Alright we have a collection of 8 members signed up for the pick'em.

A couple things, same as all the year's prior:
- everyone's single worst week is dropped, so if you forget to pick games some week you'll get a zero, but that zero won't count against you as the lowest point total over the season is dropped - just don't miss more than one week.
- point spreads are not posted yet for week 1, they often appear from yahoo on Monday or Tuesday. These picks are counted against the spread. If you ever see "off" where the spread normally goes, that means it is "off" the board, and no point spread is used. In that case you pick the straight up winner of the game.
- Occasionally Friday night games will be on the list, so be sure to not miss those.
- Game picks can be changed 5 minutes prior to kickoff of the individual game.

We're missing a few staples in the pick'em still. I will see if I can track down leafsfan and alloak41 needs to get on board. Past champions can't miss! What about you Bhawk, why don't you sign up and then stop playing in week 3 or 4 like usual?

What about you Bhawk, why don't you sign up and then stop playing in week 3 or 4 like usual?

I'm terrible at picking against the spread. I'm scared.

Three days til Cal-Hawai'i! :D:D:D:D:D

Oh yeah!!! Can't hardly wait!!! Hawaii +21 😉

Speaking of spreads...

OK, Hawaii gives up 51 points in Sydney to the usual decent Cal squad.

Then they fly back to Honolulu, only to turn around this weekend and fly to the mainland, then fly to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan in the home opener at the Big House.

Michigan is favored by 40, I say they cover...

LSU-Clemson national title game. You heard it here first.

Wow, it's game week! ! ! !

Spreads are up in the pick'em for week 1. Glad to see fast43 is back on board!!

Jerry, what about OU covering the 10/11 against Houston? Saw your comment about ESPN Insiders saying this may be the best Sooner team ever...I'm not in that camp, especially defensively. And I want to see how they adapt from the loss of Shepard at WR since he caught almost double the #2 WR.

But I tend to side with Sooners vs Houston, which goes against my nature since I am an underdog kind of guy. Acknowledging your short comings vs the point spread...what do you see for the OU vs UH game?

Wow, it's game week! ! ! !

Spreads are up in the pick'em for week 1. Glad to see fast43 is back on board!!

Jerry, what about OU covering the 10/11 against Houston? Saw your comment about ESPN Insiders saying this may be the best Sooner team ever...I'm not in that camp, especially defensively. And I want to see how they adapt from the loss of Shepard at WR since he caught almost double the #2 WR.

But I tend to side with Sooners vs Houston, which goes against my nature since I am an underdog kind of guy. Acknowledging your short comings vs the point spread...what do you see for the OU vs UH game?

All jocularity aside, this game is huge, quite huge for a Week 1 matchup.

First of all, big picture, the Big XII is looking for new members, and this is a fine opportunity for Houston to show that they might belong.

That said, I think this one comes down to the big uglies up front. Both Baker Mayfield and Greg Ward are solid QBs, with different styles. The defenses do have weak areas that balance each other out a bit, and both will be tested with legit offenses coming at them. The cliche "run and stop the run" might be the best choice for Houston. It being a road game for OU won't be that much of a factor, the program plays in big games all the time. Still, college football is all about talent, and OU has the edge there for sure.

Now, OU by 11.5? Sheesh. Opened at 9.5. The oddsmakers always know something, don't they?

OU to cover.

In. Good luck everyone.

I'm not a big Over/Under person, but I like the Over on Clemson v Aubarn. Not sure what the total is but this could be a track meet.

I'm in and lady luck is heading North!!!

Prediction -

I think it will be a year of big upsets. No team will run the table. Oklahoma wins it all over Ohio.

Phew! That was a close one. Appy State came to play.

Ah, opening night is in the books. That felt good.

So the debut of the 2016 Tennessee Vols, huh? No TD until halfway through the 3rd qrt? Top 10 team?

First of all, Vols D was good. The App St O they went against is very veteran and experienced...UT gave up more yards on the ground than one would like looking ahead to what the SEC running games bring to the table, but I feel the D will be ok.

That offense...wow, Dobbs was terrible. No explosive plays. The play calling...somebody said that UT OC Mike DeBorg was the Michigan OC in 2007 when App St beat big blue. Nice twist in the story line had they lost. The Vol O has so much more potential than that. Dobbs is a good enough college QB and the RB talent is strong, but they averaged under 4 ypc. Again, App St D is very experienced, but it is a Sun Belt D. How about the VT or Florida D in the next 2 weeks?

Concern in Knoxville? Maybe they have been reading too many of their own press clippings.

South Carolina fans have to be happy. I mean anything this year, a rebuilding transition year, any win is going to feel great after last year. Think they have a long way to go, the D looked good which is what Muschamp does...that and the Vandy offense is about as easy of an offense as they may play all year.

Both teams needed that game for bowl hopes. Advantage Cocky. It looks difficult to see Vandy getting to 6 wins now.

Game of the night was Oregon St at Minny. Huge improvement with the Beavers this year. Heard some saying Minn could win the Big Ten North and Linder is an NFL QB prospect. I don't see it. That was a quality competitive game throughout until a few minutes left in the 4th when Ore St started to wear down. What about that call to go for 2 on Minn's last TD? Kick the extra pt and you are up by 8...make the other team score and go for 2 to tie you. If you miss the 2, now you are only up by 7 and it is easier for the other team to tie you. That was as boneheaded of a decision I've seen in a while. Kind of like the clock management Clays made in the final seconds with a chance to tie or win vs Michigan last year. Going for 2 when you are up 7 is just plain dumb.

I'm not a big Over/Under person, but I like the Over on Clemson v Aubarn. Not sure what the total is but this could be a track meet.

I thought Clemson would put up more than 19. Play calling was suspect. They seem to only run what they found to work. Gallman up the middle and back shoulder passes to Williams. Where was Artavis Scott on screens and jet sweeps?
The young Clemson D stepped up big time.

1-0

Just 11 months after suffering the most gruesome knee injury I have ever seen Nick Chubb has 32 totes for 224 yards. His work ethic on and off the field is unparrelled. He probaly won't win the heisman but if I was a coach and had to pick a back he would be my hoss!!

Now I will look at the pickem and see how bad I did!!

Nothing was worse than Theisman's.

Oklahoma wins it all over Ohio.

Oooopsss, Houston Sooners game was game of the weekend (Sorry Jerry). Great game to watch.

Washington State losing to EWU???? Crazy.

Ducks giving up 3-4 TD's to UCD is not a great start. I didn't see game due to PAC12 Network sucking bag but friends in Northwest said they have a long way to go but their was some bright lights.

DUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Edited on 9/5/2016 by leafsfan]

So many things to say or talk about this past weekend.

Let me just say I love love love college football!!!!

One of the best things we get are the surprises, the upsets, the suspense, the 4th quarter or overtime drama.

What a fun weekend. The only thing I don;t like now is most of the media are fixated on trying to predict who the 4 playoff teams are going to be at season's end. Forget it, it is a waste of time. That is 3 months away. It goes fast enough already. Savor every week!

Take Michigan.

Three days til Cal-Hawai'i! :D:D:D:D:D

Oh yeah!!! Can't hardly wait!!! Hawaii +21 😉

Speaking of spreads...

OK, Hawaii gives up 51 points in Sydney to the usual decent Cal squad.

Then they fly back to Honolulu, only to turn around this weekend and fly to the mainland, then fly to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan in the home opener at the Big House.

Michigan is favored by 40, I say they cover...

COVERED!

Wow, it's game week! ! ! !

Spreads are up in the pick'em for week 1. Glad to see fast43 is back on board!!

Jerry, what about OU covering the 10/11 against Houston? Saw your comment about ESPN Insiders saying this may be the best Sooner team ever...I'm not in that camp, especially defensively. And I want to see how they adapt from the loss of Shepard at WR since he caught almost double the #2 WR.

But I tend to side with Sooners vs Houston, which goes against my nature since I am an underdog kind of guy. Acknowledging your short comings vs the point spread...what do you see for the OU vs UH game?

All jocularity aside, this game is huge, quite huge for a Week 1 matchup.

First of all, big picture, the Big XII is looking for new members, and this is a fine opportunity for Houston to show that they might belong.

That said, I think this one comes down to the big uglies up front. Both Baker Mayfield and Greg Ward are solid QBs, with different styles. The defenses do have weak areas that balance each other out a bit, and both will be tested with legit offenses coming at them. The cliche "run and stop the run" might be the best choice for Houston. It being a road game for OU won't be that much of a factor, the program plays in big games all the time. Still, college football is all about talent, and OU has the edge there for sure.

Now, OU by 11.5? Sheesh. Opened at 9.5. The oddsmakers always know something, don't they?

OU to cover.

Not covered. 🙁

So many things to say or talk about this past weekend.

Let me just say I love love love college football!!!!

One of the best things we get are the surprises, the upsets, the suspense, the 4th quarter or overtime drama.

What a fun weekend. The only thing I don;t like now is most of the media are fixated on trying to predict who the 4 playoff teams are going to be at season's end. Forget it, it is a waste of time. That is 3 months away. It goes fast enough already. Savor every week!

I heard some clown on the radio that had Notre Dame in his final four.

Notre Dame is on a 3 game losing streak dating back to end of last regular season and bowl game.

ND is actually only 2 of their last 5 vs ranked teams, and consider one of the wins was vs Temple, a pretty good team last year, but still it's Temple. The other win was in week 3 vs a then ranked GT team who went on to finish 3-9.

Whoa, that Irish defense looked horrible vs a Texas offense still finding their way. But Kizer looked very good and the offense will take them to alot of wins. Their D will probably be ok vs teams like Duke and the lesser opponenets. I'd bet somebody else will upset them somewhere. I say they go 9-3 this year.

Michigan St vs Irish in 2 weeks and MSU looked like they really suffered from the void of last year's senior leadership at QB and OL vs Furman. I feel less confident that Sparty can win at South Bend now then I did a couple weeks ago after seeing them and then seeing ND offense in Austin. If MSU can control the game on the ground they have shot.

A couple good games coming up in week 2, but we are spoiled after last week.

No Thursday games giving NFL the night to themselves but a couple games Friday to satisfy junkies like me.

Bhawk, how about getting back on the point spread wagon? UCF (Scott Frost new HC) at Michigan -35 and ULM at OU -46.

Battle at Bristol...wow that field looks so small in there. It is cool, but the seats are so far away from the field!

Steve Spurrier as Mr 2 Bits

Florida Field at the Swamp now has Steve Spurrier's name atop the press box as well. Old Ball Coach spoke on field before doing the 2 Bits deal, didn't hear what he said. The Florida Gator football team that followed in the rain didn't look too impressive vs UMass.

[Edited on 9/7/2016 by nebish]

Kansas fans storm the field after beating Rhode Island. When you go 0-12 the prior year and have won less than 10 games the last 5 years combined I guess it's time to party for Jayhawk football. Now they are favored this week at home over Ohio. (Ohio Bobcats from Athens Ohio, not "Ohio" that leafsfan calls the Ohio State University from Columbus Ohio - just so you know 😉

"they're not going to keep them off the field tonight" - not exactly the same feel...the PA announcement is the best!

[Edited on 9/7/2016 by nebish]

Video shows respect remains for USC staffers and players for Coach Kiffin.

However, not much respect from Coach Kiffin towards the USC brass though...

For anyone that doesn't know, Kiffin was fired as USC HC at Los Angeles Airport in 2013 after a 41-62 loss at Arizona State...apparently at 3:14am.

Other than Northwestern, Big Ten looked good. How can you lose at home to Western Michigan?

Other than Northwestern, Big Ten looked good. How can you lose at home to Western Michigan?

I paid fairly close attention to this as I had WM, but also had the over which didn't hit.

The surprising thing to me was that WM D was able to play well enough to keep it on the lower scoring side. That D had some big issues at times last year. I thought both offenses would rule the game, but it stayed under.

A couple keys. First, WM has a QB entering his 4th year starting and a future NFL Sr WR. WM has always had some decent skill players. We know that NW D was very good vs their middle tier power 5 opponents last year, but they lost 2 key DL and it looks like they miss them early on.

WM was 4 of 4 on 4th down, that was huge. Broncos controlled time of possession. And last, but not least, NW was poised to take the lead and likely the win very late in the 4th qrt when the QB fumbled going into the EZ and WM got it on a touchback. A FG there and they win...but they fumbled on 1st down and never got the ball back.

The spread opened about 7 and closed at 3/3.5 for what it's worth.

Western Michigan is pretty good. Like Northern Illinois type good, BGSU, Toledo...have all beat Big Ten teams. Good MAC teams can beat lower to upper mid level Big Ten teams they do it a couple times a year. Their coach PJ Fleck will likely be chosen for a power 5 open coaching spot end of this year. Looks bad and it is pretty bad for NW fans in general, but it would the same as losing to Minnesota or Penn State probably...upper level MAC teams are on par with mid level Big Ten teams.

Watch out in 2 weeks, WM plays Illinois, they could go 2-0 vs Big Ten like BGSU did last year. Illinois I think will challenge and test that Bronco D more than NW did, offensively I think it is a tougher game for WM...not sure what to expect out of Lovie Smith's Illini D quite yet, we'll see that this weekend vs UNC.

Back to NW, I think they will be ok next 2 games which includes me giving them a win at home vs Duke. That game I think will be more pivotal for their season as after Duke they host Nebraska and travel to Iowa. If they lose vs Duke and are 1-2 heading into those next two it could be tough to get things going again and .500 would be best case probably.

Battle at Bristol...wow that field looks so small in there. It is cool, but the seats are so far away from the field!

I'm going to that. Promises to be the world's largest clusterf**k. I have gone to races there for over 30 years. Back when the night race would draw 150k, getting out of there was a nightmare, and trying to navigate I-81 afterwards was just bizarre with all the alcohol-fueled race fans trying to pass each other in what was basically bumper-to-bumper traffic. I expect the same as I heard that BMS was ordering 400,000 beers for the game - and selling moonshine drinks. We probably won't get home until daybreak!

Enjoy yourself...take the binoculars and maybe drive the RV (or rent one) and make a weekend out of it instead of fighting the traffic. Let us know how it goes!

One of the more interesting games for sure based on the improvement we all think Tennessee should show after week 1 and what Fuente's VT team will look like. Think it could be a pretty good game...Vols -11.5 or 12? If last week's UT team plays then VT will cover for sure.