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It's that time of year again, folks!
The nights are getting shorter, the weather is starting the dip back into the 70's and 60's again, and the leaves are just barely showing their true colors. And with that, FOOTBALL IS BACK!
[Fitz does his happy dance]
OK, so with that, we have revived the MAC Pick'em!
First, I want to apologize for fumbling down the stretch. Not to get too personal, but life kinda changed my plans and the blog took a backseat for a bit. Life has now gotten me back to a point where I can refocus on the blog, but we're also introducing new characters to help run this thing, since one man alone cannot (sanely) do this.
Secondly, there is no prize this year. This is all for fun, so deal with it. You get bragging rights. That still accounts for something.
Lastly, your picks will be used in our open chats to show how the Belt (readers and authors) view the games, compared to the national landscape! Do we see an upset waiting to happen? Or are we sure that NIU is going to down Toledo again this year? We'll publish the totals in the post for everyone to see.
The rules are straight-forward, and don't forget to pick the GAME OF THE WEEK!
So with that, let's get pickin!
Thursday's Games
Oklahoma State @ Central Michigan - Good on Coach Bono for beating cancer. Now beating the Cowboys? That's a different story. [insert clean Cowboys vs Indians joke here]
Virginia Military Institute @ Ball State - Coach Lembo gets his season started off right.
Stony Brook @ Toledo - I have Kareem Hunt on my fantasy team. Hope he goes for 100 and two scores before they take him out!
Ohio @ Idaho - I like Ohio here, but don't be surprised if Linehan goes off like he did against WMU a year ago. The kid can ball.
Friday's Games
#5 Michigan State @ Western Michigan - I think this is a single digit game after all is said and done. WMU loses, but Kalamazoo has themselves a winner.
Kent State @ Illinois - My "f**k it, chuck it" pick of the week. Illinois is in complete disarray after losing Beckman, and Cubit is an OK head coach. No defense though, and if the Golden Flashes can shut down his offense (likely), they have a shot.
Saturday's Games
Old Dominion @ Eastern Michigan - Losing Pat O'Connor hurts EMU so much. I still like their offense to put up points in this shootout.
Albany @ Buffalo - Welcome to the big leagues, Coach Leopold!
Presbyterian @ Miami - Gonna need this mid-afternoon nap after that State game the night before
Bowling Green @ #25 Tennessee - BG will be gunning this year. I think they break the MAC scoring record for a season (and probably a game) when it's all said and done.
Akron @ #19 Oklahoma - The Sooners are favored by 31 points right now. That's 5 normal scores. Akron covers with their defense, woooooooo
UNLV @ NIU - The title defense begins!
High Team: Toledo
Low Team: Akron
Happy Picking!