Hall Family Iron Bowl

Week 6 in Review

So just like that, Houston’s chances of sneaking into the playoff just went up in smoke. One of the easiest qualifications to make the play off: You don’t ever, EVER lose to Navy. The Cougars were never in my Top 5 anyway.

I don’t think we will need a playoff committee to figure out who the Top 4 teams are going to be at the end of the season. Clemson will win out. Washington is destroying everyone. The Ohio State / Michigan winner is in. And as long as Alabama continues to do what they did against Arkansas, things will be fine.

My Top 5:

1. Ohio State

2. Clemson

3. Alabama

4. Washington

5. Louisville

However, Alabama will have the hardest run of the bunch. The Tide has a road game against 5-1 Tennessee and after that faces undefeated Texas A&M in Tuscaloosa. Then must go on the road and play LSU. At the end of the season, Bama finishes with Auburn. You almost get the feeling that Alabama will get tagged somewhere along that line.

Oh and by the way…. Auburn is getting better each week.

Hey Look! Notre Dame lost… AGAIN! This time to North Carolina State in the Hurricane Matthew slop fest.

Nobody’s paying attention, but believe it or not, the Big 12 still has two undefeated teams left in Baylor and West Virginia. But not to worry, any stock I had in the Big 12 reaching the College Football Play Off was sold in week 3.

Really Florida State! Really? Right when you thought the Seminoles were down and out, they came back down 13-0 to finish off Miami in a classic. It all came down to a blocked field goal.

On to Pick’ems……

Let’s get this out of the way. ESPN made a major gaffe on either: a) not placing a new match-up in Pick’ems instead of the LSU/Florida game which was postponed, or b) Not e-mailing a single soul about how they are going to play this.

Instead, ESPN locks the game at least 10:55 AM on Saturday morning and I’m out 4 points. Thanks ESPN! For that, Teddy gained on me.

Cindie and Jim have taken their commitment to the next level. Cindie FINALLY purchased Jim his first Alabama Crimson Tide t-shirt. But of course, getting a picture of him in it is harder than finding Bigfoot. Intimate time with Jim must be paying off considering Cindie received 42 of 55 points.

But of course, Mike and Teddy probably gave Priscilla and Sylvia an Auburn t-shirt on their first date! That’s just sick!

Megan is on a hot streak. In 5 of 6 weeks, she has scored 40 points or higher. For that very reason, she is in a comfortable 4th place.

At any moment, Wendi is about to have a bad week.

After talking all week on Zello about making her move up, Mom still comfortably sits in last place. Smooth move.

It’s almost time to hit the panic button if you’re Wendi, Mike, Kim, and Mom. First of all, anytime Megan is ahead of you; that alone should send off an alarm. Secondly, the gap is about the same it has been the last few weeks from 1st to 8th place.

Best Pick of the week: Hands down that was Teddy and Mike. Teddy was just somehow hoping Florida State would beat Miami. And they did. Mike didn’t buy into the North Carolina beating Florida State hype and picked the Hokies to win. And most everyone lost BIG.

Worst Pick of the week: Me sticking 4 points on LSU to win…….. in a postponed game!

Most Points for the week: Teddy for nailing 44 of 54 total points.

Lowest Points for the week: It’s not that Kim was horrible this week hitting on 37 points. It’s just that nobody wet the bed with their picks.

Here are our current standings:

1. David (242 points)

2. Teddy (234 points)

3. Cindie (228 points)

4. Megan (226 points)

5. Wendi (215 points)

6. Mike (214 points)

7. Kim (212 points)

8. Mom (209 points)

Only 33 points separate last place from first place. Everyone is still in it. However, we are almost halfway through the contest!

Who needs the $80.00 this week? That’s Wendi after Hurricane Matthew came through blowing a few lemons off of the trees. Now she’ll have to go to the store and buy the lemons.

Good Luck in your picks this week… Not really!

Week 5 Hall Family Iron Bowl Pick Em’s Contest

Week 5 Hall Family Iron Bowl Pick Em’s Contest

Now that’s why I LOVE college football! Week 5 provided some outstanding match-ups in which many came down to the final wire. In fact, six of the games on our pick’ems contest went down to the wire.

Starting with the ACC….

Yeah, Clemson and Louisville are legit Top 5 teams. It’s a shame one of them had to lose. But for now, Clemson has the edge in the Atlantic and is now 5-0. I believe Louisville has a shot of still getting into the playoff but now it’s an uphill climb. Florida State lost to resurging North Carolina on the last play. Right when Florida State made their epic comeback, the Tar Heels rapidly moved into at field goal range. Of course the rest is history. What’s shocking is that the Seminoles are 0-2 in conference play. Ssshhhh…very quietly Miami is 4-0.

The Big 12 conference is a heap of burning trash. Baylor worked way too hard to beat a 1-4 Iowa State team. However Baylor and West Virginia are the only two undefeated teams in the conference. You’ve heard it here… the Big 12 will not have a representative in the College Football Playoff.

Now that the B1G has started conference play, some things are starting to settle. For one, I still believe Ohio State is the Top team in the conference. After watching the yawner of a game between Wisconsin and Michigan, nothing has changed that outlook. However, keep an eye out on Nebraska which is 5-0. Those road dates against Wisconsin and Ohio State in a few weeks will determine how good the Huskers really are. It’s very possible that they win 10 games.

The Pac-12 conference is also shaping up. In the North, Washington absolutely hammered Stanford which gives them the inside track to the conference championship game. In the South, things get a little muddied. Colorado is 4-1 overall, and 2-0 in conference play, but things are still early. Arizona State, Utah, and UCLA will still have a say.

How lucky is Tennessee? In the last 10 seconds of that game, both teams traded scores. A win is a win is a win. Now, the Volunteers are 5-0 and are in total control of the SEC East after beating both Georgia and Florida. In the West, Alabama and A&M are the undefeated teams. The Tide travel to Arkansas this week that A&M has already dispatched. In fact, these next 4 games are pivotal for Bama. Look at this schedule; at Arkansas, at Tennessee, Texas A&M, and at LSU. Oh, and LSU broke the school record for the most offensive yards in a game with 634. They absolutely pounded Mizzou 42-7. Yeah remember when I said the LSU program is in turmoil? Maybe that’s not the case. Who knew that firing Les Miles and the offensive coordinator would light a fire?

My Top 5 teams after watching 5 weeks of College Football:

1. Ohio State

2. Clemson

3. Alabama

4. Louisville ( I know they lost)

5. Washington

On to our Pick’ems contest………

Yes, I agree Wendi. It is time to address the elephant in the room.

I have it all figured out though. Jacob has put so much pressure on Megan on winning all of these awards/certificates in school. He’s now even scoring goals in soccer…..without a goalie present mind you. I’m sure Jacob has already posed this question to his mother. "Mom, do you have any awards or trophies that you can show me that might inspire me to do even better?” Megan would naturally look around the house pretending as though she had something to show. Just as she was about to grab a sharpie and notebook paper to ‘create’ an award, she slumps and says…, "Son, I am going to win the Hall Family Pick’ems contest which is $80.00. That’s worth more than your awards, certificates, and goals scored in soccer.” But little does Jacob know, his mother has NEVER won this contest and probably won’t. However, rest assured; there will be an "award” for the unfortunate soul that comes in last place. But for now, Megan NEEDS to win… something. Anything…

Quick, solve this riddle….. ‘From last you came, to third you went, and to the bottom again you go’.

If you guessed Mike, you’d be correct. But to fair, most everyone had a poor showing in Week 5.

Mom sank to the bottom in a matter of minutes. Mike starting losing points before the games even kicked off.

Teddy let the pressure of 1st place get to him and Kim had an ...

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Week 4 College Pick-em

So Week 4 was fun right?

Okay I have seen enough of college football to determine three of the four teams that will reach the college football playoff. Sorry to ruin it for you the rest of the season but here it goes:

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Louisville / Clemson winner

As for the 4th Team, I have no idea. Maybe not even Houston since I am quite confident Louisville will shred the Cougars later on in the year. Maybe a team from the PAC 12 like Stanford? They looked a little shaky against UCLA in their road win.

So let this always be a lesson. DO NOT EVER TALK TRASH right before a football game unless you plan on backing it up. Florida was doing it all week and the entire 1st half against Tennessee. Then the Florida defense imploded and Tennessee had their largest comeback in history to beat the Gators.

Yeah Arkansas you deserved to lose that game based on play calling near the goal line and the amount of turnovers. Who calls a jet sweep on 4th and 1 inches from A&M’s goal line?.... apparently the Arkansas Head Coach Does. Texas A&M might be the real deal……but I’m still not sold.

That LSU-Auburn ending was one of a kind. Right after LSU won the game, they lost it. Yes it was the right call by the refs. As I was watching the game live, I noticed the game clock was sitting at 0:00 before the snap and thought the refs missed. However, power boosters from LSU have had enough of the Les Miles era after getting branded a Top 5 Team to kick-off the season will all of the returning talent. Dropping the opener to Wisconsin is one thing, but those dumping a ton of money into the LSU athletic department didn’t want to lose to Auburn. Not like that. So just like that, Les Miles and his offensive coordinator get the pink slip. I am calling it now; LSU will lose at least two more games. Maybe more. That program is in disarray.

Oh and lost in the madness? One of the Toomer’s Corners Trees caught on fire. Yes a man was arrested for it after lighting the toilet paper hanging from the trees… He resides from Auburn as well.

Speaking of pink slips, the Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator got the can after Head Coach Brian Kelly stated that coaching had nothing to do with the losing 3 games. This comes after Duke beat Notre Dame. AT NOTRE DAME!!!!

Remember how everyone was screaming that Texas was back after beating Notre Dame? Whoops. Yeah, THAT Notre Dame team is now 1-3. But’s let face it, Mike and 10 of his church buddies could probably beat Notre Dame…. AT Notre Dame!

I was one of those that was jumping on the B1G bandwagon after Michigan State beat Notre Dame last week but then the Spartans got pasted by Wisconsin…. the same Wisconsin team that barely beat LSU in the opener… who got beat by Auburn.

Fine, so the class of the B1G is still Ohio State… We’ll see if either Michigan or Wisconsin will be a challenger to the Buckeyes. Michigan and Wisconsin play this week…. And we all know it will be on the Picks… Pick your poison.

So how did we do in our picks?

I have a confession to make… I originally had Tennessee picked to win the game but switched my pick after Cindie coerced me into picking the Gators since they had a 11 or 12 game win streak over Tennessee. Cindie bought into the Gator trash talk and it cost both of us.

I also had Texas A&M picked but after getting desperate due to Teddy winning all but one game I got a little desperate.

That sound you heard was Cindie politely excusing herself from the big boy table and making room for Teddy and Mike.

You know someone has it out for you when they personally text you and say they are coming for you. That was Teddy sending me texts late Saturday night. I was already worried he would overtake me in points but I got a little scared once he texted me "hehehe”. I had to check the front door just to ensure he wasn’t there.

Clearly Mike needs to win the $80 bucks. Mike got pulled over about a month ago for speeding on the way back to his house…and got a ticket. Well, it appears Mike hasn’t learned his lesson considering he’s sped from dead last to 3rd place in a ...

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Week 2 College Pick-em

Right when we thought this past Saturday’s games would be boring, it turned out to be fun after all.

Alabama finally rolled after looking pedestrian in the first half to win 38-10 over a feisty Western Kentucky Team who may end up winning their conference. However, Ole Miss is up next.

Auburn looked good in their win against Nobody-U. Up Next is conference play.

And right when I thought Auburn’s defense was legit, I’m now wondering if it is a product of Clemson’s offense. Before you get grumpy, let me explain. Auburn’s defense played lights out against Clemson’s offense and then Clemson barely got by Troy 30-24. Clemson’s offense rolled up only 414 total yards against Troy. TROY!!!! Not to mention, Clemson’s defense gave up 386 yards. In fact Troy outrushed the Tigers in that game. Maybe, just Maybe Clemson doesn’t have the machine rolling just yet.

There were some last minute finishes between Penn State@ Pitt, Arkansas@ TCU, BYU@ Utah, and Texas Tech @ Arizona State which had implications on our Pick’ems contest. Each game came down to the wire.

Maybe it was just me, but I didn’t get excited about the Tennessee Virginia Tech match-up. I was more interested in the Arkansas TCU game. But hey, the SEC won two big out of conference games. And the B1G conference has played nobody yet. That all changes this week as Ohio State takes on the Oklahoma. If Oklahoma loses that one, it would be a hard sell to get into the 4 team playoff.

Rest In Peace Oklahoma State… Yes you were robbed at the end by bad officiating. But here’s the thing, never EVER put yourself in that position if you are the better team.

Michigan still got excited about Michigan blowing out a winless UCF squad which has dropped 14 straight games.

Moving on to our Pick’ems contest…..

Well, that didn’t take long. Megan and Wendi have shuffled to the bottom where they will stay for the remainder of the season. So that locks up 7th and 8th place. The only thing we have to figure out now is who takes 1st through 6th?

All of a sudden Mom is playing lights out hitting the most points in week 2 with 41. It’s almost like she needs the money or something. Maybe after getting into that little fender bender, this $80 will help pay for repairs.

Cindie and I are tied in the top spot at 83 points each but Mom, Teddy, and Kim are not far behind.

Mike is in recovery mode still from the 1st week and for now has dug his way out of the bottom into 6th place.

However, it’s still really early. The trick is to not fall behind too far.

Here’s how we rank through Week 2:

1. Cindie – 83 points
1. David – 83 points
2. Mom – 79 points
3. Teddy – 78 points
4. Kim – 72 points
5. Mike – 66 points
6. Wendi – 64 points
7. Megan – 56 points

Good luck on your picks this week… well, not really!

Week 3 College Pick-em

Quick, a show of hands if you thought Louisville would do THAT to Florida State? Put your hand down, you’re lying. Those that picked Louisville to win went pretty low in their confidence points. Yeah that was a serious drubbing which will no doubt send Louisville in the Top 5.

Now’s the time to start jumping off the Auburn bandwagon. It’s not that Auburn’s a bad team, it’s just they lack THE quarterback to get it done. The ground game was fine rushing for 236 yards against a decent A&M defense but the passing game only had a meager 163 yards with no touchdowns. That’s the problem with a Gus Malzahn offense. In this system, it’s the quarterback or bust. For whatever reason, this offense wants to feature a QB with a great zone read game which opens up play action. Without, that, there seems to be no identity.

Poor Ole Miss. They had Florida State on the ropes three weeks ago and lost a 20 plus point lead in which FSU stormed back to win. This past Saturday, the Rebel Bears were up 24-3 just several minutes to go before half. Somehow Alabama ripped off 14 points in a span of 13 seconds and trailed 24-17 at halftime. From there, Alabama took control of the game and was up by 18 points after a pick-6 was housed. A flurry of Ole Miss Touchdowns in 9 seconds late in the 4th quarter gave the Tide a scare. However, that’s two Top 10 teams that Ole Miss had a three touchdown lead that wilted away.

Yeah we knew it was coming based on our picks. Nobody except a few gave Oklahoma a fighting chance. Ohio State was going to rip through Oklahoma and they did convincingly. The lowest points someone had on that game was 5 points. Everyone went pretty high. Remember when the media picked Oklahoma to be in the playoff just a few weeks ago? Yeah, well that pretty much took care of that.

Speaking of the B1G, they are making a strong argument for having the best conference this year. With Nebraska shocking Oregon and Michigan State besting Notre Dame, the out of conference wins look great. With teams such as Ohio State and Michigan in the conference, things are looking good for the B1G. Yeah, just forget that Iowa lost to North Dakota State this weekend.

So how many of us were laughing when Colorado was up by two scores over Michigan in the first half? Yeah I was as well though it didn’t last long.

Let’s to get to our Pick’ems Contest……

It was a surprising week in which we all did fairly well considering the great match-ups. We are officially through the 1st quarter of games. Which means, we have 3 more quarters to go.

I was telling people all week that many "experts” were predicting Nebraska to upset Oregon. So what did those people do (cough Cindie, cough Wendi)?… they went high on Oregon. Meanwhile, I went with the Oregon pick, but lost only one point.

There’s no truth to the rumor that Wendi flew out to Mike’s house to get assistance with her picks. However, Mike’s picks improved this week. If someone is flying out this weekend to Mikes, there may be something more to it.

Nobody is really noticing, but Mom is quietly in 4th place and only 8 points from 1st place.

Did you know that Cindie is the ONLY one in the group that has hit 40 plus points in each week so far? And that’s why she’s in 2nd place. She’d be in 1st place if she would have nailed the Oregon pick.

Most Points for the week: Yeah that was Mike scoring 48 out of 55 points which still leaves him in 6th place, but he’s closing in on the rest of the pack.

Least Points for the week: Megan just can’t catch a break. She hits her highest total of points in 10 years years with 41 which were still the LEAST points scored in our group for the week. The problem, everyone else will always be better than Megan at pick’ems. Okay fine, so Mom also tied with Megan for the lowest points this past Saturday.

Best Pick of the week: Picking Louisville over FSU was the best pick of the week for Mike, Wendi, and Teddy. However, two of those three ...

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