Paul Prattles On

Welcome Back! What another exciting weekend!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch any football, as I was at a marching band competition all day. However, I have some thoughts on the results. On to the recaps! FBS Games Appalachian State  seized control of the SBC East by upending Coastal Carolina 30-27. There is now a 4-way tie atop the division- everyone except Ga Southern- but ASU has given 2 of those teams their only losses, and just needs to get past Troy to hold the tiebreaker edge against all 3.  SMU routed Tulane 55-28 to set up a huge game @Houston this weekend in a game that could decide the 2nd participant in the AACCG, assuming Cincinnati is the other. FAU stomped Charlotte 38-9, and there is now a 4-way tie to lead the CUSA East, including these 2 teams. Louisiana eked by Arkansas State 28-27, and the Ragin' Cajuns have a 2-game lead in the SBC West with 4 to play. San Jose State survived UNLV 27-20, as the Spartans still retain an outside shot to win the...

Welcome Back! Things went much better for me last week, as I was 41-11, or .788. Now that's more like it! This makes me 367-108 overall, a 77.3% winning percentage. However, since I missed on last night's picks, I'm starting 0-1 for the 2nd week in a row. 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.  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 hi...

Welcome Back! We are now at least halfway through every team's season, and most non-conference games have been played. We have our 1st bowl eligible teams, and our 1st team eliminated. Pretty soon, I'll begin breaking down the conference races, perhaps in another week or two. There are no games between ranked teams this week, but that doesn't mean the week will be devoid of drama. Check out the "Games I'm Looking Forward To" at the bottom. I hope you enjoy reading through all the info below! We have an early game again this week. Here is my pick. Wednesday, October 20 Coastal Carolina @ Appalachian State - The Chanticleers are coming out of their off week, and they are on a roll. CCU is 6-0, and has won 18 straight regular season games, their only loss coming in last year's Cure Bowl to Liberty, in overtime. The Mountaineers suffered their 2nd loss of the season last Tuesday to Louisiana, losing by 28 in Lafayette. The winner of this game will be in the dr...

Welcome Back! We have a lot of movement this week. This is not only because of the results of this past week's games, but due to me dropping another one of my 8 preseason rating factors. This is the 3rd of 8. I will continue this for the next 5 weeks until all of my preseason factors have been dropped, so that when we get to the rankings following the games the weekend before Thanksgiving, they will be entirely based on what the teams have done this year. You will notice that teams that won this past weekend may have dropped, and teams that lost may have moved up. This is because, as I explained above, there are now 2 factors affecting the ranking from week to week- the results from the previous week's game, and the points lost from one of the preseason factors that I have dropped. These points vary from team to team, so every team is affected differently. In some cases, this is simply "market correction". Again, I use a points based system, and my preseason points ra...