The season is complete, and now it’s time to recognize the winners of the 2016 e-Systems College Football Pool!  First off, congratulations to the overall winner:

maestro

 maestro finished the season with 2,396 points.  In second place was AUBrian, who scored 2,385 points, and AllySun was third, with 2,378 points.  Congratulations to each of the top three for their tremendous performances!  Each will receive a special prize for their accomplishment.

maestro lived up to their name with consistent picking.  They only finished outside the top five of a week five times, and outside of the top eight twice. They jumped into the lead in week five and never let go after that to secure their third overall win since I have kept records (they also won in 2010 and 2012).  Congratulations again to maestro!

The same three players (maestro, AUBrian, and AllySun) also finished 1-2-3 in the “drop two worst weeks” category.  Great job!

In the first half of the game (weeks 1-7), the top three were maestro (1,354 points), with Crimson Gator and AllySun tied for second (1,337).  In the second half of the game, the top three were AUBrian (1,057), maestro (1,042), and AllySun (1,041). Congratulations!

The player who picked the most games correctly (213 out of 268 –79.478% correct) was Shame! Shame!  With 212 games, maestro was second, and Crimson Gator was third with 209 games. Great job to each of these accurate pickers!

There were several multiple-week winners this year: In Accord (weeks 2 and 8), AllySun (weeks 6 and 11), G8RbamaLover (weeks 7 and 14), and AUBrian (weeks 9, 10, and 13).  Good job!  Other weekly winners were TheColombian (1), Tex Duck (3), GuidestoneRocks (4), JagAL (5), and the deflator (12).  Congratulations to all of the weekly winners!

The tie-breaker award, which goes to the player who did the best overall in picking tie-breaker amounts over the season, goes to AUBrian, who was only off by 151 points total over all 14 weeks!  In second was TheColombian (195), and Pachyderm (198) was third.  Good job!

No one had a perfect week this year, but there were 14 “almost perfect” (1-miss) weeks, including 8 the last week. Shame! Shame! had two 1-miss weeks!  Oklahoma State (or should I say, Central Michigan? Or maybe the refs?) in week 2 and Navy in week 14 caused the most havoc in disrupting “perfect” weeks.

How did we all do?

Picks: 4,585 / 6,032 (76.011%)
Points: 51,818 / 63218 (81.967%)
Best week as a group, by picks: week 2 (563/621 – 90.660%)
Best week as a group, by points: week 2 (7,006 / 7,452 – 94.015%)
Four weeks with 80+% of picks correct
Two weeks with 90+% of possible points gained

Everyone will receive a prize for participating this year! If you aren’t sure that we have your current mailing address for shipping, please respond to this e-mail and we will update our records.

On behalf of all of us at e-Systems, thank you again for participating in our 13^th annual College Football Pool. The college football season is a special time of year, and we hope that this pool is another way to add excitement as you watch the games!  I hope that all of you will join us in 2017, when we’ll do it all again! In the meantime, we hope you will think of e-Systems for all your custom application and system needs.  We’re just as much fun to work with!

The regular season is over, the conference champions have been crowned, and now we have made it to the bowl season, and the College Football Playoff.  Here’s a closer look at each of the four teams have been chosen to play for the national championship:

#1 Alabama rides their third straight SEC championship and a national-best 25 game winning streak into the CFP.  Alabama’s offense is led by true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts; if Alabama wins the playoff, Hurts would become just the second true freshman quarterback to lead a team to a national title (Jamelle Holieway did it for Oklahoma in 1985).  The defense is its usual impressive self, ranking first nationally in rushing defense (63.4 ypg), total defense (247.8 ypg), fourth-down conversion defense (19%), and scoring defense (11.8 ppg), and of course there are the highly-publicized defense touchdowns – ten of them, which leads the nation as well.  Counting special teams touchdowns, that number increases to 14.  Contrary to last year’s Heisman Trophy winner in Derrick Henry, Alabama relies on numerous runners to get the job done. They have four different players with over 500 yards rushing.  Finally, there’s this little tidbit: with two more wins, the Crimson Tide becomes the first major college football team to finish 15-0 in the modern era – and the first team playing in the highest level of college football at the time to finish with 15 wins since 1899! (Chicago, coached by one Amos Alonzo Stagg, went 16-0-2 that year. Can you imagine the outcry over an eighteen-game schedule today?)

#2 Clemson is the ACC Champion for the second straight year.  With their 12-1 record, Clemson has won ten or more games for the sixth-straight year, the longest such streak in the history of the program, and the second-longest active streak behind Alabama.  What does Clemson do well? Lots of things, but one of the things they’re really good at is getting first downs. The Tigers rank second in the country in number of first downs gained this season (with 348; only Texas Tech had more), and sixth in third-down conversions at 51.5%. Deshaun Watson has put up another impressive season on the heels of his 2015 Heisman finalist campaign; with 3,914 passing yards, he’s just shy of his second straight 4,000-yard passing season.  He also has more passing touchdowns, completions, and passing yards per game than he did in 2015.  Defensively, the Tigers are led by senior linebacker Ben Boulware, who has 105 tackles, including 10 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks, a fumble recovery, and an interception.  Clemson is 12^th nationally in scoring defense at 18.4 points per game.  With wins in the Fiesta Bowl and the National Championship Game, Clemson wins their second national title (1981 was the other) and would have 60 wins over the past five years.

#3 Ohio State is the first entrant in CFP history that is not a conference champion.  While the Buckeyes do not have a conference crown themselves, they are the only CFP team that has beaten another Power 5 conference champion by virtue of their 45-24 win over Big XII champion Oklahoma early this season. Coach Urban Meyer has a 61-5 record in Columbus since taking the reins in 2012 – at 92.4%, the best winning percentage in the country during that time. (Thought it had to be Alabama? The Tide are 65-6 during that span, good for a 91.5% winning percentage.)  This year’s version of the Buckeyes is incredibly good against the pass. Ohio State is first in the nation in pass efficiency defense, fifth in passing yards allowed, fourth in pass interceptions, and first in the nation in interceptions returned for touchdowns – seven of the nineteen Buckeye picks have gone for six.  While they are good at picking the ball off, they’re also quite good at keeping it themselves; they are second in the nation in turnovers lost, with just nine all season.  This contributes to their ranking 5^th in time of possession per game.  With two more wins, Ohio State claims its ninth national title in the poll era.

#4 Washington is the Pac-12 champion and the only first-time participant in the College Football Playoff.  The Huskies won their first conference title since 2000 and stand two wins from their first national title since 1991, when they claimed a share of the crown with Miami.  Washington makes you turn the ball over; the Huskies are third in the country in fumble recoveries, fourth in interceptions, first in turnovers, and first in turnover margin, having a difference of +21 for the season. 1.62 more turnovers than your opponents per game contributes highly to a 12-1 record. The Washington offensive attack is very balanced; it’s the only offense of the four CFP teams to average over 200 yards rushing (210) and 250 yards passing (267.2) per game, is fourth nationally in team passing efficiency, and also ranks fourth in the nation at 44.5 points per game. In fact, the Huskies have been held under 30 points only once all year.  Myles Gaskin totes the mail for the rushing attack; he’s picked up 1,339 yards and ten rushing touchdowns.  John Ross is the man to watch out for in the passing game. The wide receiver is second in the country with 17 receiving touchdowns; almost one in every four catches he’s made this year has resulted in a score.

Congratulations to G8RbamaLover, who wins week 14 in a tie-breaker over AUBrian and Jeff4Bama!  Each finished with 34 points.

Stay tuned for the season wrap-up and the announcement of the winners!

Conference championship games are still a fairly recent addition to the college football landscape. For a sport with almost 150 years of history, they’ve only been a part of about one-sixth of it.  Nevertheless, they’ve become hugely popular and almost ubiquitous among the FBS conferences. Starting in 2017, the Big Twelve will bring back a conference championship (the last was played in 2010), and in 2018 the Sun Belt will institute one of their own. With that, every FBS conference will have a championship game. And to think: the first one almost ruined the opportunity for a school to win a national title.

In 1992, Alabama had reached the mountaintop.  With an 11-0 record after the regular season, and as the only undefeated team in the SEC, they would have been crowned SEC champion and been an obvious Sugar Bowl selection in previous years.  However, due to the new divisional format, they had to play a team from the SEC East for the title, and it happened to be Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators.  The Gators were 8-3, but all three losses had been by 17 points or more, so on paper it looked like an Alabama victory. Florida had other plans, however, and it took a late pick-six by Antonio Langham to secure a 28-21 Alabama win, the SEC championship, and its berth in the Sugar Bowl.  Alabama (and Miami) fans know what happened after that.  Alabama and Florida meet in the SEC Championship this week for the ninth time, by far the most common pairing in the game (Georgia-LSU is second with three).  The teams have split the previous eight games (In addition to 1992, Alabama won in 1999, 2009, and 2015; Florida won in 1993, 1994, 1996, and 2008).

As mentioned above, the Big Twelve doesn’t yet have a championship game, but they have the next best thing this weekend. Saturday’s “Bedlam” game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will determine the Big Twelve champion.  The Sooners can become the first team to complete a perfect 9-0 run through the conference since it became a ten-team league with a win; Oklahoma State wins the league via tie-breaker over the Sooners with a win.  Oklahoma dominates the overall series record 85-18-7, but interestingly the visiting team has won the last three games in the series.  Both teams still hold out hope for a playoff berth as well, but it would take some really strange circumstances for it to happen.

Donnell Pumphrey has a chance to set some incredible marks in the Mountain West Championship game against Wyoming.  The San Diego State running back already holds the school and Mountain West Conference season records with his current total of 1,908 yards. He needs 92 yards to become the 28^th player in NCAA history to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a single season. 121 yards will give him the national lead in rushing yards, currently held by Texas’ D’Onta Foreman (who has 2,028 with no games remaining). And 218 yards will make Pumphrey the new career rushing yards leader, surpassing Ron Dayne of Wisconsin (6,397 yards from 1996-1999) – well, sort of.  The NCAA didn’t include bowl game statistics in career totals until 2002, and didn’t retroactively add them to existing records.  If you did so, Dayne would have 7,125 yards and be safely out of reach.  Nevertheless, this would be a tremendous accomplishment, and even if he does not do it this week, the Aztecs have a bowl game left to play as well, so he’ll have one more shot at the brass ring.

Navy is unique in that they always play in the final regular season game of the year against Army, but they will have a chance to do so this year as conference champions.  The Middies play Temple this Saturday in the American Athletic Conference championship game, which will be held at their home field in Annapolis, Maryland, one week before taking on the Black Knights in Baltimore.  They are scheduled to be in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas on December 23, but there’s an outside chance they might set their sights just a little east of that – Arlington, home of the Cotton Bowl.  If Navy beats Temple and Army, they’ll be 11-2 and could possibly leapfrog Western Michigan for the highest-ranked team in the College Football Playoff poll – taking the Cotton Bowl spot that goes along with that distinction.  The Midshipmen have their triple option attack going full speed ahead, having scored 141 points in their last two games, but they’ll be playing an Owls team that has only given up 10 points total in their last three games.

In small-school news, the Division II playoffs have reached the quarterfinal round, and North Alabama is still alive.  The #1 seed in their bracket, the Lions play North Greenville this weekend for an opportunity to make it to the semifinals.  North Alabama’s only loss this year was in their season opener, to FCS #3 national seed Jacksonville State; since then, the Gulf South Conference champions have beaten nine teams by an average of 44-13, including the same North Greenville team they’re playing this weekend 52-21.  Interestingly, once the final four are determined, the Division II football committee re-seeds them to determine who plays whom and who has home-field advantage in the semifinal round; the finals will be played on December 17^th in Kansas City.

Congratulations to AUBrian, who wins week 13 (their third weekly win!) in a tie-breaker over AllySun and CrimsonWhite.  Each finished with 125 points.

Standings after thirteen weeks:

1st	maestro	2363
2nd	AUBrian	2351
3rd	AllySun	2345
4th	Crimson Gator	2328
5th	Shame! Shame!	2320
6th	JagRag	2318
7th	Jeff4Bama	2295
8th	bamaken	2292
9th	JagAL	2285
10th	Pachyderm	2272

The final week of the picks are upon us, and while there are only eight games, seven of them decide conference champions, so nothing comes easy this week.  It’s now or never! The first game this week is the MAC Championship game between Ohio and Western Michigan, Friday, December 2 @ 7 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

The last weekend of the regular season in college football is a weekend like no other in sports. Why? Rivalries. One of the great things about college football is that almost every team has a team it likes to beat more than anyone else on the schedule, and that feels the same way about them. Many games have trophies that go to the winner – items such as axes, buckets, bells, and “eggs” are up for grabs this weekend. Other games don’t have a trophy, and in the minds of the participants, don’t need one – the bragging rights for the year are spoils enough. In the spirit of this week, here’s some background on three rivalry games that are being played this weekend.

In the pantheon of rivalry games, Washington versus Washington State isn’t one of the crème de la crème. It doesn’t have the national implications Michigan-Ohio State usually does. It isn’t the main topic of the state 24/7/365 like the Iron Bowl. It isn’t a rivalry steeped in tradition like Notre Dame-USC. In fact, the two schools haven’t even played with a championship on the line since 1936 – until this year. The Huskies and Cougars meet on Friday in Pullman, Washington, for the 109th time with both the Apple Cup and the Pac-12 North title at stake. The Apple Cup itself wasn’t given out until 1962; from 1934-1961, the Governor’s Trophy was the winner’s prize. The game was renamed because Washington is a national leader in apple production. The Huskies have a 70-32-6 advantage in the series, and have won the last three games.

Staying in the Pac-12, Colorado and Utah will meet for the 63rd time in Boulder this weekend. This game has Pac-12 South implications – win, and the Buffaloes win the division. Utah can only hope to spoil the party. This game has a long history, but one with a wide gap. The teams first met in 1903, a 22-0 Colorado win, and played each other almost every year until 1962. At that point, each school was the other’s second-most played opponent (behind Utah State for Utah and Colorado State for Colorado). However, despite the relative proximity of the schools, they did not play again until 2011, when both joined the Pac-12. The game has proven to be a hard-fought rivalry since: while the Utes have won the last four games, no game since 2011 has been decided by more than seven points. The Buffaloes enjoy a 31-28-3 margin in the overall series.

Coming back to the South, the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry is the second-longest uninterrupted series in major college football. The Gamecocks and Tigers have played each other for 107 straight years, since 1909. The teams have met in what is now officially known as the “Palmetto Bowl” 113 times; Clemson holds a 67-42-4 lead in the series. From 1896 through 1959, the teams played each other on a mid-October Thursday in conjunction with the South Carolina State Fair in Columbia; this was known as “Big Thursday”. Starting in 1960, the teams moved to a more traditional home-and-home series played on Saturday, and in 1962 the game was moved to the final weekend in the regular season, where it has been ever since. The Tigers have won the last two games in the series, and look to keep their national title dreams alive in Clemson this Saturday.

In small-school news, two schools from the state of Alabama have made it to the Division I FCS playoffs! Jacksonville State has the #3 national seed and looks to take the final step to a championship after falling short in the title game in 2015. Samford also made the cut for the postseason. The Bulldogs will face Youngstown State on the road in the first round of the playoffs, with the winner to meet Jacksonville State in the second round of the 24-team tournament. It was a very successful year for Samford’s conference, the Southern Conference, as The Citadel, Chattanooga, and Wofford all made the playoffs as well, meaning almost half of the conference membership are playoff-bound.

Congratulations to the deflator, who wins week 12 in a tie-breaker over bamaken! Both finished with 230 points. Ralphie finished third with 227 points.

Standings after twelve weeks:

1st	maestro	2248
2nd	AUBrian	2226
3rd	Crimson Gator	2223
4th	AllySun	2220
5th	Shame! Shame!	2209
6th	JagRag	2198
7th	Ralphie	2186
8th	Jeff4Bama	2178
9th	JagAL	2174
10th	bamaken	2169

One of the hallmarks of rivalry games is to expect the unexpected, and with so many on the slate this weekend, major point swings can result if you pick wisely! The first game this weekend is LSU at Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night, Thursday, November 24 @ 7:30 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

On one sideline, there stood Jim Harbaugh. His top-5 Michigan team was clinging to a lead, but now Iowa had their kicker out to attempt a short field goal for the win, and he could do no more to affect the outcome of the game.  On the other sideline, there was Kirk Ferentz. His Hawkeyes were just about to knock off the mighty maize and blue, but he had to trust in his kicker.  The ball was placed, the kick was made – and it was good, giving Iowa the win.  The crowd erupted and charged onto the field as the rest of the Hawkeyes dogpiled the kicker in sheer joy.

It was October 19, 1985.

Jim Harbaugh was the starting quarterback for #2 Michigan, which led 10-9 before that fateful kick.  Kirk Ferentz was not the head coach, but the offensive line coach for the #1 (at the time) Hawkeyes.  And the kicker’s name was Rob Houghtlin, whose name is still revered in Iowa City, but now has Keith Duncan.  That day also served as the last day before this past Saturday where the #2, #3, and #4 teams all lost on the same day (in 1985, #3 Oklahoma lost to Miami, and #4 Arkansas lost to Texas). Everything that was old is new again.

Considering the craziness, it might be useful to have a primer on who’s got a chance to win a championship. So here’s a helpful (for this week, anyway) breakdown of every FBS conference and division.

American – East Division: Temple and South Florida are both 5-1; the Owls own the tiebreaker over USF, so win out and they’re in.  South Florida needs a Temple loss and to win out.  It’s also possible for Central Florida to win if they win out and Temple loses their last two games.

American – West Division: Navy effectively has a two-game lead over Houston. If they win one of their next two games against East Carolina and SMU, they win the division. Houston needs two Navy losses and a win over Memphis to win. Tulsa could also theoretically win if Navy and Houston lose all their remaining conference games and they win out.

ACC – Atlantic: pretty simple. If Clemson beats Wake Forest this week, they win the division. If Clemson loses, Louisville takes it.

ACC – Coastal: fairly straightforward. Virginia Tech wins with either a win over Virginia or a North Carolina loss to NC State. The Tar Heels have to hope for an upset by the Cavaliers over the Hokies and a win against the Wolfpack.

Big Twelve: If Oklahoma wins out, they become the first team since the Big XII went to a round-robin format to go 9-0 in conference. However, their last two games are against the other two teams with a chance to win the conference: West Virginia and Oklahoma State. If Oklahoma State wins out, they win the conference by virtue of having the tiebreaker over both Oklahoma and West Virginia. West Virginia must beat Oklahoma and hope for an Oklahoma State loss to ensure a conference win. Oklahoma could also win the Big XII if they lose one of those games, as long as OSU and WVU each lose again as well.

Big Ten – East: Despite the loss to Iowa, Michigan still wins the division if they win out. However, that involves beating Ohio State in Columbus, not an easy prospect. If they falter against the Buckeyes, Penn State would win it if they win out based upon their head-to-head win over OSU. Ohio State now needs Penn State to lose against either Rutgers or Michigan State to have a chance.

Big Ten – West: Let’s start with the simplest scenario. Wisconsin wins out: they win. A loss against Purdue or Minnesota, and Nebraska takes the division if they win out. After that, things get murky really quickly. It’s even possible to have a four-way tie at the top – with two different sets of teams!  According to ESPN’s FPI calculations, though, there’s basically a 0.1% chance that a team not named Wisconsin or Nebraska wins the division, so I’d not worry too much about it.

Conference USA – East: Western Kentucky wins with a win over Marshall or a loss by Old Dominion against either FAU or FIU.  Old Dominion can only win with a WKU loss against the Thundering Herd and winning out.

Conference USA – West: Louisiana Tech is the division champion.

MAC – East: Ohio takes the division with one win in their final two games against Central Michigan and Akron. Miami of Ohio can only win it if the Bobcats lose both and they beat Ball State.

MAC  – West: Western Michigan, as mentioned above, is undefeated. But they are not out of the woods yet. Toledo also controls their own destiny; a win over Ball State this week and they play the Broncos for all the marbles the following week.

Mountain West – Mountain: three teams currently have 5-1 records: Boise State, New Mexico, and Wyoming. They cannot all finish with one loss: Wyoming plays New Mexico play next week. Only Wyoming controls their destiny by winning out, as they hold the head-to-head against BSU and the Broncos hold it against New Mexico. Things should be clearer after this weekend.

Mountain West – West: San Diego State is the division champion.

Pac-12 – North: only Washington and Washington State can win the division. If Washington loses and Washington State wins this weekend: the Cougars are the division champ. Otherwise, the winner of the Apple Cup rivalry game between the two will crown the winner.

Pac 12 – South: At 6-1 in the division, Colorado controls its destiny. Win out, and the Buffaloes are the champs. But 5-2 Utah controls its destiny as well: the Buffaloes and Utes play in two weeks. If Utah wins out, they hold the tiebreakers over both USC and Colorado. USC could also still win, but needs to beat UCLA and for both Colorado and Utah to lose once.

SEC – East: if Florida beats LSU in the makeup game from Hurricane Matthew earlier this year, they win the East outright. Lose, and they must hope for a Tennessee loss against either Missouri or Vanderbilt to win the division; otherwise, the Volunteers take it.

SEC – West: Alabama is the division champion.

Sun Belt: Troy can take a commanding position by virtue of beating Arkansas State this weekend, but cannot wrap up the conference outright even though they would have a tiebreaker over the next two teams in the standings. That’s because the Trojans still have two games left to play against Texas State and Georgia Southern. If Troy loses to the Red Wolves, there could be a three-team tie at the top between Troy, Arkansas State, and Appalachian State. Arkansas State and Appalachian State do not play each other this year, so to be honest, I’m not exactly sure what would happen if that were the case!

In small-school news, congratulations to the John Carroll Blue Streaks! The team from University Heights, Ohio won its first Ohio Athletic Conference title since 1994 – its first outright title since 1989. Well, that’s a nice story, you might say, but what’s the significance? It’s in the team that they had to beat this week to earn that title: our old friends from Alliance, Ohio, Mount Union. The 31-28 win by John Carroll over the Purple Raiders ended the following Mount Union streaks:

• 24 wins in a row
• 27 wins in a row over John Carroll
• 93 consecutive conference wins
• 98 consecutive wins at home
• 112 consecutive wins in the regular season
• 137 consecutive wins over all Division III opponents not named “Wisconsin-Whitewater”

And, oh yeah, 24 straight years of at least a share of the OAC conference title.  And, as evidenced by the 98-game home winning streak snapped, John Carroll did this at Mount Union’s home field. Despite John Carroll being 8-1 coming into this game, this has to be a prime candidate for the college football upset of the year.

Congratulations to AllySun, who wins week 11 with 202 points! Jeff4Bama was second with 201 points, and maestro was third with 199.

Standings after eleven weeks:

1st	maestro	2027
2nd	Crimson Gator	2009
3rd	AUBrian	2005
4th	AllySun	2000
5th	JagRag	1988
6th	Shame! Shame!	1986
7th	JagAL	1962
8th	Jeff4Bama	1961
9th	Ralphie	1959
10th	Pachyderm	1948

Twenty-two big games are on the schedule this week, and as we all learned last week, anything can happen, so think carefully as you pick and place your points wisely! Two Thursday games are on the docket, but the first game is Louisville at Houston, Thursday, November 17 @ 8 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Welcome to November, where the stakes are higher and the games are more important no matter who you play. If you don’t believe me, ask Texas A&M, which had its College Football Playoff hopes derailed in a 35-28 loss at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 28-7 lead and held on, earning their second SEC win of the season. Or ask Florida, who went into Fayetteville, Arkansas to play an Arkansas team that was 84^th in the country in total defense, and could only manage twelve rushing yards and three offensive points in a 31-10 defeat.  Or ask Baylor, who gave up 688 yards of total offense and lost 62-22 to rival TCU in a game they had to have in order to stay alive for the Big XII championship.

However, some teams not only survived the crucible of their first November game, but did it in style. Ohio State looked every bit the championship contender in a 62-3 win over Nebraska that represented the biggest loss for the Cornhuskers in 12 years and was the second-biggest win ever by an AP top 10 team in a game against another AP top 10 team. Louisville took the Lamar Jackson show to Boston College’s 7^th ranked total defense and made them look, well, like almost every other defense Lamar Jackson has faced this year in a 52-7 win. Jackson accounted for seven more touchdowns in this game, leading some to say the Heisman discussion is all but over at this point.  And Washington continues to impress, racking up 704 yards of total offense in a 66-27 win over California that should firmly establish the Huskies as the #4 team in the next CFP rankings.  Jake Browning threw for 378 yards and six touchdowns in the game as he set Washington’s single-season record for TD passes – with at least four games yet to play.

The drive chart for the Notre Dame-Navy game has to be one of the strangest I’ve seen in a while. Here it is, condensed: Navy had the ball for seven possessions the entire game. They never punted, but they only scored on four of those drives. They still beat Notre Dame 28-27 because those four scores were all touchdowns, Notre Dame only had six possessions the entire game, and the Irish scored three touchdowns and two field goals. Notre Dame opted for a field goal with 7:28  left in the game to make the score 28-27, hoping for a defensive stop. They never saw the ball again, as Navy drained the final 7:28 off the clock with a 14-play, 57-yard march.  Notre Dame had all of two offensive possessions in the second half. In the modern game of football, where offenses move at lightning pace, this kind of game sticks out like a sore thumb. By comparison, the Texas A&M- Mississippi State game featured 30 possessions between the teams.  The TCU-Baylor game had 29.  Even the Alabama-LSU game that ended 10-0 had 25 offensive possessions between the teams.

Teams with better records than you might think: how about those Minnesota Golden Gophers?  Everyone talks about Michigan and Ohio State (and to some degree, Wisconsin) in the Big Ten, but Minnesota has quietly established a 7-2 mark this season, with the two losses by a combined 10 points. We’ll get to see how good they are in the upcoming three weeks; they close at Nebraska, against Northwestern, and at Wisconsin. Then there’s Idaho.  The Vandals are the team no one wants, literally: the Sun Belt Conference dropped them (and New Mexico State) after the 2017 season. With no other FBS conference showing interest, and with no desire to try to go independent again (as they did in 2013), Idaho decided to make the unprecedented move from FBS to FCS in the 2018 season.  However, they’re enjoying a renaissance of a season thus far as a lame duck in the Sun Belt. They’re 5-4 thus far, and 3-2 in conference play; one more win makes them bowl-eligible for the first time since 2009. For a team with a total of 15 wins in the six seasons since, this is saying something.  Their last three games are against teams with a combined 2-13 record in conference play, so there’s a really good chance the Vandals get that sixth win.

In small school news, it’s time once again for the Monon Bell Classic. The annual contest between two small Indiana schools 30 miles apart from each other is one of the most famous Division III rivalries.  This year’s game between the 8-1 Wabash College Little Giants (yes, that is their nickname) and the 7-2 DePauw University Tigers will be the 123^rd playing, with Wabash owning a 60-53-9 lead in the series. The game is played for the Monon Bell, a 300-pound locomotive bell from the Monon Railroad, whose Section #4 line runs through Crawfordsville (home of Wabash College) and Greencastle (home of DePauw University). The university traffic was so important in the heyday of the railroad that it used the schools’ colors of red and white of Wabash (and larger school Indiana) on the passenger cars and the gold and black of DePauw (and larger Purdue) on the freight locomotives.  The Monon Bell itself was introduced as a trophy for the game in 1932 at the suggestion of a DePauw alumnus; since the Bell has been awarded, Wabash holds a 41-37-6 advantage.  As a side note, the Bell has been stolen at least nine times by students; if you’re interested, Google “Operation Frijoles” to read about the most famous of these pranks.

Congratulations to AUBrian, who wins week 10 (their second weekly win in a row) with 216 points! Barner4Life was second with 214 points, and Ryan K and Shame! Shame! finished tied for third with 213 points.

Standings after ten weeks:

1st	maestro	1828
2nd	Crimson Gator	1812
3rd	AUBrian	1807
T-4th	AllySun	1798
T-4th	Shame! Shame!	1798
6th	JagRag	1793
7th	Ralphie	1776
8th	JagAL	1769
9th	Jeff4Bama	1760
10th	Pachyderm	1757

This week’s picks are super-sized! There are no less than 23 games on the schedule this week, the biggest slate of games since week 2, and every single matchup is a conference game! This week is a great chance for those in striking distance to earn a lot of points and make up ground on the leaders. The first game is not the #MACtion game between Western Michigan and Kent State, sadly, as it takes place on Tuesday. Rather, the first game will be between North Carolina at Duke, Thursday, November 10 @ 7:30 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Many prognosticators predicted that “Road Test Saturday” would bring an end to more than one undefeated season, and they were right; the number of undefeated teams was cut almost in half as a result of four teams taking their first losses in opposing teams’ stadiums. Boise State suffered perhaps the toughest way to drop their first game, losing to Wyoming 30-28 on a safety with a little over a minute to go in the game. One team of Broncos’ loss is another team of Broncos’ gain: Western Michigan now finds themselves as the only undefeated Group of Five team, and the one with the inside track to an automatic New Year’s Six bowl bid.  The biggest hurdle that couldn’t be overcome belonged to Nebraska, which faced the unenviable task of going into Camp Randall Stadium and beating a Wisconsin team whose two losses were to Ohio State and Michigan by a combined 14 points.  The Huskers made a valiant effort but couldn’t match the Badgers’ score in overtime, and lost 23-17. Wisconsin still needs one more Nebraska loss to take the lead in the Big Ten West and have a shot at a rematch against either the Buckeyes or Wolverines.

Everyone talks about Alabama’s defense in the SEC, and they make a lot of headlines with turnovers turned into touchdowns.  But don’t sleep on what Florida is doing down in Gainesville. The Gators, now 6-1 following a 24-10 win over rival Georgia, have only given up 82 points all season, the lowest figure in the country. Their points allowed per game of 11.7 is one-tenth of a point behind Michigan for the national lead in that category, and they’re also second to Michigan in total defense. All of that defensive prowess was on display in Jacksonville. Florida held Georgia to just 21 yards rushing on 19 attempts, 164 yards total and eight first downs in the win. Florida’s road doesn’t get any easier going forward, as they still have several tough SEC games and Florida State left on the schedule, but that defense will keep them in every one of them.

Speaking of strong defenses, let’s head northeast and talk about two schools off of the national radar that have really strong ones this year.  Boston College finally put together enough offense to go with that defense and snapped a 12-game conference losing streak.  They beat NC State 21-14 for their first win in the ACC since beating Syracuse in 2014.  Boston College has the seventh-best total defense in the country, but they will be tested greatly in the next two weeks: first against Lamar Jackson and Louisville, then at Florida State.  Meanwhile, Temple is quietly having another solid year.  The Owls beat Cincinnati 34-13 in Philadelphia this past weekend to move to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the American Athletic Conference East Division. Temple held the Bearcats to 186 total yards in the win, moving them to 11^th nationally in total defense.  Coach Matt Rhule has the Owls three wins away from another shot at a conference title after having come up just short last year against Houston.

Other notes: California is the only team in the country without a winning or losing streak greater than one. The Bears’ eight games thus far have gone W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L. That might change soon – Washington is next on their schedule…Army, currently 5-3, can make it to a bowl game for the first time since 2010 with one more win – over an FBS school. The Black Knights can’t use a win over Morgan State, because they already have one win over an FCS opponent (Lafayette).  They must defeat at least one of Air Force, Notre Dame, or Navy to qualify…the only FBS team this year that hasn’t converted a fourth down attempt is LSU; they’re 0-3. Western Michigan has converted 12 of their 13 attempts; South Florida has converted 11 of their 12…Troy has put together a 6-1 year thus far, their only loss being by just six points to Clemson. One more win, and the Trojans are guaranteed their first winning season since 2010, the year they also won their last conference title. Four more wins would give them their first 10-win season since 2000, when they were still in what was known as Division I-AA…

In small-school news, the major service academies aren’t the only ones playing great “military-style” football this year. The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, has a traditional military team game plan – run the triple option and play sound defense.  This year it is being done with high-level precision. The Bulldogs are 8-0 and ranked #7 in the latest FCS poll, including having given #8 Chattanooga their only loss to date. The Citadel is 2^nd in the FCS in rushing yards per game at 362.9 yards per game, 13^th in total defense, and 7^th in scoring defense. At this rate, a second straight Southern Conference championship and FCS playoff berth are within reach, but a foe familiar to those of us in Birmingham makes its way to Charleston this week. Samford, with its 6-2 record and offense averaging 40.6 points per game, comes to Citadel’s Johnson Hagood Stadium. If the Bulldogs from South Carolina can beat the Bulldogs from Alabama, only a win over VMI in the traditional “Military Classic of the South” rivalry stands between them and the outright conference title.

Congratulations to AUBrian, who takes week nine by virtue of tie-breaker over Crimson Gator!  Both finished with 142 points.  In third place was maestro, with 137 points.

Standings after nine weeks:

1st	maestro	1618
2nd	Crimson Gator	1602
3rd	AUBrian	1591
4th	JagRag	1590
5th	AllySun	1586
6th	Shame! Shame!	1585
7th	Ralphie	1582
8th	Jeff4Bama	1569
9th	JagAL	1568
10th	bamaken	1561

Lots of games are on the docket this weekend; there are only two matchups between ranked opponents. But as we all know, anything can happen, and with this many points at stake, it’s going to be more important than ever to pick wisely!  The first game this week is Oklahoma at Iowa State, Thursday, November 3 @ 7:30 ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Question: how can you possibly win a game win your defense gives up 854 yards of total offense?
Answer: when your offense gains 854 yards of their own.

That was the scenario played out in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday night.  Oklahoma beat Texas Tech 66-59 in a game that featured a FBS record combined total offense of 1,708 yards (854 by each team; just less than a literal mile).  It featured a running back who ran for 263 yards and caught passes for another 114 (Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon), a quarterback who tied an NCAA FBS record for passing yards with 734 (Texas Tech’s Pat Mahomes), and a different quarterback who threw for seven touchdowns (Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield).  Mahomes had 819 yards of total offense, yet another NCAA FBS record.  Oklahoma scored on their first five possessions of the second half – and didn’t score on their sixth because they ran out the clock. Texas Tech’s Jonathan Giles had ten receptions for 167 yards – and was only the third-leading receiver in the game, behind Oklahoma’s Dede Westbrook (202 yards) and Texas Tech’s Keke Coutee (172 yards).  Oklahoma became the first team in FBS history to have a 500-yard passer, 200-yard rusher, and 200-yard receiver in the same game.  Mixon scored five touchdowns (2 rushing, 3 receiving). The teams combined for just four punts. Texas Tech went a combined 22-for-27 on third and fourth down conversions – and lost. I could go on and on.

This type of game is atypical to say the least, but not that far out of the norm for the Big 12, leading some to ask, “doesn’t anyone play defense in this conference?” When they do, point a finger in the direction of Morgantown, West Virginia.  The Mountaineers are only 57^th in the nation in total defense, and third in the Big 12 behind Baylor and Kansas State.  However, with their 34-10 victory over TCU, West Virginia held their third straight Big 12 opponent to 17 points or less, including that aforementioned record-setting Texas Tech offense. (Kansas State gave up 38 to the Red Raiders, for comparative purposes; Baylor hasn’t played them yet). Dana Holgorson’s squad finds themselves at 6-0 and in prime position to contend for their first Big 12 title. A big matchup with Oklahoma State, who averages just under 41 points per game, looms next.

Who would have thought that the upcoming Washington-Utah matchup would be a possible Pac-12 Championship preview? That’s where we currently stand, as the fourth-ranked Huskies venture into Rice-Eccles Stadium to take on the 17^th-ranked Utes.  Utah has lost only once this year, in a nail-biter against California. Actually, most of Utah’s games have been nail-biters: they’ve only played one Pac-12 game in which the outcome was decided by more than seven points.  Meanwhile, Chris Petersen’s Dawgs continue to lay waste to everything in their path. After their 41-17 win over Oregon State, the Huskies have only played in one Pac-12 game that has been decided by less than 24 points. They’re fourth in the country in points per game and sixth in points against, but don’t count Utah out, especially at home.  The Utes have only lost once in their last eleven home games dating back to last season.

In small-school news, Harvard beat Princeton 23-20 in overtime in a matchup of teams that were unbeaten in Ivy League play coming into the day. The Tigers came this close to giving the Crimson just their sixth loss in Ivy League play since 2011. Instead, Harvard is still on track for their fourth straight Ivy League championship (either shared or outright). Small bit of football tradition trivia: everyone recognizes Michigan’s iconic “winged” helmet design, right? Princeton had them first. The then-coach of the Tigers, Fritz Crisler, ordered stock helmets with leather “wings” in 1935 for Princeton.  He took the idea with him to Michigan when he became the coach there in 1938, and the Wolverines have become synonymous with the “winged helmet” ever since – but it all started in Princeton, New Jersey.  Incidentally, the Tigers stopped using the design when Crisler left until 1998, at which point they began wearing a version in the school colors of black and orange – and still do to this day.

Congratulations to In Accord, who wins week 8 (their second weekly win!) with 133 points!  There was a five-way tie for second between CrimsonWhite, BEVO, thatkidjosh, TheColombian, and Jeff4Bama; each scored 128 points.

Standings after eight weeks:

1st	maestro	1481
2nd	Crimson Gator	1460
3rd	JagRag	1458
4th	AllySun	1453
5th	Shame! Shame!	1452
6th	In Accord	1451
7th	AUBrian	1449
8th	Ralphie	1448
9th	JagAL	1447
10th	bamaken	1445

Several interesting games dot the pick sheet this week. We have big midseason rivalry games (Michigan-Michigan State; Florida-Georgia) and top-20 matchups (Washington-Utah; Nebraska-Wisconsin; Clemson-Florida State).  It’s going to be an exciting week!  The first game is Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh, Thursday, October 27 at 7 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Facts and stats about each of the AP top 10 teams:

#1 Alabama has eleven non-offensive touchdowns this year, which is more than Buffalo and South Carolina have scored on offense. Seven defensive starters have scored at least one non-offensive touchdown.

#2 Ohio State is first in the nation in red zone defense.  Opponents have had 16 red zone attempts against the Buckeyes, and have only scored points ten times.  Only four of those are touchdowns.

#3 Michigan leads the nation in several defensive categories, but perhaps the most impressive is their 3^rd down conversion percentage allowed.  Opposing offenses are only converting 12.2% of the time against the Wolverines.

#4 Clemson has a bunch of ballhawks. The Tigers are fifth in the country in pass efficiency defense and interceptions. With their 16 turnovers gained overall, they are just two off of the national lead in that department.

#5 Washington has the best pass completion percentage in the country: 72.7% of the Huskies’ passes are caught.  This contributes to their #1 passing efficiency offense. They also take care of the ball: they’re #1 nationally in turnover margin.

#6 Texas A&M gets big chunks on the ground – they have two players in the top four in the country in rushing yards per carry. Trayveon Williams is #2 at 8.59 yards per carry, and Trevor Knight is fourth at 7.72 yards per carry.

#7 Louisville has Lamar Jackson – almost enough said right there – but one of his really eye-popping stats is that he is responsible for 30 points per game, or more than 61 FBS teams average per game.

#8 Nebraska receiver Alonzo Moore averages over a quarter of the football field gained every time he catches the ball (25.83 yards per reception) – good for third in the country.

#9 Baylor has a solid offensive line, no matter how you want to advance the ball. The Bears are both #5 in the country in rushing offense (282.8 ypg) and sacks allowed (0.67 per game).

#10 Wisconsin will not beat themselves. The Badgers are #2 in the country in fewest penalties (just 22 so far this season), are first in kickoff return defense (14.69 yards per return), and haven’t allowed a blocked kick or punt.

In small-school news, it’s time for the annual Mount Union report! This year finds the Purple Raiders 6-0 thus far, with the average game a 47-9 win, and the closest margin of victory a 17-point win over Ada (38-21).  As the defending Division 3 national champions, Mount Union is currently riding a 21-game winning streak, which seems (and of course, is) really good but is old hat to a program that has reeled off separate 55-game and 54-game winning streaks in the past. Not surprisingly, Mount Union is also the winningest team in Division 3 history, with 763 wins as of this writing.

Congratulations to G8RbamaLover, who wins week seven with 213 points! Barner4Life was second with 211, and bamaken took third with 208.

Standings after seven weeks:

1st	maestro	1354
T-2nd	Crimson Gator	1337
T-2nd	AllySun	1337
4th	JagRag	1333
5th	bamaken	1331
6th	AUBrian	1328
7th	Shame! Shame!	1327
8th	JagAL	1323
9th	Ralphie	1321
10th	In Accord	1318

It’s hard to believe that the season is already halfway through!  Several ranked teams get byes this week, so the slate of games is a little smaller than normal. However, no less than three SEC West top-25 matchups highlight the list, so it’s going to be important to get your games correct! The first game this week is BYU at Boise State, Thursday, October 20 @ 10:15 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

For years, the Big Ten conference had the not-so-subtle nickname “The Big Two and the Little Eight”.  The “Big Two” were conference heavyweights Ohio State and Michigan.  While the Buckeyes (ranked second in this week’s AP Poll) and Wolverines (fourth) are certainly powerhouses again so far this year, they are not alone.  The Big Ten is also represented in the top ten of the AP Poll by Wisconsin and Nebraska, who are eighth and tenth respectively.  This gives the conference four teams in the top ten in a regular season poll for the first time in 56 years.  It might not last long, though, as the Buckeyes and Badgers play each other this weekend. The Badgers will look to get their first win in five tries against Ohio State.

Another top ten matchup occurs in Knoxville, where Alabama comes to town for the “Third Saturday in October” against Tennessee.  The Volunteers had the somewhat unusual distinction of not dropping any spots in the AP Poll despite losing to Texas A&M, remaining at #9 overall.  This means that both teams will be ranked in this classic rivalry for the first time since 2005, and the first time both are in the top ten coming into the game since 1999. This has been a big game for a long time for both teams.  Alabama has played no other team except Mississippi State more than Tennessee, who has only played Kentucky and Vanderbilt more often than Alabama.   It’s also hard-fought; no one has beaten Alabama more times than Tennessee (38), and no one has beaten the Volunteers more than the Crimson Tide (52).  Alabama has won nine straight in this series, but Tennessee has already snapped one long series streak to Florida this year…

Other poll notes: the Western Michigan Broncos make their first appearance ever in the poll!  They are 6-0 thus far this year, with wins over Northwestern and Illinois.  Navy jumps back into the poll after a 46-40 upset over Houston this past week; the Midshipmen’s only loss is to Air Force.  Houston’s loss is Boise State’s gain.  They are currently ranked 15^th in the poll, and though Houston is 13^th, have the inside track to the automatic New Years’ Six bowl bid for the Group of Five.  Why? You have to be a conference champion to qualify, and with their loss, Houston now needs at least two losses by Navy in conference to even win their division in the American Athletic Conference.   The Pac-12 is down to just two teams in the poll – Washington and Utah (although Arizona State is in the coaches’ poll). Stanford and Oregon, the two teams that have monopolized the Pac-12 championship since 2009, already have a combined five conference losses between them.

In small-school news, a local traditional power is making their way up the Division II rankings.  Tuskegee, the HBCU founded by Booker T. Washington, has a rich history in football.  The Golden Tigers have won the second-most games in Division II history, behind only Pittsburg State, and have won seven Black College National Championships, but have generally not been ranked very high in Division II polls.  That’s not the case this year, though.  After their 28-19 win over rival Morehouse, Tuskegee is ranked 5^th in the latest AFCA poll, their highest ranking ever.  The Golden Tigers have a bye week before facing Kentucky State on October 22.

Congratulations to AllySun, who takes week 6 honors with 114 points!  In second place was maestro, with 113, and JagRag was third with 112.

Standings after six weeks:

1st	maestro	1153
2nd	AllySun	1149
T-3rd	Crimson Gator	1136
T-3rd	JagRag	1136
T-3rd	In Accord	1136
6th	AUBrian	1127
7th	Shame! Shame!	1124
8th	bamaken	1123
9th	JagAL	1121
10th	Ralphie	1115

This weekend features 21 games, so we’ll have a lot of points up for grabs! The first game is Navy at East Carolina, Thursday, October 13 @ 7:30 ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!