Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

People are complicated. Love is not.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The next time the wall wtreet journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

The willow is too close to the house.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Bark louder, little dog.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / College Football Picks & Open Thread

College Football Picks & Open Thread

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There’s a lot of great football on tap today. I haven’t followed college football this year as closely as I normally do, so I’m not going to make a pick on every game. But here are my picks for some of the games I’ll be watching today — rationales below.

cfb_picks_1115

I think Georgia Tech beats Clemson. Why? I dunno — just a feeling. Mississippi State will roll the Tide, making Saban even more dyspeptic, if that’s possible. LSU will root out the Hawgs.

The Dawgs, still smarting from that beat-down Florida delivered, will take out their ire on the luckless Tigers / War Eagles.

I WISH Miami would beat FSU. I hate both of them but hate FSU more. But the ‘Noles have lured me into false hopes of their implosion too many times this year. I think they beat “The U” like a rented mule.

As for my own Gators, damn, I hope they win. My grandma went to the University of South Carolina, and she will be insufferable over the holidays if the ‘Cocks prevail. But I think the Gators lose, damn it.

What say y’all?

Reader Interactions

122Comments

  1. 1.

    Jade

    Absolute blasphemy Betty. ROLL TIDE ROLL. Today Mississippi State gets exposed and the cinderella slippers fall off. The rest of your picks are good.

  5. 5.

    Mustang Bobby

    Two of my alma maters (Miami undergrad, Minnesota masters) are on this board and I impishly hope Miami loses and Minnesota wins. The U needs an attitude adjustment. I grew up in Toledo and learned to hate Woody Hayes at an early age since we were closer to Ann Arbor than Columbus.

    I’m going to see “Fiddler on the Roof” tonight at game time so I’ll be missing the Miami/FSU game anyway.

  6. 6.

    Botsplainer

    For anybody following my drama, particularly Morzer (who did me a real solid – I owe a bottle of something) communication has resumed. Not exactly pleasant communication, and happening at the gate and over Gogo in flight, but not as apocalyptic as all that. Not completely out of the weeds, but it’s a nice start.

    In my male cluelessness, I honestly wouldn’t take “I’m not going to text fight, please find a decent phone line” as “shut up, wife, you’re stupid”. Now that it is out there, I can see how she took it, and acknowledge that I fucked up.

  7. 7.

    dp

    I’m hoping your right about my Tigers versus the Hawgs. After our annual heart-wrenching loss to the damn Tide, I don’t know what to expect from our younguns.

    Oh, and I’m pulling for Mississippi State to roll the Tide. I’m at the point where a MSU national championship would be about the most amusing thing left in the season.

  9. 9.

    Morzer

    FWIW, I reckon the best football game this weekend is going to be Colts vs Patsies. I am looking forward to watching it at 10.30 this morning.

  13. 13.

    Botsplainer

    @Betty Cracker:

    I was afraid that The Great Silence was going to ooze into a 4th day. She’s in Africa, I’m headed for Bonaire, and we had a huge blowout without being able to sort it. She’s been steaming, I’ve been frustrated and scared, but zero talking was occurring. Now it is happening, and I’m ecstatic.

  16. 16.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Mustang Bobby: I’m just hoping the Gophers don’t exposed for being the crap team I think they are, though a better class of crap than we’ve had over the years decades. Even if they lose, make it a close loss in which they play well.

    In football, that is. I’m actually in Columbus to watch the women’s hockey team play Ohio State and I expect another toasty win this afternoon.

    The timing was damned good. Delta had extra shuttles between MSP and Columbus to ferry Ohio State fans to the football game and the return leg was half empty.

  17. 17.

    JPL

    Friends are heading to the stadium to cheer for Clemson and son and his significant other are on their way to cheer on Tech. I’m suppose to say go team. Yeah right, I hope that Tech wins but I wouldn’t pick them.

  18. 18.

    Dolly Llama

    I hope the Dawgs capitalize on Gurley’s return and beat the Barn, but damn if I don’t have the same bad feeling about this game as I had before the Florida game, except worse. For no good reason at all, I think we get boatraced between the hedges. I think Bama beats MSU, Georgia Tech beats Clemson, F$U beats Miami, Florida beats USCe, and Arkansas beats LSU. And I want absolutely none of those outcomes.

  20. 20.

    JPL

    In my world, I’d like Tech to win and Duke to lose. Of course, Duke has to lose another game, too.
    My picks..
    Clemson
    Georgia
    FSU
    Florida
    LSU
    Bama

    Will there be a prize?

  21. 21.

    Josie

    Yesterday I reported that life is indeed good in my new home. I forgot to add that it could be even better if my Longhorns could manage to beat Oklahoma State and become bowl eligible. Hook ’em, Horns.

  23. 23.

    Gator90

    Will be availing myself of the opportunity to drunkenly boo Jameis Winston in person tonight. Unfortunately, though, as long as FSU has him, they can pull out any game in the second half.

    Trying to see UF-SC as a no-lose situation. If the Gators win, yay! If they lose, Muschamp’s dismissal is assured (yay).

  25. 25.

    qwerty42

    …The Dawgs, still smarting from that beat-down Florida delivered, will take out their ire on the luckless Tigers / War Eagles. …
    I think they also go by “The Plainsmen”.

  26. 26.

    johnnybuck

    I’m no Gators fan, but Florida won’t lose another game this season. I don’t know if it was Driskell or what, but they appear to have found their mojo… and Carolina is god-awful.

  28. 28.

    Linnaeus

    A Buckeyes loss is a victory for humanity. But I don’t see it happening, even if Minnesota has improved somewhat.

  30. 30.

    KG

    are these picks against the spread or money line? For entertainment purposes only:

    Mississippi State is now a 10 point underdog. I think that’s way too high and they cover, but not sure they win outright.
    Florida State at -3 should be a pretty good lock.
    I’ll take Nebraska at +6.5, I could see them winning outright against Wisconsin but think Wisconsin probably wins by a field goal.
    Also like Arizona State as a 7.5 point favorite, they’ve been rolling lately.
    And Georgia at -2.5 should be a win, mainly because I don’t really trust Auburn.

  31. 31.

    The Dangerman

    I’d love to see Mississippi State win but I can’t see it happening. This may be the first and last time a #1 is a double digit dog this late in a year.

    FSU will abuse Miami.

  33. 33.

    raven

    Been out in the field trying out my shock leader on one of my surf rods. Since we go to the beach this week through Dec 1 this is my last game. The summers drag so much waiting for football seems interminable. Every other year I either get the World Cup or Olympics to get me through the dog days but, this year, nuthin. There are so many good games on the box but going to Sanford Stadium for a game like this is something all together different. The Auburn-Georgia series is the oldest in the south and I’ve been going for 30 years. I can’t fucking wait. GO DAWGS!!!!

  36. 36.

    J R in WV

    Well, in spite of my ramblings about being a WVU fan from a very young age, and in spite of the fact that everyone one (else) in my family went to WVU…

    I am a Marshall Thundering Herd graduate, and I’m dam proud of their perfect season to date. So I’m big time hoping they beat Rice, doesn’t have to be pretty, doesn’t have to be a lot of points (one will do!) but a perfect season and a trip to a good bowl would be the best thing for the Green family in a long time.

    When I was a stu’ent at MU 1980-84 ( I were a non-traditional student at the ripe age of 30 ) they were a poorly coached team that was lucky to win 2 or 3 games.

    Doc Holliday (who was a recruiter and coach at WVU for many years) has turned that around, professional coaching and great recruiting, and they look to be a successful team as long as Doc is in charge.

    I hope their opponents also improve a little, so that another perfect season in the near future looks a little more perfect.

    Anyways, GO HERD! Beat Rice!

    Edit to remove dishing on other teams I don’t really care about that much unless they’re in a bowl game against one of my teams…

  37. 37.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Morzer:

    The image alone is, as they say, worth the price of admission. Get yer quatloos out now!

    Yeah, but the price of admission didn’t mention the amount of brain bleach required afterwards. Yeesh.

  39. 39.

    Betty Cracker

    @johnnybuck: What Florida did right was quit trying to pass, thus eliminating the game-losing turnovers. But you can’t go up against the Ole Ball Coach with a one-dimensional offense. I hope I’m wrong and you’re right because I am a Gator. But I don’t think I’m wrong.

  40. 40.

    Felonius Monk

    @raven: I don’t actually have a dog in the hunt here, but in honor of your recent birthday I will try to conjer up a little extra mojo on your behalf and simply say “Go Dawgs!”

  42. 42.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I always root for injuries when SEC teams are involved, but I do hope the Tide can overcome Miss St.

    Why?

    Well, I’m biased. If Miss St falls, the Fighting Fashion Nightmares will be #1!

  45. 45.

    Betty Cracker

    @raven: It was. I will also be pulling for the Dawgs tonight because one of my most obnoxious cousins is an Auburn fan. Should be a heckuva game!

    ETA: Unless Florida wins, of course, in which case we’d need an Auburn win for a shot at the SEC title. Na ga ha pen, though…

  48. 48.

    Betty Cracker

    I have a “no tackle box in the house” rule ever since I stepped on that Sabiki rig awhile back…

  51. 51.

    JPL

    It would have been nice if Tech had scored another t.d. but at least they got some points.
    Now that ESPN only allows streaming for cable customers, I’m having to listen to the game on the radio. If it warms up a few more degrees, I might bring the radio outside and do rake, while I listen.

  52. 52.

    JPL

    I guess I’m lucky I didn’t see the play where the Tech player got injured. According to the announcers, his leg appears to be broken.

  53. 53.

    Tommy

    @JPL: I don’t need to see that.

    My mini-rant. I am less than 200 miles from Columbia, MO and I can’t see the MO game today. With a win today they could win the SEC East. How without cable do I not get this game?

  54. 54.

    Beatrice

    The biggest game today is Macalester College vs Illinois College with the Midwest Conference Title on the line. I don’t know why it’s not on national television. Go Scots!

  55. 55.

    ellennellee

    i luvsya, betty, and all y’all, but….

    why is anyone thinking about football?

    i’m all for enjoying sports, at least in the abstract, but really? when weighed against the concussions and the violence, both so blatantly ignored, this continued indulgence in the industry is just open hypocrisy, doncha think?

    not to mention the gazillions that get sucked into their money machine, all this insanity will just persist until people STOP CARING ABOUT A BUNCH OF JOCKS KNOCKING THE CRAP OUTA EACH OTHER, AND THEN ALSO WHOMEVER GETS IN THEIR WAY OFF THE FIELD.

    if you want strategy, switch to soccer, or better, take up chess. at least these reduce the insanity to rich guys hoovering money into their already loaded pockets.

  61. 61.

    Betty Cracker

    @ellennellee: If you’re not a fan, it’s pointless to try to explain the value of the game, so I won’t bother. But trust me when I say it’s about a lot more than jocks colliding on the gridiron and the many very real problems on and off the field. And if you think soccer would be a big improvement from a moral perspective, I’d respectfully suggest you Google “FIFA.”

    @raven: Gators are keeping it interesting!

  66. 66.

    M.C. Simon Milligan

    @ellennellee: Like Betty says, FIFA make the NCAA and even NFL look like absolute pikers when it comes to soul crushing greed and corruption. Yet still I search out a feed for the Spain v Belarus Euro qualifier… as if there’s any doubt who will win that one.

    Damned international breaks. As if the Vols don’t give me enough heartbreak I eagerly await Schalke’s next exhibition of mediocrity with baited breath. Maybe RdM can turn the Miners around… or maybe VW hires me on directly and I can have an excuse to become a Wolfsburg fan.

  68. 68.

    JustRuss

    yeah, plenty of great football today, but i’ll be working the Beavers-AZ State game. If the last few weeks are any indication, it will not be pretty.

  74. 74.

    raven

    Unfucking real. Up 1 4 to got 4th and EIGHTEEN and the Hokies FAKE it and don’t make it. Hands down the stupidest call I have EVER seen.

  78. 78.

    Betty Cracker

    Christ on toast points, they are fucking killing me. Poor Grandma is about to stroke out too.

  91. 91.

    Betty Cracker

    It’s a good thing my kid isn’t home. She’d be learning even more creative strings of profanities.

  93. 93.

    Gator90

    Silver lining: I believe we can now rest assured that the Muschamp reign of error will end in 2014.

    Go Canes!

  100. 100.

    The Raven on the Hill

    Today I visited the Washington State Health Plan Finder to find me a health plan for next year and, well, “Washington Healthplanfinder is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please check back later.”

    A visit to another Exchange site brings the following information: “The Exchange’s quality control process has determined that 2015 tax credit amounts are currently being incorrectly calculated. As a result the Exchange is taking Washington Healthplanfinder offline in order to resolve the issue.”

    The moderately conservative state lege understaffs every state health care service, so far as I can tell and I expect they are working as hard as they can within the limits of understaffing to make the exchange work. Every state health employee I have had contact with has been very helpful and efficient, but also very, very overworked.

    Let’s hear it for smaller government!

  102. 102.

    LookingForACanadian

    Actual fan of the Gophers reporting in, freshly home from the stadium (and very cold and wet) – that was FUN! Nice showing. Ski-U-Mah!

  103. 103.

    raven

    I had emailed the author of the Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera after I read the book and he said to give him a shout when we came down. I emailed him a couple of hours ago and he just replied that he’s here in Athens and on his way to the game!!!!!

  107. 107.

    LookingForACanadian

    @raven: It was snowing the entire game. (still is!) But my dad has one of those all-weather blankets with fleece on the inside, nylon (?) outside, so it could have been much worse.

    edit: I should add, just in case my only-on-football threads aren’t obnoxious enough, I’m in Mpls and a season ticket holder for Gopher football. We have about one of these cold/snowy games per year, so I try not to complain too much.

  112. 112.

    burnspbesq

    Having to root for Florida State really sucks, but Miami has the tie-breaker on Duke in the Coastal if both win out. Duke completely shat the bed against VaTech.

    We did win our first-round game in the NCAA tournament in field hockey, however.

  119. 119.

    burnspbesq

    @JPL:

    Have you looked at the schedule? Duke has Carolina and Wake left, both at home. And we have the tiebreaker against GaTech, having kicked your asses on your home field.

    If the Noles take care of business, we will be going back to Charlotte.

    Now if Dawgs and Cocks can take care of business in their cross-state rivalry games, we’re still going to the Orange Bowl, win or lose against FSU.

  122. 122.

    lectric lady

    408 running yards. New NCAA record. Badger Melvin Gordon. If he doesn’t win the Heisman trophy it will be a crime!

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