Here we go with another year of Pick It and Stick It! This time I decided to go easy on people and not do confidence points throughout the year. It was just too much beef to handle week in and week out. So I cut that fat off and leaned it down to a tasty point spread straight up pick league. You can drop two weeks so if want to join up please do so at:
Alrighty, football is here and you know what that means: Barspotting! For those of you not familiar with how Barspotting works, I basically tool around town and find places to watch college football then rate whether it’s worth it to check it out yourself. This year will be different because I’m in a whole new town. So I get to find a whole bunch of new bars review and also get the added benefit of finding my way around town. The first ever Austin edition of Barspotting will feature Doc’s Backyard in Sunset Valley, well, because they are real close to me. Not only that but they have a supposedly real tasty Chicken Fried Avacado. Let’s check out Saturday’s lineup. Continue reading Barspotting: Kicking Off A New Town of Barspotting at Doc’s Backyard→
Here we are in the middle of bowl season. I got some good gear for Xmas and I hope you got some too. The bowl action was light in the last week, but we are now ramping up into the meat of the schedule. Most of the Big 12 schools will be playing this week and there will be ample action in between. Meanwhile, I Bowl Pick It and Stick It standings are out are some peeps jumping out of the gate quick. Let’s look at that first:
The BCS Standings are out and it’s time to start wiping away the competition. Oklahoma and Missouri will lock horns tomorrow to find out who will be worthy from the Big 12. We also have LSU battling Auburn for SEC worthiness. The pretenders are wiping away and it’s all downhill for the road to the BCS Championship Game. The pretenders will also start wiping away in our Pick It and Stick It challenge. Let’s take a look at what’s on the windshield for this week.
So I just found out today that I have at least 2 more road trips to go this year for the KCCGD crew. This year has been by far the most travelled and will be the most Stadiumspotted. It’s a nice change of pace from the last couple of years as we have begun to run out of new and cool places to Barspot. One of the new road trips just happens to be tomorrow night. Tune in tomorrow to find out here, but you won’t have to think hard if you want to guess. In the meantime, let’s catch up to the news items in this week’s Crib Sheet:
Coach Mark Dantonio of Michigan State had his health issues and that apparently inspired a fan to postpone surgery to watch the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Trophy last Saturday. Major Hester put off getting a pacemaker installed to watch the battle. Okay, that’s hardcore. I would pick life over college football, but it would be close.
Looks like the move to the Big 10 will support a stadium expansion for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The newly approved plan will cost about $56 million and put the capacity at around 90,000 seats. How much do you want to bet that they will try to build Memorial Stadium up to be bigger than the Big House?
Meanwhile, the Rose Bowl has expansion plans of its own. The $152 million expansion will keep the lease going with the bowl through 2043. They have an upcoming BCS National Championship Game so they need to spruce things up a bit.
But while the two stadiums have expansion competition going, the locker room just got better for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Ndamukong Suh donated about $2 million and as part of that, the players get iPads installed in the locker room. Man they need to put that in the toilet, not the locker. You’re not going to get much use out in the open with those things.
Baylor receivers Willie Jefferson and Josh Gordon got busted with pot after they were found passed out in a Taco Bell drive through. The whole 4th meal thingy from the Bell targets potheads anyway so it was a no brainer that these guys were found with weed. They’ll more than likely miss a couple of games.
Neither of those two were involved last week in one of the shortest kick returns in history. Texas Tech hit an onside and it didn’t go 10 yards. Terrance Ganaway nabbed it and ran 38 yards for a touchdown. It wasn’t the shortest, but it was awesome to see the special teams fail on the Red Raiders.
This bit of news is confusing so bear with me on this. A former agent said an agent friend of his, Gary Wichard, used ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Jr. to recruit college players. Kiper’s released statement says he talked to players by going through agents. I’m having a hard time finding where the fault is. I think it’s the fact that agents are pushing players to Kiper and his Big Board. But I don’t know it’s players after college or during. This does smell fishy.
College football is cyclical. Power programs come and go and the traditional ones always swing around back into power. Much like the seasons, power programs have summers and winters. For Penn State’s winters, that also includes the usual cries for Joe Paterno to retire. This guy is going to die on the field, in anything to fulfill my prediction. He’s not going to retire and Penn State will be good in a couple of years.
Some teams are on their way up and some are falling down. Things usually tend to even out right before conference play starts. Most underrated teams start getting talk and the overrated teams get even more. When conference play hits, you have to throw out the numbers because of rivalry and tradition. That said, this week’s Pick It and Stick It takes a look at the teams from all points including the Big 12. Let’s hope that everyone’s picks doesn’t fall down as well.
So let’s take a look at those falling down. The big one from last week was Iowa. They went to Arizona and lost. Did you know that Iowa has not won a game west of the Central Time Zone since 1986? Crazy stuff. They should still be tough though. They get to take out their aggressions against Ball State.
Virginia Tech is another team that fell down. You don’t see them this week on picks. That’s because they lost their first game against Boise State and another against FCS opponent James Madison. Yeah, the Hokies lost to a President. So Frank Beamer is way down and he may actually he on his way out after this year. He’s had a long long run there in Blacksburg.
The weird falls are the ones for schools that win and still lose ground. Texas is a great example. They win all of their games but do not look that impressive. Because of that they fall to 7. Now, UCLA is coming to Austin and if they look real good they may climb back up. Chances are, though, that any jump back into BCS fray will come from an undefeated conference season. Yes, the Big 12 is tough. Don’t listen to anyone else.
Alrighty Week 2 of college football happened and we still don’t know what happened. Yup, there were some major blowouts, but not from the teams we expected. The FCS schools reared its ugly head and knocked out some schools (including at top 25 team). So how would that affect the pick set? Welp, just about as a bad as Kansas losing to North Dakota State or Virginia Tech losing the James Madison (the school, not the president). Thankfully, we have some rules set up to account for bad weeks. Click on through to find out.
Back again with another week of picks. You’d think we all would learn our lesson about off bets but low and behold Kansas had to come out of the gate in week one and prove us wrong. So be careful when you see the off bets this week as we may have another team fall asleep at the well. Let’s be clear, the Jayhawks fell asleep at the wheel. They will get better. This is college. Not all of the kids act like pros and get up for every game. So don’t be so sure about teams coming into this week. Every game counts, but kids will forget that.
So let’s start with the off bets. Virginia Tech will come off a tough loss at home with James Madison. Missouri will get a breather against McNeese State at home. TCU looks to keep the train rolling against Tennesse Tech. Finally, we have Kansas State hosting the Missouri State Bearcats. Okay, since Kansas was in the Big 12, I would say that Missouri and Kansas State has the best chance to lose this week. The best chance amongst off bets that is.
The rest of the games see a great chunk happening around 2:30. Michigan and Notre Dame relive the past again. Ohio State relives a title game with Miami of Florida. Same thing goes for Oklahoma and Florida State. The Cy-Hawk Trophy is up for grabs when Iowa takes on Iowa State. One thing is for sure, these games will not have the bets off. Make your picks people.
There’s just so much to chew on from the first week of college football, we’ll just make the intro real quick. On to the Crib Sheet:
Freshly on its own, BYU signed a deal with ESPN and Notre Dame to be shown exclusively and play, respectively. They are stepping out fresh in their independence but we don’t think they’ll get as strong as their Irish counterparts.
The Big 10 now has divisions, so we’ll see how balanced they are in the next couple of years. The big news is breaking up Michigan and Ohio State. Since they will be the ‘yearly rival’, there’s a big chance that they could play each other again in the Big 10 Championship Game.
The face behind the mask of the mascot for Penn State, notched an MIP for underage drinking. Clint Gyory got busted and now he’s suspended from his mascot duties. It just goes to show that football players aren’t the other ones who have to watch what they do in their free time.
In what’s become the major theme to begin the season, another player will miss games for accepting sports agent gifts. This time it’s Alabama’s Marcell Dareus. They should suspend him for key games. Doing this at the beginning of the year means they miss the cakewalk part of the schedule.
North Carolina was one play away from possibly winning the game against LSU last Saturday. What’s more than amazing is that they did it with a ton of suspended players. About half of the starters didn’t play due to NCAA investigations. We’re not sure if it shows how tough the Tar Heels could be or how weak LSU looks.
TCU coach Gary Patterson gave credit to ESPN’s Lee Corso for inspiring the Horned Frogs to a come from behind win against Oregon State last Saturday. Patterson used the right amount of moto-mojo to get his team over the tough Beavers.
After the embarrassing loss to North Dakota State, Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins retired Tuesday. He was going to retire next year, but the school (and the boosters) decided to cough up the money to get him out of there sooner. We don’t know who the replacement AD, not interim, will be and now we don’t know who the starting quarterback will be. Man basketball season can’t come any faster for the Jayhawks.
Apparently Reggie Bush may be stripped of his Heisman. I guess that’s what happens when it’s discovered that you might have been ineligible during your run in college. He would be the first. How many other Heisman winners may have been ineligible? Should we investigate everyone and find out?
ESPN kicked off ESPN3D last year during the BCS Championship Game and now they have an updated schedule that started with the Boise State and Virginia Tech game. So far so good, according to the review. We’re anxious to get our eyes on it when it becomes mainstream about 20 years from now.
Speaking of the Broncos, they jumped to #3 in both polls. Looks like if they can keep up the blowouts, they will be a contender. Meanwhile, David Ubben runs down the votes for the Big 12 teams. It’s pretty much the big 3 in the top 25 (Texas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma) then about 5 teams about a stone’s throw from the 25 threshold. If they can keep it up, we may see more Big 12 teams up there.
Okay here’s the first pick it list of the year and it’s a doozy. If you remember from last year, a number of us had to eat some missed weeks and totally blew our picks. So, in response to that, anyone can miss can have their lowest 2 scores knocked off. Worried about competition? Well, we have added the Top 25 AND the Big 12 into the mix to make sure our confidence points are all over. Not only do you have to pick against the spread, but now you have to make sure your confidence counts. With that said, let’s check out the first week of picks.
We are back again going out to the best of what Kansas City sports bars has to offer in terms of college football. Like the storied tradition of college football, we have a tradition of going back to the best bar of last year to start out this season for KC College Gameday. We had no way of knowing back at the beginning of last September that Johnny’s in the Power & Light would be the best but here we are planning the first Barspot of the year down there. With every television fit into every nook and cranny as well as the crazy touch table poker game, Johnny’s hit the spot on all things needed for a great sport viewing experience. So come back out with us Saturday as we head back out there to enjoy Johnny’s and scoff at that ridiculous KC College Live thingy going on in the outdoor area.
Alrighty, I’m about halfway through my scotch and water, I blasted out another Crib Sheet, and I’m jacked up for some football tomorrow night. It’s prediction time! The offseason sucked. Period. Being in Big 12 land was not easy on this college football lovin’ Yeti and especially not easy on Kansas City. We weathered the storm and now we are here ready for some pigskin play. What will we see in this year’s volume of football? Let’s take a look in our crystal ball shaped glass full of scotch and water.
Mike Leach will lose his CBS announcing job for making Gus Johnson stand in the bathroom with no light.
Mark Ingram will not be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, thanks to the fresh knee injury.
The Oregon Ducks will win the Pac 10, both for best dressed and actual gold.
Colorado loses a bunch of games and Dan Hawkins stays on because the school is too broke to fire him out of his contract.
Caoch Brian Kelly will talk NBC into going into commerical breaks for opposing teams’ offensive drives only. Oh and the Fighting Irish will make a bowl.
Missouri will win the North, only because Nebraska’s ego and farewell tour will fall flat.
Daniel Thomas will be a Heisman finalist, thanks to a solid offensive line and the fact that he will get his yards with the whole defense keying on him. Thanks, Carson Coffman.
Boise State will go undefeated and not make the dance. People are saying its the weak schedule, but it will be because of an undefeated team in the Big 10 and one other conference. Look for Orrin Hatch to have an aneurism over this one.
This will be Lee Corso’s last season for ESPN College GameDay. It’s been a hell of a ride, Lee, just please don’t put on the Grim Reaper’s head when it’s your time to go.
This will be the fastest season ever for the Kansas Jayhawks. By fast, we mean the fans will be ready for basketball season about 2 games in. Turner Gill’s rebuilding starts this year, he’s got at least 3 before some magic happens.
Iowa State will be in the bottom of the league again, but they will get an upset some big team because of a massive rain storm. Hey their practice field flooded over the summer, they should be ready.
Texas just missed the mark in the Big 12 South. Not because of the competition, but for the cliffhanger they want to leave for next season’s Longhorns Network debut. Stay Tuned! Same horn time! Same horn channel!
Big Game Bob goes to a BCS game but will not be game as the Sooners bob and weave from some other big team beaming game time bashings. Probably against Virginia Tech and Frank BEAMER.
The Big East has a seasson. No one really cares.
RichRod makes a valiant effort and gets the Wolverines into a bowl game. It will be the weakest one from the Big 10 and it will be enough to get him fired. He will then go on and make real estate deals with everyone in the Ann Arbor region.
USC doesn’t get close to a Pac 10 championship and Lane Kiffin leaves after just one season. The Kiffin world tour moves on!
Florida misses Tim Tebow and will miss being in the running for the SEC. Urban Meyer gets sick and dies from the piss poor play on the field.
Kansas City sports bars will stay the same this year. No one will get 3D TVs because the mixture of 3D and beer will make everyone puke. Some new bars will crop up and the KCCGD crew will eventually puke in those anyway.
We’re going back to our 2008 prediction about Joe Paterno dieing on the field. Now that Bobby Bowden is out, this one should get much easier. Or will he be in the booth this year?
Okay, we called the BCS National Championship game two years ago with Florida and Oklahoma, we were halfway right with Texas last year in the big game. What will happen this year? Well, the trend says we will get it all wrong so there’s nothing to lose. I’m thinking the offseason hype for the Big 10 will lead a team to a title contention. Since the only team that’s worth a damn up there is Ohio State, then that’s our pick. Chances are the SEC will be mega tough again this year and barring any late push by an Oregon or a Big 12 team, we are going the easy route and picking SEC. Whose turn is it? Let’s go LSU. Why not. Can you say 2007 rematch?
Media days are over and camp is about to start. College football is in the air! We aren’t there yet but we have the last top 5 mascots we haven’t covered in Mascot Monday from Phil Steele’s Preseason Top 40 list. This week, we have #13 Virginia Tech and it’s lovable little Hokie Bird. We’re going to answer just what the heck is a Hokie as why and turkey is the mascot for a college sports team. If we ever had this feature run through the football season, Hokiebird’s feature would absolutely fall before Thanksgiving. It’s not November and the Hokies are projected to be tough so let’s see what the bird has to offer.
We laid the foundation with our last 3 post for the Big 10 expansion. Now let’s talk about how other conferences are reacting. Some of them could be massively depleted whereas others are moving to counteract the possible Big 10 growth. Every major BCS conference has about two cents to toss in and little brother mid major conferences are chirping in as well. It’s time for the conferences to lay down their tiles and see just how much they could change.
The holidays are over and we have just 4 games left to go on the Bowl Pick It and Stick It. We here at the KCCGD all feel about 10 pounds heavier after chugging through the holiday foods and drinks. So while we go map out a plan to lose the flab, check out the latest updates. Please note: there are some games left off from the results that we are saving for the last update. The final numbers will be a little off. That said, here’s the update:
