Paul Prattles On

Hello again!  I'm a little late getting these out, but I promise I didn't change my pick for last night.  My brothers can vouch for this as we have been predicting college football games for more than 40 years, and we all picked Texas in last night's game (they won, 17-7 by the way).  Anyway, before I begin, here are my results so far: Last week, I was a very pedestrian 40-19 for a 67.8% success rate, very poor for my standards.  I actually was doing pretty well until the late games; I missed 5 of the last 6 games completed! Overall, my percentage took a hit, but I am still at a respectable 226-60, or 79%. Here are my picks for this week: Texas over Iowa St Miami, Fla over Duke Nebraska over Illinois Utah St over BYU Wash St over USC Wisconsin over Northwestern  USF over ECU Florida over Vandy Houston over Temple Arkansas over New Mexico St Minnesota over Maryland Pitt over Rice Ga Tech over UNC NC State over Syracuse Boston College over C...

There's quite a bit of movement in this week's rankings.  Just a couple of reminders: wins mean more than anything, and not playing will cause a team to fall in the rankings.  Theoretically, that will even out by the end of the season, as every team will play 12 games.  However, this year, we have had several games cancelled, so that may affect the rankings, as will the conference championship games at the end of the season.  Let's get to it!  The + or - after a team indicates how many places up or down the team moved.  An E indicates even, or no change. 1. Alabama E 2. Oklahoma E 3. Clemson -1 4. USC E 5. Ohio St +2 6. Penn State +2 7. Oklahoma St -2     LSU +2     Washington +3     Georgia +3 11. Michigan +1 12. TCU +1 13. Wisconsin -8 14. Auburn +2       Stanford +2 16. Louisville E 17. Va Tech +1 18. Oregon -5       Notr...

Wow, what an interesting week!  I got to watch quite a bit of football this past Saturday, so hopefully I have a lot more observations add.  Let's start with the SEC. A big deal was made out of the fact that Mississippi State, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt were all 3-0 at the same time for the first time since 1911.  Well, now they're all 3-1.  Georgia played perhaps the best game I've seen them play in a long time, since at least 2012, maybe longer.  It was a complete team effort in dismantling the hopes of Mississippi State.  All phases of the game completely dominated the visitors from Starkville, and sent them home with their tails between their legs.  Now comes a big test as Tennessee, as I'm sure Georgia will get the Volunteers' best shot.  Of course, there is always the matter of the Neyland Stadium turf, as it has claimed numerous Dawgs to season-ending injuries. Alabama completely dominated Vandy, and Florida eked out yet another win over ...

Matthew 20:13-16 But [the landowner] replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first, and the first will be last. I am not a Bible scholar.  In fact, other than my own Bible readings, and listening to sermons through the years, and reading a few spiritual books, I'm not well educated in the Bible at all.  I do read the daily verses and the devotionals published by Forward Movement Day By Day.  These can be found here: http://prayer.forwardmovement.org/forward_day_by_day.php?d=24&m=9&y=2017 As I read today's devotional, I was reminded of the many times Jesus says, "The kingdom of Heaven is like..."  He describes a mustard seed, a lovely pearl, a bit of yeast, a found tr...

Last week, I was 53-12, for a percentage of 81.5%.  Overall, I am 186-41, or 81.9%.  Pretty good, if I say so myself! Now on to my picks for this weekend: USF over Temple Boise St over Virginia Utah over Arizona Ohio St over UNLV FSU over NC St Louisville over Kent St Houston over Texas Tech Tulane over Army Arkansas over Texas A%M Tennessee over UMass W Virginia over Kansas Ga Tech over Pitt Tulsa over New Mexico Va Tech over ODU S Alabama over Idaho Ohio over E Mich Maryland over UCF Alabama over Vandy Clemson over Boston College USC over Cal Okla St over TCU Miami, Fl over Toledo Nebraska over Rutgers Indiana over Ga Southern Wake Forest over Appalachian St Duke over UNC S Carolina over La Tech C Mich over Miami, Oh Navy over Cincinnati Michigan over Purdue Louisiana over La-Monroe Wash St over Nevada Troy over Akron Ga St over Charlotte Oklahoma over Baylor Coastal Carolina over W Illinois N Texas over UAB Georgia over Miss St San ...

Here are my Power Rankings following week 3 of the college football season.  A few reminders: 1)  The formula is my own. 2)  Wins mean more than anything, and losses are better than not playing (usually).  You will see that teams that don't play will fall in the rankings week-to-week.  The number following each team is the movement up (+) or down (-) in the rankings.  An E means no change from last week. 3)  The formula is not perfect.  I will probably need to adjust it when the season is over, but I will let this play out.  You will see lots of teams tied for a particular ranking.  This will lessen as the season wears on (I hope!). 4)  The rankings are meant to determine the best teams by the end of the season, not to predict who would win in any given matchup. 5)  These are meant purely for enjoyment purposes. So... here we go! 1. Alabama E 2. Oklahoma E     Clemson+1 4. USC-1 5. Wisconsn+1   ...

If you've been following my blog, you know that I have changed up the formats of how I present my weekly thoughts.  The first week, I offered impressions by game/team.  Last week, I presented my impressions by conference.  This is due to the fact that I am still feeling my way around this writing business. I like the conference format, so I think I'll stick with that for a while.  However, I will continue to give my impression of the Dawgs either at the beginning or the end of each "Impressions" blog. I attended a production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream last night (my oldest son and his wife were both acting in the play), and so I missed seeing the Georgia game.  However, I recorded it and watched it this afternoon.  First off, the play was fantastic!  For an amateur production, it was very well done, from the costuming to the acting to the lighting and music.  I know their second (and last) performance this afternoon will be just...

After more than 66 hours without power, I am back in the 21st Century.  This blog will present my week 3 power rankings, and my picks for week 3.  So let's get to it! Here are the new rankings.  The number after each team indicates the change from last week.  E means no change. 1. Alabama E 2. Oklahoma +1 3. Clemson +1     USC +3 5. LSU E 6. Ohio St -4     Wisconsin +1     Oklahoma St +3 9. Penn State +2 10. Washington +2       Georgia +6 12. Michigan +2       Louisville +3 14. Stanford -4 15. Auburn -3 16. FSU -9       Oregon +1       TCU +2 19. Kansas St +1 20. Virginia Tech +1 21. Notre Dame -2 22. Utah +5 23. BYU +1 24. Boise St +2       Tennessee +4 26. Texas +4       Texas A&M +4 28. Florida -7     ...

Week 2 is in the books, and there were several surprises.  While I didn't watch as much as last weekend, I have several impressions based on outcomes. Purdue may be much better than they've been in the recent past, after playing well against Louisville in week 1, and then pounding a decent Ohio team in week 2.  It will be interesting to see how they do against Missouri, another team that is a little bit of an enigma. Michigan's defense looks like the real deal! Wisconsin has also looked impressive, unlike other Big10 teams.  Northwestern, and Rutgers played poorly in losses, and Ohio State got blown out late.  Penn State looked impressive in their win over Pitt, dominating the lines, and Indiana, another team that could be much improved,  had a solid win over Virginia.  Michigan St. and Iowa both struggled to wins over lesser opponents while Minnesota and Illinois handled their opponents with ease.  Nebraska still seems to be underwhelming. USC w...

Last week, I was 76-10, a success rate of 88.4%.  Overall, I am 81-10, or 89%.  Chances are, I won't continue at that rate.  Over the years, I have found that I am usually between 73-78%. Here are my picks for Week 2 of the College Football Season: Utah St over Idaho St UCF over Memphis Okla St over S Alabama Purdue over Ohio Michigan over Cincinnati Wisconsin over FAU Louisville over UNC Kansas St over Charlotte USF over UConn Northwestern over Duke W Virginia over E Carolina Army over Buffalo Maryland over Towson Kentucky over E Kentucky Ole Miss over UT Martin Iowa over Iowa St Ga Tech over Jacksonville St Boston College over Wake Forest Colorado over Texas St Ball St over UAB Alabama over Fresno St Penn State over Pitt Va Tech over Delaware Arkansas over TCU Navy over Tulane Temple over Villanova App St over Savannah St Colo St over Abilene Christian Miami Ohio over Austin Peay N Illinois over E Illinois Kent St over Howard (Can Howar...

Hello all!  I know that my posts have not been daily, but have been extremely sporadic.  This is due in no small part to the fact that I have been substitute teaching almost every day.  And yesterday, I started the job of 5th Grade math teacher at the 21st Century After School Program.  This new job runs Monday-Thursday, from 3:00-6:00 pm, so a total of 12 hours per week.  Since I am not allowed to work more than 40 hours in any given week, this means I can sub 3 1/2 days per week. The downside, of course, is if I sub on any day except Friday, I am working from 7:30 am-6:00 pm, but those of you who know me know that I rarely leave right at the end of the day; there are always things to prepare for, and kids to look after until they are picked up. What all this means is that I will probably blog on days I'm not subbing (or subbing only half a day), but I will definitely get out my weekend thoughts on Sunday or Monday, my power rankings on Monday or Tuesday (I h...

Week one in College Football is (almost) in the books.  I watched parts of a number of games this weekend, and have some general impressions about those and other results. Georgia State looks absolutely awful.  This is very disappointing, as I would like to see them do well.  What was especially disappointing was losing to an FCS program while christening their new stadium. Indiana looked ready to challenge Ohio State, but couldn't finish the deal.  They looked very impressive throughout the first half, but looked completely lost in the second half.  Maybe they can make some noise in the Big Ten this year. There was some terrible officiating in the Colorado St-Colorado game.  Several penalty calls were unwarranted, and the officiating crew looked like they were just guessing much of the time.  Three offensive pass interference calls on the same team?  Taking away 2 touchdowns? Game could have been much different... After watching much of t...