Week #5 - NCAA Ruminations

Quick hits:

My parents are in town visiting their newest grandson. I don't have a lot of time to expound upon the world of NCAA football but since I didn't need much time to review my results in the pool, I still have some things to say ( or at least observe):

Way to Represent ACC 

• The Hokies lose to Cincinnati in spectacular fashion by giving up the go-ahead touchdown in the last 1:30. The Hokies are undefeated in ACC play and 0-2 in the Big East.
• UVA loses, big, to Louisiana Tech (like Cincinnati, an undefeated team)
• Georgia Tech loses, for the first item since 1988, a second consecutive home game to Tennessee - no, correction, MIDDLE Tennessee.
• At least FSU put away South Florida (after a struggle) and UNC beat Idaho decisively. WOO HOO!

Offensive Offenses
There was some overtime work put in by the scoreboard operators this weekend.

• Georgia and Tennessee exchanged 95 points in what looked like a Mountain West contest.
• Texas and Oklahoma State provided that the Big 12 has no time or trivial matters like defense in a 41 to 36 Texas victory.
• Oregon drops half-a-hundred +1, again, in blasting Washington State.
• And in the granddaddy of crazy games, West Virginia scored 70 on Baylor, who matched it with 63 of their own points. Yes, the Mountaineers scored 70 and didn't cover.

You down with SEC

• Does it trouble anyone else that it took the #3 team in the country 3 quarters to put away a team from the subdivision Colonial conference?
• South Carolina is #6 in the country and undefeated with wins over Vandy, East Carolina, UAB, Mizzou, and Kentucky. The next three weeks go like this: #5 Georgia, at #4 LSU, and at #10 Florida. I think that #6 ranking might be quickly corrected.
• Georgia is #5 in the country and undefeated with wins over Buffalo, Mizzou, Florida Atlantic, Vandy, and Tennessee. The Dawgs are at South Carolina next week, then get Kentucky, and then #10 Florida in Jacksonville. In November, they get Ole Miss, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech at home with a trip to the Plains to take on Auburn.  While I think SC gets corrected, I see UGA could easily go undefeated with two truly tough, but winnable games left. If so, it will likely face Bama or LSU in the SEC title game. Anyone thing the Dawgs could come within two TDs of the eventual West champ? Not me - not at this point.
• LSU's next five games: at #1 Florida, #6 South Carolina, at Texas A&M, #1 Alabama, and #20 Mississippi State. Even I get tired of the SEC rah-rah types but WOW, that's a big boy schedule.

Other Odditites

• The Big 12 has FIVE 4 and 0 teams.
• Conference USA has FOUR o and 4 teams.
• Northwestern could easily beat Michigan State at this point.
• Neither Purdue nor Michigan played a Big 10 team as of the end of September. They play each other next week. History SAYs - Wolverine win.
• Louisville is 5 and 0 and hasn't played a league game.
• Idaho is 0 and 5 and hasn't played a league game.

Week #5 - Elimination Picks

Eliminated

No one. Good thing LSU decided to beat Towson.

Nervy Picks

None.

Close Calls!

None.

The Scoreboard
(Green means go. Red means ELIMINATION) Sorted in order of real first name. 
NOTE: Please be sure I have the correct historical record for your picks!

Week #5 - Main Pool Update

Week 5 can best be summed up by Whoshuregurl who said, on the message board, "Well that sucked...I think I speak on behalf of most when I say...that was just a stupid day of football...."  Well stated - I could not agree more.

Movers and Shakers

ver1010 loosened his grip on the lead ever-so-slightly by reducing the gap between him and second to only two picks. He had a rough outing with only 6 correct. In the meantime  Eagles continued his rocketing toward the top with a 10 point performance that puts him in a tie for second at 60 points with Vegas and GatorBo. Shajawilsav had a week's best 11 points to leap from 22nd to 9th place. Springfield Atoms also made a nice move from 15th to 6th with a 10 point week.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, for the second week, sits one Ultimate Bill. 3 points. THREE MEASLY FREAKIN POINTS - and that's with the LSU freebie. That little nugget of awful moved me from 12th to 24th in the blink of an eye. I dedicate my performance to Arkansas! Penn State was kind enough to come along for the ride from 12th but stopped off at 20th place and sent me on my way.

Best Pick Award

No real stand-outs here so I'll give it to the house for the push with South Carolina and Kentucky..

Worst Pick Award

Hoke-y - with the only pick for BC. Even I got that one right.

Stat of the Week

Eagles and Shajawilsave are the only players in the pool to have scored in double digits all five weeks of the season..

Week # 4 - NCAA Ruminations

Good old fashioned country ruminations 

As I noted in an email, we took the kids to go see their great grandmother this week, travelling deep within the confines of Georgia. Cock-a-doodle-doo reminded me of a story I shared with him about my wife's grandmother. It involved a zinger in the truest southern sense. Real southerners are good at slicing you up with their words in a way that you don't even realize it happened. In this particular telling, the matron of the family had made a slightly critical remark in regards to another family member without naming said family member (not me). In reply, said family member said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were talking about me." To which, the great grandmother replied, "Hit dog hollars." That, my friends, is classic southernese. And thus bringing us to this week's NCAA Ruminations, southern style.

Theme Song
Well we can't spin southern yarns without a theme song, and the marquee game this weekend featured two coaches by the names of Jimbo and Dabo. It don't git more southern 'n 'at, so here we go:

(Sung to the tune of the Dukes of Hazzard theme song:)

Just two good ol' boys
Coachin' in the ACC.
Tryin' not to get fired
In a league that is mired
in mediocrity.

Saturday night
And Doak Cambell is jacked,
Brent, Herbie, and the crew justa wonderin'
if Florida State is finally back

The Tigers broke out
The only way they know how
That's just way too many yards 
Than the Noles normally allow.

Just them good ole boys
Wouldn't change if they could
Yep, Clemson folded under pressure
Like we figured they would

Cast of Characters

Boss Hogg (aka Les Miles)

Good ole Les Miles, he surrounds himself with shady characters (like Boss Hogg), and always runs crazy schemes (see LSU's offense), and always seems to be in some sort of trouble. But, like Boss Hogg who remained in power despite numerous violations of the law and near butt kickins by Uncle Jessie, Les Miles always seems to come out on top. Here we are with all the attention in the world going to LSU and Alabama. While Alabama just motors along with warlike efficiency, the Tigers stumble and bumble their way  - finding themselves narrowly winning over a very vanilla Auburn team this weekend. Yet, as the polls come out, there is STILL a single solitary number one vote going the Tigers way. Is Boss Ho... I mean Les Miles up to funny Business?

Enos (aka John L. Smith)

Truth be told, the bumbling boob label should go to the geniuses in Fayetteville that hired John L. Smith in the first place. To wit, his career prior to his 1-3 debut at Arkansas:

Idaho, 1989-1994 (53-21, .716 winning %)
Utah State, 1995-1997 (16-18, .470)
Louisville, 1998-2002 (41-21, .661)
Michigan State, 2003-2006 (22-26, .458)

Toss out Idaho and Coach Smith has a .548 winning percentage as a coach of big boy football, yet somehow, because he coached special teams under Petrino, the Arkansas brass saw fit to hire Smith as head coach. Well, you get what you pay for - especially when you pay for a man who managed to go bankrupt to the tune of $25M in debts against $1M in assets. Well you get a man that follows the worst beating in Arkansas home games since the late 60s by a loss to RUTGERS? If Smith remains the head coach as of the end of this week I'll be as surprised as old Enos when he found out Daisy Duke might marry him.

Roscoe P. Coltrane (aka Bob Stoops)

When push comes to shove, you just know them Duke boys are going to get the best of Roscoe. Same holds true fro Bob Stoops and someone in the Big 12. This time it was Kansas States turn. Why the voters continually put the Sooners in their top five EVERY SINGLE YEAR is beyond me but here's to next years poll and a likely #1 pre-season rank for Stoops and his troops.

Uncle Jesse Duke (aka Bill Snyder)

See Bob Stoops above. Bill Snyder does more with less than anyone going. Bob Stoops literally has an army of blue chipper at his disposal. Bill Snyder wouldn't know a blue chipper if said stud athlete tripped over Snyder's 80 year old ankle. But Snyder sure knows what to do with what he has.

Bo Duke (aka Nick Saban)

He just gets it done son.

Luke Duke (aka Chip Kelly)

Hey RichRod! You think you got a speedy offense there? Let me introduce you to the General Lee... (cue horn, car jumping over dirt hill, etc.) FORTY-NINE to NIL. Just like his real lie representative, Tom Wopat, Luke Duke took no mess. I'm sure within a few minutes of being a Pac 12 coach, Rich Rodriguez ticked off everyone, as is his way. Chip Kelly thought he'd handle business too. FORTY NINE to NIL. Rich Rod, welcome to an offensive league. That razzle dazzle may have passed muster in the slow and plodding Big 10 but the Pac 10 practically invented defenseless, air it out, run it out ball. Take heed.

Lulu Hogg (aka Lane Kiffin)

In a particularly bad episode of Dukes of Hazzard, Boss Hogg admitted he married Lulu for money. Lulu had no real talent other than family money but treated Boss Hogg like dirt. Sort of like Lane Kiffin and his throwing his Heisman candidate QB under the bus the week of the Cal game. Sure it worked, but at the end of the day, Lane Kiffin still comes off like a Lulu Hogg proportioned sow.

Thus concludes out sordid country tale. 

Other news - Hokies win! UVA loses! T'was a good weekend!

Happy BUCFPing!

Week #4 - Main Pool Update

Week 4 brought a first for the season when Just Take My Money Now became our first player to miss the pick deadline. According to my sources, JTMMN meant to "madey" her picks but somehow didn't save (more on this later.)

Movers and Shakers

GatorBo goes big with a weeks' best 14 to rocket from 13th place in week 3 to 2nd. Holding the top spot for the second week in a row, and actually stretching out his lead to three, is ver1010 who came through with a solid 12 point performance. Past champion Geauxboygeaux moved up ten places to 8th with his 12 point performance. 

At the other end of the spectrum comes yours truly. Despite the fact that Just Take My Money Now spotted the field 10 games, I had exactly one more point than did she after Southern Alabam covered Mississippi State. A quick three points with Notre Dame, Georgia, and Kansas State saved me from a historical low but didn't save me from plummeting to 12th place from second. Strangely enough, Hoke-y and Vol Nation were both tied at 8th last week and find themselves both tied at 17th this week after equally bad 7 point performances.

Best Pick Award

Those of you that gave Maryland a fighting chance which, by the way, didn't include our poster who goes by the name "Go Terps".

Worst Pick Award

Anyone that thought Cal would cover USC. Come on people. It's Cal.

Stat of the Week

44% of the pool scored less than 10 points this week. Only 3% did so last week.

Special Report

As you may recall from my email, I was out of town this weekend, visiting my wife's grandmother in Georgia. We stayed in a little house located at The Rock Ranch - a beautiful working dairy farm in a little town called The Rock, GA.

As I said, beautiful.

The reason I note this, however, is not to rub it in but to state that I had NO tv at the Rock Ranch. not only did I miss the FSU Clemson game, but every other one too. I had Show Me The Money, my trusty side kick, providing updates via text and I'd check scores occasionally from my phone, but for the most part, I was overseeing familial duties.

Which was cool (that's a four generation span there!)

This was all fine and well but as it so happens, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, before the family was up and about, I had a moment and, by the magic of my new smartphone, was able to check the BUCFP Yahoo! site. How excited was I that some of you at least used the message board feature (though you all seem afraid to use the blog for commenting!) How excited was I to see that Lee and Sunny (whoshuregirl and Just take My Money Now, respectively) actually engaged the community?

VERY EXCITED (as noted by my  41 year old morning Dad-of-two, no shave face)

So, what did my two spirited little BUCFPites have to say? Let's see...

Crap!!

Posted by: Sunny

Message ID: 17 9/22 3:36 pm | Post | < Previous | Next >

Double Crap! Went through and madey picks earlier in the week but apparently didn't hit the "save picks" button or something. Crap! And Bill's not even there to ask what the hell was wrong with me! Un-ultimate! Crap!

NOT Madey!

Posted by: Sunny

Message ID: 18 9/22 3:38 pm | Post | < Previous | Next >

Made MY! I made MY picks, not madey picks. Crap!

Not Crap

Posted by: Sunny

Message ID: 19 9/22 3:40 pm | Post | < Previous | Next >

It should be noted though, all my picks to this point would've been winners this week. I definitely would've been in the lead.

So, to this point, Just Take My Money Now is sharing, quite humorously, her predicament and noting, correctly, that had I been able, i surely would not have allowed the oversight to occur. I would have exhausted all resources to get the message out prior to the noon kick-off that picks had to be made. After these three, seemingly innocent posts, things took a dark turn. A dark turn indeed.

Winning.

Posted by: Sunny

Message ID: 20 9/22 3:54 pm | Post | < Previous | Next >

It should also be noted that, after five games in, I'm only one point behind Bill and I DIDN'T EVEN MAKEY PICKS!!

This is a picture of me not caring for the tone of that post. And then...

Hang in there Sunny!

Posted by: Lee

Message ID: 21 9/22 9:00 pm | Post | < Previous | Next >

Sunny, I think we should all be pointing and laughing at Bill! He is off the grid so he doesn't even know bad he is, which makes it even better! 

 

That stung a bit.

I try and try. I give and give and for what??? Just for people to turn around and sling their poison arrows just because I might make a comment or two, occasionally. Well I hope everyone involved here does some self reflecting this week.

Thus endeth the sermon.

Week #4 - Elimination Pool Update

Eliminated

No one. Mostly a Cornhusker crowd with a few Bama folks.

Nervy Picks

None.

Close Calls!

None.

The Scoreboard
(Green means go. Red means ELIMINATION) Sorted in order of real first name. 
NOTE: Please be sure I have the correct historical record for your picks!

Week #3 - Elimination Pool Update

Eliminated

No one!

Nervy Picks

Everyone went with an offline game (you are paying attention!) These didn't take a lot of guts.

Close Calls!

None.

The Scoreboard
(Green means go. Red means ELIMINATION) Sorted in order of real first name. 
NOTE: Please be sure I have the correct historical record for your picks!

Week #3 - NCAA Ruminations

"Revolutionaries wait, For my head on a silver plate, Just a puppet on a lonely string, Oh whoever would want to be the king?" - Cold Play, Viva La Vida 

The ACC's John Swofford announced the deal with the Devil. That's right, the Fighting Irish, based in a state that wouldn't know an ocean if it fell in it, will become the newest member of the ever-expanding (into the Big East) Atlantic Coast Conference (coastal recognition optional). Exciting right!?!?! Almost. The Irish managed to elude having to suffer through games against a full ACC slate in order to protect its national image and historical rivalries. Outside of the fact that it appears this was a desperation move on the ACC's part to not get left in the dust behind the four Bigs (SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Pac 12), it isn't a relatively bad play. As much as I despise the Irish, they are a good draw. One could argue the same sort of relationship did NOT benefit Big East football but you can hardly blame the Irish for what went on there. I'll say this, check out Notre Dame's tentative schedule for 2016 (as provided in this Yahoo! article): "In 2016, for example, Notre Dame is scheduled to play ACC members Boston College, Syracuse, Miami and Pittsburgh. By adding just one more ACC game, it can maintain the rest of its national schedule that includes games with Texas, USC, Stanford, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Navy at a neutral site." Wow wow wow.

"They call Alabama the Crimson Tide, call me Deacon Blues" - Steely Dan, Deacon Blues

A little music trivia: The Steely Dan hit was, in fact, inspired by the 1970s era Alabama football team and the same era Wake Forest team. Yes, Demon Deacons, you were the inspiration for a "name when I lose." Yesterday, the Tide rolled over hapless Arkansas 52-0 in Fayetteville (Petrino would not have mattered) while about 850 miles southeast in Tallahassee, Wake Forest got blasted into the stone age by the exact same score of 52-0. Those Steely Dan cats knew what they were talking about.

"It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all" - Genesis, That's All

Before the Virginia Tech Hokies left the Big East for the allegedly greener pastures of the ACC, it made a habit of losing to the Pitt Panthers in years when the Hokies had no business losing to the Pitt Panthers. Oddly enough, the Hokies had Pitt scheduled for this year, even before Pitt knew it was jumping ship from the Big East to join its old league rival. So here we are, nine years removed from the last of three consecutive losses the Hokies suffered against Pitt. The Hokies were ranked 13th in the country while Pitt limped into the match having lost to Youngstown State and getting blasted by Cincinnati. Naturally, Virginia Tech suffered its fourth straight loss to the Panthers in a pathetic effort yesterday.

"Ooh, that smell. Can't you smell that smell? Ooh, that smell. The smell of death surrounds you, yeah " - Lynyrd Skynyrd, That Smell

The ACC did a stellar job in presenting its case to be seriously considered int he future football landscape. In addition to the aforementioned Hokies loss to Pitt, BC and UNC lost road games to Northwestern and Louisville, respectively. Maryland dropped a home game to UConn.

"Hello, Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me, Is there anyone home?" - Pink Floyd, Comfortably Numb
This is a picture (courtesy of Yahoo! Sports) of the home team entrance for the Miami Hurricanes during yesterday's tilt against Bethune-Cookman:

"What have you done for me lately? Ooh ooh ooh yeah! What have you done for me lately? Ooh ooh ooh yeah!" - Janet Jackson, What Have You Done for Me Lately
Auburn survived UL-Monroe's bid to become the leader int eh SEC Western Conference standings by escaping with a 3 point overtime win after giving up 14 to the Warhawks in the 4th quarter. If Auburn lost this, I'm guessing Gene Chizik stood a 50/50 chance of keeping his job a mere two years after a national title. In other SEC news, Western Kentucky beat Kentucky, prompting chants of "Our one and done future starting five in hoops is better than yours!"

"So tell me people, am I going insane? Tell me people, am I going insane? " - Black Sabbath, Am I Going Insane

Louisiana Tech is, for some reason, a member of the Western Athletic Conference. LSU played a non-conference game against a Western Athletic Conference team in Baton Rouge yesterday. Of course, that team was Idaho. 

"Al right! Stop whatcha doin'. 'Cuz I'm about ta ruin. Tha image and the style that ya used to!" - The Digital Underground, The Humpty Dance

Dear USC, you and your snot-nosed brat of a coach are going to have to come to terms with the fact that Stanford owns you. And to the media - just because you can't help falling over yourself and ranking USC at the top of the heap, when a team coming off an 11-2 season that is ranked beats a team still under NCAA sanctions, that isn't a "monumental upset".

"What have I done to deserve such a fate? I realize I have left it too late. And so it's true, pride comes before a fall. I'm telling you so that you won't lose all" - The Beatles, I'm a Loser
Colorado is 0-3 this season. Having lost to Colorado State, Sacramento State, and Fresno State. The Fresno State loss was by a 55 point margin. Houston, who went 13-1 last year, is also 0-3 which includes an opening loss to Texas State.


"You are not what I thought you were" - Sara Bareilles, Love Song
Fresh off its upset loss to Oregon State, Wisconsin needed a missed FG by visiting Utah State to claim a 16 to 14 victory. You might not want to overlook UTEP next week before the Badgers take on Nebraska in Big 10 play.

Week #3 - Main Pool Update

Week 3 was a good one overall for BUCFP Nation! Everyone but one player hit double digits. I'm not naming names but a player with a name that would describe large citrus fruit kept us from the honor of everyone making double digits.

Movers and Shakers

Our top two placeholders last week, GoTerps and Augusta Day Strippers, took small tumbles from 1st and 2nd to a tie for 4th. TBWOTG had a week's best 16 picks which vaulted him from 16th place to 4th overall. Hoke-y continued a steep upward trend moving from 30th place in week 1 to 16th in week 2 and reaching 8th as of Week 3. Penn State also had a nice jump going from 20th to 13th place this week. 

On the Opposite side, Randomaxe took it on the chin, going from 5th to 18th place. Joining him in the freefall was TigerTown who is on a three week downhill run going from 12th to 24th and now 32nd place over the three weeks.

Best Pick Award

No real standouts but those of you who believed in Pitt, Notre Dame, and Stanford deserve some credit. I say that having personally picked against all three.

Worst Pick Award

Also no real standouts but those of you who believed in Virginia Tech, Michigan State, and USC deserve some credit here. I say that having personally picked all three.

Stat of the Week

We've gone three weeks without anyone not picking games! I'm still checking the archives but this might be a new record!

Week #2 - NCAA Ruminations

The SEC West is redefining 4x4
This week in NCAA Ruminations, I ask the question, "Should we just reschedule LSU and Alabama for the national title game?" Given the gushing over the two programs after week 2, we might as well. Sure they play each other in early November, but what else stands in the way?  Certainly not Arkansas, ahem LA-Monroe. Certainly not anyone from the SEC East (What? You are buying into Florida and South Carolina?). We learned last year that regular season games don't' matter with these two. Where 4x4 normally means a preferred means of transportation to the Swampers in Bama and Louisiana, now it just means, "Give us this game four times in two years and call the winner of the even numbered game the title holder."

Before we get too crazy though, let's look a little closer. Bama, to date, eviscerated Michigan and blanked Western Kentucky 35-0. Let's toss Western Kentucky out. It may not be an FCS program but it should be. And what about that Michigan win. Was that a matter of the finest football machine of all time firing on all cylinders or could it be that the Wolverines simply aren't that strong. It did take the Maize and Blue a while to put Air Force away. Bama plays at Arkansas next weekend. That would have been a top ten match-up were it not for the tumble the Hogs took all the way from 8th and out of the top 25.

And what about LSU? Week 1 was North Texas (see Western Kentucky above). Week two, the Tigers thoroughly dismantled Washington. Heck, North Texas managed to score more points than the Huskies' measly 3. That is impressive against a Big 6 squad but remember, Washington was a 7-6 team last year. Up next for the Tiger is Idaho (making a play for the Northwest territories Les?), at 0-2 and hapless Auburn, and then Towson (Towson????)

It's fine that we recognize these are two very good programs, but let's not get carried away, mmmmkay ES(ec)PN?

Big 10 Blues
It has been widely reported that the Big 10 absolutely stunk it up last weekend. This was not an exaggeration. Penn State couldn't manage more than one field goal with FIVE chances at them and lost to UVA on the road. The way UVA played, this might have been the Nittany Lions last chance at victory. (side note to the preppy doofuses in Charlottesville - when you require four missed field goals to beat a school that is under the most severe NCAA penalty ever administered short of the death penalty, you don't rush the field). Purdue gagged yet another opportunity against Notre Dame. Nebraska lost a shoot out with UCLA. Iowa set back offensive football 80 years with a 6 point performance in a loss to Iowa State (who only managed 9 points). And finally, Wisconsin, an early favorite as a national title contender, lost to Oregon State on the road and managed 7 points and 81 yards gross rushing (net 31). Thank goodness for Indiana and Northwestern, both of whom are 2-0.

Speaking of Wisconsin, it was announced today that the offensive line coach was FIRED! After two games - yikes!

Pac 10 Stuff
Outside of Colorado's absolute putridness, the PAC 10 is representing itself well. The most eye-opening result of the weekend was not Oregon State's upset of Wisconsin, it was Arizona's dismantling of Oklahoma State. Yes, RichRod knows offense. is it fair to say USC might present a challenge to teams from either Tuscaloosa or Baton Rouge? Everyone remarked about how pedestrian USC's win over Syracuse was. #1 the game was in the Meadowlands and #2 Matt Barkley threw for six TD's! The Trojans score at will.

ACC Stuff
Miami is horrible and likely will be for a while. End of ACC stuff.

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Two weeks into the season and Conference USA doesn't have one undefeated team among its  12 members.
• Two weeks into the season and the Mountain West conference doesn't have one undefeated team among its 10 members.
• Two weeks into the season and only 1 of 14 MAC teams is undefeated.
• Louisana-Monroe opened the season with Arkansas. Up next is Auburn. (If they win that one, do they get a crack at the SEC West title?) After that is Baylor. 

VIP Award goes to the medical staffs for Tulane and Tulsa
After a collision with his own teammate Saturday, Tulane's Devon Walker suffered a broken neck. It was one of those plays that look like thousands of other plays on any given Saturday in NCAAF, only at the end of it, a body went limp. The medical staffs of both teams set to work on Walker immediately and, as reported by ESPN, the treatment included an ON THE FIELD TRACHEOTOMY! It was reported Monday that Walker was in stable condition. His long term prognosis is unclear but it is possible at this point that long-term paralysis may not occur. Walker seems to be one of the actual STUDENT-athletes, majoring in cell and molecular biology. VIP award tot he staffs and best wishes to Walker for a recovery.

Week #2 - Main Pool Update

Week 2 came with a couple of freebie games but a lot more games that fit the tricky category. There were some huge spreads this week.

Movers and Shakers

BK all day and Vegas each jumped from 24th place to 10th with week's best 16 point performances. GoTerps and Vol Nation, last week's 2nd and 3rd place finishers, also had 16 each to bumb AugustaDayStrippers from the top and claim first and second, respectively. At the opposite end of the spectrum, pity goes to I PITY THE FOOL!, who dropped from 12th place to 32nd place with a nine point dud.

Best Pick Award

No real obvious choices here so I'll give the nod to the handful of people that picked Oregon State.

Worst Pick Award

Cock-a-doodle-doo with Missouri State over Louisville, straight up.

Stat of the Week

25% of teams favored by 30+ points covered. 
50% of teams favored by between 20 and 30 points covered.
25% of teams favored by between 10 and 20 points covered.

BUCFP Caption the Picture Contest: And the winner is...

This week I announced a special new feature: a special mid-week contest. The first contest challenged those that dare to caption a picture taken from the broadcast of the Michigan Alabama game on opening weekend. We had six entries. The winning entry is captioned below:

Kirk, stop doing your Corso impression. The camera is rolling, and you remember what he did to Lou Holtz.

Congratulations to our first Mid-week contest winner:

BigOrange!

For his efforts, he/she will live in BUCFP infamy! Congratulations Big Orange!

Thanks to all who participated. Click here to see all of the entries.

Week #2 - Elimination Pool Update

Eliminated

Early in the season, I try to be sure everyone participates. If I think someone just hasn't shaken off the cobwebs yet, I might drop him or her a line to be sure picks aren't forgotten. This morning, there was one remaining Elimination pick to be received. It was for Illhaveanother. Using my vast network of contacts, I got word to the rookie player and she submitted her pick at the 11th hour. Unfortunately, and somewhat inexplicably, the pick was not for one of the three no line games. The pick was Wisconsin, who not only didn't cover 6 against Oregon State on the road, but lost the game straight up. This brings us to our first elimination of the year. Every, raise your glasses to illhaveanother!

Nervy Picks

Taking Virginia Tech, as many did, a mere five days after it's game against Georgia Tech, was a bit plucky, given recent history (2010), but it paid off for those who did (yours truly included.)

Close Calls!

None.

The Scoreboard
(Green means go. Red means ELIMINATION)

BUCFP Exclusive! Rules for good BUCFPing!

This year's edition of the ultimate college football pool includes a good mix of long time veterans, some players with a couple of years under their belts, and some pure rookies. For the review of the veterans or for the education of rookies, here are some good rules to follow to ensure the ultimate in your BUCFP experience:

1. Make your picks. This goes for Main Pool players as well as Elimination Pool players. Nothing takes the enjoyment out of your BUCFP experience more than NOT PARTICIPATING. Here's a hint: when the lineups are posted by Yahoo! on Tuesday, run through them and make picks. You can always change them later in the week of the spread changes.
2. Make your picks. I can't stress this enough.
3. Don't do what Ultimate Bill or Show Me the Money does. Show Me the Money and Ultimate Bill have played in every single version of this pool ever completed (numbering around 15 now) and have not so much as sniffed a title.
4. Get Pumped. First off, it's college football - the greatest sport ever. Second, you are a lucky participate in the WORLD'S MOST ULTIMATE COLLEGE FOOTBALL POOL! Want proof? Would anything less than the most ultimate pool have it's OWN THEME SONG?

(the 2008 intro video that first introduced the theme song)

ARE YOU READY NOW? Get BUCFPing!

CONTEST - Caption the Picture!

Ok, my faithful followers, show me what you can do. Put on your creative caps and caption this picture from Saturday night's broadcast. Put your entry as a comment on this blog post. Winner will be selected by a panel of judges that includes yours truly. There is a LOT of non-monetary value on the line here so choose wisely!

Week #1 - NCAA Ruminations

This early in the season the stories haven't developed to a point where I can choose the themes for my ruminations, less the old standbyes of Notre Dame and Wisconsin hatred (more on those later). This was, however, one of the better opening weekends in recent memory with a lot of marquee games and good match-ups. South Carolina at Vanderbilt wasn't supposed to be a close game but the combination of a stout Vandy defense and a rusty South Carolina offense made it so. I wouldn't read much into that in regards to the much heralded Gamecock team. Opening with a league opponent is always tricky.

Friday night brought a real humdinger in Boise State at Michigan State. Boise, to their credit, doesn't back down on any opening games and, particularly when Kellen moore was under center, the Broncos handled their business accordingly. Kellen was on the sidelines but not suited up for the first time in, oh..., 13 years. His replacement didn't look half bad but Billy Bob Thorton's twin brother's squad didn't look nearly as sharp as they used to and the Spartans come away with a nice opening win.

Saturday had a lot of action...

First note, and I won't make a habit of mentioning the Penn State scandal at all, but I can't let this one go. Dear ESPN, ENOUGH ALL READY! Not one soul on the current roster or coaching staff had anything to do with the Sandusky scandal. Penn State flopped in its first game against a decent Ohio squad. To you pinheads in Bristol. Move on.  Please.

Games Results that will be made out to be much bigger than they are:

While the talking heads would have you believe the following games will define the season for these teams, they will not:

1) Ohio State 56, Miami (Oh) 10. Urban's debut game turned into a route quickly and I heard, on a few occasions, that Ohio State will be a team to watch this season. #1 - they will be a team to watch NOT go into post season and #2 SO WHAT? Miami of Ohio won all of 4 games last year, all of which were over teams with losing records. on top of that, Ohio State hasn't lost a game to an instate school since the 1920s. If Urban wasn't behind the helm, this game wouldn't be on anyone's radar screen.

2) Alabama 41, Michigan 14. Here it comes, the SEC talk. Can you feel it? Can the SEC compete with the NFC East? Yes, Bama looked good in thoroughly dismantling a Top Ten Michigan squad. First off, we don't know if a top ten ranking was appropriate for Michigan. As is ALWAYS the case, if Michigan returns a few starters from a winning team, scribes all over fall over themselves to launch the Wolverines into the top rankings. Second, early season blowouts are not necessarily indicative of how the season will go. Yes Bama, with it's fifth consecutive "QB from a frat house" under center looked its scary efficient self but I'm not yet ready to believe a team that lost FIVE starters to the first two rounds of the draft is simply going to steamroll everyone.

3) Notre Dame 50 Navy 10 - Note to Charlie Weiss - THIS is how you handle Navy. Note to the voters. It's just Navy.

4) Oklahoma State 84, Savannah State 0 Dear Coach Gundy - just because you used fourth and fifth stringers by the end of the game, this score result doesn't make you any less of a complete horses arse.


Games Results that matter:

1) Florida 27, Bowling Green 14 Nope, the Gators still don't have a quarterback. Perhaps they should take a page from Saban's book and recruit a kid from fraternity row.

2) Oklahoma 24, UTEP 7 Not sure what merited a 4 ranking for Oklahoma but this should make people think twice about it.

3) Clemson 26, Auburn 19 Clemson bounced back from it Orange Bowl no-show with an impressive neutral site win over an SEC school. This is something Clemson normally doesn't do. PS - this rivalry is awesome. Schedule them every year!

Conference Report Card

ACC Outside of the Clemson work, the league has the following for which to be so proud: Marylands 7 to 6 victory over William & Mary and Wake's 20 to 17 win over Liberty. Future ACC member Pittsburgh LOST to Youngstown State. On the plus side, North Carolina beat Elon 62-0 (if you factor in UNC's grading scale for football players, the score was actually 92 to 0!)

Big East  The league only played three actual games against same division opponents and won two of them with Syracuse losing a shootout against Northwestern. The aforementioned Pitt made no one in the league regret the Panthers eventual exodus.

Big Ten Outside of Michigan laying a massive egg against Alabama and Penn State's loss to Ohio (which surprised no one but ESPN), the league handled it's business. Wisconsin and Iowa hit snooze one too many times but still won (are you paying attention Pitt?)

Big 12 Everyone in the league won and, with the exception of Texas, scored a LOT of points in the process. New member West Virginia showed it will fit in just fine with 69 points in its forst game as a Big 12 member. Let the coon-skin capped throngs rejoice!

Pac 12 Oregon put on the brakes in the second half against Arkansas State but looked really scary on offense before that. Same for USC against Hawaii. Mike Leech didn't have the debut he was looking for but he has no one in his system that he recruited. California lost to Nevada - again. And yet, Jeff Tedford still has a job - go figure.

SEC  Well we all know about Alabama. And, while I said we should read too much into it, I think we can safely assume, based on this weekend's action, that the SEC champ will once again come from the west. Have fun Texas A&M!

Week #1 - Main Pool Update

This weekly report is delivered to prior to the Virginia Tech Georgia Tech Monday night game. I can't wait for that game to conclude for the update because 1) if the Hokies lose, I will likely be in a drunken stupor and the report would be too littered with cursing for mixed company and 2) if the Hokies win I will want to go to bed and happily only to get up for work in a few measly hours.

Movers and Shakers

Two time champion Go Terps rocketed to the top of the standings - a common occurrence for him. Along with him stands AugustaDayStrippers - another long time veteran of the pool. The two bested Vol Nation and ver1010 by one point and a host of others standing at 13 points. on the flip side, two of our lady friends made less than spectacular debuts. Just Take My Money Now, returning from a long sabbatical from BUCFP, came back with a quiet 8 points while WhoshureGurl, who all but asked me to print her champion banner before the start of the season, came in with a week's worst seven points. Rookie player Illhaveanother, also a female participant, was much more respectable with an 11 point debut. Our veteran females had mixed results with UTK 03 limping in with 9 but Holy Mackerel IV doing a solid 12 points.

Best Pick Award

Boardwalk Empire, GatorBo (a rookie!), Holy Mackerel IV, and TigerTown all took San Jose State which easily covered against Stanford.

Worst Pick Award

Just Take My Money Now rejoined the BUCFP world with a doozy by taking Savannah State to beat Oklahoma State straight up. It was close, Savannah State only lost by 84 points.

Stat of the Week

56.25% : with the Virginia Tech Game yet to be played, the entire BUCFP field correctly picked  games against the spread 56.25% of the time this weekend.