Roll Tide (quietly)

Well, this is the second week in a row that I've had to use a RADIO to keep up with my guys, and it's hard for me to get a sense of them without seeing them, but I do think it's safe to say that even with a WIN yesterday, I'm not feelin' 4 million times better about the Tide than I did last year. The problems that have plagued us (horrible third down conversion stats, red zone freeze up) don't seem to have magically melted away. Maybe we should all take a minute and ponder the notion that the reason Shula didn't do better than he did maybe did have something to do with the guys on the field.

But I'm happy with the WIN, although until I see them with my own eyes I'm unconvinced that there are 4 million reasons I should feel more confident in them this year.

There was enough shakin' in the Top 25 yesterday to give me some reason to hope that BAMA will penetrate the polls this week. I'm goin' out on a limb and saying they will debut at 23.

******

And speakin' of predictions.... Just for fun, I run a list each week in my online community, focusing on those teams for which my friends root. Last week I was 7 for 8 in terms of W/L. We added a team this week, and because two of them played each other, I was 6 for 8.

Here's how it went:

Football Predictions (top) Actual Score (bottom)

Air Force 45 Utah 6
Falcons 20 Utes 12

Pffpth. AF looked strong last week, Utah not so much, thus the predicted spread.


Alabama 35 Vanderbilt 21
Crimson Tide 24 Commodores 10

Did I nail the spread, or WHAT?


Auburn 31 South Florida 6
Tigers 23 Bulls 26

Auburn just messes with my head. I gave 'em a nice spread, because I really thought hey'd come out feeling like they had something to prove after last week. I did provide a caveat with this prediction, however, that did come true: I said that if AU didn't come out strong offensively with 2 TD's in the first quarter, they'd lose. I just really thought they would.

California 38 Colorado State 10
Golden Bears 34 Rams 28

California was a last minute addition, literally -- the husband of one of my online pals asked me to do this right before game time. I think I'm okay with this, given the scant amount of time I had to study up.

LSU 28 Va Tech 21
Tigers 48 Hokies 7

What can I say? I think I just hate givin' LSU the credit they deserve, and I'm a Mama and therefore have a soft spot for VA Tech this year. Sue me.

Michigan 20 Oregon 17
Wolverines 7 Ducks 39

In the online group, we have a MI fan who loves Oregon, and an Oregon fan who hates her coach. I honestly believed that Michigan would come out loaded for bear this week, and maybe they did, but you use different guns to hunt ducks. Of course, the fact that this was deemed an "historic" loss for Michigan (they've not lost by this much margin since 19frickin'68) makes me feel a little better about my whoopsie.


Rutgers 42 Navy 13
Scarlet Knights 42 Navy 24

I nailed the Rutgers side of this score. I'm thinkin' this one wasn't all that far off being a good solid call. I'm a little bummed that Navy doesn't have a nickname, or if they do, they don't advertise it. I'd be happy if anybody can set me straight on this.

Troy 7 Florida 52
Trojans 31 Gators 59

I'm so proud of Troy I could spit! They outscored Florida in the second half, and that was against, mostly, Florida's first string. I didn't give Troy more points up front because the press was that QB Omar Haugabook was playing hurt. Apparently he plays hurt pretty good.

I love college football!!!


ADDENDUM: Polls are out, and Bama didn't crack into the Top 25. I'm disappointed, but it's probably fair.