Br@ssknux
Pretty much a regular
Well, I figure I'll start the Bowl writeups now even though we still have the Army/Navy game.
I've got a bet on Navy at +7(-115), but that's not available anymore so I'm not going to make that an "official" writeup, but I'll give some thoughts on why I went in that direction.
I'd definitely want 7 for a full unit, but I think this game, like usual will go down to the wire. Navy has had a couple weeks to get ready for this while Army had to play in the AAC title game last week(even though they weren't really exerted by Tulane's effort). It appears that Blake Horvath is back to good health for this one, but even if he wasn't, Braxton Woodson showed that he can be effective against a pretty good run defense in East Carolina in the last game of the year. Horvath definitely is a difference maker on offense for the Mids though, so his return will definitely be a positive. For much of the year, Navy looked shaky on defense, but they improved pretty drastically late in the year. None of their last 4 opponents topped 357 yards on offense, and that includes Tulane and East Carolina, who had been on a tear in the weeks prior to their game against Navy. They held the South Florida rush offense to only 60 yards on 25 attempts, and the Bulls rush offense ranked 30th in the country. Obviously, stopping the run will be vital in this game, like it is every year, and both Army and Navy have been up to that task. No matter what other things have transpired over the years, these teams know how to stop each other, even if the offenses have some modifications. Effort will never be an issue, and this Navy offense under Horvath has shown that they can throw the ball effectively if they fall behind, and I don't expect that they'll have to because these games generally stay close throughout. I think Army is certainly the better of these two teams, but there have been much wider deltas between these teams in which the games were still decided on the last play. At 3 or even maybe 4 I don't know that I would be taking in this situation, but at 7, I felt it was worth a unit. Navy can definitely win the game, and 7 points is a steep hill to climb for any favorite in this series.
Bowl season is upon us, and that has always been a happy occurrence for me because I've always loved to analyze and bet on bowl games, going all the way back to my teenage/high school days. It's nowhere near as fun as it used to be because there's nothing straight forward about the process now. Opt outs and transfers have made trying to decipher intentions and motivation almost impossible, and it's becoming harder and harder to even have good info on who is actually going to play. I could drone on for another 3000 words about my thoughts on 4 time transfers, bowl opt outs by guys who are unlikely to be drafted, etc, but I don't have the resolve to write those things and I'm sure nobody has the desire to read it. But I will make a few points.
Most, if not all talking heads call bowl games not involved with the playoff "meaningless". Ok fine. They've been determined by very smart and virtuous people to be that. But it wasn't always that way. When did they become "meaningless"? I guess it goes back to the 2016 season when Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette became the first players to ever opt out of a bowl. Prior to that, not one player in the hundreds of bowls before that, ever opted out of playing for any non-injury reason. No one called them meaningless then. But now? It's a fact that nobody questions. One guy said it about 8 years ago, then another guy agreed, then anyone who criticized an opt out or challenged the narrative were vilified, and now we're left with whatever this bowl season is.
Also, I know I'm a dunce who's stuck in the past, but are we sure sitting out of bowl games is the "right" move for players about to embark on an NFL attempt? Even if you look at it in a vaccum of the only thing that should matter to any person is their future earning potential, that money is the only route to true happiness or contentment, is sitting out the right decision? The fear, or drawback to playing is clearly injury. Players are afraid they'll get seriously injured and it will "affect their draft status". That's true, it's a possibility, but how many players have met that fate? Out of the thousands and thousands of players that have played in bowl games with pro futures, I can think of 2 that had a major injury. Jalen Smith from Notre Dame and Jake Butt from Michigan. That's it. (If I'm missing any additional examples, please let me know, but there aren't many). Now compare that to the thousands that made major rises up draft boards because they played great against great competition in a bowl game. If you use the logic of fear of injury, why would any kid play in the senior bowl? Why would they play during the regular season in an FCS game their team in which their team is favored by 42 points? To sum up, in my opinion, these kids are passing on opportunities for great memories, great times with their teammates and chances to enhance their draft profile because of a miniscule chance they might get hurt. And NOW HANDICAPPING GAMES IS HARDER AND I AM CRYING ABOUT IT!
Ok, as for the bowls: Last year I had at least a couple sentence write up on every bowl and then numbered the ones I played and would recommend. I took most of next week off, so I think I'll have time to do that again this year, but it's a fool's errand sometimes to go too early on these games because we never really know who's going to play and who won't until close to game time. If it looks like I'd be on a side regardless of potential surprises, I'll just go ahead and write them up. If I'm staying away I'll let you know why I am. It's been uneven for me the last few years in bowls. I'm somewhere around 10 games over .500 over the past few years. About the same as my coin flip record in the regular seasons. In my youth I was good at this, I swear!!
2024 Bowls:
Memphis -4.5 WIN
UNLV -3 WIN
SHSU +7 WIN
Notre Dame -7 WIN
Penn State -8.5 WIN
Texas -12.5 WIN
Tennessee +7.5 LOSS
Toledo +7 WIN
Bowling Green -7 LOSS
Navy +3 WIN
Texas Tech +1.5 LOSS
USC +4.5 WIN
Boston College +4 LOSS
East Carolina +7 WIN
Colorado -3 LOSS
Iowa +3
Alabama -12.5
Baylor -3.5
South Carolina -9.5
I've got a bet on Navy at +7(-115), but that's not available anymore so I'm not going to make that an "official" writeup, but I'll give some thoughts on why I went in that direction.
I'd definitely want 7 for a full unit, but I think this game, like usual will go down to the wire. Navy has had a couple weeks to get ready for this while Army had to play in the AAC title game last week(even though they weren't really exerted by Tulane's effort). It appears that Blake Horvath is back to good health for this one, but even if he wasn't, Braxton Woodson showed that he can be effective against a pretty good run defense in East Carolina in the last game of the year. Horvath definitely is a difference maker on offense for the Mids though, so his return will definitely be a positive. For much of the year, Navy looked shaky on defense, but they improved pretty drastically late in the year. None of their last 4 opponents topped 357 yards on offense, and that includes Tulane and East Carolina, who had been on a tear in the weeks prior to their game against Navy. They held the South Florida rush offense to only 60 yards on 25 attempts, and the Bulls rush offense ranked 30th in the country. Obviously, stopping the run will be vital in this game, like it is every year, and both Army and Navy have been up to that task. No matter what other things have transpired over the years, these teams know how to stop each other, even if the offenses have some modifications. Effort will never be an issue, and this Navy offense under Horvath has shown that they can throw the ball effectively if they fall behind, and I don't expect that they'll have to because these games generally stay close throughout. I think Army is certainly the better of these two teams, but there have been much wider deltas between these teams in which the games were still decided on the last play. At 3 or even maybe 4 I don't know that I would be taking in this situation, but at 7, I felt it was worth a unit. Navy can definitely win the game, and 7 points is a steep hill to climb for any favorite in this series.
Bowl season is upon us, and that has always been a happy occurrence for me because I've always loved to analyze and bet on bowl games, going all the way back to my teenage/high school days. It's nowhere near as fun as it used to be because there's nothing straight forward about the process now. Opt outs and transfers have made trying to decipher intentions and motivation almost impossible, and it's becoming harder and harder to even have good info on who is actually going to play. I could drone on for another 3000 words about my thoughts on 4 time transfers, bowl opt outs by guys who are unlikely to be drafted, etc, but I don't have the resolve to write those things and I'm sure nobody has the desire to read it. But I will make a few points.
Most, if not all talking heads call bowl games not involved with the playoff "meaningless". Ok fine. They've been determined by very smart and virtuous people to be that. But it wasn't always that way. When did they become "meaningless"? I guess it goes back to the 2016 season when Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette became the first players to ever opt out of a bowl. Prior to that, not one player in the hundreds of bowls before that, ever opted out of playing for any non-injury reason. No one called them meaningless then. But now? It's a fact that nobody questions. One guy said it about 8 years ago, then another guy agreed, then anyone who criticized an opt out or challenged the narrative were vilified, and now we're left with whatever this bowl season is.
Also, I know I'm a dunce who's stuck in the past, but are we sure sitting out of bowl games is the "right" move for players about to embark on an NFL attempt? Even if you look at it in a vaccum of the only thing that should matter to any person is their future earning potential, that money is the only route to true happiness or contentment, is sitting out the right decision? The fear, or drawback to playing is clearly injury. Players are afraid they'll get seriously injured and it will "affect their draft status". That's true, it's a possibility, but how many players have met that fate? Out of the thousands and thousands of players that have played in bowl games with pro futures, I can think of 2 that had a major injury. Jalen Smith from Notre Dame and Jake Butt from Michigan. That's it. (If I'm missing any additional examples, please let me know, but there aren't many). Now compare that to the thousands that made major rises up draft boards because they played great against great competition in a bowl game. If you use the logic of fear of injury, why would any kid play in the senior bowl? Why would they play during the regular season in an FCS game their team in which their team is favored by 42 points? To sum up, in my opinion, these kids are passing on opportunities for great memories, great times with their teammates and chances to enhance their draft profile because of a miniscule chance they might get hurt. And NOW HANDICAPPING GAMES IS HARDER AND I AM CRYING ABOUT IT!
Ok, as for the bowls: Last year I had at least a couple sentence write up on every bowl and then numbered the ones I played and would recommend. I took most of next week off, so I think I'll have time to do that again this year, but it's a fool's errand sometimes to go too early on these games because we never really know who's going to play and who won't until close to game time. If it looks like I'd be on a side regardless of potential surprises, I'll just go ahead and write them up. If I'm staying away I'll let you know why I am. It's been uneven for me the last few years in bowls. I'm somewhere around 10 games over .500 over the past few years. About the same as my coin flip record in the regular seasons. In my youth I was good at this, I swear!!
2024 Bowls:
Memphis -4.5 WIN
UNLV -3 WIN
SHSU +7 WIN
Notre Dame -7 WIN
Penn State -8.5 WIN
Texas -12.5 WIN
Tennessee +7.5 LOSS
Toledo +7 WIN
Bowling Green -7 LOSS
Navy +3 WIN
Texas Tech +1.5 LOSS
USC +4.5 WIN
Boston College +4 LOSS
East Carolina +7 WIN
Colorado -3 LOSS
Iowa +3
Alabama -12.5
Baylor -3.5
South Carolina -9.5
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