Big Ten Focus #3: Minnesota

 How about we start with a surprising piece of Big Ten tribia?  What school has the most conference titles, combined between shared and outright, aside from Ohio State and Michigan?  The Minnesota Golden Gophers, of course!  While the Gophers have not shared a conference title since 1967m and their last outright title was 1941, the Gophers have graced the top of the conference 18 times.  Most of this success came in the start of the 20th Century, as they had 8 conference titles (two outright) from 1900-1915.

Speaking of Minnesota and Michigan, they claim the longest-running football boondoggle (a physical award for winning the game) in college football.  The Little Brown Jug is an earthenware jug that is awarded to the winner of the Michigan-Minnesota game.  The rivalry predates the conference, starting in 1892.  The jug became the boondoggle award in 1903.  While a replica of the jug is now presented on the field, the original jug still exists (most college football boondoggles have long been destroyed or lost) and stored in a secure, temperature-controlled room on the campus of the current holder.  Michigan currently holds the jug, winning it in 2020.  Only three times have the "Battle for the Little Brown Jug" ended in a tie, and one of those was a scoreless 0-0 outcome.

Obviously, Minnesota is most success in ice hockey, and it one of only 25 Division I schools to have a women's ice hockey team, most of them in the Big Ten and Ivy League.  Ironically, the Minnesota Women's Ice Hockey team has won one more NCAA title than the men's team.

While most of the most successful former Gophers who played in the NFL were either on defense or the offensive line, a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame was a Golden Gopher.  Bronco Nagurski was a running back and dominant linebacker for the Chicago Bears in the 1930s.  He was an All-American at Minnesota.  The award for the top defensive player in NCAA football, as determined by the Football Writers Association, is named for Nagurski.

Although Minnesota has had some lean years in the 2000s, their overall football record is 706-523-42, a 57% winning percentage.  They have gone to 22 bowl games, winning ten of them, including their last five appearances.  The Gophers have actually won five national titles, the last one in 1960. 

NFL 2022 Week 4 picks

 I had a tough week last week, and I'm picking lots of visiting teams this week.  Not a great combination, but I'll risk it anyway.

Thursday night

Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals : The Dolphin strive to keep their perfect record intact.  The Bengals can be an obstacle, but they need to play a near flawless game.  They have problems with that, and the Dolphins defense loves to throw off opponents.  DOLPHINS, 23-16

Sunday morning

Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints : The NFL returns to England to spotlight some tricky offense and tough defense.  The Saints are still finding their equilibrium, so I think the Vikings have an advantage.  VIKINGS, 31-26

Sunday early games

Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens : The Bills want to make up for their tight loss to the Dolphins, but if there is any team that can slow down the Bills offense, it's the Ravens.  This game could swing the other way.  BILLS, 24-20

Chicago Bears at New York Giants : The Giants are unbeaten, leaning heavily on Saquan Barkley.  With the strong rush defense of the Bears, that might not succeed in this game.  BEARS, 20-13

Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons : The Falcons offense just isn't working.  BROWNS, 17-6

Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles : Two unbeaten teams face off this week.  Which one will crack?  The Jags have been very impressive, but they are not used to this pressure.  EAGLES, 27-24

New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers : The Jets have another offense that isn't working.  STEELERS, 13-6

Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans : Two strong defenses face off.  The difference may come down to special teams, which benefits LA.  CHARGERS, 16-13

Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions : Seattle just doesn't play well away from home, and the Lions are showing strength.  LIONS, 20-16

Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts : Perhaps the biggest disappointment so far this season is Tennessee, who can't seem to get rolling.  I'm not sure they've figured out what's wrong, so I think that problem will continue.  The Colts aren't exactly doing well, but they have shown some flashes.  COLTS, 20-13

Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys : The Cowboys don't seem to lost much under Connor Rush.  Are we foreshadowing a quarterback controversy? COWBOYS, 23-16

Sunday late games

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers : I don't see the Panthers doing much against the Cardinals defense.  CARDINALS, 17-10

Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders : The Raiders defense is good, but they keep falling short.  BRONCOS, 23-13

New England Patriots at Green Bay Packers : The Pack is back, and the Pats have no chance.  PACKERS, 27-13

Sunday night

Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay Bucs : This may be the most exiting game of the weekend, and the lead will likely change hands several times.  I think this will come down to who has the ball last, and that comes from time management.  That's advantage -- Andy Reid.  CHIEFS, 27-23

Monday Night Football

Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers : Very often these games go opposite than I expected.  I wanted to pick the 39ers, so I'll change gears and pick the Rams.  RAMS, 20-16

NFL 2022 Week 3 results

 We had several surprises, including upsets to the Top Five teams.  We had lots of movement in the Power Rankgs!

Power Rankings [Last week's ranking]

1.  PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (3-0) [4]

2.  Miami Dolphins (3-0) [5] : Their surprise upset of the Bills was perhaps the game of the day

3.  Buffalo Bills (2-1) [1]

4.  Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1) [6] : The Jags continue to impress

5.  Baltimore Ravens (2-1) [7]

6.  Tampa Bay Bucs (2-1) [3] : The Packers made them look weak

7.  Kansas City Chiefs (2-1) [4]

8. Cleveland Browns (2-1) [14]

9.  Denver Broncos (2-1) [11]

10. Green Bay Packers (2-1) [13] : The Pack is back!

11. Minnesota Vikings (2-1) [16]

12. San Francisco 49ers (1-2) [9]

13. Cincinnati Bengals (1-2) [NR] : HUGE win

14. New York Giants (2-1) [8]

Division Rankings [Last week's ranking]

1.  NFC North [2] : The only NFC division with three teams with positive point differential

2.  AFC North [5] : ... And the only AFC division in the same status

3.  AFC East [3] : The only division with two Top Five teams

4.  NFC East [1]

5.  NFC South [6]

6.  AFC West [4]

7.  AFC South [7]

8.  NFC West [8]

NCAA Football Week 5 picks

 I had a tough week last week.  Let's see if this week improves my average.

Thurs Sept 29

Utah State Aggies at BYU Cougars : The Cougars have been underachieving this season, but they still find ways to win.  BYU by ten

Fri Sept 30

Tulane Green Wave at Houston Cougars : Talk about underachieving Cougars, Houston now seems a long shot to win the American Conference, when they seemed to be a lock before the season began.  How bad have they been?  How about I'm picking them to lose here.  TULANE by six

UTSA Roadrunners at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders : While Houston hasn't lived up to expectations, UTSA has been going very well.  UTSA by 13

San Diego State Aztecs at Boise State Broncos : Boise State has also been performing worse than expected, but they seem to give something extra on their home blue turf.  BOISE STATE by eight

#9 Washington Huskies at #16 UCLA Bruins : A Top 25 matchup in the Pac-12!  What an exciting way to end the night!  Truthfully, this game could go either way, but I think the Huskies have a better constructed team.  WASHINGTON by six

Sat Oct 1

Top 25

Rutgers Scarlet Knights at #1 Ohio State Buckeyes : A shutout is possible with the stingy defense that the Buckeyes have, but I think they'll let the Knights score in the fourth quarter.  OHIO STATE by lots

#2 Alabama Crimson Tide at Arkansas Razorbacks : And I thought THIS would be the game that knocked Arkansas out of the Top 25.  I was a week early.  ALABAMA bu 27

#3 Georgia Bulldogs at Missouri Tigers : Easy win for Georgia.  Of course, I said that about Kent State, too.  The Bulldogs have something to prove after that game, so they will beat up on the Tigers.  GEORGIA by lots

#4 Michigan Wolverines at Iowa Hawkeyes : Well, the Hawkeyes found some offense last week, just in time to face the tough Wolverines defense.  This one will be defensive battle, but the Michigan D should cause a couple of turnovers to help their offense.  MICHIGAN by ten

Arizona State Sun Devils at #6 USC Trojans : Arizona State continues to have problems this season, both on and off the field, while the Trojans will romp.  USC by 24

Purdue Boilermakers at #7 Minnesota Golden Gophers : The Gophers offense moves so fast they will have a two-score lead before the Boilermakers find their visiting bench.  MINNESOTA by lots

Northwestern Wildcats at #8 Penn State Nittany Lions : The Wildcats will get white-washed out.  PENN STATE by 27

Wagner Seahawks at #10 Syracuse Orange : Easy win here.  SYRACUSE by lots

NC State Wolfpack at #11 Clemson Tigers : Wake Forest nearly beat them, and now the Tigers have to face another tough ACC foe.  Could the Wilfpack do it>  Perhaps, but Clemson always gets a little boost from the home crowd.  CLEMSON by four

#12 Kentucky Wildcats at #17 Ole Miss Rebels : Whoa, this should be an exciting game!  The Rebs have the power to upset the Wildcats, but those sneaky 'Cats will probably pull off a save in the final minute.  KENTUCKY by four

#13 Oklahoma State Cowboys at Baylor Bears : Baylor can be a tough opponent, but they seem to stuble at some point in each game.  That stumble will seal the win for the Cowboys.  OKLAHOMA STATE by eight

#14 Oklahoma Sooners at #18 TCU Horned Frogs : TCU has had it easy so far.  Oklahoma wants to boost themselves after their shocking loss.  It is rare gor Oklahoma to lose two games in a row, and I don't think it will happen here.  OKLAHOMA by ten

Texas A&M Aggies at #15 Mississippi State Bulldogs : Despite hype from the national press, the Aggies are yet to really show up strongly, and I think the Bulldogs defense will hold them down here.  MISSISSIPPI STATE by 13

#19 Illinois Fighting Illin at Wisconsin Badgers : it seems bad timing for the Illini to get the Badgers right after their embarrassing loss to Ohio State, as they will know what a strong win to redeem themselves.  However, Illinois had beaten a much stronger Wisconsin team, with a weaker Illinois team, twice in the past few years.  With this team, and a squad still banged up from the Buckeyes, the Illni should get their first conference win and establish themselves in second place behind Minnesota in the West division.  ILLINOIS by eight

Wake Forest Demon Deacons at #20 Florida State Seminoles : The Deacons gave Clemson fits, so they will press the Seminoles at well, but I think a key turnover will save the day for Florida State.  FLORIDA STATE by three

West Virginia Mountaineers at #21 Texas Longhorns : The Mountaineers have fallen apart this season, so this will be an easy win to help wash away the upset by Texas Tech.  TEXAS by 23

Michigan State Spartans at #22 Maryland Terrapins : The Terrapons offense moved well against the stiff Michigan defense last week, and the Spartans defense isn't as good.  Worse for Sparty, their offense can't come back from a deficit.  MARYLAND by 16

Iowa State Cyclones at #23 Kansas Jayhawks : How long can Kansas' Cinderella season last?  The Cyclones have the ability to stop it, but I think Kansas will squeeze out one more win with a surprise pass play in the final seconds.  KANSAS by three

Oregon State Beavers at #24 Utah Utes : Oregon State gave USC fits last week, but they are a different team away from home.  UTAH by eight

Texas Tech Red Raiders at #25 Kansas State Wildcats : Yhe engineers of the two big upsets last week meet each other this week.  While Tech dealt Texas a blow, I think what Kansas State did was more impressive, and they should be able to reproduce that this week.  KANSAS STATE by six

Big Ten

Indiana Hoosiers at Nebraska Cornhuskers : Indiana should husk Nebraska  INDIANA by 18

MAC

UMass Minutemen at Eastern Michigan Eagles : UMass is a poor team, so this will be an easy win.  EASTERN MICHIGAN by 29

Northern Illinois Huskies at Ball State Cardinals : It hasn't been a pleasure season so far for the Huskies, but they often play better in conference play.  Besides, Ball State looks pretty weak.  NORTHERN ILLINOIS by 17

Central Michigan Chippewas at Toledo Rockets : The Rockets are set to soar through conference play, and it starts here.  TOLEDO by 16

Bowling Green Falcons at Akron Zips L The Zips seem to have their zip.  BOWLING GREEN by 13

Miami Ohio RedHawks at Buffalo Bulls : Both of these teams showed tremendous life last week.  Whoever wins this gains a foothold on the East division, and could gain the lead in end-of-season tiebreakers.  Buffalo looked better last week, so I'll give them the edge.  BUFFALO by six

Ohio Bobcats at Kent State Golden Flashes : If Kent State didn't exhuast themselves against Georgia, they might shine here.  KENT STATE by eight

New Hampshire Wildcats at Western Michigan Broncos : Well, this certainly SHOULD be a win for the home team.  WESTERN MICHIGAN by 20

NCAA Football 2022 Week 4 results

 We had Top 25 upsets, demonstrating that this seaosn will be very volatile.  We even have a new top team, as no national Number One should struggle against a weakling like Kent State.

Top 25 [Last week's position]

1.  OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (4-0) [2] : They pulverized Wisconsin

2.  Alabama Crimson Tide (4-0) [3]

3.  Georgia Bulldogs (4-0) [1]

4.  Michigan Wolverines (4-0) [4]

5.  Tennessee Volunteers (4-0) [5] : It was touch and go, but they overcame Florida

6.  USC Trojans (4-0) [7] " Oregon State gave them a hard time, but they engineered a fabulous fourth quarter turnaround

7.  Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-0) [14] : One of the most impressive performances among the Big Ten

8.  Penn State Nittany Lions (4-0) [10]

9.  Washington Huskies (4-0) [15]

10. Syracuse Orange (4-0) [9]

11. Clemson Tigers (4-0) [11] : They survived Wake Forest, but it wasn't pretty

12. Kentucky Wildcats (4-0) [12]

13. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-0) [13]

14. Oklahoma Sooners (3-1) [6]

15. Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-1) [28]

16. UCLA Bruins (4-0) [24]

17. Ole Miss Rebels (4-0) [17]

18. TCU Horned Frogs (3-0) [18]

19. Illinois Fightinig Illini (3-1) [27] : It's been a long time since the Illini were in the Top 25

20. Florida State Seminoles (4-0) [NR]

21. Texas Longhorns (2-2) [8]

22. Maryland Terrapins (3-1) [22]

23. Kansas Jayhawks (4-0) [25] : The Jayhawks beat Duke to enjoy a second week in the Toip 25.  Somewhere Mark Mangino is smiling

24. Utah Utes (3-1) [29]

25. Kansas State Wildcats (3-1) [NR]

On the Cusp:NC State Wolfpack (4-0), LSU Tigers (3-1), Baylor Bears (3-1), Duke Blue Devils (3-1), Pitt Panthers (3-1), Oregon State Beavers (3-1), Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-1), Cincinnati Bearcats (3-1)

Dropped off: Wisconsin Badgers [#16], Michigan State Spartans [#19], Arkansas Razorbacks [#20], Washington State Cougars [#21], Iowa State Cyclones [#23]

Upsets and Surprises

The FCS scored another upset, and almost racked up two.  Sacramento State beat Colorado State, and Fordham nearly knocked off Ohio.  Former FCS beat Appalachian State.Middle Tennessee State shocked Miami. Troy beat Marshall.  And, of course, we had Kansas Satte and Texas Tech, who knocked off Top Ten teams Oklahoma and Texas, respectively.

Big Ten Report

The East performed pretty much as expected.  Ohio State and Penn State dominated, Michigan prevailed (although Maryland made it a bit tough), and Michigan State and Rutgers fell.  Cincinnati found their offense, so it wasn't too surprising that Indiana lost.  The big surprise was the utter collapse of Michigan State.

On the West side, Minnesota has truly demonstrated that they are the team to beat in that division.  Illinois seems to be the next strongest team.  Iowa seems to have some offense, so they might become a threat, especially with their defense.  Wisonsin buckles under pressure and Northwestern has vaporized.  Purdue can be tough, if they can prevent being tough on themselves with penalties.

MAC Attack

The Mid-American Conference got fired up this week!  Kent State played Georgia tough, Central Michigan had a good first half against Penn State, Northern Illinois complicated things for Kentucky, and Miami Ohio kncocked off Northwestern.  Yes, we still had poor performances from Western Michigan, Ball State, Toledo, and Ohio, but Buffalo found their spark and defeated Eastern Michigan, so the conference might start to look like I predicted.  The East sees Buffalo and Miami Ohio on top right now.  Toledo remains the only team in the conference with a positive point differential, which still makes them the favorite in the West.

NFL 2022 Week 3 picks

 I had a tough week last week.  Let's hope that is not part of a trend.

Thursday night

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns : The Browns defense will harass Mitch Trubisky.  BROWNS, 13-10

Sunday early games

Baltimore Ravens at new England Patriots : Defense will rule the day in this one, too.  RAVENS, 20-10

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins : Someone's winning streak will end, and given the power demonstrated by the bills, I think the road ends at Miami.  BILLS, 34-23

Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets : The Jets offense is struggling, and a strong Bengals defense makes it even harder.  BENGALS, 17-6

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings : The Lions looked good last week, but the Vikings have strong squads on both sides of the ball.  VIKINGS, 27-23

Houston Texans at Chicago Bears : The Bears slipped on national exposure, but they shine regionally.  This game will be a battle of defenses, and right now the Bears have a stronger one.  BEARS, 17-13

Kansas City Chiefs at Indianapolis Colts:  Easy pick, as the Colts have no power.  CHIEFS, 44-13

Las VEgas Raiders at Tennessee Titans : The Titans haven't found themselves yet.  RAIDERS, 17-7

New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers : This game could come down to how well the Panthers handle their final possession.  I'm afraid they'll fall a bit short.  SAINTS, 23-17

Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders : The Eagles are showing real power.  The Commanders have started well, but the pressure from the Eagles will be intense.  EAGLES, 24-13

Sunday late games

Atlanta Falcons at Seattle Seahawks : The Seahawks floundered last week,b ut they are different team at home.  SEAHAWKS, 17-13

Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Bucs : The Pack seems to have found themselves, but the Bucs are too strong a force.  BUCS, 24-17

Jacsonville Jaguars at Los Angeles Chargers : The Jags have started 2-0, but I think the Chargers defense will stop that.  The Jags could win this game, though,  CHARGERS, 17-13

Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals : It has not been a very auspicious start for the Super Bowl Champs, and the Cardinals defense will make it worse.  CARDS, 20-16

Sunday night

San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos : Jimmy Garafolo has revitalized his career as he steps in for the injured Trey Lance.  Eh still has something to prove, and the Broncos have trouble moving the ball.  49ERS, 26-13

Monday Night Football

Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants : The Giants are a surprising 2-0, and Connor Rush did an excellent job replacing Dak Prescott.  Which one of these facts will become more impactful in this game? I think Rush surprised some folks last week, but the Giants will be more prepared.  GIANTS, 23-17

NFL 2022 Week 2 results

 Some teams started looking more normal.  I think this is the situation that develops when veterans are allowed to completely skip training camp and most of preseason -- they aren't ready to play.  The Packers and Patriots more closely resembled what we would expect.  Backup QBs salvaged the Cowboys and 49ers.  Let's see how this all affected the Power Rankings:

Power Rankings [Last week's position]

1.  BUFFALO BILLS (2-0) [1] : Beyond a doubt, the scariest and toughest team in the league

2.  Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) [2]

3.  Tampa Bay Bucs (2-0) [3] : Even with a limited receiving corps, Brady is still dangerous

4.  Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) [13] : What a move!  Their defense tightened greatly, making them a real threat

5.  Miami Dolphins (2-0) [5]

6.  Jacksonville JAguars (1-1) [24] : Ahuge leap to get into the Top Ten (but hold on, it's not the biggest of the week!) as the Jags engineer an extremely rare shutout

7.  Baltimore Ravens (1-1) [7]

8. New York Giants (2-0) [14] : A completely unexpected 2-0 start brings life to the Big Apple

9.  San Francisco 49ers (1-1) [29] : Trey who?

10. Detroit Lions (1-1) [18] : The offense pounded Washington, but defense needs work

11. Denver Broncos (1-1) [19] : On the other side, a strong defense supports an offense still finding themselves

12. Los Angeles Chargers (1-1) [8]

13. Green Bay Pac kers (1-1) [31] : Now THIS us the Packers team we all expected

14. Cleveland Browns (1-1) [11]

Division Rankings

1.  NFC East : This division has been near the bottom for the last three years, so this is quite a leap!

2.  NFC North

3.  AFC East : Two teams in the Top Ten Power Rankings really help

4.  AFC West

5.  AFC North

6.  NFC South

7.  AFC South

8.  NFC West : The division expected to be the best finds themselves with three teams with double-digit negative point differentials.  Not a good start

NCAA Football 2022 Week 4 picks

 Thursday Sept 22

West Virginia Mountaineers at Virginia Tech Hokies : It's a disasterous season for the Mountaineers.  The Hokies aren't hot, but this game should be a breeze.  VIRGINIA TECH by 13

Chattanooga Mocs at Illinois Fighting Illini : Easy pick.  ILLINOIS by lots

Friday Sept 23

Virginia Cavaliers at #9 Syracuse Orange : The Orange has been the most impressive ACC team so far, even more so than Clemson.  Virginia doesn't stand much of a chance.  SYRACUSE by 17

Nevada Wolf Pack at Air Force Falcons : Both teams are having down years, but Nevada is so low they are practically underground.  AIR FORCE by 14

Boise State Broncos at UTEP Miners : UTEP will be mining for a victory, but I think the vein is exhausted.  BOISE STATE by 16

Saturday Sept 24

Top 25

Kent State Golden Flashes at #1 Georgia Bulldogs : The Flashes go down.  GEORGIA by lots

#16 Wisconsin Badgers at #2 Ohio State Buckeyes : The Badgers got back on track last week, but they need to have the game of their lives to upset Ohio State.  Their saving grace?  The Big Ten conference has a "gentlemen's agreement" not to run the score against conference opponents.  OHIO STATE by 30

Vanderbilt Commodores at #3 Alabama Crimson Tide : The SEC, on the other hand, does not have such an agreement.  ALABAMA by lots

#22 Maryland Terrapins at #4 Michigan Wolverines : Maryland might keep this one closer than the Ohio State game, but not much.  MICHIGAN by 26

Florida Gators at #5 Tennessee Volunteers : Good ole Rocky Top will be too much for a Gators team still trying to find their rhythm.  TENNESSEE by 18

Kansas State Wildcats at #6 Oklahoma Sooners : I figured this game would be the first loss for the Wildcats, but that's already happened.  OKLAHOMA by 24

$7 USC Trojans at Oregon State Beavers : It can be tough to play at Beaver Stadium, more so this year because the Beavers have a good team.  Still, the Trojans should prevail.  USC by 16

#8 Texas Longhorns at Texas Tech Red Raiders : While Tech would like to make this close, it won't be.  TEXAS by 23

Central Michigan Chippewas at #10 Penn State Nittany Lions : This MAC v Big Ten game will be another notch in James Franklin's belt.  PENN STATE by 24

#11 Clemson Tigers at Wake Forest Demon Deacons : This game will be closer than Clemson would like, but Wake will fold in the fourth quarter.  CLEMSON by 13

Northern Illinois Huskies at #12 Kentucky Wildcats : It has not been a good year for the Huskies, and this game will make it worse.  KENTUCKY by 27

#14 Minnesota Golden Gophers at #19 Michigan State Spartans : Which Spartans team will show up?  The team who played the first half in Washington, or the team who played the second half?  I think the dynamic Minnesota offense will produce a large enough lead at halftime that the rejuvenated Spartans offense cannot bridge it in the second half.  MINNESOTA by ten

Stanford Cardinal at #15 Washington Huskies : Now these Huskies will do well!  WASHINGTON by 23

Tulsa Golden Hurricane at #17 Ole Miss Rebels : Easy win for the Rebs.  OLE MISS by lots

#18 TCU Horned Frogs at SMU Mustangs : I'll tell you, after what we saw from SMU this past week, this could be a close game!  TCU had an extra week to prepare, so I think they will able to handle the Mustangs, but it'll still be close.  TCU by eight

#20 Arkansas Razorbacks at Texas A&M Aggies : The Razorbacks aren't dynamic, but they get the job done.  ARKANSAS by eight

Oregon Ducks at #21 Washington State Cougars : As they proved against Wisconsin, the Cougars have a strong defense, and that will be the Ducks' undoing.  WASHINGTON STATE by eleven

Baylor Bears at #23 Iowa State Cyclones : If the Bears get it together, they could win this game.  However, so far they have not been playing up to their capability.  The Cyclones have a good team, and that team is clicking.  IOWA STATE by 12

#24 UCLA Bruins at Colorado Buffaloes : Nice easy game agter a tough one for the Bruins this past week.  UCLA by 23

Duke Blue Devils at #25 Kansas Jayhawks : Both teams are having better years than usual.  For Kansas, they haven't started this well since 2009.  The home crowd will help boost them to a fourth victory.  KANSAS by six

Big Ten

Indiana Hoosiers at Cincinnati Bearcats : If Cincy gets it together, they should win this game.  However, they've been a bit inconsistent.  Indiana hasn't been stellar, either, but their offense gets them out of trouble.  INDIANA by six

Iowa Hawkeyes at Rutgers Scarlet Knights : Iowa has a stiff defense, so this will be a low-scoring game.  However, Iowa's offense has ot been working against any team except the inept Nevada squad.  If that keeps up, Rutgers can surprise here.  RUTGERS by three

Miam8 Ohio RedHawks at Northwestern Wildcats : The Wildcats get a chance to take a breath and get their heads together, as they face a floundering RedHawks team.  NORTHWESTERN by six

Florida Atlantic Owls at Purdue Boilermakers : The Owls are a decent team, so this will not be easy, but I think Purdue has shown enough strength to win this game.  PURDUE by eight

MAC

Bowling Green Falcons at Mississippi State Bulldogs : I don't think the Falcons will muster two upsets in a row.  MISSISSIPPI STATE by 24

Buffalo Bulls at Eastern Michigan Eagles : The Bull shave collapsed, and the Eagles have shown great power, both in Week 1 and last week.  EASTERN MICHIGAN by eight

Fordham Owls at Ohio Bobcats : Ohio is not strong, but they should be strong enough to prevent another FCS upset.  OHIO by 12

Toledo Rockets at San Diego State Aztecs : After being beaten so badly by Ohio State, I don't think San Deigo State will take the Rockets seriously.  However, you have to realize that they were able to score against a stiff Ohio State defense, and that Buckeyes offense is terrific.  The Aztecs don't have near the same talent.  TOLEDO by 13

Akron Zups at Liberty Flames : Liberty fought very well this past week, and Akron has shown that they just don't have anything this year.  LIBERTY by 16

Ball State Cardinals at Georgia Southern Panthers : Ball State showed some strength this week.  If they continue that, they should win here.  BALL STATE by eight

Western Michigan Broncos at San Jose State Spartans : The Spartans are sputtering.  The Broncos started the season poorly, but they seem to be getting better.  WESTERN MICHIGAN by 13

Big Ten Focus #2: Northwestern

 I forgot to write my Big Ten focus last week, so I have two to write this week.  For both, I continue to examine some of the six founding teams still playing in the conference.  This week, I look at Northwesterm.

Based in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Northwestern has long been known for their academics.  Home to eleven prestigious graduate, professional, and research schools, athletics have always been a lesser concern of the university.  That has not stopped them from capturing the conference title.  They shared the title with Michigan three times (1926, 1930, and 1931) before capturing their first solo title in 1936.  Then they had a 60 year drought before going unbeaten in conference play in 1995 to take the title.  Although they lost to USC in the Rose Bowl, they played well and kept the game close.  The Wildcats have failed to capture the title since, but they came close in 1996 and 2000.  Since the conference has split into two divisions, the team has captured two West Division titles (2018 and 2020).

The Wildcats have not, unfortunately, had too many players who made major impacts in the NFL.  One was tackle and guard Chris Hinton.  Hinton was a seven-time Pro Bowler who played mostly for the Colts.  He is perhaps best known for a trade that happened before he played a down in the NFL.  Originally drafted by the Denver Broncos, Hinton was one of two players involved in the trade that brought John Elway to the Broncos.

Their most successful receiver was Steve Tasker, who played 12 years for the Buffalo Bills.  Tasker and his Bills were the "always a bridesmaid, never a bride" sufferers who won four consecutive AFC Champtionships and lost four consecutive Super Bowls, the most famous of which is the infamous "wide right" failed kick.

Of course, the most prominent and impactful Northwestern alum in the NFL was ground-braking QB Otto Graham.  The only quarterback to play for more three seasons with a perfect championship record, he led the Cleveland Browns to their league championship for all ten years that he played for them (1946-1955).  He won seven of those appearances, winning the final four All-American Foorball League championships in 1946-1949 and then following those with three NFL championships (1950, 1954, 1955).

NCAA Football 2022 Week 3 results and Top 25

 It was an interesting week, with some slow starting teams beginning to show some power.

Top 25 [Last week's position]

1.  GEORGIA BULLDOGS (3-0) [1]

2.  Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0) [2]

3.  Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0) [3] : Much better performance, but they were playing a much weaker team

4.  Michigan Wolverines (3-0) [5]

5.  Tennessee Volunteers (3-0) [8] : this is a seriously powerful team.  We might see some interesting games in the SEC this season!

6.  Oklahoma Sooners (3-0) [6] : I'm not sure the Nebraska fans are so happy that their rivalry with Oklahoma has been reignited

7.  USC Torjans (3-0) [9] : The clear strength of the Pac-12

8.  Texas Longhorns (2-1) [4] : They overcame UTSA, but it was a struggle

9.  Syracuse Orange (3-0) [10]

10. Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0) [NR} : Clifford finally looked decent, and their defense may keep them in games

11. Clemsin Tigers (3-0) [11]

12. Kentucky Wildcats (3-0) [12]

13. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-0) [13]

14. Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-0) [15] : What a thoroughly dominating performance!

15. Washington Huskies (3-0) [19] : They thoroughly dominated Michigan State in the first half, but they couldn't hold it.  The Spartans defense figured out their shifty manuevers, and the Huskies defense couldn't hold back the Spartans offense.  If the game lasted ten minutes longer, they would have lost.  A Top 25 team needs to hold large leads better.

16. Wisconsin Badgers (2-1) [NR]

17. Ole Miss Rebels (3-0) [NR]

18. TCU Horned Frogs (2-0) [18]

19. Michigan State Spartans (2-1) [7] : Impressive comeback, they just fell a bit short

20. Arkansas Razorbacks (3-0) [20]

21. Washington State Cougars (3-0) [NR]

22. Maryland Terrapins (3-0) [22] : It took a tremendous defensive effort to beat SMU

23. Iowa State Cyclones (3-0) [NR]

24. UCLA Bruins (3-0) [17] : Ugly win

25. Kansas Jayhawks (3-0) [NR] : What's this?  Kansas in the Top 25?  Yup.  AFter two dynamic upsets, they are proving that they have tremendous punch.

Dropped off

BYU Cougars [#14], Mississippi State Bulldogs [#16], Kansas State Wildcats [#21], Miami Hurricanes [#23], Marshall Thundering Herd [#24], Toledo Rockets [#25]

On the Cusp

Duke Blue Devils (3-0), Illinois Fighting Illini (2-1), Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-1), Utah Utes (2-1), Pitt Panthers (2-1), Oregon State Beavers (3-0), Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-0)

Upsets and Surprises

The Salukis struck down Northwestern and scored another win for the FCS!  Missouri State nearly knocked off Arkansas.  The MAC engineered two upsets: one by Bowling Green (who knocked off a Marshall team that engineered a great upset of Notre Dame last week), and the other by Eastern Michigan.  tulane upset Kansas State to knock them out of the Top 25 and Kansas' upset of Houston brought them into the Tip 25.

Big Ten Report

Not too many surprises this week.  Ohio State, Michigan, and Minnesota continued their dominance.  Wisconsin and Penn State bounced back, although Wisconsin's bounce back was against a weak team.  Penn State's was much more impressive, matching into SEC territory and completely out-muscling the Auburn Tigers. Iowa was impressive in a thrice-delayed game that didn't finish until after 2am Central time, but you have to realize that they were playing Nevada, who has lost to a FCS team this season.  Given that, I'm not sure we are ready to proclaim Iowa back, even though their defense is one of the toughest in the conference.

Other teams had a harder time.  Nebraska lost as expected, but the losses by Northwestern and Michigan State were not.  Maryland and Indiana won, but they struggled against their weaker opponents.  However, Purdue gave ranked Syracuse all that they could manage.  All of this leads into conference play next week, and we have some interesting match-ups.

MAC Attack

I told you not to discount the MAC teams!  Okay, Miami Ohio, Ohio, Toledo, and Buffalo were slaughtered, and Central Michigan and Ball State dominated weak FCS teams, but Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan really stepped it up.  I'm looking forward to the start of conference play.

NFL 2022 Week 2 picks

 Thursday night

Before I talk about the match-up, I want to talk about the broadcast.  So, in the infinitely greedy minds of the NFL Front Office, tonight's game will broadcast live ONLY on NFL+.  Now, for those who have NFL Network, they might ask, "What's the difference between NFL+ and NFL Network?"  Answer, "About $20 a month."  See, the NFL has decided to take a page from NBC's STUPID GREEDY TRICKS.  You see, many people may be paying $6.99 a month (going up to $9.95 a month in Nov) for Peacock streaming network.  When Peacock was announced, they stated it was the way to view and binge old series, specials, and see new show, only they won't be available until the next day.  Great deal!  So great that lots of people signed up.  When the numbers came in, NBC officials saw only dollar signs.  So, they moved ALL specials and new shows, including exclusive series, to a new Premium service, which costs an extra $22 ($21.99 to be exact) a month.

So, seeing how NBC handled things, the NFL has decided to get greedy, too, and stiff rabid NFL fans for extra money.  I saw, stick it to them!  If you can wait (and you know how to record shows on your streaming platform), then wait and watch the rebroadcast on regular NFL Network at 12:30AM.  Or, even better, watch it on YouTube!  You see, sports fans on YouTube have already set up channels that will show the NFL+ broadcast, with just a couple of minutes lag time.  This is an extension of a service YouTube subscribers provided last fall, when ESPN blocked themselves from many free or cheap streaming services like Hulu and Roku to force customers to purchase ESPN's premium plan.  YouTube subscribers simply created channels and broadcast NCAA football games, with the same time lag.  Is this technically illegal?  Yes.  Did ESPN tell YouTube to shut it down?  Yes, but there's a lovely catch.  The law provides a lag time in shutting down such channels, assuming it takes considerable time to track down the source of the channel and shut it off (for a well-organized site like YouTube, or at least it was well-organized BEFORE Google took it over, it doesn't take much time.  For the Google folks, maybe it DOES take them considerable time to figure it out!).  So, they claimed it took them four hours, which was the period of time the game lasted.  Fans watched the game, YouTube shut down the channels afterwards, new channels popped up, and everybody was happy.  Well, everybody but ESPN,  Beaten, however, they rather quickly (within a week) "negotiated" with all of the streaming services, and ESPN was back on everyone's channel lineups.  Let's see how long it takes the NFL to admit that consumers are craftier than the greedy minions that run the league, and they give up this "NFL+ exclusive".

Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs : The Chiefs offense is potent!  the Charges defense might slow them down for a while, but they can't hold them back for a whole game, and the Chargers offense lacks some spark.  CHIEFS, 27-17

Sunday early games

Carolina Panthers at New York Giants : The Giants may have found a way to beat the Titans last week, but their offense isn't that good.  The Panthers aren't great, either, but they are better than the Giants.  PANTHERS, 17-13

Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars : Though not the worst team so far this season, the Jags aren't really a threat, .COLTS, 20-10

Miami Dolphins at Baltimore Ravens : The Dolphins looked really impressive last week.  If they do well this game, I will admit that it was not a fluke.  However, overcoming the Ravens defense will not be easy. I am p[icking the Ravens, but the Dolphins draw up enough offensive power to win this game.  RAVENS, 17-16

New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers : New England looked pathetic last week, and I don't think they have diagnosed the problem yet, let alone fixed it.  STEELERS, 16-10

New York Jets at Cleveland Browns : The Browns almost gave up an early lead last week.  They won't do so this week, as they will own the Jets form the first possession.  BROWNS, 20-6

Tampa Bay Bucs at New Orleans Saints : The Saints sputtered a bit last week.  You can't do that against the Bucs.  BUCS, 30-23

Washington Commanders at Detroit Lions : This game could really go either way.  I'll favor the home team, but it's a pure guess,  LIONS, 17-16

Sunday late games

Arizona Cardinals at Las Vegas Raiders : The Raiders exposed some serious vulnerabilities last week; just the kind of thing for the Cardinals defense to capitalize upon.  CARDS, 23-16

Atlanta Falcons at Los Angeles Rams : The Rams completely fell apart last week.  They will bounce back, but I think it will take longer than one week.  FALCONS, 20-16

Cincinnati Bengals at Dallas Cowboys : QB Dak Prescott is out, and we are not sure for how long.  Without him, the offense will sputter.  BENGALS, 27-6

Houston Texans at Denver Broncos : The Texans offense isn't quite clucking, but their defense is good, and they will stop the struggling Broncos offense.  They might even help the offense with a couple of turnovers in positive territory.  TEXANS, 17-13

Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers : The Seahawks weren't smooth last week, and they tend to play much better at home.  That makes this road trip look disasterous for them.  49ERS, 16-13

Sunday night

 Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers : The Bears often play poorly on nighttime national television, but even if their offense sputters, their defense is still strong.  Given how well the Vikings held back the floundering Packers last week, the Bears should be at least as effective, if not more so.  BEARS, 23-13

Monday Night Football

Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills : The Bills look like the strongest team in the league right now, so this game should be decided by halftime.  BILLS, 31-13

 

NFL 2022 Week 1 results

 There were some surprise collapses.  The Super Bowl Champion LA Rams looked anemic, and the Patriots offense was lacking.Lastly, there is no joy in Titletown as the Packers couldn't get moving.

Power Rankings

1.  Buffalo Bills (1-0) : What a totally dominating performance!

2.  Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) : Their offense was unstoppable

3,  Minnesota Vikings (1-0) : Their offense looked good, but they defense shined!

5.  Tampa Bay Bucs (1-0) : Defensive domination

5.  Miami Dolphins (1-0) : The Pats could go nowhere

6,  Baltimore Ravens (1-0) : Even though they played the Jets, their performance so still outstanding

7.  Chicago Bears (1-0) : The offense sputtered a bit, but that defense is tough

8,  Los Angeles Chargers (1-0) : Engineers of one of the few upsets this week, they gave the Raiders too much to handle

9.  Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) : They overcame the defending AFC champs with tenacity

10. Washington Commanders : they allowed the Jaguars to score a bit much, but their offense was clicking

11. Cleveland Browns (1-0) : They showed tenacity and determination against he Panthers

12. Seattle Seahawks (1-0) : They struggled a bit, and need to work on their running game, but their defense was just enough

13. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) : Their defense wasn't working well, but that offense is aewsome!

14.  New York Giants (1-0) : They surprised the Titans, but are they really ready for the big time?

NCaa Football 2022 Week 3 picks

 Fri Sept 16

Florida State Seminoles at Louisville Cardinals : The Seminoles seem stoked, and are starting the season well.  FLORIDA STATE by 13

Air Force Falcons at Wyoming Cowboys : It has not been a good season so far for the Cowboys.  It will continue here.  AIR FORCE by 23

 

Sat Sept 17

Top 25

#1 Georgia Bulldogs at South Carolina Gamecocks L The Dawgs have their first SEC game and it will be a harginger of what's to come this season.  GEORGIA by 32

#25 Toledo Rockets at #2 Ohio State Buckeyes : The Rockets ranking may not last, unless they score enough against the tough Buckeyes defense.  Their own defense can't stop them.  OHIO STATE by 24

UL Monroe Warhawks at #3 Alabama Crimson Tide : Easy win for the Tide to help wash away the difficulties against Texas.  ALABAMA by 26

UTSA Roadrunners at #4 Texas Longhorns : UTSA is vying for another year like last year, but they have to get past Texas in order to do it.  I don't see that happening.  TEXAS by 24

UConn Huskies at #5 Michigan Wolverines : Look for a blowout. MICHIGAN by lots

#6 Oklahoma Sooners at Nebraska Cornhuskers : The classic rivalry from the Big 8 returns, although it won't be as close as it used to be.  OKLAHOMA by 18

#7 Michigan State Spartans at #19 Washington Huskies : I don't think the Huskies are prepared for the defense they will face.  This will likely be a low-scoring game, as the Spartans offense is still getting themselves together.  MICHIGAN STATE by 11

Akron Zips at #8 Tennessee Volunteers : The Zips have no zip, so this will be an easy win.  TENN by 26

Fresno State Broncos at #9 USC Trojans : The Trojans are a strong team this year, which bodes ill for the Bulldogs.  Fresno State is capable of competing, but I think USC is too strong for it to last.  USC by 23

Purdue Boilermakers at #10 Syracuse Orange : Syracuse is hot, but Purdue can surprise.  I don't think they'll win, but they may make the game closer than Syracuse would like.  SYRACUSE by eight

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at #11 Clemson Tigers : Clemson still has some struggles on offense, but their defense will clamp down on the Bulldogs.  CLEMSON by 16

Youngstown State Penguins at #12 Kentucky Wildcats : Easy win for the Wildcats.  KENTUCKY by lots

Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions at #13 Oklahoma State Cowboys : The Cowboys will rope in the Lions.  OKLAHOMA STATE by lots

#14 BYU Cougars at Oregon Ducks : We'll see how well the Ducks recover from their pasting at the hands of Georgia, but BYU will keep them on their toes.  BYU by 24

Colorado Buffaloes at #15 Minnesota Golden Gophers : The Gophers dynamic offense will overwhelm the Buffaloes.  MINNESOTA by 23

#16 Mississippi State Bulldogs at LSU Tigers : The Tigers are struggling a bit right now.  If they right the ship, this game will get really interesting, but I think LSU needs more time.  MISSISSIPPI STATE by 18

Sout Alabama Jaguars at #17 UCLA Bruins : The Bruins will ensure that Jaguars do not get two upsets in a row.  UCLA by 24

Nicholls State Colonels at #20 Arkansas Razorbacks : I don't see an FCS upset here.  ARKANSAS by lots

Tulane Green Wave at #21 Kansas State Wildcats : K State finds an easy opponent to pad their rssume.  KANSAS STATE by 23

SMU Mustangs at #22 Maryland Terrapins : Maryland is a fierce force against non-conference opponents, as SMU will discover.  MARYLAND by 20

#23 Miami Hurricanes at Texas A&M Aggies : Tough timing on this one.  If the Aggies had won last week, they might be complacent and let Miami dominate early.  Now the Aggies have something to prove after the shocking loss last week.  The key is whether they CAN come back.  Miami has a great defense, and they will certainly analyze film from last week to prepare for this game.  I don't think A&M has fixed their problems that quickly.  MIAMI by 16

#24 Marshall Thundering Herd at Bowling Green Falcons : Easy win for the Herd, as the Falcons can't get off the ground.  MARSHALL by 23

Big Ten

Southern Illinois Salukis at Northwestern Wildcats : The Wildcats get a chance to regroup after their Duke loss.  NORTHWESTERN by 16

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Indiana Hoosiers : The Hoosiers offense will overpower the Hilltoppers defense.  The key will be how well the Hilltoppers offense plays.  They might keep this game close.  INDIANA by 12

Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Temple Owls : The Knights will generate a strong offensive scheme.  RUTGERS by 18

New Mexico State Aggies at Wisconsin Badgers : The Badgers get a chance to roll over an opponent as they work out what happened against Washingotn State.  WISCONSIN by 24

Penn State Nittany Lions at Auburn Tigers : Auburn is down this year, but Sean Clifford as not developed, so these two teams are fairly close.  I favor the stronger defense in Penn State, but it will take the last drive to determine a winner.  PENN STATE by four

Nevada Wolf Pack at Iowa Hawkeyes : Both teams lost last week, but the Wolf Pacl ;looked even worse than Iowa.  The Hawkeyes defense will be the key to victory.  IOWA by six

MAC

Cincinnati Bearcats at Miami Ohio RedHawks : No contest here.  CINCINNATI by 24

Long Island Sharks at Kent State Golden Flashes : Kent State should win here, but their team is weak and the Sharks have already warmed up against an FCS opponent, so watch out for an upset.  KENT STATE by eight

Buffalo Bulls at Coastal Carolina Chanticleers : Buffalo is not as good as I predicted, so this one will end differently than I figured when I wrote my preview column.  COASTAL CAROLINA by 20

Bucknell Bison at Central Michigan Chippewas : This one should be as easy for the Chippewas as their opening week game.  CENTRAL MICHIGAN by 24

Ohio Bobcats at Iowa State Cyclones : Hot off their defeat of in-state rival Iowa, the Cyclones are feelign their power.  Ohio doesn't have much power, as Penn State demonstrated.  IOWA STATE by 23

Murray State Racers at Ball State Cardinals : If this were basketball, I would pick the visiting team with no question.  In football, the Racers aren't as strong, but they could be strong enough to defeat a pathetic Ball State team.  I'll still call it for the FBS team, but a FCS upset seems possible here.  BALL STATE by six

Vanderbilt Commodores at Northern Illinois Huskies : Vandy opened the season scoring at will against Hawaii, but the Huskies have a much better defense.  NORTHERN ILLINOIS by 13

Pitt Panthers at Western Michigan Broncos  : Pitt will bounce back powerfully here.  PITT by 23

Eastern Michigan Eagles at Arizona State Sun Devils : I hope the Eagles enjoy the weather in Arizona, because there won't be much other joy.  ARIZONA STATE by 26

 

Other Games of Interest

Towson Tigers at West Virginia Mountaineers : I picked this one just because it might be another FCS upset, as the Mountaineers absolutely stink right now.  I'll pick them because they SHOULD win.  WEST VIRGINIA by six

NCAA Football 2022 Week 2 results and Top 25

 We are two (almost three) weeks deep into the 2022 season, and we have enough teams who have played FBS teams to create my first Top 25 rankings.  It will still be somewhat volatile, as teams like Oregon have only one FBS game in their results, and they lost to a stronger team.  Remember, teams cannot be included in my Top 25 if they have a losing record against FBS opponents.

Top 25

1. GEORGIA BULLDOGS (2-0) : Crushing Oregon gave them this position, and they haven't done anything to lose it

2.  Ohio State Buckeyes (2-0) : Only Alabama does a better job of making halftime adjustments, so this team is dangerous in the second half

3.  Alabama Crimson Tide (2-0) : Nearly losing to Texas was not good, but that could be due to a strong Texas team

4.  Texas Longhorns (1-1) : In fact, that performance puts Texas here.  If they can't sustain it, they will slide, but right now they are one of the most impressive teams in the country.

5.  Michigan Wolverines (2-0) : A strong mix of offense and defense, and it seems like the QB controversy is over

6.  Oklahoma Sooners (2-0)

7.  Michigan State Spartans (2-0)

8.  Tennessee Volunteers (2-0) : The Vols often start off strongly and then fade as the season progresses, but they've earned this spot for now

9.  USC Trojans (2-0) : The most impressive Pac-12 team

10.  Syracuse Orange (2-0) : Wow!  Does this team look good!  With some QB issues at Clemson, could they win the ACC?

11. Clemson Tigers (2-0)

12. Kentucky Wildcats (2-0) : Impressive win over Florida!  This team seems loaded for bear

13. Oklahoma State Cowboys (2-0)

14. BYU Cougars (2-0)

15. Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-0) This is a strong team.  With slips by Wisconsin and Northwestern and a collapse of Iowa, this might be the favorite to win the West division

16. Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-0)

17. UCLA Bruins (2-0)

18.  TCU Horned Frogs (2-0)

19. Washington Huskies (2-0)

20. Arkansas Razorbacks (2-0)

21. Kansas State Wildcats (2-0)

22. Maryland Terrapins (2-0)

23. Miami Hurricanes (2-0)

24. Marshall Thundering Herd (2-0) : Irish who?

25. Toledo Rockets (2-0)

Upsets and Surprises

The biggest upset was probably Marshall's defeat of Notre Dame (because, let's face it, Texas A&M really wasn't as good as hyped.  I even marked that one as a likely upset).  Equally surprising was the domination of Texas over Alabama.  

The Sun Belt had a tremendous day.  As well as Marshall's upset of Notre Dame and Appalachian State beating the Aggies, Georgia Southern beat Nebraska and South Alabama beat Central Michigan.  The FCS grabbed a couple more upsets, as Incarnate Word beat Nevada and Weber State beat Utah State.  Kansas, a frequent Big XII bottom-feeder, outplayed West Virginia.

Big Ten Report

Not a good day for the West division.  Northwestern, Nebraska, and Wisconsin were upset.  Iowa lost, but I figured on that one.  The most impressive teams in the division were Minnesota and Illinois, which could make conference play interesting.  Illinois still had WAAAAYYY too many turnovers.  Their defense prevented Virginia from capitalizing on ANY of them, but a stronger offense could.

Other than some struggles by Indiana, the West division performed very well.  Michigan and Penn State were a bit more dominant than expected, but there were no surprises.  That division will be highly competitive, and fun to watch.

 

MAC Attack

After this week, it seems Toledo is clearly the top team in the league.  Central Michigan, after an exceptional first week, collapsed.  Western Michigan won the first conference face-off, but strggled against a weak Ball State team.

NFL 2022 Week 1 picks

 Welcome to a new season of NFL Football!  We start with some exciting matchups this weekend, so let's start.

Thursday evening

Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Rams : Bills QB josh Allen has a full force of offensive firepower, much more than the Rams defense can stop.  Ta,s QB Matthew Stafford has a tougher issue.  Not only is his offense a bit weaker, but he is missing his second-best wide receiver.  That slows their offense, and gives the Bills an advantage.  BILLS,  27-20

Sunday early games

Baltimore Ravens at New York  Jets : The Ravens march into town, and Jets QB Joe Flacco has a target on his back.  The Ravens defense will be after him, and the Jets offensive line isn't strong enough to hold them back.  I'm not sure Flacco will make it through the entire game, and he will certainly find himself on the turf frequently.  RAVENS, 17-10

Cleveland Browns at Carolina Panthers :  Like the Ravens, the Browns come to the new home of their former QB.  Baker Mayfield spent three years featured on television calling Browns stadium his home, and he deserted them at the first offer of better money.  Trust me that the Browns defense knows this, and want to set an example.  The Panthers needed a new QB because they couldn't keep ones, due to a porous offensive line.  Guess what?  That line hasn't gotten any better, which is not good news for Mayfield.  BROWNS, 20-13

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans : The Colts don't really have the offensive tools to get back the Texans defense.  While not as strong as they have been in previous years, it is still a stiff defense.  Their fragily area is the defensive backfield, but the Colts don't have a decent long passing game, so they won't be able to exploit that weakness.  TEXANS, 16-13

Jacksonville Jaguars at Washington Commanders : It took two years for the Washington football team to find a new name.  One thing that hasn't changed in that two year period?  A consistent offense for the Jaguars.  COMMANDERS, 17-10

 New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins : The Patriots are not the impenetrable force they used to be, but they still create clever game plans, so they are always a threat.  The Dolphins have the stingier defense and a good offense, but this game will not be easy.  DOLPHINS, 20-17

New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons : The Saints offense isn't the force it was when Drew Brees led it, but they still have Kamara and some great hands. That's more than the Falcons have.  SAINTS, 28-17

Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions : We won't see much offense between these two teams, and the Eagles have the better defense.  EAGLES, 16-13

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals : Although Mitch Trubisky will prove to be a poor choice of starting QB for the Steelers, their offenses is in better shape than the Lions.  The Steelers have the edge on defense, too.  STEELERS, 20-16

San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bears : Trey Lance was impressive in preseason, but there is a big difference between preseason and regular season.  Can he handle the tough defense he will face from the Bears?  I don't think he'll handle it well enough.  BEARS, 26-23

Sunday late games

Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings : The Packers once again are the favorite in the division, and even the conference.  PACKERS, 27-23

Kansas City Chiefs at Arizona Cardinals : The Cards defense is not strong enough to stop the powerful Chiefs.  CHIEFS, 30-20

Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Chargers : Oh, man, this game could go either way.  Both offenses are steady, and both defenses are stiff.  I usually like the home team in these situations, but those sneaky Raiders might pull this one out.  RAIDERS, 24-20

New York Giants at Tennessee Titans : The Giants haven't rebuilt the roster completely, while the Titans have a scary defense.  It'll be a tough day for the Giants.  TITANS, 16-10

Sunday night

Tampa Bay Bucs at Dallas Cowboys : The Cowboys are tough at home, but the Bucs are a real powerhouse.  BUCS, 32-27

Monday Night Football

Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks : Seattle can be tough to beat at home, and the Broncos aren't quite solid enough to overcome that home field advantage.  SEAHAWKS, 20-16

NFL 2022 Preview

 We're almost at the start of another exciting season of NFL football!  I have 32 teams to examine, so let's jump right into it!

AFC East

1.  Buffalo Bills (12-5 overall/5-1 division) : The Bills are loaded for bear on offense, and some excellent defensive additions make them strong on that side of the ball.  A run for the conference title is possible.  QB Josh Allen has some excellent targets, and the running game is solid.

2.  Miami Dolphins (6-11/4-2) : Tua's development has slowed, but the offense is still good.  The line, though, needs some shoring up.  I expect the Dolphins to use at least three QBs this season, and all three will spend time on the IR list.  At least a strong defense will keep them competitive.

3.  New England Patriots (6-11/3-3) : The glory days in Foxboro are gone, but they still have capable players who work well together.  They just can't produce the magic, and fourth quarter comebacks will be hard.

4.  New York Jets (4-13/0-6) : Joe Flacco has incentive to play well in Week 1, as they play the Ravens, but the Ravens will look to take him down.  With a weak offensive line, he will get caught.  with him injured, the Jets do not have a decent backup, so the Jets will flounder until he returns.

AFC North

1.  Cleveland Browns (12-5/4-2) : This team has packed themselves with tons of talent.  They need to get them working together.  If they do, this team is the favorite in a division that is down this season.

2.  Baltimore Ravens (11-6/4-2) : A strong defense and a quick and sneaky offense makes them tough, but perhaps their best squad is special teams.  They will turn a couple of games around with that squad.

3.  Pittsburgh Steelers (5-12/3-3) : What were they thinking, making Mitch Trubisky  their starting QB?  He's good, but he takes too long to make a decision.  I'm not sure the offensive line can consistently give him that much time.  The defense is still solid, and might give the Steelers offense some short field opportunities.

4.  Cincinnati Bengals (5-12/1-5) : QB Joe Burrows has talent, but his receiving corps is not sharp.  They are definitely better designed for a running game, but how far can that carry them?

AFC South

1. Tennessee Titans (9-8/5-1) : Ryan Tannehill has a limited set of talented receivers.  This team is definitely set up to be a running team.The defense took some losses, so there are question marks about how strong their defense will be.

2. Houston Texans (6-11/4-2) : The offense looks pretty thin.  The defense is good, but not as strong as it has been in previous years.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13/2-4) : The team still needs to give Trevor Lawrence better tools.  Some improvement on defense, but this defense had nowhere to go but up.

4. Indianapolis Colts (4-13/1-5) : Offense has some good talent, but a restructured line will make it hard for that team to establish a rhythm.  Strong defensive secondary, but the line has questions.

AFC West

This is clearly the best division of the conference, and will likely provide three playoff teams.

1.  Kansas City Chiefs (14-3/5-1) : This is clearly the most talented team in the conference.  If they can reduce costly errors and rein in Mahomes enthusiasm, so he doesn't make so many risky throws, this team could win the conference.

2. Las Vegas Raiders (12-5/4-2) : Their offense benefits from some acquisitions, but the defense might have taken a step backwards.  Not a big step, mind you, but they might lose a couple of close games that they could have won.

3. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6/3-3) : The Chargers still have a strong line and great corners, but the secondary might be a bit of an issue.  Offense is capable, and set up for short to medium gains that chew up lots of clock.

4. Denver Broncos (4-13/0-6) : The Broncos return to their roots with a strong slate of running back, and even a mobile QB.  Russell Wilson has some good receiving tools, but a thin bench means injuries will kill them.

NFC East

1. Dallas Cowboys (9-8/5-1) : Strong defense and stellar offense makes this team look good on paper, but they have NO planned backup for QB Dak Prescott!  THAT is a dangerous situation.

2. Philadelphia Eagles (7-10/2-4) : Strong defensive line, but the offensive line isn't quite as strong.  Jalen Hurts will be running out of the pocket,  Wide receiving corps is thin, so that is a concern.

3. Washington Commanders (6-11/3-3) : The offense counts on the pass, as their running game si weak.  Defense needs some work, so this team will need long pass plays and an offensive game plan to outscore opponents.

4. New York Giants (5-12/2-4) : This team is still rebuilding.  Defense is looking better, except the line has some questions.  Offense is weaker.

NFC North

1. Green Bay Packers (13-4/5-1) : They shored up their offensive line to help protect Aaron Rodgers, so the Pack is dangerous.  Bench is still a bit thin, so injuries can still hurt them, but the bench is better than a few years ago.

2. Chicago Bears (12-5/4-2) : The defense is good, but these aren't Monsters of the Midway.  Justin Fields has improved, and Trevor Siemian is really good.  The receivers are young, but they are improving.  This team will get better as the season progresses.

3.  Minnesota Vikings (11-6/3-3) : Kurt Cousins has this offense moving, and the front office has given him some helpful tools.  Defense is improved, but the secondary seems a little slow, so they might be vulnerable to big plays.

4.  Detroit Lions (5-12/0-6) : Jared Goff still needs better receivers to work with.

NFC South

1.  Tampa Bay Bucs (13-4/5-1) : This is a high-powered offense.  Defense is strong, too, so this team is a major force.

2.  New Orleans Saints (12-5/4-2) :One of the few teams with a better slate of tight ends than wide receivers, they live off short yardage.  That usually gives them the edge in time of possession, and allows their defense to stay rested.

3.  Atlanta Falcons (4-13/2-4) : Marcus Mariota has decent receiversm but they aren't outstanding.  Cordarrelle Patterson gives them a solid running game, but they need more than that, even with an improved defense.

4.  Carolina Panthers (3-14/1-5) : RB Christian McCaffrey remains the best player on the whole team, which is not a good situation.

NFC West

1. San Francisco 49ers (9-8/4-2) : Trey Lance won the starting job, and everyone is high on him.  The defense will help ensure he doesn't have to come back from a large deficit, which helps Lance get comfortable.  How far the 49ers go will depend upon how quickly Trey Lance gets comfortable.

2. Los Angeles Rams (9-8/4-2) : Matthew Stafford has a great slate of receivers.  The offensive line is a bit porous, so he'll have to target them quickly.  The defense is good, but not outstanding.

3. Seattle Seahawks (7-10/3-3) : Geno Smith and Drew Locke have a slate of inexperienced receivers, so a strong running game will be important. There defense will keep games close, but they might lose more of those than they'd like.

4. Arizona Cardinals (6-11/1-5) : Kyle Murray has some good receivers, but a weak line gives him very little time to throw.  The defense has holes, too.

NCAA Football 2022 Week 2 picks

Fri Sept 9

Boise State Broncos at New Mexico Lobos : Well, this one seems rather obvious... BOISE STATE by 23

Sat Sept 10

Big Ten

Arkansas State Red Wolves at Ohio State Buckeyes : Obvious #2. OHIO STATE by 26

Western Illinois Leathernecks at Minnesota Golden Gophers : Another game where I really won't be able to judge the quality of Minnesota's program.  MINNESOTA by 18

Duke Blue Devils at Northwestern Wildcats : Duke crumbles under a stiff defense, and that's what the Wildcats have.  NORTHWESTERN by 12

Ohio Bobcats at Penn State Nittany Lions : Am I crazy here?  yes, I'm picking Penn State, but I really think the Bobcats have a chance to take this one.  If they do win, it might be the upset of the day.  PENN STATE by six

Washington State Cougars at Wisconsin Badgers : The Cougars can't keep up with the Badgers, and the "grind it out" offense of Wisconsin will exhaust their defense.  WISCONSIN by 23

Maryland Terrapins at Charlotte 49ers : Charlotte looks pretty pathetic.  MARYLAND by 24

Akron Zips at Michigan State Spartans : Akron doesn't have much oomph, and might not score at all against the stiff defense of the Spartans.  MICHIGAN STATE by 24

Iowa State Cyclones at Iowa Hawkeyes : With no offense to speak of, I don't see Iowa winning this in-state rivalry game.  IOWA STATE by 11

Virginia Cavaliers at Illinois Fighting Illini : Illinois slipped up last week, but their defense will frustrate the Cavs.  ILLINOIS by 13

Indiana State Sycamores at Purdue Boilermakers : The Boilermakers will roll here.  PURDUE by 23

Wagner Seahawks at Rutgers Scarlet Knights : Rutgers beat the Boston College Eagles last week, so Wagner shouldn't give them much trouble.  RUTGERS by 16 

Georgia Southern Panthers at Nebraska Cornhuskers : Nebraska's defense is struggling, but their offense should propel them over the Panthers.  NEBRASKA by 12

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at Michigan Wolverines : I'm not sure the Wolverine defense will even give up a touchdown.  Two field goals by the Warriors won't cut it.  MICHIGAN by 28

Idaho Vandals at Indiana Hoosiers : After their performance against a tough Illini defense, I don't see how the Vandals can stop the Hoosiers.  INDIANA by 26

MAC

South Alabama Jaguars at Central Michigan Chippewas : Whatever the over/under is on this one, take the over.  CENTRAL MICHIGAN by 24

Western Michigan Broncos at Ball State Cardinals : MAC play begins with two teams who were not expected to do much, although the Broncos showed heart and drive last week.  WESTERN MICHIGAN by 13

Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Bowling Green Falcons : We have another potential FCS upset here, but I think the Falcons might squeeze out a win.  BOWLING GREEN by four 

Holy Cross Crusaders at Buffalo Bulls : No FCS upset here.  BUFFALO by 23

Robert Morris Colonials at Miami Ohio RedHawks : The RedHawks were not impressive in their opener, but Robert Morris doesn't have much in the tank, so they should get a game to put the pieces together.  MIAMI OHIO by 16

Kent State Golden Flashes at Oklahoma Sooners : The scheduling gods really played a mean trick on the Flashes here.  OKLAHOMA by 27

UMass Minutemen at Toledo Rockets : The Rockets will seem like a squad of Minuteman missiles when they take aim at UMass.  TOLEDO by 20

Northern Illinois Juskies at Tulsa Golden Hurricane : The Huskies stumbled last week, but they'd have to totally collapse to lose to the struggling Golden Hurricane.  NORTHERN ILLINOIS by 13

Eastern Michigan Eagles at Louisiana Ragin Cajuns : The Eagles were very impressive last week.  I had predicted a MAC loss here when I researched my preview column, but I'm changing my vote here.  EASTERN MICHIGAN by 13

Other Games of Interest

Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Vanderbilt Commodores : Perhaps one of the biggest surprises so far in this young season is the strength of the Commodores offense.  I'll pick the Deacons, but this one could be an upset win for the home team.  WAKE FOREST by six

UTSA Roadrunners at Army Black Knights : After last week, this one is an easy pick.  UTSA by 16Lafayette Leopards at Temple Owls : Temple doesn't look too good.  This one could be a FCS upset, too.  TEMPLE by fourAppalachian State Mountaineers at Texas A&M Aggies : You know, I think the Aggies will get a little overconfident on this one.  They should win, but this one may be closer than anyone wants.  TEXAS A&M by six

Tennessee Volunteers at Pitt Panthers : I was very impressed by Tennessee this past week.  I think they can continue that, at least until SEC play starts.  TENNESSEE by seven

Memphis Tigers at Navy Midshipmen : After the disaster engineered by Navy, Memphis becomes an attractive pick.  MEMPHIS by 12Houston Cougars at Texas Tech Red Raiders : After surviving the marathon game against UTSA, the Cougars are pumped.  They could send this one into their second consecutive overtime game.  TEXAS TECH by three

Northern Colorado Bears at Wyoming Cowboys : The Cowboys needed two overtime periods to beat a weak Tulsa team, so they cannot feel comfortable.  Could we be looking at another FCS upset?  WYOMING by four

 Old Dominion Monarchs at East Carolina Pirates : Both of these teams impressed me, and played much better than I expected.  The Monarchs got their win, and insults by Virginia Tech may inspire them to make it two in a row.  The Pirates defense may have something to say about that, though.  OLD DOMINION by six

Kentucky Wildcats at Florida Gators : After seeing the Gators make mincemeat out of the Utes, the Wildcats seem like another tasty morsel.  FLORIDA by 23

Baylor Bears at BYU Cougars : Both are these teams were impressive last week, but the Bears seem to have a bit more firepower.  This one could go either way, though.  BAYLOR by six

Oregon State Beavers at Fresno State Bulldogs : With the Ducks collapse and Utah's loss, the Beavers might be the favorite to win the North division, and perhaps the entire conference.  OREGON STATE by 16

Big Ten Focus #1 - Purdue

 I now begin my once-a-week analysis of the 14 teams in the Big Ten Conference, in honor of the final year that I will be featuring them in my columns.  I will mostly go in order of the teams' admission to the conference, except I will be postponing my Alma Mater, and founding member, the University of Illinois, to the final week.

The Big Ten Conference was actually the brainchild of the President of Purdue University at the time, so I will start with founding member Purdue.  Purdue has been a stronger conference competitor in other sports, but the football team has seen some success.  They have had five unbeaten seasons in their history, the last occurring in 1943.  That was also the last of their conference titles, sharing it with Michigan.  They had previously shared the conference crown with Michigan in 1931 and 1932.  The only year the Boilermakers were the lone conference champ was 1929.

Purdue has sent several players to the NFL, but perhaps their most prominent have been three quarterbacks.  All three of these gentlemen have won Super Bowls, and each made major contributions to their teams and the league.  Perhaps none so much as Len Dawson, who recently passed away.  Dawson played in the first Super Bowl (losing to Bart Starr's Green Bay Packers) and then returned three years later to give the Kansas City Chiefs their only Super Bowl title in the 20th Century.

Another major Prudue graduate QB was Bob Griese.  Not only is he one of a small number of QBs to win back-to-back Super Bowls, he is also the only QB to lead a perfect unbeaten team, the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Of course, the most recent Super Bowl QB from Purdue was Drew Brees.  He is most known for turning around the fortunes of the "also ran" New Orleans Saints, basically single-handedly removing the "Aints" nickname from the New Orleans vernacular.  He also was one of the first football players to initiate recovery programs after Hurricane Katrina, forging a still-unbreakable connection vetween the player and his adopted city.

(Incidently, Purdue is one of only two schools to have produced three Super Bowl winning QBs.  The other school?  Alabama, who produced the first two Super Bowl winning QBS in Bart Starr and Joe Namath)

Another interesting fact about Purdue -- the have the second oldest rivalry trophy in the Old Oaken Bucket, the prize awarded to the winner of the in=state rivalry game with Indiana.

NCAA Football 2022 Week 1 results

 I don't have a Top25 yet.  As most of my longtime readers know, I only consider wins against FBS teams (except in a team's overall record).  With so many teams playing FCS teams this week, the rankings would not be an accurate representation of the team's strengths this season.

I do have enough to discuss my other sections.  This year I will have two conference discussion sections, one for the Big Ten (for the last time) and one for the MAC.  I will also still discuss upsets and surprises, which I'll discuss first:

Shockers

Thursday night gave us four shocking results.  Three of them came from FCS teams, and they weren't even the strongest ones.  St Francis, Bryant, and Eastern Illinois all nearly upset their FCS opponents.  It definitely diminishes the expectations of Florida International and Northern Illinois.

The other surprise came out the Mid-American Conference.  Despite trailing by a significant margin at halftime, Central Michigan made halftime adjustments and outplayed the Oklahoma State Cowboys defense in the second half.  While the Cowboys won, this game shows that the Cowboys need to shore up their defense or they will not contend in the Big XII.

Friday had the next surprise, including the first FCS victory.  William and Mary defeated the Charlotte 49ers and notched the first win for the FCS.

The other Friday surprise inspired one of the worst instances of sore losing seen in the NCAA.  Old Dominion defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies in a close and highly competitive game.  However, on Saturday, students and coaches from Virginia Tech stated that Old Dominion players had stolen personal items from their lockers, even though stadium security officials swear that they didn't see any Old Dominion players around the Hokies locker room.  Now Virginia Tech is demanding compensation, which likely means they want the money paid to Old Dominion to be returned.  I doubt they'll get their wish, but this stunt might cause the NCAA to not schedule FCS teams to play the Hokies for a few years.  That means they will have to play a tougher FBS team, and given the Hokies aren't as good as they think, that likely means an additional loss each season.  Hoperfully they will miss bowl eligibility at least once as a result of this.

Saturday didn't let up on the surprises, including two more FCS victories.  Delaware beat Navy, and Liberty beat Southern Mississippi in four overtime periods.Surprises weren't limited to FCS games, though.  Struggling East Carolina, whose normal strength is their defense, nearly beat nationally-ranked NC State in a flurry of fourth quarter offense.  I would suggest that this near-loss should drop them from the national ranks, but I doubt that will happen.  Further evidence that the national rankings are not to be trusted fully.

Gang of Five teams engineered a couple of other upsets.  The Ohio Bobcats beat the Florida Atlantic Owls in a ferocious offensive battle.  Given the performance of the Owls last week, this was a major surprise.  Coastal Carolina thoroughly dominated the cadets of Army, demonstrating a porous defense in the Black Knights.

Big Ten Report

Let's take a careful look at each team.  I already commented on Nebraska and Northwestern last week, and neither team did anything this week to change those perspectives.  For the other twelve teams, let's examine them, in order of appearance:

Penn State Nittany Lions : Their offense has developed as much as it can.  Their biggest problem is sixth-year QB Sean Clifford.  He did not improve between 2020 and 2021, and he hasn't improved this year.  Worse, he thinks he's better than he is, so he makes too many dangerous throws.  He left the Purdue game injured, but he'll be back.  The Nittany Lions might do better if he doesn't.

Purdue Boilermakers : They should have beaten Penn State.  The Boilermakers had stopped the Lions twice and third down during the Nitanny Lions' final drive, but personal foul penalties gave them first downs.  If the Purdue defense can learn to control their tempers, they might have a very successful season.

Minnesota Golden Gophers : Hard to make a really accurate determination, as they played a weak team.  The offense looks good, though.

Michigan State Spartans L This team seems solid.  The defense is stout.  The offense needs some work, but they seem aware of that, so they can work on it.

Illinois Fighting Illini : They have a strong defense, although they need to play a full game.  They got lazy for the last Indiana drive, giving the Hoosiers the change to win.  Their offense needs a new approach.  I think the playcaller was trying to appease his head coach.  Bret Bielema had burly running backs at Wiscomsom, players who could run into a wall of defenders and push them back.  Illinois running back Chase Brown is not built that way.  He needs to use his speed to AVOID defenders.  This was clearly at play in their second-to-last drive int he fourth quarter.  Third down and goal at the two yard line, the ball was handed to Brown.  Brown had pointed his body to the right, and the Hoosiers COMPLETELY covered that side of the line.  There were NO defenders to the left.  If Brown had paid attention to the location of the defenders, he would have noticed that.  After the handoff, he would have spun and run left and scored a touchdown.  That would have given the Illini seven more points (they failed to score on fourth down in that drive) and that last Hoosier drive would not have made a difference, and Illinois would have won.  Both Brown the QB Devito need to develop a better sense of where the defenders are on the field.  They should also devote a significant amount of practice having Devito work with Isaiah Williams,  They would not in synch for much of the game.

Indiana Hoosiers : QB Connor Baselak tales too many chances, and their defense isn't good enough to make up for turnovers.  Yes, they won their first game, but it wasn't pretty.  They need to work on their defense, and rieign in Baselak.

Michigan Wolverines : They definitely look good.  We'll have to see if Coach Harbaugh is serious about his intention to switch quarterbacks in alternative games.  That might be a little too confusing for these young players.

 Iowa Hawkeyes : Great defense, but their offense stinks!

Maryland Terrapins : Their offense is as impressive as I expected, but their defense is WAAYY more potent than I thought.  This team will be a force.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights : The offense is streaky.  If plays are going well, they have the momentum and play well.  It takes them a drive or two to overcome adversity, which could put them too far behind against opponents with strong offenses.

Wisconsin Badgers : Like Minnesota, it's hard to tell, as they played such a weak team.  Still, they look solid.

Ohio State Buckeyes : They definitely look like the conference champion.  Yes, they started the game slow, but that's typical for the Buckeyes under Ryan Day.  Look at what they did in the second half.  This team makes the best halftime adjustments in the conference, and they have the talent to implement those adjustments.

MAC Attacks

It wasn't a great week for the MAC, but wait until they play Big Ten opponents!  They love to make life difficult for their more prominent Midwest conference.  There were major victories, like Toledo, and major losses, like Ball State.  I've already discussed the surprise performances earlier in this column, so let's see how looks primed to make an impact in the conference.I'd say the four strongest teams appear to be Toledo, Buffalo, Central Michigan, and Ohio.  Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan has some strengths and could threaten.  The other teams need work.