Week One Big 10 Predictions: More Questions then Answers

Here we go! Thursday Night Football!

Even the Big Ten starts tonight!

Let's get to the predictions

Tonight:

IU vs Eastern Kentucky: IU is coming of a disappointing year where their athletic QB is no longer on the team and they are looking for respect as they try to build this program back up. The campaign this year should be to win 6! Tonight starts that journey to the Pizza Bowl.

No Line: IU wins 21 EKU 10

Saturday:

Navy at OSU: Ohio State paid Navy $3M to play this game. I wonder if that is some type of write off? Don't ask Kirk Herbstreit! Navy and their triple option offense will confuse the Buckeye's for about two quarters. The second half will be all Ohio State. OSU is favored by 3 touchdowns. OSU 28 Navy 14

Akron at PSU: Penn State is coming off a Big Ten Championship and blow out loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. Akron is in the MAC and always seems to go to Happy Valley for a pay day and a blow out loss. This year is no different, PSU is getting 27: JoPa on the sideline 41 Akron 7

Montana State vs MSU: The scouting report on Montana State is impressive if you could find one. This is another Big Ten cupcake special that carries no line. MSU 27 MSU 5 (the home team wins)

Towson vs Northwestern: This sounds more like a real estate deal in Chicago then a college football game. Yes, sir we have a condo available at the Towson near Northwestern's campus for just under 1.1 Million. Are you interested? Sorry, I'm looking for lake front property. No line on this one either. NW: 20 Chicago Condo: 6

Northern Illinois vs Wisconsin: Don't sleep on NIU they always have a good running game and Wisconsin is not going to fool anyone with their running offense. I see this one closer then maybe some at the Big Ten Network think. Wisconsin is giving 16.5 Wisky 21 NIU 17

Illinois vs Missouri in St. Louis: The wild Zookies have been a bit up and down with Ron as the head coach. They will go out and beat Ohio State and then lose to WMU at Ford Field. I'm not sold on Ron and this team this year. Even with more talent, Illinois sometimes forgets to show up on the road: Illinois is giving 6.4: Zook 28 Mizzu 31

Toledo at Purdue: Not sure either one of these teams are good, but they both beat Michigan last year. Wow, that's great! Purdue is giving 10.5 points because they are at home and they have a big drum and a train whistle. Purdue 10 Mudhens 9

Northern Iowa at Iowa: This is another no line game and I have heard Iowa is really good this year or really bad due to injuries. They must be somewhere in the middle but will win this game. Iowa 24 Northern 13

Minnesota at Syracuse: The Greg Paulus era/experiment begins at the Carrier Dome. Minnesota always starts off fast and then fades late. I'm not sold on either one of these teams and scoring points maybe difficult. I see the hometown hero hitting a 3 point basket at the end to win it. The "Cuse" are getting 7 at home: Syracuse 10 Gophers 7

As you know Michigan gets it's own preview on Friday!

Enjoy Tonight!

A Look Back at My 2008 Predictions

On August 26th, I wrote a post titled Stupid 2008 Football Predictions. At the time, I was honestly "giddy" about having football starting and the new beginning for the Michigan Wolverines. Well, that ship hit the rocks pretty quickly, so the key word in that post was: Stupid!

Let's see how bad my predictions ended up being:

• Michigan's Freshman of the year: Michael Shaw - Close, but not quite. Not sure who would take that prize. McGuffie maybe.
• Michigan Defense will rank in the top 10 all year - Huge swing a miss here! Huge!
• Michigan will win 8 games this year - I meant to say lose. Yikes!
• Michigan State will lose to CAL and Florida Atlantic before the Big Ten begins (they will beat ND) - Close, they did lose to CAL but beat FAU in the rain (FAU did have like a 80 yard touchdown called back).
• ND will be 6-6 - Just call me Nostradamus!
• OSU will lose to USC and it won't be close (Big Ten teams don't travel well to the West Coast with a week to prepare) - Just call me Nostradamus!
• The SEC Champ will have at least 2 losses in conference - Swing and a miss! Florida has 1 and Bama has 0.
• OSU will go 11-1 and won't make it to the BCS Championship game because of the last two years performance - Didn't see the PSU lose early in the year. Still a pretty good prediction!
• Ryan Mallett will fumble snaps on the sideline at Arkansas - I am sure he fumbled a few while he watched his team play.
• Surprise Team of the Year is North Carolina - Pretty good. They played well this year!
• Coach of the Year is Butch Davis - Not going to happen but Tennessee wanted him.
• West Virgina will battle Cincinnati for the Big East Title - Just call me Nostradamus!
• This will be Kirk Ferentz last year at Iowa - Oops! Iowa had a pretty good year.
• App State will hang with LSU for a half and then the Dream Part 2 ends (sequels are never as good) : Just call me Nostradamus!
• Scoring will reach an all time high this year as the Spread has taken over college football: Correct! if your in the Big 12 or Florida. So, I will take credit for this one. Of course Gary Danielson thinks the Spread is dead but I think he only watches games with one of the Mississippi teams playing in it.
• JoPa will retire after this year due to pressure from alumni and fans after another average year: Bad Prediction here. In fact, he may go out after an invite from the Rose Bowl. He will be around for at least another year.
• We won't understand Lou Holtz at all on College Gameday, but he will predict ND to win 11-12 games and go to a BCS Bowl: Just call me Nostradamus!
• Herbie's hair on Gameday will be perfect: Just call me Nostradamus!
• Brian Kelly will be the "hot candidate" for any opening next year: Just call me Nostradamus!
• The Big Ten Network will cover the games but not as professionally as ABC/ESPN: Just call me Nostradamus
• Beno Cook will predict that Ron Powlus will win the Heisman this year: Just call me Nostradamus!
• All the Florida teams will improve and be ready to dominate again in 2009: Not a bad prediction! FSU and Miami are on the way up!
• Someone on Iowa will get arrested: I think that happened?
• Central Michigan will upset a BCS school: Just call me Nostradamus! They beat Indiana. I know, but they are still a BCS school!
• Brian Billick will be a head coach of a BCS school next year: Not yet!
• Norm Chow will do wonders at UCLA: Still needs some time!
• Joe Tiller will throw Michigan "under the bus" during his farewell speech: I'm sure it's coming!

Big House Blog Crystal Ball: Coaching Vacancies

So with the season over for some teams and coming to an end for others, I thought it would be a good time to get out the Crystal Ball and predict who might fill some of the current high profile coaching vacancies around the country.

Washington: Was rumored to have offered the job to Texas coordinator Will Muschamp before he became the "head coach in waiting" for the Longhorns. I still think they will go after Jim Mora before he becomes the Seahawks coach in a few months. They won't get Jim because the dollars in the NFL are just too large. That leaves my predicition: Utah coach Kyle Whittingham would be a good fit for the Huskies. Of course his name is similar to Tyrone Willingham which could cause some confusion. (look for Brian Kelly to become an option if the below rumor happens)

Tennessee: I think it's a toss up between Brian Kelly and Lane Kiffin for this job. Internet reports are out today that say it's Lane. Which would be a good hire for the Volunteers. Lane was known as a good recruiter at USC and could be at Tennessee for the next 20 years. My prediction: Lane Kiffin

Clemson has interviewed Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster as well as former Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin and Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables. But I don't see a real good fit for the Tigers with any of these candidates. The Board of Trustees held an executive session by teleconference this morning to discuss "a personnel matter". I assume they are close to hiring a new head coach. My prediction is: current interim coach Dabo Swinney (mostly if they get a win over South Carolina this weekend).

Kansas State hired it's old coach Bill Synder.

Syracuse: I believe will hire Ball State's Brady Hoke. Who will be featured on ESPN 2 tonight against Western Michigan. Turner Gill would be my second choice for the Orangemen.

Eastern Michigan: I don't consider a high profile job but it's in Ann Arbor's backyard and former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is helping in the search. Look for former Michigan assistants to get a look like: Mike DeBord (didn't do so well at Central), Ron English current defensive coordinator at Louisville, and current Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson. As an dark horse for the job, don't forget about Detroit Lions QB coach Scot Loeffler.

BHB Weekly Big Ten Preview and Picks

Well, last week told us a lot about the Big Ten. Penn State is heading to the BCS and the rest of the teams are fighting for the Big Ten Bowl Tie ins. As I reported earlier this week, with two bowl tie ins with both the Big 12 and SEC, the Big Ten is headed for another holiday headache with some bad potential match-ups. With that said, who is excited to see the 2-6 Wolverines vs the 2-6 Boilermakers in the Snake Oil Bowl? I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have bought tickets a year in advance to go see this great match up. Don't you worry, The Big Ten Network is carrying the game.

On to the show.................

Northwestern at #17 Minnesota: Northwestern dropped out of the top 25 with a road loss to Indiana. Yes, they lost to IU on the road. Which is not considered a quality loss. Minnesota won on the road against Purdue, which is pretty good for the Gophers Program. That win popped them up in the top 25 now, which is pretty impressive coming off a terrible 2007 campaign. If these teams played on a neutral field I would say NW had the advantage. Minnesota gets the home field advantage in this one. Vegas has Minn. a 6pt favorite. Minnesota 28 Northwestern 24

Wisconsin at #21 Michigan State: MSU came off a big win against in-state rival Michigan. Yes, I guess you can call a win over a 2-5 team a big win. If I were MSU I would even print up T -shirts. Way to go Sparty! That is just another fine example of why you are the "little brother". Wisconsin on the other hand stopped their 4 game skid by beating Zook and Juice in Madison. So who is better in this one? Expect MSU to let down after all the hugging and back slapping they did this week. Wisconsin is now starting it's second team due to all the injuries. MSU is favored in this one by 4.5 points. MSU 24 Wisconsin 23

CMU at IU: In my stupid predictions post this summer, I predicted Central Michigan would beat a BCS school. This is the last chance for that prediction to be right! Central Michigan 34 IU 21

Iowa at Illinois: By a show of hands how many of you thought at the beginning of the season, Iowa would be the better team the Illinois at this point in the season? Not many I would imagine. Iowa seems to be on the way up in the Big Ten while Illinois fun run to the Rose Bowl has come crashing down. Good thing Zook got that extension last year. Illinois is favored by 2.5 in this one. I have a feeling Iowa is up for the challenge. Iowa 20 Illinois 13

The Snake Oil Bowl will be previewed on the "spooky" Halloween edition.

Stupid 2008 Football Predictions

Every year at this time, I sit down and think about what is going to happen in the up coming football year. I think back to the good old days of Woodson, Howard, Henson, and John Cooper and say to myself "I knew those guys were going to be great".


So here are my 2008 predictions and my opportunity to "look like the smartest guy on the Internet or the Dumbest"

• Michigan's Freshman of the year: Michael Shaw
• Michigan Defense will rank in the top 10 all year
• Michigan will win 8 games this year
• Michigan State will lose to CAL and Florida Atlantic before the Big Ten begins (they will beat ND)
• ND will be 6-6
• OSU will lose to USC and it won't be close (Big Ten teams don't travel well to the West Coast with a week to prepare)
• The SEC Champ will have at least 2 losses in conference
• OSU will go 11-1 and won't make it to the BCS Championship game because of the last two years performance
• Ryan Mallett will fumble snaps on the sideline at Arkansas
• Surprise Team of the Year is North Carolina
• Coach of the Year is Butch Davis
• West Virgina will battle Cincinnati for the Big East Title
• This will be Kirk Ferentz last year at Iowa
• App State will hang with LSU for a half and then the Dream Part 2 ends (sequels are never as good)
• Scoring will reach an all time high this year as the Spread has taken over college football
• JoPa will retire after this year due to pressure from alumni and fans after another average year
• We won't understand Lou Holtz at all on College Gameday, but he will predict ND to win 11-12 games and go to a BCS Bowl
• Herbie's hair on Gameday will be perfect
• Brian Kelly will be the "hot candidate" for any opening next year
• The Big Ten Network will cover the games but not as professionally as ABC/ESPN
• Beno Cook will predict that Ron Powlus will win the Heisman this year
• All the Florida teams will improve and be ready to dominate again in 2009
• Someone on Iowa will get arrested
• Central Michigan will upset a BCS school
• Brian Billick will be a head coach of a BCS school next year
• Norm Chow will do wonders at UCLA
• Joe Tiller will throw Michigan "under the bus" during his farewell speech

Boy I miss College Football. Almost 24 hours before kickoff on Thursday!