Paul Prattles On

  Welcome Back! This past weekend delivered everything you could want. With so many high profile games, it was hard to keep up with it all, and with all the implications. So let's just dive in. Here are my thoughts from Week 9. 1. In one of those high profile games, The Georgia Bulldogs obliterated Ole Miss 42-7, and the game wasn't as close as the score indicated. The Dawgs could have easily scored more but mostly just ran clock in the 2nd half. Two of the 3 losses by the Rebels have been by at least 24 points, so I don't see Ole Miss getting into the CFP, though they could (should?) end the season at 9-3. UGA has a clear path to both the SEC Cg and the CFP. 2. Texas got the benefit of a Stetson Bennett fumble that was really a forward pass. In Bennett's case, his incomplete forward pass was ruled a fumble that was recovered by Alabama. In Arch Manning's case, his incomplete forward pass (which would have set up 4th and long a probably a FG try) was ruled a fumble ...

   Welcome Back! I did much better than the last few weeks, but still well below my standard. That makes 4 weeks in a row of substandard results. And something tells me this week won't be any better. I finished at  40-16 for a winning percentage of 71.4%. Overall, I am 469-153, or 75.4%, a drop of 0.4% from the week before. There is no way I was going to sustain 80% for the year, but now it'll be difficult to stay above 75% this year. I was hoping I had a big enough cushion built up, but I've lost 7.2% off my percentage in just 4 weeks. There are 63 games in total this week, 7 more than last week. By and large, conference contests are the majority of the games this week, which makes picking a winner that much more difficult (as I have demonstrated...). But I'm off to a great start: 4-1 so far. Let's hope that continues! There are some fantastic games this weekend, so... on with the picks! Thursday, November 5 UTSA @ FAU - The Owls lead the series 3-2, but the Roadru...

Welcome Back! I apologize for this being so late. I assure you that I haven't even looked at the scores for tonight's games. Besides, I did these picks a couple of days ago, and I wouldn't change them even if I had seen the current score. For example, if I had posted yesterday's blog late and had seen the Miami-Buffalo score, I might have changed my pick to the Redhawks. And been wrong. Before I begin, there are 3 Wednesday games this week: Wednesday, October 21 Ball State @ UMass - Each team is 2-0 in this series, winning once each in the 1980s and in the 2010s. The Cardinals are 3-5/2-2 winning their last 2 after a rough start to the season, even winning on the road at BGSU to run their road record to 1-4. The Minutemen are 4-4/1-3 but have lost 4 in a row after a 4-0 start to the season. Both teams have a win over Sac State. Flip a coin. UMass wins at home to end their skid. Toledo @ Sacramento State - The Hornets got their 1st FBS and MAC wins last week over Kent St...

Welcome Back! Before we get into our regularly scheduled program, there are 2 games tonight! Here are my picks: Tuesday, November 3 Ohio @ Akron - The Bobcats hold a commanding 27-13-1 lead in the series, winning the last 7, and 16 of the last 17 (since 2008), but Akron's last win in the series did come in Akron, in 2017. Ohio also has a commanding lead in the MAC, as they are 6-2/4-0 and the Zips are 1-7/0-4 with no FBS wins, and dwindling prospects (WMU at home in Infocision Stadium is next). Bobcats win big. Buffalo @ Miami, Ohio - The Redhawks lead the series 18-9, but while they have won the last 2, they are only 6-3 over the last 9 meetings (since 2016), and are 6-7 since 2012. The Bulls haven't won in Oxford since 2015, losing 4 in a row in Yager Stadium. Both teams are 5-3/3-1, so picking the winner is somewhat less obvious than picking the game above. The Redhawks are 3-1 at home while the Bulls are 1-2 on the road. However, that 1 victory for Buffalo was at Toledo as ...