Paul Prattles On

Welcome Back! The first official weekend is in the books, and it all began with a close, exciting game! Unfortunately, the rest of the day was filled with blowouts. Here is what happened. Saturday, August 28 Illinois scored 28 straight points after falling behind 9-2, then held off a Nebraska comeback to win 30-22.  The Illini started slowly, but kept with the ground game that paid dividends in the second half, and passed just enough to be effective.  Unfortunately, starting QB Brandon Peters was injured in the 1st quarter, but Artur Siatkowski, a transfer from Rutgers, came in and played effectively.  The Cornhuskers were plagued by mistakes: fielding a punt at the 2 with momentum taking the player into the end zone, where his knee touched down for a safety; a taunting penalty on top of a roughing the passer penalty that negated an interception and turned the momentum of the game in the Illini's favor; a fumble at the end of the 1st half that was returned for a TD by the...

Welcome Back! This is a Special Edition of my blog, as it is outside of my normal "rotation". But this is a big deal, as there is so much uncertainty as to the future of college football, as it seems to be about to go through a sea change, brought on by the news of Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC, and then the ACC, Big Ten, and PAC 12 announcing a scheduling alliance.  In this blog, I will explore several possibilities of what that future could look like. Let's start with the Big 12.  With the departure of Texas and Oklahoma, whether that be in 2025 as they claim, or whether that happens sooner, the remaining 8 have some decisions to make.  Do they stay together, or do they split apart?  Before the Big 12 formed in 1994 and began play in 1996.  It was formed from the Big Eight (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa State, Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State) and 4 teams from the old Southwest Conference (Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Texas Tec...

Welcome Back! The first games are in 2 days, and it's a rather sparse weekend, hence the "Week Zero" moniker.  Last year, I finished at 71.8%, which was WAY below my usual average (I'm usually around 75%).  You should know that I only only pick who wins, not against the spread.  I'm not into gambling, and I certainly wouldn't use my picks to gamble with (if you do, that's on YOU! ). I don't have inside information, I don't scour injury reports, I don't have a research staff, and this isn't my full time job; it's just a hobby, but I have been following college football for right around 50 years, and I've seen a lot of it.  In this space each week, I will update you on my picking percentage, and whether it went up or down from the previous week.  My goal each year is to be correct 80% of the time over a full season, but I've never actually achieved that.  Most years, I'm right around 75%, but I think my high has been close to ...

Welcome Back! On Wednesdays I have my  Odds and Ends .  This is where I present interesting statistics that you can't easily find elsewhere. These include: Interconference results - which conference has the best OOC record (and which division) Intraconference results - how do the divisions do against each other within each conference Last Interception Race (LIR) - which QB will be the last to throw an INT Undefeated/Winless teams - Starting week 2, I keep a running list of undefeated and winless teams throughout the season, updated each week Bowl eligible/eliminated - Starting midseason, I keep a running list of teams as they reach bowl eligibility (6+ wins) or are eliminated from bowl eligibility (7+ losses) Updates on my playoff picks - After I reveal my picks this Wednesday, I will update them each week Games I'm excited about - I will give a brief preview with key questions about big games that week Since the season hasn't started yet, I will use today's Odds and En...

Welcome Back! While I'm positive every single one of you read and memorized all 15 of my college football previews, I thought it would be a good idea to present my top 130 all at once, just in case you missed some, or in case you didn't memorize the order.  I'm also going to compare my top 25 to the AP top 25, just for fun!  So let's start there. AP Top 25                     My Ranking 1. Alabama                    1 2. Oklahoma                 3        3. Clemson                    2 4. Ohio State               4 5. Georgia                    5 6. Texas A&M             7 7. Iowa State       ...

Welcome Back! Today starts my normal in-season schedule, as I have finished all of my previews (check out my Previews Parts I through XXV in my previous 25 blogs), and it is finally GAME WEEK! In case you are new, and not one of my three faithful readers, let me go through what you can expect from me during the season.  Obviously, this week will be slightly different. On Mondays, I have my TWIF Notes .  This is just a (very) brief recap of all the games that took place the previous weekend.  I don't have a research staff, and I don't have 12 TVs in my living room, so you won't get an in depth analysis of every game.  Besides, I don't have that kind of time, and anyway, you can find that elsewhere.  What you will get is my unique perspective of what the wins and losses mean for each team, and how they might affect their season, and the occasional interesting statistic. Like I said, the recaps will be brief, usually just a sentence or two, because who has time to ...

Welcome back! Beginning August 9 and continuing through August 20, I will preview each conference, one per weekday, with predicted order of finish, predicted conference champion, key games, and more.  Below, you will not find in-depth previews- there are plenty of places to find that kind of preview.  Instead, you will find my opinion on such things such as the chances for a team from each conference to make the playoff, and what could surprise you this season. And now, on with the previews! SEC Predicted Finish :   East 1.          1.  Georgia 2.        2.  Florida 3.        3.  Kentucky 4.        4.  Missouri 5.        5.  Tennessee 6.        6.  South Carolina 7.        7.  Vanderbilt West 1.          1.  Alabama 2.        2.  Texas A...