My Crystal Ball Says...

...that I know what will happen in this week's key games. Always remember that I'm right, and your team sucks.

Week 4

Back by popular demand, it's My Crystal Ball.  Thanks to those who e-mailed me at illegalprocedureblog@gmail.com and told me I was a slacker for not doing it for the first three weeks.

Look, I've known for a while that I was a slacker, so it wasn't really necessary for you to tell me that.  Many times.  Really.

Honestly, though, to present these picks the way I like to takes a lot of homework - looking at various sources to gather information and maybe dig up that tell-tale stat.  And, after all that,  I am wrong a third of the time anyway!

But that's one of the reasons I love college football - it's often unpredictable, and, as I have argued many times, almost anything can happen on any given Saturday.  This is one of the reasons I have argued against a college football playoff.  As ESPN says: Every Game Matters.

Now that we've established that, let's look at a few of this week's games that matter...

I think it is safe to argue that today's most important game among the alleged major programs is:

Georgia (1-2) at Mississippi State (1-2):  This is a must-win game for Georgia.  They began the SEC schedule with a road loss to South Carolina, and lost a close loss at home last week to Arkansas.  Starting 0-3 in league play would be a disaster. At that point, you start thinking about bribing someone on the Independence Bowl selection committee.  Oh wait, Georgia was just there last year.

I expected Mississippi State to be the most improved team in the league in the second year under Dan Mullen.  And they may be, but it hasn't translated into victories.  Of course, they have a lot to improve upon.  Georgia hasn't lost three straight games since 1990.  Normally, I'd take Mississippi State at home, but the Dawgs in red and black need a win badly.

#24 Oregon State (1-1) at #3 Boise State (2-0):  Regular readers will know how I feel about Boise State.  They are not a fluke.  Their offense is multi-dimensional and unpredictable.  They have one of the nation's best quarterbacks in Kellen Moore.  Their defense is fast and physical.  They have veterans everywhere on both sides of the ball.  Let's be honest - would you want your favorite team to pay a visit to Boise next week? If you said Yes, you'd better check real quick to see if your pants are on fire.  Oregon State is a solid team, but they have inexperience at the quarterback position, and the Rodgers Brothers are not enough to beat the Broncos at home.

#1 Alabama (3-0) at #10 Arkansas (3-0):  It's tempting to believe that the Tide may be vulnerable on the road, and I've been hearing for several days now how tough it is to play in Reynolds Stadium.  I've been there.  It's very nice.  But I'm not buying into the crowd noise thing.  When you play in the SEC, that is normal.  It's something you deal with regularly.  So, no offense Razorback fans, but take your alleged roar and stuff it.  Here's the key to this game - Arkansas is basically one dimensional.  They are 3rd in the nation in passing, but 98th in rushing.  Alabama is in the top 20 in both of those categories.  That balance will be the difference.  Roll Tide.


Best of luck to the Big 10 Plus 1, Soon to Have 12 Conference as they try to put fans in the seats or get anybody at all interested in today's games.  The schedule:  Illinois is off, Indiana hosts Akron, Iowa hosts Ball State, Michigan hosts Bowling Green, Michigan State hosts Northern Colorado, Minnesota hosts Northern Illinois, Northwestern hosts Central Michigan, Ohio State hosts Eastern Michigan, Penn State hosts Temple, Purdue hosts Toledo, and Wisconsin hosts Austin Peay.  Let's go Peay!


Late Note:  The guest picker on ESPN GameDay is former US Olympic ski racer Picabo Street.  She may possess the second greatest name in sports, behind former NASCAR driver Dick Trickle.