This week there are 15 games, and in 10 of them the Top 25 in the leaderboard were unanimous in their choices: Wake Forest, Boise State, Virginia Tech, Louisiana Tech, Appalachian State, Baylor, UCF, Middle Tennessee, Texas Tech and Clemson. So picking the victory margin will be the only differentiator for these folks. In two other games, all but one picked UAB and Mississippi State; dfwcane and I are predicting upsets: I chose home-team Akron; he picked visiting USM. Three games have a wider dispersion: all but 4 chose FIU over WKU, only 6 picked Texas over LSU and SMU-North Texas was nearly even: 14 for the Ponies, 11 for the Mean Green. - - - + + + / / / + + \ \ \ + + + - - - I thought it notable that our leader, dblaze, who soared to the top of the standings with a brilliant all-lock choices, this week chose NO locks at all. Talon90, in 28th place, is taking dblaze's place, however. He had no locks last week, but ALL locks this week. - - - + + + / / / + + \ \ \ + + + - - - The Bonus Question (Least Time of Possession) is a difficult one so early in the season. Do you go for an overmatched team that will try to pass a lot to catch up but have many 3-and-outs? Or a pass-happy high-scoring team that doesn't need (or take) much time to rack up a healthy winning margin? I looked at all 75 choices ... and there's quite a disperson. Fourteen picked UTEP (2 to win - 2 to place - 10 to show) and 10 each chose Grambling (1-2-7) and ODU (2-1-7). Seven picked Tennessee State (0-4-3); 4 each for Akron (0-2-2), Rice (1-0-3) & UTSA (0-0-4); 3 each for Clemson (1-1-1), FAU (0-1-2) & USM (0-0-3); 2 each for Baylor (1-0-1), Wake Forest (0-1-1), Marshall (0-0-2) & Boise State (0-0-2) and one each for App State & WKU to Place and La Tech, Texas Tech & SMU to Show. - - - + + + / / / + + \ \ \ + + + - - - After Friday's two games, Marshall is leading (20:48) with Wake Forest second (23:46); Rice & Boise State are eliminated. - - - + + + / / / + + \ \ \ + + + - - - As for the game picks, among the Top 25, the unanimous choices both won, but wrysal hit Boise's 7-point victory margin on the nose and AEOS did the same for Wake's 20-point win. - - - + + + / / / + + \ \ \ + + + - - - Good luck to everyone on Saturday.



Posted: 9/6/2019 11:54:23 PM

LOL, indeed! After the first half, it looks like I made a big mistake. Blazers lead 17-6, and it's not actually been that close due to some errant or dropped deep passes to wide-open receivers. Akron appears to have a horrible OL and kickers. (No holes for runners, no protection for QB, a missed PAT and short FG ... and a funky rugby-style 5-yard punt from deep in your own territory. Awful!!) What was I thinking? Now I'm rooting for a Blazer Blowout, so I only lose ~10 points to the field. :-)
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UPDATE: There was no Blazer Blowout -- Akron scores 14 unanswered points in 4Q. With that and ODU's better-than-I-expected performance @VT, I lose 30-40 points to the field, dropping from 9th to 24th. Penance paid. I hope I learned my lesson, ICB. :-)
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In the Bonus Question, UAB (27:34) & VT (26:40) were low in today's first two games. No one picked either of them. ODU (10 picks, tied for 2nd most popular) and Akron (4 picks) are eliminated.



Posted: 9/7/2019 1:00:48 PM