Pick 'Em - Week One

[AKKOLADE]

Sept. 9
Penn State @ Notre Dame - 3:30 p.m.
Colorado State vs Colorado - 5 p.m.
Ohio State @ Texas - 8 p.m.
Texas Tech @ UTEP - 9 p.m.

Sept. 10
Atlanta Falcons @ Carolina Panthers - 1 p.m.
Baltimore Ravens @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 1 p.m.
Dallas Cowboys @ Jacksonville Jaguars - 4:15 p.m.
Chicago Bears @ Green Bay Packers - 4:15 p.m.
Indianapolis Colts @ New York Giants - 8:15 p.m.

Sept. 11
Minnesota Vikings @ Washington Redskins - 7 p.m.

Edit: Results:

Notre Dame 41, Penn State 17
Colorado State 14, Colorado 10
Ohio State 24, Texas 7
Texas Tech 38, UTEP 35
Atlanta Falcons 20, Carolina Panthers 6
Baltimore Ravens 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
Jacksonville Jaguars 24, Dallas Cowboys 17
Chicago Bears 26, Green Bay Packers 0
Indianapolis Colts 26, New York Giants 21

[Golden Tiger 86]

10. CSU over Colorado
9. Baltimore over Tampa Bay
8. Chicago over Green Bay
7. TTU over UTEP
6. Carolina over Atlanta
5. Minnesota over Washington
4. Notre Dame over Penn State
3. OSU over Texas
2. Dallas over Jacksonville
1. Indianapolis over NY Giants

[dtaylor4]

10: Texas Tech
9: CO State
8: Ohio State
7: Indianapolis
6: Notre Dame
5: Chicago
4: Atlanta
3: Tampa Bay
2: Jacksonville
1: Minnesota

[Byko]

10. Texas Tech over UTEP
9. Chicago Bears over Green Bay Packers
8. Jacksonville Jaguars over Dallas Cowboys
7. Carolina Panthers over Atlanta Falcons
6. Colorado State over Colorado
5. Notre Dame over Penn State
4. Baltimore Ravens over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
3. Texas over Ohio State
2. New York Giants over Indianapolis Colts
1. Washington Redskins over Minnesota Vikings

[Irreligion in Bangladesh]

I didn't play the prelude - that'll be my "bye" week.

10: Chicago
9: Jacksonville
8: Notre Dame
7: Minnesota
6: Texas Tech
5: Ohio State
4: Carolina
3: Indianapolis
2: Colorado State
1: Baltimore

[Gonzagapuma1]

10) Bears
9) CSU
8) Redskins
7) Texas Tech
6) Notre Dame
5) Panthers
4) Colts
3) Bucs
2) Cowgirls
1) The Ohio State University

[swwFCqb]

BTW leftsaidfred, in case you didn't get my email, I think that my score for the Pick 'Em prelude should be 39 rather than 31. Could you please check into it. Thank you.

Now for my picks...

10) Texas Tech
9) Baltimore Ravens
8) Colorado State
7) Carolina Panthers
6) Chicago Bears
5) Indianapolis Colts
4) Washington Redskins
3) Dallas Cowboys
2) Penn State
1) Well, I can't go against my favorite team, and since it's worth only 1 point, what the hell. I'll pick the Ohio State Buckeyes to beat Texas

P.S. I resent that "Cowgirls" remark.

[AKKOLADE]

BTW leftsaidfred, in case you didn't get my email, I think that my score for the Pick 'Em prelude should be 39 rather than 31. Could you please check into it. Thank you.

Yeah, I got it. I should have stated those scores were unofficial or such because I had yet to use Excel and carefully review and enter the scores. I will do this in the next 48 hours.

[zwtipp]

10. Ohio State @ Texas
9. Minnesota Vikings @ Washington Redskins
8. Texas Tech @ UTEP
7. Atlanta Falcons @ Carolina Panthers
6. Baltimore Ravens @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
5. Dallas Cowboys @ Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Chicago Bears @ Green Bay Packers
3. Indianapolis Colts @ New York Giants
2. Colorado State vs Colorado
1. Penn State @ Notre Dame

[Deckard Cain]

Since I missed the prelude, I'll use that as my "drop" score.

10. Carolina
9. UTEP
8. Notre Dame
7. Indianapolis
6. Chicago
5. Ohio State
4. Tampa Bay
3. Dallas
2. Minnesota
1. Colorado

[ValenciaQBowl]

10. Texas Tech
9. Tampa Bay
8. Colorado St.
7. Carolina
6. Jacksonville
5. Indianapolis
4. Washington
3. Chicago
2. Texas
1. Penn St.

Tough week, dude. Why no Troy at FSU?

[NotjustoldWASPs]

10: CSU over CO
9: Chicago over GB
8: Indianapolis of NYG
7: TT over UTEP
6: Carolina over Atlanta
5: ND over PSU
4: Tampa over Baltimore
3: Texas over OSU
2: Jacksonville over Dallas
1: Washington over Minnesota

[vig180]

10. Texas Tech def. UTEP
9. Colorado State def. Colorado
8. Bears def. Packers
7. Notre Dame def. Penn State
6. Buccaneers def. Ravens
5. Colts def. Giants
4. Panthers def. Falcons
3. Jaguars def. Cowboys
2. Vikings def. Redskins
1. Ohio State def. Texas

[bigtrain]

10. Washington over Minnesota
9. Baltimore over Tampa Bay
8. CSU over Colorado
7. TT over UTEP
6. Carolina over Atlanta
5. Chicago over Green Bay
4. Notre Dame over Penn State
3. OSU over Texas
2. Dallas over Jacksonville
1. Indianapolis over NY Giants

[DH TTHS]

10. Ohio State

[Red-necked Phalarope]

10) Notre Dame
9) Colorado State
8) Chicago
7) Indianapolis
6) Texas Tech
5) Carolina
4) Ohio State
3) Baltimore
2) Minnesota
1) Jacksonville

[Steve Kaplan]

10. Texas Tech over UTEP
9. Notre Dame over Penn State
8. Colorado State over Colorado
7. Washington over Minnesota
6. Carolina over Atlanta
5. Tampa Bay over Baltimore
4. Chicago over Green Bay
3. Jacksonville over Dallas
2. Texas over Ohio State
1. Giants over Indianapolis

[Ethnic history of the Vilnius region]

1. Notre Dame
2. Colorado
3. Texas
4. Texas Tech
5. Carolina Panthers
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. Jacksonville Jaguars
8. Chicago Bears
9. Indianapolis Colts
10. Washington Redskins

[Maxwell Sniffingwell]

10) Indianapolis Colts
9) Chicago Bears
8) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7) Ohio State
6) Penn State
5) Carolina Panthers
4) Minnesota Vikings
3) Dallas Cowboys
2) Colorado
1) UTEP

[AKKOLADE]

10 Colorado St
9 Notre Dame
8 Chicago Bears
7 Carolina Panthers
6 UTEP
5 Minnesota Vikings
4 Jacksonville Jaguars
3 Texas
2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1 Indianapolis Colts

[ASimPerson]

10. Texas Tech
9. Colorado St.
8. Panthers
7. Colts
6. Bears
5. Notre Dame
4. Buccaneers
3. Cowboys
2. Ohio State
1. Redskins

[AKKOLADE]

Current, unofficial standings of week one lie below. Don't be shocked if I screwed something up; I am highly tired and really need to go to sleep. So here you go!

DaGeneral 33
KilroyWasHere 29
vig180 27
Steve Kaplan 27
ASimPerson 26
Notjustolddeadwhiteguys 25
SABU~! 24
Gonzagapuma1 23
bigtrain 22
styxman 21
Byko 21
leftsaidfred 19
swwFCqb 19
ValenciaQBowl 18
Deckard Cain 13
zwtipp 11
DH TTHS 10
cornfused 9
The Shock Master 8

[AKKOLADE]

Barring a scoring error on my part, DaGeneral has wrapped this week up with a minimum score of 51 points. Misfiring only with his prediction of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has claimed the Week One title regardless of Monday Night Football's results.

Current standings:

DaGeneral 51
KilroyWasHere 48
styxman 44
Notjustolddeadwhiteguys 44
vig180 43
Byko 42
Golden Tiger 86 42
swwFCqb 39
ASimPerson 39
The Shock Master 38
Gonzagapuma1 37
bigtrain 37
Steve Kaplan 34
ValenciaQBowl 32
leftsaidfred 32
cornfused 28
Deckard Cain 26
zwtipp 14
DH TTHS 10

[Tegan]

10) Indianapolis Colts
9) Chicago Bears
8) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7) Ohio State
6) Penn State

You picked PSU over Notre Dame! Are you posessed by the ghost of a bolshevik communist!!

[Maxwell Sniffingwell]

Hey, I like Morelli this year.

And I'm not good enough at this to win if all the favorites win... so I pick a few upsets.

Watching the game, I was as Irish as anyone for 3 hours.

[Zip Zap Rap Pants]

10) Indianapolis Colts
9) Chicago Bears
8) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7) Ohio State
6) Penn State

You picked PSU over Notre Dame! Are you posessed by the ghost of a bolshevik communist!!

Perhaps. For me, I predicted PSU would win too, but it was partially wishful thinking. Before last year I didn't have anything against Notre Dame, but after their hella easy schedule last year where they almost lost to Stanford, and their predictably embarassing loss to OSU, and everyone and their brother on ESPN riding their dick until bowl season came, I've now felt that they're overrated. Notice how they've whittled away their hard games over the years. No more Miami, FSU, Washington State (well ok they're only good half the time), or BC. BC would have owned them last year, dispelling any myths about Notre Dame "deserving" a BCS bid. This year they added the respectable opponents Georgia Tech and PSU, but now they're playing all 3 service academies and UNC. They'll probably get into a BCS game and get their millions again this year after a 11-1 season (loss to USC). Mission Accomplished.

[AKKOLADE]

yamsyamsyams

I am not a Notre Dame fan, but your argument is super terrible. Their '05 schedule was, in order: at Pittsburgh, at Michigan, home vs Michigan State, at Washington, at Purdue, home vs USC, home vs BYU, home vs Tennessee, home vs Navy, home vs Syracuse, at Stanford.

Beyond Syracuse and Washington, there were no real bad teams on this schedule. Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Purdue were also slumping. That being said, USC was great, BYU was underrated, Navy was pretty good, Michigan State was solid and Stanford was on a serious hot streak after having a terrible start to the season. And even their bad teams were "name" teams that were thought to be better than they really were.

This year? They play Georgia Tech, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Stanford, UCLA, Navy, UNC, Air Force, Army and USC. There are five teams with top 25 talent there (GaTech, PSU, UM, UCLA and USC) and another five that could qualify for a bowl (MSU, Purdue, Stanford, Navy, Air Force). The only bad teams are Army and UNC.

You can blast Notre Dame for a lot of things. A weak schedule is not amongst them.

PS Boston College would not have owned them last year. BC was about as good as Michigan, and ND handle Michigan early on.

[Byko]

This year? They play Georgia Tech, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Stanford, UCLA, Navy, UNC, Air Force, Army and USC. There are five teams with top 25 talent there (GaTech, PSU, UM, UCLA and USC) and another five that could qualify for a bowl (MSU, Purdue, Stanford, Navy, Air Force). The only bad teams are Army and UNC.

I think mostly, you're right. I'm not sure I'd put Georgia Tech in there with top 25 talent, but they will definitely go to a bowl game. Likewise, I'm thinking Penn State is overrated this year because of their lack of a quarterback--maybe they'll be able to slip into something like the Motor City Bowl.

Michigan State is, right now, seriously underrated. Purdue is looking terrible again (if you need OT to beat a weaker Miami (OH) team and are leading woeful I-AA Indiana State, who hasn't won a game in almost two years, by only 5 going into the 4th quarter, you're in serious trouble). Navy will probably go to a bowl, but part of that is their weaker schedule, and the fact that they nearly lost to I-AA UMass doesn't impress me. Air Force--now that could be kind of interesting.

As for Stanford, are you kidding me? At most, they'll win 3 games in the Pac-10, and 1 (over Washington) is a lot more likely.

Notre Dame's schedule is weaker than a lot of people probably think, especially in large part once they get past September because Michigan and @Michigan State will not be easy games for them. I think they drop at least one of those two. I figure they'll drop @USC and could lose to UCLA too. I'd like to throw Air Force in there, but I think the only reason they were so close against Tennessee is because the Vols, once again, are overrated.

[AKKOLADE]

I think mostly, you're right. I'm not sure I'd put Georgia Tech in there with top 25 talent, but they will definitely go to a bowl game. Likewise, I'm thinking Penn State is overrated this year because of their lack of a quarterback--maybe they'll be able to slip into something like the Motor City Bowl.

Michigan State is, right now, seriously underrated. Purdue is looking terrible again (if you need OT to beat a weaker Miami (OH) team and are leading woeful I-AA Indiana State, who hasn't won a game in almost two years, by only 5 going into the 4th quarter, you're in serious trouble). Navy will probably go to a bowl, but part of that is their weaker schedule, and the fact that they nearly lost to I-AA UMass doesn't impress me. Air Force--now that could be kind of interesting.

As for Stanford, are you kidding me? At most, they'll win 3 games in the Pac-10, and 1 (over Washington) is a lot more likely.

Notre Dame's schedule is weaker than a lot of people probably think, especially in large part once they get past September because Michigan and @Michigan State will not be easy games for them. I think they drop at least one of those two. I figure they'll drop @USC and could lose to UCLA too. I'd like to throw Air Force in there, but I think the only reason they were so close against Tennessee is because the Vols, once again, are overrated.

With regards to Purdue and Stanford: Purdue doesn't have a serious challenge for another month, when they play ND. They can keep screwing around with bad teams for another month until they figure stuff out. Stanford, I think, has a shot at going 6-6. That's not great, but after last year that's a helluva improvement. They could end up beating Navy, Washington State, Arizona, Washington and Oregon State. After that, they just need to get lucky once against, say, Arizona State or California.

Then again, they lost to San Jose State, so lets just forget about it. I do like Purdue though.

[Zip Zap Rap Pants]

Beyond Syracuse and Washington, there were no real bad teams on this schedule... Navy was pretty good

wow, you're beyond where the squirrels go on that limb

The only other thing I have to say is, can we please stop assuming a team is good solely because they have a respectable record? We all know that Navy, for instance, is independent and therefore can choose its schedule, picking cupcake teams or ones which can't defend against their option run very well.

[AKKOLADE]

The only other thing I have to say is, can we please stop assuming a team is good solely because they have a respectable record?

There's a difference between assuming they are as good as their record and that their record is misleading, but they are still a decent team. Navy will not contend for a national championship, nor will it contend for any of the major conferences' championships. However, they are still a decent team that's better than you say they are. In conclusion: Navy - not great, but not terrible.

[Djibouti]

I agree with leftsaidfred. Though Navy won't win the national championship or any major conference championship in this age of big sponsorships and BCS-leagues running everything, put them on the field with almost any team and they can compete. Keep in mind that they also have size and height requirements at the Naval Academy that inhibit their football team when they go against tall wide receivers and 300+-lb linemen. However, they have the fight more than many other programs. They just need to resolve their QB situation before ND.

[Byko]

They just need to resolve their QB situation before ND.

Nah, not really, at least not with Paul Johnson as head coach. He basically had a runningback as a QB at Georgia Southern and set his offense up so that any one of about 5 different guys on any play could take a handoff. About 5-6 times a game, the QB would actually throw the ball just to mix things up. Against Notre Dame, that can work fine since the Irish can't defend against the run.

Sound like the offense used in the past by a certain midwestern school?