We’re nearly a month into the college football season and I, like many others, have no idea what to make of the entire landscape. The SEC kicks off this weekend while the Big 10 is a month away. Last week I thought I would be writing about the Pac-12 in this space but as of now, their situation is still up in the air.
I’d love to say it’s time for revised playoff and bowl picks…but as of now, do we even know who’s playing and which bowls will happen and those who won’t?
2020 never fails to amaze.
One thing I can say with some clarity…watch out for this Miami Hurricanes squad. Getting QB D’Eriq King as a grad transfer from Houston might have saved coach Manny Diaz’s job…seriously. They lost star DE Gregory Rousseau who opted out before the season due to COVID-19 and I seriously wondered if Diaz would get the Willie Taggart treatment at cross-state rival, Florida State…less than two years and out.
But after a thorough butt-kicking of Louisville last weekend, 47-34, and no, it wasn’t that close in actuality, it’s definitely a possibility that the ‘Canes could be favored in each of their remaining regular season games with the exception of an October 10th trip to Clemson.
Just throwing a crazy scenario out there…if Miami goes 11-1 with a regular season loss in Death Valley but an ACC Championship win over the Tigers, they have to be a shoe-in for the College Football Playoff, right?
My parents met at ‘The U” and as JB referenced last week in his bold prediction, they are my second favorite team after all. I know I’m dreaming with this one…but it’s worth a thought.
What’s not worth a thought is my 1-7 ATS performance last week including picking against that same Miami squad I’m touting above. The other three ‘experts’ are ahead of me across the board so time to bounce back this week with a huge 13 game slate including the 2020 debut of the SEC…
Bold Predictions:
EC: The Mississippi teams with their fascinating new coaches put a scare into SEC contenders LSU and Florida. Lane Kiffin’s Rebels squad keeps it close until the 4th quarter while Mike Leach’s Bulldogs score just enough to make things uncomfortable for the LSU faithful.
AL: Mac Jones starts the game as Alabama’s QB, however, middle of the second quarter, in a close game, Nick Saban makes the call similar to the Jalen Hurts / Tua move in the title game. He brings in the true freshman Bryce Young who leads them to a victory and cements himself as their starter for the next 3 years.
JB: One hot seat cools down, another heats up. While Miami continues its hot start with a romp over the ‘Noles and their shiny new offense, Texas takes a step back, losing to the Red Raiders in Lubbock, raising the temperature on year 4 of the Tom Herman era.
SM: The PAC-12 announces they are returning on Halloween weekend. In an effort to try to get one team to the CFP, Larry Scott did everything he could to get an undefeated USC team vs an undefeated Oregon team in the PAC-12 title game. All teams play their five divisional opponents and two cross division opponents. USC is scheduled against Stanford and Oregon State while Oregon is scheduled against UCLA and Arizona in the North vs. South matchups. Additionally of note, ten of the twelve PAC-12 schools have at least one game on a Thursday or Friday night. The two teams who only play Saturday games until Championship weekend, USC and Oregon.
Like my CFB picks above, a subpar 2-3 week in the Pick 5…still above .500 though! I’m liking this week’s picks a lot!
Week 3 Pick 5 Selections:
Last Week: 2-3
Season: 6-4
Ole Miss +14.5 vs. Florida
Army +13.5 at Cincinnati
Bills -2.5 vs. Rams
Falcons -3.5 vs. Bears
Ravens -3.5 vs. Chiefs
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Cohen's Corner 
Oh man, I forgot to post my comments here before the games this weekend. I was going to tell all of you how crazy you were for picking OU & LSU. I can’t believe you all picked them to win. Do you guys even watch College Football.
No just kidding. Although I really did forget to post comments; those would not have been them. My 3 teams I follow, route for and attended games when there was no COVID19 are OU, LSU & Army. Man was it a bad day for me today, all 3 crumbled. I hope the 4 of you had a better day with your teams.
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