One Sentence Predictions: Week 9
After going 19-11 in the opening week of the One Sentence predictions last week saw ITB come out to a very similar 21-12 record in picking games straight up. Going right in there at a generously rounded 64% means a little bit of improvement from Week 7 to Week 8. The total after two weeks is 40-23 and we're picking games at a strong 63.5% thus far.
Looking at the picks the most shocking moments came from the ACC as the league I know the best I posted just a 2-4 mark while performing quite well in all the rest of the leagues. Here's the conference shake out:
ACC (2-4)
Big XII (3-3)
Big Ten (3-2)
Big East (4-1)
Pac 10 (4-1)
SEC (5-1)
In other words .500 or better everywhere but the league I spend my Saturdays watching on Raycom. So, going into Week Nine I decided to rein in the reach picks (ie KU over OU, Michigan over Penn State from a week ago) and focus on getting closer to 70%.
Leave your picks in the comments and we'll see how this week shakes out.
The Pac 10
Now that the pressure is gone it seems like Jeff Tedford's guys remembered that they were a preseason Top Ten team; California 38 Arizona State 24
Oregon State will help the Bruins continue their record setting slide down into the Pac 10 cellar; Oregon State 37 UCLA 21
It is a shame that Washington State has to travel over 2,000 miles just to get their brains beat in at the Alamodome; Notre Dame 45 Washington State 13
Chip Kelly's first year heroics are quite a story but this is an elimination game and Taylor Mays is going to eat the Ducks for lunch; USC 31 Oregon 24
Read more for the rest of the predictions folks...
The Big XII
For two weeks in a row Nebraska has lost and in turn made me look foolish so I'm hoping the third time is the charm; Nebraska 31 Baylor 17
Mizzou is still searching for their first Big XII win and Boulder is a place where stealing a game is a real possibility; Mizzou 28 Colorado 13
Another battle of two surprisingly "not winless" teams seems pretty even so I learn towards second year guy Mike Sherman, no reason just a whim; Texas A&M 34 Iowa State 27
Todd Reesing's assault on video game statistics has come up quite short lately but lucky for him the Red Raiders and their "fat little girlfriends" refuse to play defense; Kansas 45 Texas Tech 38
Kansas State shares the title of "surprise" of the Big XII season with a three loss Oklahoma but for very different reasons; Oklahoma 38 Kansas State 20
Oklahoma State kills the Big XII's national title shot by unleashing their offensive fury all over the Longhorns; Oklahoma State 48 Texas 42
The Big East
South Florida and Jim Leavitt continue their much anticipated second half of the season slide into obscurity; West Virginia 28 South Florida 17
UConn stands proud at home to turn back Rutgers and show their true mettle; UConn 27 Rutgers 21
RIP Jasper Howard
The Paulus-palooza plays the league's best team and Cincinnati with the Bearcats back up quarterback is still fully capable of handling the Orange; Cincinnati 38 Syracuse 17
Louisville is an upset special, the wheels are officially off, as they square off against a team that #5 Iowa just barely snuck by; Arkansas State 24 Louisville 17
The SEC
Ole Miss takes their show to the Plains where Gus Malzahn and Co hope they can score points with Nutt's team, they can't; Ole Miss 38 Auburn 28
Arkansas gets a nice break from the SEC grind with their mid-season contest against Eastern Michigan; Arkansas 45 Eastern Michigan 17
Dan Mullen's crew played valiantly against Florida and now they reap their rewards by beating up on Kentucky; Mississippi State 27 Kentucky 20
LSU found a little bit of offense against Auburn last week and playing against a struggling Tulane should help Russell Shepard, Jordan Jefferson and Gary Crowton get ready for next week; LSU 34 Tulane 3
Georgia Tech puts the Commodores into The Eliminator and crushes them on their way towards the ACC title game; Georgia Tech 38 Vanderbilt 17
The old mouth versus the new mouth in the SEC and realistically this could be South Carolina's last true shot at a victory; South Carolina 17 Tennessee 14
The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party has festivities written all over it and while Florida is ripe for the picking Mark Richt's team isn't ready to harvest the fruit; Florida 24 Georgia 16
The Big Ten
Ohio State got back on track a week ago and they look to fine tune their skills before heading into the thick of their Big Ten schedule; Ohio State 37 New Mexico State 6
The Wolverines look to bounce back against the an Illini team that is definitely primed for The Eliminator; Michigan 31 Illinois 24
Iowa just lost their running back bringing their total of crucial players up to eleventy million but it doesn't matter as long as Ricky Stanzi is there to pull victory from the jaws of defeat; Iowa 20 Indiana 16
Wisconsin looks to pound on Purdue in a fashion that will make former head coach Barry Alvarez quite proud; Wisconsin 21 Purdue 17
Penn State travels into Evanston, Illinois to take on the Wildcats and build some momentum going into the Ohio State contest; Penn State 35 Northwestern 21
Minnesota and Michigan State are the very heart of the middlin' teams in the Big Ten so this is as close to even as a game gets; Michigan State 27 Minnesota 21
The ACC
The last two years the Heels and Hokies have played tight games, tonight should be no different; Virginia Tech 24 North Carolina 16
Tom O'Brien's crew hasn't stopped anyone in the weeks since beating Pittsburgh and Ponder is playing about as well as any quarterback in the nation; Florida State 34 NC State 20
Clemson goes for their third win in a row by beating down the Chanticleers; Clemson 45 Coastal Carolina 10
Miami rebounds as the Deacons' 2006 ACC Title is just a fleeting memory; Miami 37 Wake 13
The Wahoos silence the Devils' ever increasing "respect" chant by restoring order in Charlottesville; Virginia 28 Duke 24
