Old Ducker wrote:16 out of 20 is outstanding.
Looking back at the games I got incorrect, I ask myself if I would have went the other way.
Cane from the Bend wrote:[from the Week Eleven Picks Thread]
(2.) #21 Iowa State {Jack Trice Stadium ought to be jumpin' for this one}
(3.) Boston College
(5.) Nebraska
(15.) Utah
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I will say this ... Donovan, you are oh so right about Spence and his sometimes overcritical opinion of his own team ... he and I had a quick pm message about our games this week; after reading Spence's pm, I almost edited my predictions pick from the Buckeyes to Michigan State ... Spence became one of the talking heads that confused me just before gameday
As for the above listed games:
2.) After I chose Iowa State, I sat there for several minutes thinking; "Is this because I want to believe they are going to win?" --- well, the answer is, yes. I was going to take Oklahoma State, because I thought their offense was going to be too relentless for Iowa State. Then I convinced myself, Iowa State played against Oklahoma and beat them. The Cyclones would be playing at home, and they actually have a decent defense ... which is something Oklahoma State hasn't really played against, yet, this season --- Looking back at my rationale`, I realize I was trying to convince myself that Iowa St would win, so I probably should have just gone with that same feeling that had me choose Auburn, even though I wanted Georgia to win.
3.) I don't know if it was my old Big East loyalties, or if because I thought NC State had show enough weakness that BC could exploit --- Boston College has made vast improvements in just the last year alone. This season, they started slow, but turned a page after the loss to notre dame, which made the Eagles look pretty good. I thought they had momentum going into this game, and assumed NC State was starting a late season decline ... rather than seeing their close loss against Clemson as a competitive contest, I took it as a team playing their best game vs the best team on their schedule --- that, and I kind of bought into the BC hype.
5.) I wanted to believe, that at some point, Nebraska would have stepped up and played a game with pride ... I was hoping this would have been that game --- don't get me wrong, I like Minnesota. I actually like to see the Gofers win. I just didn't want to believe the Huskers were so miserable, they, for the most part, had simply given up on the season ... and themselves --- I didn't even look at team statistics, or analyze this game with an objective point of view ... if I had, I would have gone the other way.
15.) Okay, I'll admit ... I want the Utes to win. It has nothing to do with my dislike for Leach, or Washington State. It had more to do with my belief that defense matters. Utah winning wold have shown you can't win merely with offense alone
[mind you, that also had something to do with my decision to not pick Oklahoma State above], not that Leach would have gotten it, had that been the case --- I actually thought Washington State would win this game, but didn't choose them, because I didn't want to jinx Utah ... Oh well. lesson learned, I guess.
I suppose, if I had removed my personal subjectivity from my predictions, only the Boston College choice would have stayed the same.
Now, if I can find a way to remove that personal slant from my picks going forward.
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