Oh my.
How did we get here so fast?
Sure, I know there are Conference Championship Games to be played. There are a bazillion and one bowl games to be decided. We have the College Football Playoffs to be decided. 4 teams to decide it? To me that is just as mythical as the AP and UPI Polls back in the day. And they were more fun to debate and argue about. Nevermind. That was when folks could argue in peace. We know what has happened since then, sad as it may be.
Yes. I know, all you know-betters. I thought the Indiana Hoosiers were going to have a great season.
They didn’t. The Hoosiers are 2-9 going into the final game against Purdue on Saturday. Those who know the code (I can’t pick against the Hoosiers) know why I won’t touch this game this week. Or did I just do exactly that? It has been tough this season.
I was there with my dear friend, Jerry Brown, when the season started in Iowa City.
This was not a good day for Hoosier fans. It made us all say, “Uh-oh.”
The last time IU won a game was September 25th at Western Kentucky.
A bomb of a field goal helped to preserve a 33-31 victory over the Hilltoppers.
Did I say it has been a long season?
On to the final regular season picks of the season! Save a cut of the cheese last week when I picked Michigan State to beat Ohio State, I was 13-1 last week. You know my proclivity for not picking against the Hoosiers. It works the other direction when it comes to Ohio State and Swissconsin. Can’t stand either one of them!
Here we go.
Ole Miss beats Mississippi State…They have to. In all my years of watching and attending college football games, the closest I have come to attending this game is driving by Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in the 1970s as the game was commencing. There was no TV. We were driving by listening to the radio, as we were visiting relatives in Jackson over Thanksgiving Weekend. The Rebs have been a great breath of fresh air this year.
While we are at it, the only SEC teams I have not seen play in person are Mississippi State, Florida, and Texas A&M. My feelings are not hurt.
North Carolina beats NC State…I may lose this one. I owe one to the NC State fans at the Farmer’s Market in Raleigh. We love that place. I am a Mack Brown fan moreso. When you walk onto the field of The Rose Bowl where Vince Young crossed the goal line to beat USC and win a National Chamionship in the last game Keith Jackson called there, you root for the one who was there. Mack Brown. Go Mack go.
Michigan beats Ohio State…I hate hornets. I hate wasps. I hate Buckeyes. Get the picture?
Iowa beats Nebraska…That is where we started all this Big Ten mess.
Arkansas beats Mizzou…Used to be a Friday after Thanksgiving Classic with Arkansas and LSU. Same for Colorado and Nebraska back in the day. Go Hogs.
Georgia beats Georgia Tech…I know Lewis Grizzard is smiling. I know it.
Alabama beats Auburn…Let me rephrase that for clarity and my dear friend, Brother Tim Petty, I hope Alabama beats Auburn. I think they will.
Oregon beats Oregon State…The Civil War. You gotta love rivalries.
Marshall beats Western Kentucky….This is a big game. Also marks this first season since 2009 my dear wife, Carrie, and I have not been to Huntington to see The Herd play sans last year’s Covid debacle. Go Herd. I miss you.
Minnesota beats Swissconsin…See Ohio State notes.
Louisville beats Kentucky…Opps. I said it. I believe it. It is Louisville’s time. I hope UK proves me wrong. I don’t think it will work out that way. Too much Card O.
Oklahoma beats OK State…I’m a man! I’m 50!
Pitt beats Syracuse…This Pitt team is fun to watch.
UCLA beats Cal…The last home game in The Rose Bowl for UCLA. I’d be there every home game if I could.
I split the uprights there!
And I took my Dad there.
He was like me. He couldn’t believe it either. All those January 1st days in Southern Indiana as we watched the Big Ten take on the PAC 10 and dreamed about this place.
Santa Monica Pier behind us.
Go Bruins! You won’t see this field on TV with less paint than this!
Speaking the rights!
Danny Johnson