Ah, football. It’s back on my TV. Stanford @ Hawaii is kicking off in just a few moments. Scenes of a tropical paradise being shown. Hawaii looks like a beautiful place. It’s crazy that more 18-year-olds don’t want to hang out there for 4 years. Oh well, a sellout crowd is roaring as their Rainbow Warriors storm the field from the tunnel. More football!

Earlier today–The energy in Dublin for the conference bout between Kansas St and Iowa St was exactly what you’d want to see for an opening game of the season. A packed Aviva Stadium full of local Irelanders and simple Midwest farming folk. Both know their way around an Irish back-alley pub. I’ve had both a Midwestern Farmer and an Irishman tell me a similar thing, “I wouldn’t survive the winter if corn didn’t turn into whiskey.” Both knew winter hardships, and both needed the bottle to get to Spring. Even after Spring, the whiskey still does the job. Mr. Craig is along for the ride on this evening. I’m sure plenty of the “water of life” was consumed to get through those game conditions. Those low Irish clouds were ready to empty that’s for sure.

“They say the clouds are lower in Ireland. I say Ireland is closer to Heaven.”- Michael Vatis

Weather aside, what a result that was for the Cyclones from Iowa St. Not quite the 26-24 win predicted here, but a 24-21 win is close enough. “Cyclone fans celebrate on the shores of the Irish Sea.” This team will in at least 7 games for sure! Kansas St will rebound with a win in the next 10 or so games before their next loss. At least, it’s what could happen. According to “Predicting the Unpredictable” it’s exactly how it happens. One game down, sixteen hundred or so to go.

And it’s here that I’ll transition to the Week 1 predictions. Going 1-0 is great. You know what’s even greater? Going 10-0 next Saturday. So before this game between the Cardinal and Rainbow Warriors gets in full swing, here are ten fresh off the press fresh picks for Week 1 that are sure to be one hundred percent correct. Maybe.

Week One Predictions: All games played 8/30

Tennessee vs Syracuse Noon ABC (Atlanta)
- Battle of the Oranges: Smoky Orange, Dark Orange, carrot orange, pumpkin orange. Orange orange. It’s all orange. The classic color to “pick up trash off the side of the highway on Friday, watch the game on Saturday, and kill a deer on Sunday” as I would’ve heard more than a thousand times growing up in rural West TN. Orange is orange. You either love it, or you don’t. I don’t. Except the Dutch Orange every four years for the World Cup. In fact, more than a couple of times, I’ve mingled with a Dutch family or two that were the kindest folks in the world, except when the Netherlands are on TV during the World Cup. Then, all bets are off and every man, woman, and child for themselves. I reference the 2014 World Cup bloodbath game between Spain and the Netherlands in which the final score was 5-1. I was one of about three American born males in the tightly jammed downtown pub on a toasty June afternoon. I’d say 15-20 Spanish jerseys were represented while a mob of nearly 100 Dutch Orange Jersey’s filled out the place and into the alley where an outdoor TV was setup. (It was probably close to a hundred including the army of small children also clad in orange). Beer in hand, I was ‘shit-grinning’ at all of the tension and doing my best to remain a neutral….This was not part of the plan to go on a tangent so soon–it was an incredible environment to be amongst. Spain scored on a penalty to go up 1-0 early in the game and this led to about ten minutes of intensity amongst the orange mob as they felt it was the wrong call for a penalty to be given. I exaggerate in zero way when I say everyone in orange was very upset. So upset that I saw an orange clad man pin another orange clad man against the wall by the collar of his shirt because of a disagreement in opinion, and mother’s rather than calm their visibly frightened children, joined in the screaming and to have their man’s back. Literally, children were tearfully frightened at the commotion in the poorly lit pub. This all fizzled in about thirty seconds, but it was an intense few moments to witness. Spain had bested the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup Final, and the Dutch wanted their revenge. They soon got it by way of Robin van Persie’s now famous “flying Dutchman” header near halftime. Sheer exuberant pandemonium erupted as the striker guided the ball into the net with his outstretched head. Even from the Spanish. The goal was worthy of celebration even if it went against your team. Needless to say, the pub’s energy settled, the orange team won 5-1, and I met a cool family that was on holiday from Eindhoven. So, yeah, I like Dutch Orange. The end.
- In terms of the which ‘Orange’ I like in this American football game, I’ll take Tennessee 30 Syracuse 19. Syracuse+13

Truth be told, I don’t know if I’ll spill into a story on every pick. That one just flowed out of me and ‘the pen writes what it writes’, so I went with it. I know you are probably here for the football picks and since there are NINE more to go, I best be scootin’ on from this water hole and keep heading on the trail.

Nevada @ Penn St CBS 1:30
- Weather: 75 Clear skies
- Penn St 52- Nevada 0. Penn St -44
Marshall @ Georgia ESPN 1:30
- Weather: 81 Partly Cloudy
- Georgia 38- Marshall 0. Marshall +39.5
UTEP @ Utah St 5:30 CBSSN
- Utah St 26- UTEP 24. UTEP +4
- Weather: 85 Sunny
GA South @ Fresno St FS1 7:30
- GA South 29- Fresno St 26. GA SOU +2.5/ML
- Weather: 95 Sunny
Colorado St @ Washington BTN 9:00
- Washington 41- CO St 35. Colorado St +20.5
- Weather: 82 Sunny
Hawaii @ Arizona TNT 8:30
- Arizona 32- Hawaii 12. Arizona-14.5
- Weather: 100 Clear
- I believe in Coach Brennan this season
Northwestern @ Tulane ESPNU NOON
- Tulane 30- Northwestern 3. Tulane -6.5
- Weather: 88 Partly Cloudy
Coastal Carolina @ Virginia ACC NET 4:00
- Weather: 81 Sunny
- OVER 57.5
Miss St @ Southern Miss ESPN Noon
- OVER 60.5
- Weather: 88 Partly Cloudy

So, there are the ten fresh picks that should win. Could win. Might win. Will win. One of those. Big sip of this Craig and cool water from the Waste Management Open cup to my right.

Over the summer, I wrote-in a few more predictions. Some of these lines have changed, but I’ll list them at what they were when I posted them.

7/13 USF+8.5/ S/U 8/28 at 3:30
7/14 NEB -7 8/28 at 7:00
- “four score win”
7/16
- Colorado +3.5/ ML +140 8/29 at 6:00
  - “A moment is all it takes”
- Clemson -3 8/30 at 5:30
  - Clemson D the difference
- UCLA +4.5/ S/U 8/30 at 9:00
- TCU ML -146 9/1 at 6:00
8/4 Cal +2.5 8/30 at 8:30
- “lose by one”
8/5 OVER 59.5 USC/Mo St 8/30 at 5:30
- The Jacob Clark game
- USC 49- MO St 29

Picking games is fun. Like zipping across a wide-open lake in the Appalachian wilderness at sixty mph on a jet ski kind of fun. And Bucko, that’s a helluva lot of fun.

And just to give an insight into one or two more games–I like Notre Dame 29-27 over Miami, Ohio St to win by at least four over Texas, Alabama to win by exactly 14, and East Carolina to win straight up (S/U) over NC St.

Now, in this current game about to kick I’ll take Stanford without a reason. Who the heck knows anything these days? I mean, Tottenham beat Man City in Manchester this morning, once again proving that anything is possible. Just a subtle dig at the Spurs. Gotta get them in when I can. I know, I know. This is a college football prediction post, but the Craig has my fingers loose and football on the tv has me amped another level.

It’s Back. Fall sports in general. They are all back. Premier League, College Football..in fact–just Football in general. American Football or Soccer. Any level. Any tournament. Football being on my TV is what I like to see. The ball can be round or oblong. It can be kicked around on a wide open pristine green pitch, or it can be toted across the gridiron in the clutches of a superstar running back at Mach1. I like football, and I’m glad its back for a season.

Stanford has the ball, moving right to left on your tv sets from the 25 yard line. Simple HB Power play for two yards….Yessir. Football is back.

Look for a “General Update” tomorrow night.

Until then,

Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’

Whit W.

College Football Week 1 Predictions: