COLLEGE GAMEDAY REWIND: UNLUCKY NUMBER 7 AND THE TITANS ARE CRYING

Even that old saying, “mama said there would be days like this” doesn’t seem to fit with the Saturday that we had here at GameDay. It was worse than that – much worse. At the end of business, my college football selections were 0-for-7. That’s right, 0-for-7. Not one victory in the bunch. I’ve never really been at a loss for words when it comes to losing days, but that’s what I am tonight. I can’t even complain about a game because they were all pretty much over by halftime. What’s to blame for the historic meltdown? Well, it was my ego, of course. I actually went and looked at some other college football prognosticators from major newspapers and saw that my record was better than theirs. That’s all well and good, but I took it further and told people that I was killing everybody else. Not good. And I paid for it with the winless day. Now, suddenly, I’m a game under .500 for the season. I still have a three-game lead in the Carroll Showdown, but there’s not much to celebrate right now as far as college goes.
One thing I can celebrate, however, is the J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets! After picking up their second straight road victory – this time against undefeated Tennessee – the Jets have set themselves up to make a run at one of the two first-round byes in the playoffs. Are the Jets the best team in football? I won’t say it and I haven’t even thought about it. What I will say is this: the Tennessee Titans are the biggest bunch of crybabies in the league. Here are a couple of quick quotes from Keith Bullock after the game:
“Refs get paid just like us. They should get fined just like us.”
“Now we know for the next time we play [the Jets]. It'll be a different game next time.”
First, blaming the refs for getting your butt handed to you 34-13 is downright embarrassing. Second, what did the Titans learn about the Jets? Did they learn that the Jets absolutely destroyed them, dominating every facet of the game? Did they learn that the Jets killed them on their home turf? Did they learn that the Jets scored 34 points and gashed their vaunted defense for long rush after long rush? There’s more and more and more, but if you listen to the Titan players, it didn’t happen. They say that the Jets aren’t very good and that they’ll be ready for them the next time they play. Whatever. The Titans were exposed and the players obviously can’t handle it. It’s really sad. Tennessee will still probably get the No. 1 seed, so the road to the Super Bowl may have to go through Nashville. Right now, however, I don’t think the Jets would care in the least.

Now, on to College GameDay Rewind:

My Saturday: 0-7 (spread); 4-3 (overall); 0-2 (upset picks)
My Season: 44-45-2 (spread); 67-24 (overall); 4-6 (upset picks)
My Money: DOWN $550 (season)
Craig's Saturday: 2-5 (spread)
Craig's Season: 41-48-2 (spread)
Craig's Money: DOWN $1,180 (season)

Michigan +20 at No. 10 Ohio State
My Pick: Ohio State 22, Michigan 10
Actual Score: Ohio State 42, Michigan 7
I actually thought I was on the right track at the start, as the Michigan defense was playing very well against Ohio State early on. The Buckeyes used two big plays to get a 14-7 lead at the half, but the Wolverines looked like they were pumped and ready to hang with OSU. Then the Buckeyes outscored Michigan 28-0 in the second half and I quickly start the day 0-1. Craig went with OSU, so he’s 1-0.

No. 17 Michigan State +15.5 at No. 7 Penn State
My Pick: Penn State 27, Michigan State 17
Actual Score: Penn State 49, Michigan State 18
This was a much quicker death for me as Penn State actually lit up the scoreboard for an easy win. The pick here was based on the fact that I didn’t think Penn State could actually score enough points to cover two-plus touchdowns. Obviously, like the rest of my picks, I was wrong. Craig took the loss as well.

Air Force +20 at No. 15 TCU
My Pick: TCU 38, Air Force 21
Actual Score: TCU 44, Air Force 10
TCU easily took care of Air Force and drops me to 0-3. Not much else to say. Craig also went with Air Force and drops to 1-2.

Ole Miss +3.5 at No. 18 LSU
My Pick: LSU 28, Ole Miss 21
Actual Score: Ole Miss 31, LSU 10
Well, it was nice for LSU to show up. I knew when this game slipped away real early I was in trouble of going winless. This was my most confident pick on the day, especially after the unbelievable comeback the Tigers pulled off a week ago. But the losses continue to mount for GameDay as the record now stands at 0-4 in the afternoon games. Craig is not much better, pulling in with a 1-3 record.

No. 20 Pittsburgh +6 at No. 19 Cincinnati
My Pick: Cincinnati 33, Pittsburgh 30
Actual Score: Cincinnati 28, Pittsburgh 21
Pittsburgh led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, so I was felling pretty good about the late games right off the bat. But Cincinnati outscored Pitt 14-0 in the second quarter and both Florida State and Oklahoma were jumping ahead in the other two games, so reality set in quick. The losing was going to continue. Pittsburgh did make it a seven-point game, but that wasn’t good enough, as I knew with this loss 0-7 was pretty much a lock. I’m 0-5 and Craig is 1-4.

Florida State -1 at No. 22 Maryland
My Pick: Maryland 24, Florida State 21
Actual Score: Florida State 37, Maryland 3
This was another case of a team not showing up in a big game. The way Maryland played was inexcusable and the Terps should have been dropped from the Top 25 immediately after the game. Craig picked up another victory with FSU, improving to 2-4 on the day. I’m 0-6 and on my way to 0-7. I had a 7-0 day several weeks ago, and the high of that day doesn’t compare to the low of what was happening here. Just horrible.

No. 2 Texas Tech +7 at No. 5 Oklahoma
My Pick: Texas Tech 35, Oklahoma 31
Actual Score: Oklahoma 65, Texas Tech 21
This was a fitting end to the night. Not much to say other than Texas Tech had a really bad game and its dream season is over. This was probably the Red Raiders one and only chance to play for a national title and they blew it. Oh well. Right now, you’d have to say Oklahoma is the better choice than Texas to play for the national championship … but then again, Texas did beat the Sooners already this year. This is why a playoff is needed – but it’ll never happen. GameDay is 0-7, while Craig is 2-5. Thank God there is more football to play.

(AP photo, top, Oklahoma running back Chris Brown (29) reacts after scoring a touchdown against Texas Tech in the second quarter Saturday.)

(AP photo, second, Jets running back Leon Washington (29) celebrates after scoring a touchdown on a 4-yard run against the Titans in the fourth quarter Sunday. The Jets beat the previously undefeated Titans 34-13. Behind Washington is tight end Chris Baker.)