Braves-Gamecock Football

Week Two

Our annual sports weekly that runs during College Football season returned for its fourth year last Thursday when our Gamecocks half whipped Southern Mississippi as the Braves and Phillies battle for supremacy in the National League East.

Cockstradamus returned from his Azores sabbatical to correctly pick 19 of 26 marquee games including 24th-ranked South Carolina’s impressive 41-13 drubbing of Brett Farve’s alma mater and statement to the SEC East going into this week’s home contest at Williams-Brice Stadium against their rival, 22nd-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.

Boise-mania

The Peach State’s poultry oracle from SC, while atop Stone Mountain, also correctly predicted the Potato State’s  Bronco herding of Virginia Gobblers/Hokies in Maryland’s home of the Washington Redskins.

I guess it qualifies as an away game on the road to nearly three seasons worth of winning and nothing else, but Braves-Gamecock doubts scenarios that would enable Boise State to earn our vote for the BCS Championship will materialize (i.e. champions of the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 all have two losses).

However, we have always relished the arguments of equally-deserving teams given that any “championship” outside of an all-inclusive playoff (involving at least 8 teams, and preferably 16) is mythical. We do think the present iteration of the non-playoff championship is the best devised so-far, but given the weak schedule the Broncos play, we would deem it unfair to grant them one of the two exclusive slots barring extraordinary circumstances.

That said, I do think the blue team with the blue field may be the best team and could beat any team in the SEC on a given day. But could they beat all eight teams on an SEC schedule and then win the SEC Championship game? I don’t know, but I do know that the winner of the SEC has to do just that, or something very close.

Bush Heisman

Did the NCAA take away OJ’s Heisman Trophy before he hocked it? Didn’t think so.

Braves-Gamecock thinks most of the NCAA rules violate Liberty and even those that don’t wouldn’t justify recognitions of who won games on the field, won championships and excelled enough to make the trip to New York’s Downtown Athletic Club.

And we weren’t and are not a Reggie Bush fan. We did like Matt Leinart and thought he had a good case for being mentioned in the same breath as Tebow, but it seems he has turned into a whiny jerk sitting the bench in the NFL. Sad.

But, speaking of the NFL, here are picks of Week One  losers (in memory of Athens, Georgia’s legendary radio football prognosticator, Leonard Postosties) followed by our division winners picks and then, Week Two college picks.

NFL Week One

Vikings will lose to Saints

Jaguars will lose to Broncos

Raiders will lose to Titans

Bengals will lose to Patriots

Browns will lose to Buccaneers

Texans will lose to Colts

Lions will lose to Bears

Steelers will lose to Falcons

Bills will lose to Dolphins

Panthers will lose to Giants

Eagles will lose to Packers

Rams will lose to Cardinals

Seahawks will lose to 49ers

Redskins will lose to Cowboys

Ravens will lose to Jets, and

Cheifs will lose to Chargers

NFL Division Winner Picks

Dallas Cowboys

New Orleans Saints

Green Bay Packers

Arizona Cardinals

New York Jets

Indianapolis Colts

Baltimore Ravens

San Diego Chargers

College Football Week Two

Georgia will lose to USC

Notre Dame will lose to Michigan

Jayhawks will lose to Ramblin’ Wreck

Presbyterian Blue Hose will lose to Clemson Tigers

Hurricanes will lose to Buckeyes

Trojans will lose to Cavaliers (upset special #1)

Penn State will lose to Alabama

Volunteers will lose to Ducks

Missouri State will lose to Kansas State

Seminoles will lose to Sooners

Gators will lose to Bulls (upset special #2)

Cowboys will lose to Longhorns

Louisiana Tech will lose to Texas A & M

Iowa will lose to Iowa State (upset special #3)

Chippewas will lose to Owls, and

Charleston Southern will lose to Wofford

LAST WEEK’S OPENING WEEK HIGHLIGHTS:

Fourth Annual Braves-Gamecock College Football Ode to Leonard’s Losers

This year we also launch the season with conference predictions as well as our usual selection of weekly picks at the bottom of the column, but first…

Leonard Postosties

This column has always been dedicated to the late Athens, Georgia native, Leonard “Postosties” Postero, pigskin prognosticator extraordinaire, whose “Leonard’s Losers” radio show was a must listen all during our childhood and until his death in 2001.

End of the 1801 “Chicken Curse”

We await the opening Kickoff of the College Football season tomorrow, still basking in the glow of the end of the 1801 “chicken curse” as the Fighting Gamecocks won the College World Series over UCLA (the school with the most NCAA national championships) and their first national championship (The Lady Gamecocks broke their “hen curse” with the 2002 Track and Field crown), when USC will tarnish the feathers of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles as Lane Kiffin’s team (for now) has a luau with non-rainbow Warriors in Hawaii.

I am Gamecock. Born one, raised as one and matriculated as one at the Law School.

Cockstradamus on FBS conference One-Twos

ACC – Clemson Tigers – Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech (and a heckuv an engineer) Yellow Jackets

SEC – USC – Alabama

Big 12 – Texas – Oklahoma

Big Ten – Ohio State – Wisconsin

Big East – UCONN – WVA

C-USA – Houston – Tulsa

Mid-American – Central Michigan Chippewas – Buffalo Bulls

Mountain West – Texas Christian University – BYU

Pac 10 – Oregon State – Oregon

Sun Belt – Middle Tennessee – Troy

WAC – Boise State – Fresno State

More losers next week as Nadal breaks through at Flushing Meadows, that 88 car wows NASCAR and Agnes Scott College remains undefeated….Get me out of here, Percy (Peabody) …

Mike DeVine

“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson

Charlotte Observer, The Minority Report and Examiner.com archives

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