Paul Prattles On

Welcome Back! Wow! We had yet another exciting weekend, with a few upsets and a lot of near upsets. Unfortunately, we had another coach being let go. After a couple of weeks with no firings, Cal HC Justin Wilcox, who was in his 9th year at Berkeley, was terminated on Sunday. Oh well... This year, I decided to keep up with which teams I watch on TV, with a goal of seeing every team. However, it appears I won't be able to do that. I am short 4 teams: San Diego State, Eastern Michigan, WKU, and Sam Houston. I might be able to see 3 of them, but I am certain of only one: EMU when they appear on ESPN2 on Tuesday evening. The only way I will be able to see WKU and SDSU is if they appear in their respective conference championship games (or bowl games), as the Aztecs are on CBSSN again, and WKU and SHS are both on ESPN+. This means that at best, I will only see 135 of the 136 teams in the FBS ranks, since the Bearkats will not be appearing in a bowl. Anyway, let's get into this week...

Welcome Back! Last week I was somewhat better than the previous 2 weeks, as I was 43-16 (72.8%), making me 563-184 overall with a winning percentage of 75.3% (down 0.02% from last week). This time, it was the MAC and the Sun Belt that did me in. This week we are at 64 games, 5 more than last week, and the most since we had 70 games in Week 3. This is because there are several games against FCS teams. I'm 4-1 so far after the early games, which means I'm off to a good start (thanks to MACtion). I am barely staying above 75%, as I keep creeping ever closer to that number. Let's see if I can continue to be above 75% for the year. So... on with the picks! Thursday, November 20 Louisiana @ Arkansas State - The Ragin' Cajuns have a 29-21-1 advantage in this series, winning 6 of the last 7, including 55-19 last year, but the Red Wolves won the last time this game was played in Jonesboro. ASU is 5-5/4-2, winning 4 of their last 5, but are 2-2 at home (1-1 in the SBC). UL is 4-6...

Welcome Back! As expected, my Power Rankings did pretty well in predicting the committee rankings! My top 7 were all in the top 7 and in the 12-team bracket, I have 10 of the 12 (I have North Texas and Utah instead of Tulane and Oklahoma). Of the Committee's top 25, I have all of the top 19 in my top 25, in addition to Missouri, who the committee has at #22 and I have at 18. Where we differ is in the 20s, specifically 20, 21, 23, 24, and 25. Respectively, the committee has Tennessee (#29 in my rankings), Illinois (28 in mine), Houston (#36), Tulane (#37), and Arizona State (#33). Teams in my Top 25 that the committee left out were USF, North Texas, James Madison, Arizona, and Cincinnati. Not too shabby! Wednesday, November 19 Miami, Oh @ Buffalo - The Redhawks own a 17-9 lead in the series, but the home team has won each of the last 7 (since 2017). The Bulls are 5-5/4-2 and in a 5-way tie for 2nd place in the MAC that includes Miami. But Buffalo has lost 2 of their last 3, and are ...

Welcome Back! Before I begin, there are 3 games today. Last week I was 1-1 on the Tuesday games. Let's see if I can do better this week. Tuesday, November 18 Akron @ Bowling Green - The Falcons have a 21-10 lead in the series, winning the last 3, including 27-20 last year, but Akron's last win, in 2021, was in Bowling Green. BGSU is 3-7/1-5 and on a 4-game losing streak. The Zips are only slightly better, as they are 4-7/3-4 and winners of 2 of their last 3 with the loss last week in OT to Kent State. Akron is 1-4 on the road this season while the Falcons are 3-2 at home, losing their last 2 to CMU and Buffalo. Flip a coin. Akron wins. UMass @ Ohio - The Bobcats are 4-0 versus the Minutemen, winning in 2012, 2013, 2017, and 2018. Ohio is 6-4/4-2 but coming off a loss at WMU last week. UMass is 0-10/0-6, and losing by an average of 27.1 ppg. Bobcats win big. Western Michigan @ Northern Illinois - The Broncos hold a 27-23 lead in this series, but the Huskies have won the last 3, ...