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).
It’s always fun to overreact to the official Week 1 in college football. Stunning comebacks, unexpected losses, and the annual notable QB injury. Here are 10 bold(ish) statements I believe to be true going forward after a wild Week 1:
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.
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.
Continue reading “Cohen’s Corner 2019-20 College Football ‘Expert’ Predictions + Week Zero Picks”
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.
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.
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:
Continue reading “Predicting 2019’s College GameDay Saturday Locations”
Continue reading “College Football Bowl Season Expert Picks”
Looking back at our preseason predictions, it’s almost cringe-worthy to see how awful Jon, Steve, Shane, and I did.
Let’s first focus on what we did get right though:
-All of us had Washington winning the Pac-12 Championship Game and Clemson winning the ACC.
-Steve had Ohio State winning the Big 10 and I had Oklahoma winning the Big 12, though Jon had the correct Big 12 matchup with the wrong result.
-We all chose Alabama vs. Georgia in the SEC title game with three of us getting Alabama’s win correct.
-All four of us had Alabama and Clemson in the final four…though no one would’ve predicted Notre Dame or Oklahoma’s success.
-Jon called USC as this season’s most disappointing team and he very well might’ve hit this one on the nose.
Now for where we really messed up…
Continue reading “College Football Season Picks Wrapup – Reviewing the Expert Predictions”
One of my favorite things to write on this blog is my weekly college football picks. Last year my buddies Jon Bell and Steve Malina made picks each week…but we’re pleased to add a fourth full-time picker, Shane Dale from ABC15, who knows a few things about college football and especially the UofA-ASU rivalry.
Next week will be our first weekly picks column but in the meantime, enjoy our season preview column with some surprising picks that I’ll touch on below!
Name (Twitter Feed)
Eric Cohen (@eacohen83)
Jon Bell (@koshercoach)
Shane Dale (@ShaneDaleABC15)
Steve Malina (@BearDownSteven)
Projected UofA Record
Eric: 9-3
Jon: 9-3
Shane: 9-3
Steve: 9-3
Eric’s Commentary: Surprised to see no one picking 8-4 or worse for the ‘Cats who have a favorable, but far from easy schedule.
Projected ASU Record
Eric: 6-6
Jon: 6-6
Shane: 6-6
Steve: 4-8
Eric’s Commentary: I’d be shocked to see ASU finish with less than 5 wins considering they have a senior QB and arguably the best player in the conference at WR.
Continue reading “Cohen’s Corner 2018-19 College Football ‘Expert’ Predictions”
Since Fall camp is 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 2018.
Below I’ll project each team’s record (overall and in-conference) and give a bold prediction (at least I hope so) for each team.
