Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
How the fuck am I winning
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
@ASimPerson I think you accidentally reversed the CMU-WMU game. You've got WMU as a winner -17.5, and the final was WMU 31, CMU 15
Yep, I even remember thinking to myself "oh hey CMU covered" and I guess I put the wrong thing in anyway. I'll post the revised leaderboards tomorrow evening.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the state’s Fair Pay to Play Act into law today. That bill, which passed the state senate with overwhelming support earlier this month, forbids the state’s public colleges and universities from revoking the eligibility or scholarships of athletes who sign endorsement deals, hire agents, or otherwise make money off of the use of their names and likenesses.
This is a big moment in the longstanding fight to break up the NCAA’s amateurism scam—particularly if the bill’s passage inspires other states to follow suit. LeBron James is pumped!
I disagree that the schools will try to fight this in the courts - for one, it doesn't change anything for them, and actually benefits them.
So just how dominant was Penn State against Maryland?
After the first quarter, Maryland never broke a 10% successful play rate. In the third quarter, they had a 0% rate. Penn State was, oddly enough, not very explosive that game. They just very, very consistently strangled the life out of Maryland after the first couple drives in the 1st quarter, and basically did whatever the fuck they wanted on offense for the entire game. 68% success rate is utterly insane.
For comparison, here is Ohio State utterly annihilating Miami Hydroxide last week with a "mere" 56% success rate:
(Unfortunately he didn't have an image up for OSU vs Nebraska, because I imagine it was almost equally as disgusting)
Penn State made Maryland look like a middling MAC team, at night, at home in front of a sell out crowd, in a game that had a 6.5 point spread.
Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Wait, I won a week?
I won a week in the pickem?
I'm winning the pickem?
Is this the bearenstein bear universe or what the hell is going on
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
That's Tua.
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
WEEK 6: IT'S BEEN 0 DAYS SINCE A COACH HAS SAID A DUMB THING ABOUT NLI RIGHTS
Straight Up
#14 Iowa @ #19 Michigan (-3.5) - If this game was in Kinnick, I would say this is an easy Iowa win. Instead, the game is at the Big House, which will be filled with about 100,000 angsty Michigan fans who will spend the entire game wondering loudly if it may be time to move on from Jim Harbaugh. Some of them might even wander down to the sidelines and start passive-aggressively complimenting Kirk Ferentz to Harbaugh. "Oh, he's a fantastic coach who knows how to get to Indianapolis. He's well worth the money he's paid."
Tulane (-2.5) @ Army - Tulane had one of my favorite endings of the season two weeks ago, when they decided overtime was for cowards and threw downfield in the waning moments of a game against Houston, hitting a 53-yard strike to win the game. Army bounced back from their upset loss to Michigan with two convincing victories, and honestly I'm wondering how Tulane is favored here considering how much better Army has looked this year.
Air Force (-3.5) @ Navy - THE FIRST ROUND IN THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S TROPHY! Though, considering recent events, may be temporarily renamed to the Gigantic Criminal Pissbaby Trophy. Anyway, Navy did not look great in their loss to Memphis last week, while Air Force has a Pac-12 win on the season. It's hard to see either team wresting control of the Trophy away from Army, who has won it two years in a row and clearly looks like the best service academy team so far, but this will be an important first step on that journey.
Pittsburgh @ Duke (-4.5) - Delaware almost caught the Pitt Superweapon at the perfect time, as they were so busy beginning their recharging protocols that they almost forgot about the football game they were supposed to play. Now they get to play a Duke team that has looked very good in their non-Alabama games this year, including a 45-10 drubbing of Virginia Tech last week. Also I'm noticing that a lot of these teams have already had bye weeks so far and I'm wondering what I would have given up to not have to watch UCLA for a week so far.
Against the Spread
#21 Oklahoma State (-7.5) @ Texas Tech - I don't know what to make of THE Oklahoma State University so far this year? It seems like a standard late-Gundy period season so far, with a loss to Texas and a convincing win over Kansas State. They're still averaging over 40 points and 530 yards per game, so it's hard to say too much is going wrong I guess. Texas Tech, meanwhile, has looked very inept against good teams, which maybe says a lot about how the Kliff Kingsbury era ended than anything else.
Virginia Tech @ Miami (-10.5) - Technically one of these teams will win a football game!
#25 Michigan State @ #4 Ohio State (-21.5) - Honestly, Ohio State should probably be higher than #4, as new head coach Ryan Day took the innovative step of hiring an actual defensive coordinator instead of letting Greg Schiano do whatever he wants, which has paid dividends for the Buckeyes. Also, this seems like as good a time as any to note that Georgia decided to let an uber-talented black quarterback leave to stick with his less-talented white counterpart, which I'm sure won't come back to bite them in the ass at any point. Michigan State is also in this game, and I'm just going to ignore them like they ignored the countless victims of Larry Nassar.
Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (-7.5) - Ole Miss has been playing the part of Vietnam the past few weeks, losing to a bunch of communists before being engulfed by a wave of Crimson and death. Now a bunch of rich guys will come to town and try to take advantage of the situation. The only problem with this analogy is that Vanderbilt is bad at football, but again, you can get away with being bad at a lot of things if you have money.
California @ #13 Oregon (-15.5) - This game looked so much better before Cal up and lost to Arizona State, though it's hard to really hold that against them since their starting QB got hurt and the backup transferred to Cal from UCLA (and if you've watched UCLA this season, you start to realize how bad a QB might be if they can't win this starting job). Oregon, meanwhile, still has a shot at the CFP somehow! It helps that their neutral site last-minute loss to Auburn looks better and better by the week, and that they seem to be doing better (pay no attention to how good their opponents have been).
GAME OF THE CENTURY OF THE WEEK (Straight Up)
#7 Auburn (-2.5) @ #10 Florida - We like to have a lot of fun here at the Pick'em, but are we really going to sit here and pretend Florida is just as good as Auburn? Auburn flipped a switch in the second half of that Oregon game and has gone about wrecking teams ever since. They treated Mississippi State as if it was a SEC-SoCon Challenge game, which is crazy. Florida, meanwhile, has needed some prime Florida bullshit to get past Miami (bad team) and Kentucky (back to being a bad team). Like, are people just assuming Florida still has enough bullshit left in the tank to fuck over Auburn? They still have to ration some for either LSU or Georgia!
BaidolI will hold him offEscape while you canRegistered Userregular
As an observer, I always wondered if game selection was partially determined by who was ahead in the standings and forcing those people to pick with their home teams.
As an observer, I always wondered if game selection was partially determined by who was ahead in the standings and forcing those people to pick with their home teams.
Nah, it's basically what matchups are interesting/have a fun storyline or something. Like this week we got all the service academies, Iowa/Michigan right at the height of Michigan discontent, an Ohio State team that is so good you almost forget that Ohio State sucks, a battle between two Pac-12 frontrunners, and Auburn/Florida where basically everyone will be disappointed by the result.
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Owen needs to hurry home from daycare so he can make my picks.
Straight Up Iowa @ Michigan - It is a road game, but UM needs to do a little more than beating up Buttgers before I trust them against decent teams. Iowa also has a pretty good QB.
Tulane @ Army - I don't see any reason not to trust Army being decent this year.
Air Force @ Navy - All I know is my gut says maybe.gif
Pittsburgh @ Duke - Pitt needs at least 2 more games before they can be normal Pitt again.
Against the Spread Oklahoma State (-7.5) @ Texas Tech - I very much trust OK State team against average or bad teams.
Virginia Tech @ Miami (-10.5) - I don't like 10.5 but the alternative is Tech on the road so ???
Michigan State @ Ohio State (-21.5) -
This is going to be an absolute brutalizing. OSU is probably at worst the second best team in the country right now and they're at home for a night homecoming. This defense is good, but there isn't a defense in CFB right now that can slow down Fields & Dobbins.
Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (-7.5) - I'm not trusting Vandy to handle a road game like this, even if Mississippi is down. They're looking for a pick me up and will want to show out against a team they should paste.
California @ Oregon (-15.5) - I don't trust anybody to take down Cal by 16 dang points.
Game of the Week Auburn @ Florida - Riding the Auburn train is 100% going to burn me this week, but Florida is playing a backup and getting wild hair on fire wins. They could keep just winning goofy, but I rarely see Auburn get out-goofed. They just get pummeled, and I don't think Florida has that in them.
My picks mostly mirrored Randy's for the same reasons (I went with Oregon), but I don't feel good about any of them except Auburn. Auburn is going to smoke Florida.
Fleur de Alys on
Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
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ani_game_bumOptimistic, Rule-Breaking Nice GuyThe Final World/DestinationRegistered Userregular
Straight Up
#14 Iowa @ #19 Michigan (-3.5)
Tulane (-2.5) @ Army Air Force (-3.5) @ Navy
Pittsburgh @ Duke (-4.5)
Against the Spread
#21 Oklahoma State (-7.5) @ Texas Tech
Virginia Tech @ Miami (-10.5)
#25 Michigan State @ #4 Ohio State (-21.5)
Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (-7.5)
California @ #13 Oregon (-15.5)
Straight Up
Iowa @ Michigan
Tulane @ Army
Air Force @ Navy Pittsburgh @ Duke
Against the Spread Oklahoma State (-7.5) @ Texas Tech
Virginia Tech @ Miami (-10.5) - I don't really watch the ACC, but the Hokies lost last week to Duke(!) at home(!!) by 35(!!!), so I feel good laying the points Michigan State @ Ohio State (-21.5) - I think Sparty will turn this into just enough of a rockfight to make An OSU sweat a little
Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (-7.5) - pretty sure Ole Miss is going to let out a bunch of Cal- and Bama-related frustration in this game
California @ Oregon (-15.5) - I would have been really excited for this game if Garbers was healthy. As is? Ugh
Game of the Week Auburn @ Florida - This feels a little TOO obvious, which is making me nervous but whatever
Posts
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
I let my 3 year old pick and suddenly I've got 8 points.
pretty sure you've got 9 points. Get that kid a youtube channel
Yep, I even remember thinking to myself "oh hey CMU covered" and I guess I put the wrong thing in anyway. I'll post the revised leaderboards tomorrow evening.
@Qanamil
@Raijin Quickfoot
@CSStheGr8
@Zombie Hero
@Munkus Beaver
Because California Senate Bill 206 is no longer a bill.
It's California state law.
I disagree that the schools will try to fight this in the courts - for one, it doesn't change anything for them, and actually benefits them.
After the first quarter, Maryland never broke a 10% successful play rate. In the third quarter, they had a 0% rate. Penn State was, oddly enough, not very explosive that game. They just very, very consistently strangled the life out of Maryland after the first couple drives in the 1st quarter, and basically did whatever the fuck they wanted on offense for the entire game. 68% success rate is utterly insane.
For comparison, here is Ohio State utterly annihilating Miami Hydroxide last week with a "mere" 56% success rate:
Penn State made Maryland look like a middling MAC team, at night, at home in front of a sell out crowd, in a game that had a 6.5 point spread.
I won a week in the pickem?
I'm winning the pickem?
Is this the bearenstein bear universe or what the hell is going on
My best week so far; I'll take it!
Straight Up
#14 Iowa @ #19 Michigan (-3.5) - If this game was in Kinnick, I would say this is an easy Iowa win. Instead, the game is at the Big House, which will be filled with about 100,000 angsty Michigan fans who will spend the entire game wondering loudly if it may be time to move on from Jim Harbaugh. Some of them might even wander down to the sidelines and start passive-aggressively complimenting Kirk Ferentz to Harbaugh. "Oh, he's a fantastic coach who knows how to get to Indianapolis. He's well worth the money he's paid."
Tulane (-2.5) @ Army - Tulane had one of my favorite endings of the season two weeks ago, when they decided overtime was for cowards and threw downfield in the waning moments of a game against Houston, hitting a 53-yard strike to win the game. Army bounced back from their upset loss to Michigan with two convincing victories, and honestly I'm wondering how Tulane is favored here considering how much better Army has looked this year.
Air Force (-3.5) @ Navy - THE FIRST ROUND IN THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S TROPHY! Though, considering recent events, may be temporarily renamed to the Gigantic Criminal Pissbaby Trophy. Anyway, Navy did not look great in their loss to Memphis last week, while Air Force has a Pac-12 win on the season. It's hard to see either team wresting control of the Trophy away from Army, who has won it two years in a row and clearly looks like the best service academy team so far, but this will be an important first step on that journey.
Pittsburgh @ Duke (-4.5) - Delaware almost caught the Pitt Superweapon at the perfect time, as they were so busy beginning their recharging protocols that they almost forgot about the football game they were supposed to play. Now they get to play a Duke team that has looked very good in their non-Alabama games this year, including a 45-10 drubbing of Virginia Tech last week. Also I'm noticing that a lot of these teams have already had bye weeks so far and I'm wondering what I would have given up to not have to watch UCLA for a week so far.
Against the Spread
#21 Oklahoma State (-7.5) @ Texas Tech - I don't know what to make of THE Oklahoma State University so far this year? It seems like a standard late-Gundy period season so far, with a loss to Texas and a convincing win over Kansas State. They're still averaging over 40 points and 530 yards per game, so it's hard to say too much is going wrong I guess. Texas Tech, meanwhile, has looked very inept against good teams, which maybe says a lot about how the Kliff Kingsbury era ended than anything else.
Virginia Tech @ Miami (-10.5) - Technically one of these teams will win a football game!
#25 Michigan State @ #4 Ohio State (-21.5) - Honestly, Ohio State should probably be higher than #4, as new head coach Ryan Day took the innovative step of hiring an actual defensive coordinator instead of letting Greg Schiano do whatever he wants, which has paid dividends for the Buckeyes. Also, this seems like as good a time as any to note that Georgia decided to let an uber-talented black quarterback leave to stick with his less-talented white counterpart, which I'm sure won't come back to bite them in the ass at any point. Michigan State is also in this game, and I'm just going to ignore them like they ignored the countless victims of Larry Nassar.
Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (-7.5) - Ole Miss has been playing the part of Vietnam the past few weeks, losing to a bunch of communists before being engulfed by a wave of Crimson and death. Now a bunch of rich guys will come to town and try to take advantage of the situation. The only problem with this analogy is that Vanderbilt is bad at football, but again, you can get away with being bad at a lot of things if you have money.
California @ #13 Oregon (-15.5) - This game looked so much better before Cal up and lost to Arizona State, though it's hard to really hold that against them since their starting QB got hurt and the backup transferred to Cal from UCLA (and if you've watched UCLA this season, you start to realize how bad a QB might be if they can't win this starting job). Oregon, meanwhile, still has a shot at the CFP somehow! It helps that their neutral site last-minute loss to Auburn looks better and better by the week, and that they seem to be doing better (pay no attention to how good their opponents have been).
GAME OF THE CENTURY OF THE WEEK (Straight Up)
#7 Auburn (-2.5) @ #10 Florida - We like to have a lot of fun here at the Pick'em, but are we really going to sit here and pretend Florida is just as good as Auburn? Auburn flipped a switch in the second half of that Oregon game and has gone about wrecking teams ever since. They treated Mississippi State as if it was a SEC-SoCon Challenge game, which is crazy. Florida, meanwhile, has needed some prime Florida bullshit to get past Miami (bad team) and Kentucky (back to being a bad team). Like, are people just assuming Florida still has enough bullshit left in the tank to fuck over Auburn? They still have to ration some for either LSU or Georgia!
Go here to enter your choices: https://forms.gle/bKd2oUhqunk9AbvL7
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
But, I'm giving them.
Meanwhile, I need to cover more 8pt spreads to move up in ranks.
Nah, it's basically what matchups are interesting/have a fun storyline or something. Like this week we got all the service academies, Iowa/Michigan right at the height of Michigan discontent, an Ohio State team that is so good you almost forget that Ohio State sucks, a battle between two Pac-12 frontrunners, and Auburn/Florida where basically everyone will be disappointed by the result.
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
They absolutely can, but MSU has that nasty habit of summoning atrocious weather and drawing you into an ugly game.
Iowa @ Michigan - It is a road game, but UM needs to do a little more than beating up Buttgers before I trust them against decent teams. Iowa also has a pretty good QB.
Tulane @ Army - I don't see any reason not to trust Army being decent this year.
Air Force @ Navy - All I know is my gut says maybe.gif
Pittsburgh @ Duke - Pitt needs at least 2 more games before they can be normal Pitt again.
Against the Spread
Oklahoma State (-7.5) @ Texas Tech - I very much trust OK State team against average or bad teams.
Virginia Tech @ Miami (-10.5) - I don't like 10.5 but the alternative is Tech on the road so ???
Michigan State @ Ohio State (-21.5) -
This is going to be an absolute brutalizing. OSU is probably at worst the second best team in the country right now and they're at home for a night homecoming. This defense is good, but there isn't a defense in CFB right now that can slow down Fields & Dobbins.
Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (-7.5) - I'm not trusting Vandy to handle a road game like this, even if Mississippi is down. They're looking for a pick me up and will want to show out against a team they should paste.
California @ Oregon (-15.5) - I don't trust anybody to take down Cal by 16 dang points.
Game of the Week
Auburn @ Florida - Riding the Auburn train is 100% going to burn me this week, but Florida is playing a backup and getting wild hair on fire wins. They could keep just winning goofy, but I rarely see Auburn get out-goofed. They just get pummeled, and I don't think Florida has that in them.
Lots of "obvious" games that feel like traps.
My picks mostly mirrored Randy's for the same reasons (I went with Oregon), but I don't feel good about any of them except Auburn. Auburn is going to smoke Florida.
#14 Iowa @ #19 Michigan (-3.5)
Tulane (-2.5) @ Army
Air Force (-3.5) @ Navy
Pittsburgh @ Duke (-4.5)
Against the Spread
#21 Oklahoma State (-7.5) @ Texas Tech
Virginia Tech @ Miami (-10.5)
#25 Michigan State @ #4 Ohio State (-21.5)
Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (-7.5)
California @ #13 Oregon (-15.5)
GotCotW (Straight)
#7 Auburn (-2.5) @ #10 Florida
Iowa @ Michigan
Tulane @ Army
Air Force @ Navy
Pittsburgh @ Duke
Against the Spread
Oklahoma State (-7.5) @ Texas Tech
Virginia Tech @ Miami (-10.5) - I don't really watch the ACC, but the Hokies lost last week to Duke(!) at home(!!) by 35(!!!), so I feel good laying the points
Michigan State @ Ohio State (-21.5) - I think Sparty will turn this into just enough of a rockfight to make An OSU sweat a little
Vanderbilt @ Mississippi (-7.5) - pretty sure Ole Miss is going to let out a bunch of Cal- and Bama-related frustration in this game
California @ Oregon (-15.5) - I would have been really excited for this game if Garbers was healthy. As is? Ugh
Game of the Week
Auburn @ Florida - This feels a little TOO obvious, which is making me nervous but whatever
The LB coach and the cornerbacks coach will take over his duties in the interim until a replacement can be found.
https://www.cougcenter.com/2019/10/4/20899571/tracy-claeys-resign-wsu-defensive-coordinator-wsu-defense-ucla-bruins-utah-utes
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
There goes our season
Edit: maybe spoke too soon?
Edit 2: nope!
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126