Today just after 3:30 PM EDT, THE IRON BOWL will be played in this stadium.  The place will be rocking and rolling.  This must be one of the sturdiest structures in America. Alabama hosting Auburn.  Just sounds good.

Yes, I will be rooting for the Tide.  Brother Tim’s Tide.  Brother Virg’s Tide.  A Tide that belongs to a legion of “Roll Tide”.  You could be walking through a remote airport in Pierre, South Dakota and you might hear someone say “Roll Tide”.  This is not an emphatic “ROLL TIDE!” chant.  That is saved for the game.  It may be just a subtle lift of the chin and a cool “Roll Tide” will come out when another Tide personage is spotted.  James Bond would approve of the debonair comportment.  However, put 100,00 of these folks in Bryant-Denney Stadium together at 920 Paul W. Bryant Drive in Tuscaloosa, know you will need to get your feet set.  This is a special place and a special game.

From my getting over a week’s worth of the flu seat here at the home office, let me just calmly and quietly say, “Roll Tide.”

Also, give me a moment to reflect on seeing Van Tiffin’s shoe that made THE KICK when I was a senior in high school.

Yes, boys and girls, I am in the home office typing this on game day.  Rare has the time been that I have felt so lousy.  We press onward.  For this, I am thankful.  I am also thankful for all my family, my friends, and that the Good Lord is not through with me yet.

I certainly wish I could be in Memorial Stadium watching the Oaken Bucket Game between Indiana and Purdue.  There is a great deal on the line, believe it or not.  With a Boiler win, Purdue Pete heads indoors next in Indianapolis.  Let’s hope he changes his shoes!  Indiana could play spoiler and further intensify a rivalry that is already a good one.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I passed our tickets on to a friend and we wish them a good day.

So who are our winners today?  Let’s hope the picks have a better fate than the Ole Miss Rebels had in the Egg Bowl Thursday night.  Lane Kiffin?  Stay or Go.  Either way it has been fun.  Fun can only get you so far.

Georgia beats Georgia Tech…The Bulldogs took notice of the Wreck’s upset of UNC.

Michigan beats Ohio State… Yes, I know.  I never pick Ohio State.  There is a rabbit that will come out of Coach Harbaugh’s  hat today.

South Carolina beats Clemson…Clemson will go down at home today.  Cocky is on a roll.  That team found itself.

Louisville beats Kentucky…If Louisville get the from third gear to fourth, UK won’t be able to keep up with them.

Bama beats Auburn…But it will be entertaining.

Illinois beats Northwestern…If Purdue stubs the toe, the Illini could benefit.

Minnestoa beats Wisconsin…Go Goldy Go!

Oregon beats Oregon State…The Civil War.  Both ranked too.  Look for Nix to shred the Beaver Dam.

Indiana beats Purdue…Remember 1989.  Young Eric Hunter at QB led Purdue to an upset that lost a winning season, a bowl bid, and made AT the runner-up in one of the closest Heisman votes ever.  Dexter Williams II at QB to spoil it for PU.  Wish I could be at this one.  I was there in 1989.  Oucheth.

Duke beats Wake Forest…Big Game.  Duke is at home.  Small crowd in Thanksgiving weekend I suspect.  Just what Duke needs.

Penn State beats Michigan State…Bowl game leverage at hand for the Nittany Lions.

LSU beats Texas A&M…The wheels can come off in a hurry.  Ask the Aggies.

USC beats Notre Dame…Great rivalry that still holds its water.  Looking forward to this one.

Pitt beats Miami…Everyone else has.

Bonus Pick:  Apple Cup.  Washington beats Washington State in Pullman…Michael Penix and his band plays on.

How can this be?  The last week of the regular season.  Know that I have enjoyed picking the games.  It has been fun.  Take care.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Week 12 of the 2022 College Football Season.

Ouch.

This post is being written to Brian Wilson’s 2015 release titled No Pier Pressure.

Four years ago this weekend, my dear wife, Carrie, and I were under this pier.

The Santa Monica Pier.

Indulge me one more time.  Going to the Rose Bowl to watch UCLA play USC with my Dad in 2016 and then taking Carrie in 2018 to see this iconic game in a more iconic stadium than any one I know, well, after the last few years, it means that much more.

Pretty darn cool.

Yes, UCLA hosts USC in the Rose Bowl with fans for the first time since Carrie and I were there.  The game will be televised by FOX at 8 PM EDT.   We will be watching.

Last week’s picks were not memorable.  So, this week:

Pitt beats Duke…Yes, I am for the Dukies.  But the weather?  Might play a factor.

Michigan beats Illinois…The last warm-up before going to visit Brutus.

Purdue beats Northwestern…As the Boilermakers look for a trip to Indy for Big Ten Champ Game.

Nebraska beats Swissconsin…Yes, you are correct.  I can’t stand Bucky.

Notre Dame beats Boston College…Where have you gone, David Gordon?  I was lying on a couch in the house across from Hancock Chapel Church, where I lived with my old friend Malcolm “Corner King” Lincoln.  In 1993, David Gordon kicked a 41-yard field goal for BC that took down a #1 ranked Notre Dame team.  I jumped off the couch.  I did not know there was a sturdy, faulty spring hanging out of the section that was under my left arm at the time.  When I jumped up, my left arm felt a tug.  The scar is still there.  I can show it to you.  Stitches were probably needed.   There was more college football to watch that day.

Georgia beats Kentucky…Imagine, what would happen if, oh, never mind.

NC State beats Louisville…I know U of L is a darling right now.  How is Cunningham?  It won’t matter.  NC State is the better team and they will find themselves in Cardinal Stadium feeling unabashed.

Iowa beats Minnesota…Yes, I am a glutton for punishment.  But I still love those Iowa boys.  Great place.  Great coach.  Go Hawkeyes!

North Carolina beats Georgia Tech… Drake Maye. If this played in the SEC he would already be handed the Heisman Trophy.  You heard it here.  Watch.

Auburn beats Western Kentucky… Right?

Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma… He’s a man!  He’s 40!  Bedlam.  I don’t want to imagine college football with it.  Watch while you can.  Dollars are winning over tradition.

Ole Miss beats Arkansas… Lane Kiffin, if you have a brain, you will hang with Oxford!  Have you been to Auburn lately?

Wake Forest beats Syracuse…The Deacons don’t lose this one at home.

UCLA beats USC… I would love to be there again.  Look, I have been to many college football stadiums.  I have seen 73 of the FBS teams play in person.  Walking into the Rose Bowl the first time with my Dad, and spending time on the field there in an empty Rose Bowl the second trip, thanks to some kind folks, did something to me.  A child of the Big Ten who dreamed of seeing his Indiana Hoosiers play there one day, I got there myself.  Few places live up to the hype.  The Rose Bowl Stadium exceeded my dreams. Not many dreamers can say that.

Watching my Dad walk into that tunnel is an indelible image for me.

Go Bruins!

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

First things first.  The important things.  

This morning we lost a legend.  Mr. Jim.  That is what my second cousin, Camden Fulton, from Mississippi called Jim Nolot when he came up to Indiana to do some deer hunting a few years ago.  Mr. Jim. I enjoyed listening to the two of them going back and forth in meaningful conversation.  Priceless.

When I had learned that Jim Nolot, who had been ill for some time, left us, I thought about the last time we played golf together.  There were a bunch of us.  Jim was the common denomintor that got all of us there.  Breakfast and bad golf.  Not a bad way to spend half the day.  I can still hear Jim telling anyone standing still about the putt I made on #12 at Lucas Oil Golf Course.

“You should have seen Danny’s putt.  We were playing in the same foursome.  On number 12 he had a putt role in from more than 40 feet.  It was a double breaker that slowed just right and fell in the hole.  It was a heck of a putt.”

Thank you, Jim.  You will be missed.  Peace to your wonderful family.  Too many to mention.  I hate leaving anyone out.  But I will mention your wife, Pam.  You were two peas in a pod.

Writing about which football team is going to win tomorrow is rather meaningless right now, after writing the paragraphs above.  But it is what we do.  I think Jim would want all of us to keep doing what we do.  He led that way.

Arkansas beats LSU…Last week I picked Notre Dame to beat Clemson.  I thought they would.  I didn’t think it would be a Tiger-kicking contest.

Tennessee beats Navy…Annoying as they are, the Vols will win.

Pitt beats Virginia…I could have sworn these two already played twice this year.  That’s ACC football for you.

Illinois beats Purdue…The Illini won’t get beat by Purdue, will they?

Michigan State beats Rutgers…Sparty is at home this week and next against the Hoosiers.

Kentucky beats Vandy…The Wildcats are still having a decent season.  The Anchor Boys won’t get in the way of that.

Duke beats Virginia Tech…The Dukies are shockers this year.

Ole Miss beats Alabama…Sorry, Brother Tim and Brother Virg.  The Rebs are for real. Running, passing, and hopefully tackling.

NC State beats Boston College…The Wolfpack haven’t lost in Carter-Finley Stadium in a long while.

Clemson beats Louisville…Howard’s Rock will be rubbed down.  Hope the Cards pull the upset.

Penn State beats Maryland…I thought ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky was seriously in love when the Nittany Lions played the second string QB last week.

Michigan beats Nebraska…We are all waiting for Michigan and Ohio State in a couple weeks.

Florida beats South Carolina…The Gators don’t lose this at home.

Georgia beats Mississippi State…Have you seen the DAWGS lately?

Last week saw 11 winners and 3 losers.

We lost a whole lot more this morning.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

First things first.  10 winners and 4 losers last week.  I hope that winning trend continues.

Last week my dear wife, Carrie, and I were in Huntington, West Virginia to watch the Marshall Thundering Herd take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.

I will be the first to tell you a visit to Joan C. Edwards Stadium is a treat.  The atmosphere is fun.  Folks are glad to be there.  Even when the team is getting beat, folks are much more respectful and entertaining here than any other stadium I have ever been to.

The Herd got beat 24-13 to a tough one loss Coastal team.

Great sky before the game.

The Herd moving the ball.

The Chants moving the ball and scoring.

On to this week’s picks!

Florida beats Texas A&M… Florida is due and the Aggies are a wreck.

Purdue beats Iowa…Noon kick at Purdue.  Iowa can’t score.  Can they?

Kentucky beats Mizzou…The Cats will be a fierce bunch in Columbia.

Minnesota beats Nebraska…Goldy shells the Cornhuskers.

North Carolina beats Virginia…Tar Heels keep rolling.

Ohio State beats Northwestern…Yuckeyes.

Illinois beats Michigan State…Just how hard are the one loss Illini kicking themselves for getting beat by Indiana?

Pitt beats Syracuse…The Orange can’t keep this up.

Georgia beats Tennessee…So fast Vols!

Alabama beats LSU…Two losses for Bama before Ole Miss?  Never!

Mississippi State beats Auburn…The Auburn dumpster fire lives!

Notre Dame beats Clemson…Every now and then there really is something to that “Wake up the Echoes” song.  That’s why they keep singing it.

Louisville beats James Madison…Cards at home after the stunner against Wake and good NCAA news.  Good stuff keeps going.

UCLA beats Arizona State…Will be Bruins make it to the Big Ten?

I took this one a couple days ago on the walking trail.  Autumn’s golden gown is here for us to kick our way.  My apologies to Jeff Wayne.

I will be in Bloomington tomorrow with this guy!

This is a photo from our last foray on Bloomington before the Hoosiers played Michigan in 2019.  Let’s hope Indiana fares better against the boys from Penn State tomorrow. Yes, that is my UCLA hoodie under my IU pancho.  It was just a matter of time.

Enjoy the weekend.  Don’t forget to set those clocks back!

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson