Paul Prattles On

Welcome Back! Well, I finally did it! I dropped the preseason points, and so now there are massive changes. Many will absolutely surprise you as I have teams moving as many as 91 spots! This is because of a number of factors. First, we have teams that have played 4 games, some that have played 5, and some that have played as many as 6 games. This is true every year, but it creates challenges. Teams with fewer games have had less opportunity to gain points. Second, without the preseason points, each result has an outsized influence, which means scores from way back in Week Zero (and from each week thereafter) is affecting the rankings more than before. The more games that get played, the less each individual result will affect the standings; it's the accumulation of the points that matters. Third, teams are much closer in points than before. Before I dropped my preseason points, there were 1,403.251 points between 1st place and 136th place (an average of 10.318 between each place); ...

Welcome Back! What an exciting weekend of college football! Six games went into OT, and half of those ended in a 2nd OT. In addition, 24 games ended with the losing team within 8 points or less of the winner.  This year, I decided to keep up with which teams I watch on tv, with a goal of seeing every team. Now, there is no way I can watch every team play a full game, so my criteria is seeing every team play at least one offensive and one defensive drive or series. So far, I have seen 117 of the 136 FBS teams, including every P4 team. I am only missing 1 team from the American (Navy), 4 from the Mountain West, 3 from the Sun Belt, 6 from the MAC, and 5 from CUSA. If that seems like I am prioritizing the G5 teams less, that is only partially true. My TV package does not include ESPN+ or CBS Sports Network, so I have to wait for teams to appear on Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN, SEC, BTN, or ACC networks. I also have the MWC app (it's free!), which allows me to watch contests from the Mountain W...

Welcome Back! Last week, I fell way below 80%, finishing 45-17 (a measly 72.6%), making me 255-56 overall with a winning percentage of 82.0% (down 2.3% from last week).  This week there are "only" 53 games, the fewest so far, but there are some great matchups!  And we go full bore into conference competition. Let's see if I can get back above 80%. So... on with the picks! Thursday, September 25 Army @ East Carolina - The Pirates lead the series 8-1, but the Black Knights won 45-28 last year in West Point. All of ECU's wins came between 1995 and 2004, and last year's game was the 1st time Army held them to under 30 points. Both teams have been inconsistent in the early part of this season, with Army WP at 1-2/0-1, losing to UNT last week and to FCS Tarleton State to open the season, both at home (and both in OT), but beating Kansas State in Manhattan. ECU is 2-2, shutting out CCU and obliterating their FCS foe, and losing by 7 to 3-1 NC State and by 21 to undefeate...