What a great first two weeks of our 2020 sim season! Already some exciting games, and a few big upsets. And of course, a big win for my Hawks to kick us off makes it all the better. Not to mention your ‘cats Scott! Let’s jump right into it. (Bear with me on the formatting for this post. I’m sure I’ll get better as the season goes on)
Games of Note
Tulane 33 – Southeastern Louisiana 2 – Ah, the first instance of a safety only score already. And I’m sure there will be more to come. The sim engine is doing its best okay? It’s not totally unrealistic… Right?
Rice 14 – Houston 10 – Wow. What an upset to kick us off. ESPN’s FPI only gave Rice a 13.7% chance to win. Houston hadn’t lost to Rice since 2011. Not to mention this is the lowest scoring game between these teams since 2004…
#18 Oklahoma State 29 – Oregon State 25 – Oklahoma State squeaks out a win here, and as ESPN FPI 90.1% favorites. Overrated?
Boston College 31 – Syracuse 25 – Lo and behold, our first OT game. The ‘cuse push BC all the way but come up just short on their upset bid.
UCF 48 – #20 North Carolina 28 – Absolute shellacking here. UCF were 78.7% favorites according to FPI, and they showed it here. UNC free falls out of the rankings, and UCF rockets up to 17th.
Northwestern 35 – Michigan State 6 – This is a question for you Scott: Did Northwestern put up 35 points total last year? Wow this one took me by surprise. FPI had pegged the ‘cats as favorites, but wow.
#7 Florida 18 – Eastern Washington 0 – What am I looking at here? What was this game?
#24 Iowa 45 – UNI 7 – Go Hawks! After next week we’ll be champs of the state once more.
Nevada 38 – Arkansas 30 – Nevada wins a close one as huge favorites week zero, and then another as huge underdogs here. Not great Arkansas, not great.
USF 25 – #15 Texas 24 – And we’ve finally arrived at my favorite game of the week! At home, as 95.1% favorites, and Texas loses to USF in the first ever matchup between these two schools. Sweet, sweet embarrassment. Horns down!
Overall, a solid start to the season, and next week promises to be even better. There are quite a few good games on the docket, but I’ll be looking out for these games in particular:
Upcoming Games of Note and Predictions
#21 Iowa vs #20 Iowa State – Big game, with both teams ranked for a second straight year. I’m taking my Hawks 35 – 24
#2 Ohio State @ #7 Oregon – Gotta be the game of the week. Ohio State 42 – 28
#23 Boise State @ Air Force – Upset alert? I’m sold. Air Force 32 – 24
Houston @ Washington State – Big bounce back opportunity for Houston. They don’t have my confidence though. Washington State 28 – 17
Purdue vs #19 Memphis – My second upset pick of the week. Purdue 30 – 24
– Gavin
NCAA 2020 Football Simulation 