ESPN Pick’ems Week 2 Review
What a week 2 in college football. There were teams such as Michigan and Florida State barely surviving against lesser opponents. There were teams that had heart breaking losses such as Tennessee and Washington. And then we had a thriller in the LSU / Texas Match-up. Admit it, this is why you love College Football.
In the ACC, #1 Clemson took care of #12 Texas A&M 24-10 in convincing fashion. But after the Tigers, there’s nobody even close to being a threat to knocking them off at the moment. Florida State’s trying to figure out how to play the game of football and now Miami has dropped to 0-2. Quick, name the second best team in the ACC? Uhhhh…Virginia? <shoulder shrugs>
It’s the Big 12’s turn to take a reputational hit after going 0-2 against the SEC. There’s no shame in Texas losing to LSU in a back and forth game, but West Virginia got destroyed by Missouri 38-7. That’s the same Missouri team who lost to Wyoming last week, who had to rally to beat Texas State this week. And for fun, Kansas went all Kansas losing to FCS Coastal Carolina 12-7.
Yeah, the Big Ten Conference is going to be fun to watch. Sure, the Buckeyes look like world beaters after dispatching a sneaky good Cincinnati team but Michigan continues to flirt with disaster after their close call with Army. Penn State trailed Buffalo at the half 10-7 but finally pulled away in the second half. And don’t sleep on Maryland who dropped 63 points on then #21 Syracuse. The Big 10 East heads into week 3 with five teams currently ranked in the Top 25.
What the eff is going on in the Pac 12? Both Washington and Stanford each dropped conference games Saturday. Sure, USC beat the Cardinal but how far is the ceiling for the Trojans with a freshman quarterback at the helm? Oregon obliterated Nevada 77-6 but they still have that loss to Auburn in week 1. The UCLA experiment is not going well and Utah is begging to get tagged. And can somebody tell me why the heck Hawaii keeps knocking off Pac 12 schools? Hawaii shocked Arizona in week 1 and now their latest victim was Oregon State. Will they knock off Washington in week 3?
Be very afraid SEC. LSU made a national statement by going into Austin and beating the Longhorns. Sure, A&M had a shot against top ranked Clemson and fell way short, but the Aggies won’t be an easy out in SEC play. The rest of the big boys in the SEC handled their business but it’s still early. Tennessee all but had the win over BYU locked up…until they didn’t. The Volunteer defense game up 70-yard play when BYU was backed up inside their own 20 that extended the game tying drive for the Cougars who eventually won in double overtime. But the worse team in the league is probably Arkansas.
On to Pick’ems…
Welp… This week was a dumpster fire for the majority of us. In the GroupMe thread, you could feel the tension as the games were winding down for those close games.
After the carnage though, Wendi is still sitting in 1st place. But boy did she have some games go her way BIG TIME. Not only did she steal the Colorado over Nebraska win, but then she won her BYU pick too. However…
Mom is sitting right behind her after having a better week than all of us.
No, that’s not your eyes going bad. Teddy really is in 3rd place for now. That’ll change this week.
What the heck was that Mike, Adam, Kim, and Brendan? All four of them scored less than 20 points that sent them directly to the bottom. And then Brendan smartly states, "I was already at the bottom thank you very much.” But boy did the train ever derail with their picks.
Not that anyone noticed or anything but Brendan only won two games in week 2. To be fair, Brendan’s in the middle of planning a wedding during the college football season and that’s why he missed making his first three picks…It had nothing to do about forgetting to HIT SAVE after originally making his picks.
Maybe Wendi knew what she was doing all along by going to visit the USSS Alabama while the Michigan – Army game was going on. However, I was on the phone with her the last few minutes of the game and she was about a negative as Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh.
Hey Dave, Texas is baaa…Oh wait, never mind.
Marc tried to steal an upset by picking Texas A&M over Clemson. Yeah, that didn’t work out so well did it?
*** In italics are actual quotes from coaches after the game and who quoted them***
Most points for the week: Mom and her picks had ‘great coaching and great play’ by racking up 35 points in a challenging week 2. (LSU Coach Ed Orgeron - Week 2 win over Texas.)
Least Points for the week: Kim and her picks must have ‘not hydrated well enough’ in her 14 point week. (FSU Coach Willie Taggart – Week 1 loss to Boise State)
Best Pick of the week: Megan ‘had some plays and some breaks go’ her way by sticking 9 points on USC beating Stanford. (BYU Coach Kalani Sitake – Week 2 win over Tennessee)
Worst Pick of the week: Megan ‘made a couple of errors in the game that we just don’t do’ by sticking 7 points on Texas. (Tennessee Coach Jeremy Pruitt - Week 2 loss to BYU)
Who needs the $120 this week? Brendan could sure use the dough right about now after forking out some cash on an engagement ring which has put him in a hole. But he’s in a much bigger hole with his picks.
Here’s how we rank going into week 3:
1. Wendi – 79 points
2. Mom – 77 Points
3. Teddy – 72 Points
4. Cindie – 70 Points
5. Megan – 68 Points
6. David – 65 Points
7. Marc – 65 Points
8. Dave – 65 Points
9. Mike – 63 Points
10. Adam – 57 Points
11. Kim – 56 Points
12. Brendan – 50 Points
If you aren’t apart of the GroupMe conversation, it’s not too late to join. Good luck in Week 3!
