Week 2 Pick'em Games - Week 1 Results

[EMan]

Week 1 of our Pick’em Contest is in the books which means it’s time for me to subject you to another year of my “Week in Review” ramblings. So here we go…

Who da thunk just a few short years ago that Oklahoma would be a full-fledged member of the SEC conference starting the 2024 season? For some perspective, OU had a shared conference affiliation with several of the current Big 12 members since joining the Big 6 in 1928! 1928! That’s almost 100 years as a core member of the “Big 6/7/8/12/you-pick-a-number” conference. As the Grateful Dead once sang, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” But it’s not just the trip that’s strange. The move has also created some strange bedfellows for Sooner fans. Case in point was Sunday evening. The LSU Tigers opened the season facing the USC Trojans in Las Vegas. For me personally, you’d be hard pressed to find any other teams that I would want to lose more than those two. Perhaps Texas* or a couple of others would compete to make that list, but as the old expression goes, it wouldn’t take long to call roll. The well-documented obnoxiousness and downright vile behavior of the LSU fans during the lead-up to the 2003 national championship game in New Orleans is legendary. But on the other hand, Muleshoe patrols the sidelines for USC. Decisions, decisions. Is there any way BOTH teams can lose?!? Well, since the Tigers are on Oklahoma’s schedule later in the season, it seemed that a resume-building win by LSU would help the Sooners down the road. So why cut off my nose to spite my face? With that, I grudgingly accepted that from a Sooner fan’s perspective it was better for LSU to win. But that didn’t make the decision any more palatable. And it also didn’t change the fact that I did not, nor will I ever chant “SEC, SEC”. Sorry to tell all the long-time members of our new conference but I just can’t get on board with the whole “SEC” chant thing. I completely understand the decision by OU’s powers-that-be to join the conference, and even support it considering where college sports is currently at ($$$), but I’m too old and way too stubborn to ever embrace something that I completely loathed for many years. I think I’ll continue to chant “Boomer Sooner” instead if it’s all the same to everyone else. And thus begins a new era of college football! Welcome to the SEC! And Boomer Sooner, ya’ll!!

Meanwhile, over in the opening week of our Pick’em contest, we’ve broken from the gate and our resident site caretaker, OU_Tom2 has grabbed the inside position as we head for the first turn. Tom turned in an impressive 17-win performance in Week 1 and has claimed a quick 8-point advantage over current runner-up, SD-OU. Well done, Tom! Even in a week where numerous FCS schools dotted our Pick’em lineup, there were still some surprises, if the way our players picked the games are any indication. Only 2 pickers saw Vanderbilt taking down Va Tech, as well as USC beating LSU. And only five rode UNLV’s dominating win over Houston. Yep, pretty much a typical week in the Land of Pick’em! As far as the rest of our initial Top Five is concerned, it’s full of more familiar names as mthatch190, Triple Option and Soonerator sit in third through fifth respectively. But never fear, my intrepid prognosticators of the pigskin! This race is in its infancy and many twists and turns are soon to come. You can see all the year-to-date standings by clicking HERE.

So, now it’s time to move on to Week 2 and our next batch of puzzlers. This week we’ll be back to our regular Saturday morning deadline, so you’ll have a few extra hours to agonize over those last undecided picks. DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTALS this week is 11:00 AM on SATURDAY, September 7th. You can access this week’s games by clicking on the “EMan’s Pick’em Contest” button at the top of the board, or by clicking HERE. This week our lineup includes:

Houston @ Oklahoma
Boise St. @ Oregon
Baylor @ Utah
California @ Auburn
South Carolina @ Kentucky
Michigan St. @ Maryland
Kansas St. @ Tulane
Arkansas @ Oklahoma St.
Colorado @ Nebraska
Tennessee @ No. Carolina St.
Tulsa @ Arkansas St.
Kansas @ Illinois
Texas* @ Michigan
Mississippi St. @ Arizona St.
Oregon St. @ San Diego St.
Georgia Tech @ Syracuse
Iowa St. @ Iowa
Virginia @ Wake Forest
Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati
Texas Tech @ Washington St.

Once again, remember to make sure you get your picks in by 11 AM on Saturday, September 7th. As a reminder, you can always go back before the deadline and change any pick you’ve made. Just use the “Review Pick” button on the Pick’em page to edit your selections. Good luck! And may your darts be true!

[OU Chinaman]

...Great Job OU_Tom! Congrats on solid start.

[WishBone]

Eman.......I commend you

This may be the most difficult week to date................

[Echo]

Congratulations OU Tom....great start. It's always hard for me to pick on the first week. Oh, who am I kidding, it's always hard every week.

[EMan]

Don't forget to get your picks in for this week. Here's who's in so far...

Aries
Bixby_Sooner
Blue
Bronco
cushcreekmont
Echo
EMan
Fiascosdad
Fly
humblesooner
IMAsooner
mthatch190
Oklahombre
OldTimer
OU Chinaman
OU_Tom2
poh302
Professor
Soonerator
SoonerLynx
SwampSooner
WishBone

[EMan]

Deadline to get your picks in for this week is tomorrow morning at 11 AM. If you're not on the list below, you're not in yet...

Aries
Bixby_Sooner
Blue
Bronco
bvillesooner2
cushcreekmont
Echo
EMan
Fiascosdad
Fly
gcruse7
humblesooner
IMAsooner
mthatch190
Oklahombre
OldTimer
OU Chinaman
OU_Tom2
OUcharlie
pippen
poh302
Professor
Soonerator
SoonerLynx
SwampSooner
Triple Option
walt
WishBone

[EMan]

Less than 3 hours to get your picks in for this week.