Category: Picks and Predictions

Week 2 NFL Picks

Published on by Eric CohenLeave a comment

My golden rule for Week 1 in anything – especially when it comes to football is – TRY NOT OVERREACT! Like thinking Baltimore’s offense led by Lamar Jackson is the second coming of Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City. Not happening…yes, the Dolphins are just THAT bad on defense. Or that the Browns are the same old team we’re used to. Also not true despite a 43-13 home thrashing at the hands of Tennessee.

Based on my preseason expectations, I’ll rank each team in one of three categories after one week:
-They Are Who I Thought They Were (GOOD, BAD, or MEDIOCRE)
-I Might’ve Been Way Off (BETTER or WORSE)
-I Have No Clue

It’s a fun exercise…and one I’m sure I’ll revisit multiple times throughout the season.

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Week 3 CFB Expert Picks

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I think it’s fair to say that the course of ASU & UofA’s seasons will change this week. Sure, it’s only mid-September but both fanbases should have a better picture of what their teams’ seasons will look like after this week.

ASU travels to East Lansing to take on the ferocious Michigan State defense while UofA hosts Texas Tech in a game which may eclipse 100+ total points (for the second week in a row on the Arizona Stadium scoreboard).

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The Cohen’s Corner 2019 NFL Predictions + Week 1 Picks

Published on by Eric CohenLeave a comment

The NFL season is upon us and with that comes my annual predictions of all 256 regular season games and 11 playoff games. It’s a time-consuming yet entertaining exercise and in light of recent developments (i.e. Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement), my picks are a lot different than when I tried this previously in June.

On paper I feel maybe 1/4 of the league is capable of winning the Super Bowl. Give me the Patriots, Chiefs, Chargers, Eagles, Packers, Bears, Saints, and Rams and I’ll give you the other 24. Which side are you taking?

I think New England’s reign of terror in the playoffs is over starting this season…but then again I said that in 2018-19 and how did that work out? Finally – if I’m correct about my Super Bowl prediction, there will be a massive storyline that will echo throughout the league. Check those picks below plus winners, best bets, and fantasy football advice for the highly anticipated Week 1!

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Week 1 CFB Expert Picks

Published on by Eric CohenLeave a comment

Week one of the college football season officially begins this Thursday and I’m already depressed. Sure, it’s great to have football back. But when your team loses in Week Zero, as an 11 point road favorite, it certainly casts an air of negativity on the season Labor Day.

What happened to my Arizona Wildcats in Hawaii? Poor execution, bad coaching, and a general lethargic performance contributed to the Rainbow Warriors’ 45-38 victory last Saturday night.

Unlike last year’s crushing opening night home loss to BYU, I’m not sure I see the 2019 version of the Wildcats rebounding and winning even a handful of games.

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Cohen’s Corner 2019-20 College Football ‘Expert’ Predictions + Week Zero Picks

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The best time of the year is officially back starting this weekend! I don’t care if there are only two FBS college football games – both, fortunately for me, include my two favorite teams: UofA (my alma mater) and Miami (my parents’ alma mater / favorite team as a kid).

This looks like one of those seasons where predictability reigns supreme. If Alabama and Clemson aren’t in the Final Four / Championship Game, most observers including myself would be quite surprised.

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2019 Pac-12 Football Predictions: Can Oregon, Utah, or Washington make a run to the CFB Playoff Semifinals?

Published on by Eric CohenLeave a comment

With Fall camp right around the corner and with it the BEST time of the year approaching, it’s time to break down how I believe the Pac-12 conference will shape up in 2019.

I went game-by-game and tried to predict my share of upsets – yes, some of them are a bit surprising (i.e. Oregon State over ASU)…but to me for example, OSU is better than a 1-11 team and ASU historically doesn’t play well in Corvallis in the cold of November. I also had trouble picking middling teams winning road games. I’m sure I’ll be proven incorrect but as of now on paper, this is what I chose to go with.

Below you’ll see the schedule matrix along with a brief synopsis as I see it for each team this Fall.

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NBA Draft – Mocking the Lottery (with projected trades)

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It’s unfortunate to say this – but the NBA appears to be much more interesting now that the Golden State dynasty seems to have hit a wall with injuries and the potential departures of the injured Kevin Durant and possibly Klay Thompson. While the top three picks appear rather set in stone, I expect some trade activity starting at #4 in my mock NBA Draft Lottery:

1. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS: Zion Williamson (PF, Duke)
A slam dunk for the Pelicans franchise which, assuming new GM David Griffin manages it correctly, should be a prime Western Conference contender within 3 years. Zion projects as an All-Star talent and potential top-10 player in the league in several years IF he can remain healthy.

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Predicting Every Game of the 2019 NFL Schedule (June Edition)

Published on by Eric CohenLeave a comment

Cohen’s Corner is back for the first time in a month. I may not write as often these days (being on the radio every weekday for three hours is the culprit) but rest assured, I’ll be delivering plenty of NFL & CFB predictions this Fall as per usual.

For today’s column, this is an exercise I’ve enjoyed doing the last several seasons – picking every game throughout the season well in advance. Some of my game picks are a bit crazy but remember, the NFL is the most difficult sport to predict week-in, week-out in terms of surprising upsets. Heck, there’s a reason why NFL Survivor Pools are so difficult.
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Predicting 2019’s College GameDay Saturday Locations

Published on by Eric CohenLeave a comment

My favorite time of the year – college football season is only less than four months away! Even though my Cubbies are off to a fairly exciting start, I CANNOT WAIT for college football to start. And what’s even more awesome is that my two favorite teams, UofA (my alma mater) and Miami (my parent’s alma mater) play a week early on August 24th. Talk about heaven for this college football diehard!

With college football comes the best LIVE television show – ESPN’s College GameDay. I’ve been to the show a handful of times, in Tucson twice (2009 & 2015) as well as before the 2016 National Championship Game in Glendale.

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Looking at the college football schedule in 2019, at first glance, it’s very unimpressive. The lack of scintillating matchups, especially in the non-conference season, is noteworthy. While last year I thought I wouldn’t get 50% correct (I went 9-6 with a few freebies included), I’d almost venture to say that anything less than 75% correct in 2019 would be a disappointment.

Here are my best guesses as to where we’ll see Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, and of course the legend Lee Corso in 2019:

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