"October Eve”
Written by Wendi
Well, here we are on the last day of September and what can I say, it surely has been an interesting College Football season so far. I am sure we can all agree that NIL has drastically changed everything. You have folks sitting out now because they are not getting what was promised. I mean I get it, but at the same time, you are part of a team. With NIL, it is not about the team anymore. It is "how much can "I” make?” It is not a good look all around. Can’t we just go back to normal??? Ok, I am off my soap box.
In the Big 12, we had a Top 25 matchup between Oklahoma State and Kansas State. Honestly, I think this game could have gone either way prior to the start of the game. I think if Oklahoma State’s quarterback focused more on his passing game versus his mustache, he would have been better. Honesty, have you seen it? Looks like the monopoly guy. But with orange hair. Wildcats won big at home 42-20.
I was not sure what to make of the NIU and NC State game. Yeah NIU beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame but everyone has an off day. But I will say that if NIU did not have those two turnovers that NC State capitalized 14 points off of, NIU easily would have won. NC State struggled all game offensively but got the win 24-17.
Tulane took a big lead early over USF and lead 31-7 at the half and never looked back. The Green Wave rolled 45-10. I was so confident in Tulane winning, that I even decorated my Christmas Tree Tulane colors. Yes, me and Sam put up our Christmas Tree a couple weeks ago and have it decorated, green, teal and white/silver. True story. And yes, I know it is not Halloween yet. Or Thanksgiving.
In another ranked matchup with Louisville and Notre Dame, the Irish shot up quickly to a 24-14 lead going into the half. With a combined five turnovers and 675 total yards, Notre Dame was able to hold onto the lead and won 31-24. The Irish are now ranked 14th while Louisville dropped seven spots to 22nd.
I don’t think any of us were surprised Texas A&M beat Arkansas, but I think we can all agree it was closer than what we wanted it to be. Playing on a neutral site, it was tied at the half and Arkansas took a three-point lead over the Aggies early in the fourth quarter. However, the Hogs’ defense could not hold the Aggies back and with an Aggie touchdown, 21-17. I know some people would have been crying if Arkansas won.
Did I think UCF could beat Colorado? Yes. Did I think Colorado could beat UCF? Yes. Not sure why seven people put 8 or more of their confidence points on UCF to win. And for you to say "the analytics say UCF had over 80% chance”. Yeah, I never go off of that. I go with what I know and what I watch. But hey, I’m not winning, so what do I know? Colorado won big at the Bounce House 48-21. Along with turnovers, UCF had no answer on defense to contain Colorado’s passing game.
Leave it to a Mack Brown team to blow a 20-0 lead in the third quarter. North Carolina, you had one job. Play some defense. Duke scored 21 unanswered points in the last 20 minutes of the game to win 21-20…Maybe it’s time for him to retire.
Penn State Nittany Lions hosted the Fighting Illini of Illinois in their annual ‘White Out’. Both teams were ranked and undefeated and got into a defensive slug fest. Unfortunately, someone had to lose. Illinois scored first, and for them… it was their last score. Penn State won 21-7.
If you stayed up late enough to watch the thrilling ending of the top five ranked matchup between Georgia and Alabama, you were in for a treat. Alabama took a 30-7 lead at the half, and it appeared that the second half would continue with Alabama’s dominance. After some costly turnovers, Georgia appeared to settle down and started moving the ball. The Bulldogs eventually took a late lead with just over two minutes left. But if you are Alabama, you put your faith in a 17-year-old true freshman to make THE play of the game. But it wasn’t over yet folks. Georgia was driving late in the game because Bama left too much time on the clock after their quick strike. And it happened again… another Georgia interception and Bama won 41-34. 1,066 total offensive yards by both teams. Wasn’t the SEC known for defense??? What happened?
I know none of us watched it live because honestly, who cares. FSU lost and it was bad. SMU beat the Noles 42-16.
FUN FACT: There are currently 19 undefeated teams. Here are some you may be surprised with that nobody is talking about.
Army, Navy, Duke, Pittsburg, BYU, Iowa State, Indiana, Rutgers, Liberty, UNLV, James Madison
On to the Pick’ems…
Marc is still hanging on to a two-point lead in first place. Can he keep it up going into week 6? Can Cindie overtake him with another good week or will Cindie be a one hit wonder and fall back to her usual spot? Megan and Sam are tied for third place. I am still trying to wrap my head around an 11-year-old beating nine other adults in this group. Should we be embarrassed or is he just getting lucky?
Both Sean and Kim dropped a spot after this weekend. How will they handle this week’s picks? If their history is any indicator, they will drop even more. Sorry, not sorry. It’s not offensive if it’s the truth, right? Hehe. After nailing 50 points, both Mike and I have moved up in the rankings. I was in dead last just two weeks ago and made my way to 7th place. I am on a mission to get into the top three this week. Not sure how far Mike H. will move up. He is usually at the bottom with the kiddos.
Evelyn quickly went from 1st place to 8th in a matter of two weeks. Yikes. I would say you only have one way to go and that is up… but you could also go down. Just saying.
David and Noah seem stuck on being at the bottom this year. David is in unfamiliar territory as he can’t seem to get any higher than 7th place. And Noah? Well, going 10 on Georgia didn’t do you and favors and you’re sitting next to last.
And speaking of last, I seem to recall a message from Rick in the group saying, "I like the picks, I just know mine will suck”. Well, you were right. Your picks sucked and you did land in last place thanks to Mike H. moving up.
Mike M. is doing everything in his power to stay afloat and sits at 6th place overall. His only two losses this week were UCF and Georgia. Not bad picks, but costly due to putting six points on UCF and four on UGA.
And Adam, I get that you had a migraine and barely submitted your picks on time Friday night, but at this point, it would have made no difference if you did your picks or not. You are officially the only person in this group that has not moved up at all. In fact, you go down in rankings each week and now sit tied with Noah next to last. So, not only do your picks suck, but FSU sucks sitting at 1-4 overall and they play Clemson this week…
Most points for the week: <singing Frozen "For the first time in forever…”> Cindie finally won something! Her aggressiveness finally paid off as she nailed 53 points AND $10.
Least points for the week: I think Evelyn had quite the nose bleed losing altitude that fast. She only managed 27 points and was the only person to score under 30 points this week. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Best pick of the week: Cindie, Mike H., and Marc picking Colorado over UCF. Not sure why, but a lot of folks had big points on UCF that they lost out on.
Worst pick of the week: Adam putting 10 on FSU probably wasn’t the smartest move…
Here are the rankings after Week 5:
1. Marc – 203 points
2. Cindie – 201 points
3. Megan – 195 points
4. Sam – 195 points
5. Sean – 193 points
6. Kim – 191 points
7. Mike M. – 190 points
8. Wendi – 188 points
9. Evelyn – 185 points
10. David – 185 points
11. Mike H. – 180 points
12. Adam – 179 points
13. Noah – 179 points
14. Rick. – 175 points
There is a 28-point difference from first to last place.
