as another set of options.
Virginia Tech replaced Penn State as my college team a number of years ago when we set up stakes in the Old Dominion. It also doesn’t hurt that one of our sons is a Hokie. Pitt has been a big favorite of mine given my Pops is an alumnus and due to the fact that I grew up in Western Pa. When I saw Pitt was coming to Blacksburg for a Friday night game, I immediately called my cousin in Pittsburgh to see if he was interested in witnessing the greatest entrance in college football.
A scheduling snafu with the Steelers playing the Browns on Thursday night has forced my cousin to bail, but I will be there to see the Hokies roll. This is my fourth game at Lane Stadium and the 11th time to see the Hokies live and in person. I am not sure if I will tailgate or not. If I do, it will be light.
The real attraction here is the game. Both Pitt and Va Tech are 4-0 and look to be pretty good. While neither is ranked right now, one of them will be next week thanks to this contest. There’s nothing like “Enter Sandman” on a Friday night in Blacksburg, especially when it is a big game.
Exit light. Enter night. Take my hand. We’re off to never-never land
Armchair Quarterbacking
It was a good weekend to be home. We avoided the nor’easter weather, other than some light rain. I managed to get most of my honey-do-list done on Friday. However, thanks to an errant Home Depot delivery driver, I had to finish my lawn seeding Saturday morning before the games started. It meant that I consumed ESPN Game Day on fast-forward, particularly some of the McAfee segments.
McAfee is not all bad however. I always like his field goal contest. Even better though was him challenging Tennessee coach Josh Heupel to hit the goalpost cross bar for $100k (charity donation) at the end of their live interview. I don’t know if it was spontaneous, but it sure felt like it was. Heupel may have put on a few pounds, but the old QB was as cool as a cucumber, hitting the mark easily. It was great TV.
I won’t lie, I didn’t spend the entire day in the man cave. My wife is great about letting me disappear for weeks on end, but I know better than to ignore her completely on a home weekend. You don’t make it over 36 years without knowing how to strike some domestic balance. As they say, happy wife, happy life.
Who do I like?
This Week
No time to spend analyzing picks this week. How can that be different than any other week, you ask? Well, a quick turnaround from last night’s Browns – Steelers game / party has left me tired and tight on time to get to Va Tech in time for Enter Sandman. So without further adieu, who not to pick this weekend.
- I like the Hokies tonight. While Franklin has historically always done well in big games, Metallica tends to lift the performances of everyone.
- WVU seemed to struggle last week and I for some reason I have it in the back of my head that Iowa State started a comeback last week if only to come up short.
- After last year’s game against Kentucky, it is going to take awhile before I trust Auburn. Plus, Tennessee looked pretty good against Texas.
- Betting my heart more than my head on this one. I am buying into the Miss State hype of QB Kamario Taylor. Plus I always like it when Bama loses.
Other games / thoughts for this week:
- I wanted to go with the red-hot Minutemen of UMass again, but I think Eastern Michigan will be a good test. Best to sit that one out.
- Dabo Swinney may not need to beat Miami to save his job, but it couldn’t hurt.
- USC is an 8.5 favorite against UW. They might beat them by 20, but maybe this is the weekend the Huskies finally put it all together.
- If I wasn’t at Virginia Tech, I would be at the Penn State – Northwestern game tonight. That new stadium for the Wildcats looks to be baller.
Last Week
Well, it felt like it was inevitable, but my published picks took a beating, going 1-3. I take little solace that I went 11 for 13 in my unpublished picks. It is enough, however, to keep me going with my false bravado for another week.
- I had actually called a friend who is a big Hoosier fan and Indiana alum. No worries about Northwestern he said. Asking an alum about his team’s chances makes about as much sense as asking a student about parking on game day. The value of the information is like the function of 1/x – that is to say it approaches zero.
- UMass! UMass! From 0-4 to 4-0. Attaboy Minutemen.
- The only benefit to the PSU game being broadcast on the Peacock network was that I didn’t get to see the Nittany Lions blow a 17-0 lead. (The Peacock network? I swear I have every streaming network but that one)
- I had to look it up, but I wasn’t wrong about South Carolina winning big games as outright underdogs. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those wins were at home and, well, they were playing Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Oops.
Other thoughts for last week:
- Is Georgia that good or is Oklahoma that bad? Texas A&M is not looking great either. And Maryland – Oof. Terps Coach Locksley is not on the hotseat; he is figuratively on fire and not in a good way.
- The Rio Grande Rivalry scared me away from taking the Lobos of UNM. It should not have as the Aggies had no chance in the Battle of I-25, losing by 24. They were getting 11.5 points. Sigh.
- Other than the Peacock streaming situation, In enjoyed sitting on the coach. Texas vs Tenn was entertaining, and Iowa tearing out Michigan’s heart in the final two seconds was pure FBS karma.
- Joey Galloway was back on ESPN College Football Final and the show had a considerably better flow. Trevor Matich, who was filling in for Galloway the first few weeks, certainly has the football chops but he never seemed to hit his stride.
That’s all I have got – and I got to get on the road. Enjoy the games.
Tree
