Don't forget to submit your picks by tonight's deadline. Here's what the moderators of ATQ thought about this week's games:
Jared | Nick | Paul | Takimoto | MattDaddy | |
South Carolina at Georgia | UGA | USC | UGA | UGA | USC |
Notre Dame at Michigan | UM | UM | UM | UM | ND |
Mississippi State at Auburn | MSU | MSU | MSU | Auburn | MSU |
Connecticut at Vanderbilt | UConn | UConn | UConn | Vandy | Vandy |
Hawaii at Washington | Hawaii | Hawaii | UW | UW | UW |
Here are the PickEmRules. And, here's a list of all valid picks that were submitted through 6:00 AM PT. If you submitted and your name is not listed, that means there was a problem with your picks (most likely pass phrase not matching week 1) and you should have an email from me.
South Carolina at Georgia [Paul]:
Getting off the hot seat isn't going to get any easier for Georgia head coach Mark Richt, whose Bulldogs face off against No. 12 South Carolina between the hedges this Saturday following their disappointing season-opening loss to Boise State in Atlanta. Richt has a chance to quiet doubters (at least temporarily) with a big win over the other USC, but his defense will have to slow down Marcus Lattimore, who rushed for 112 yards and three scores in the Gamecocks' opener against ECU last weekend. The Spurriers are heavy favorites, but I'm going against the grain and taking the Bulldogs to pull off the upset at home. Richt will survive another week.
Notre Dame at Michigan [Nick]:
Notre Dame's five turnovers last week led to a narrow loss to USF, despite outgaining the Bulls by a 2:1 margin. QB Tommy Rees took over for the ineffective Dayne Crist at QB for the second-half and Rees will make his first start this week against Michigan. Michigan, on the other hand, had a romp over Western Michigan that was called with less than two-minutes remaining in the third quarter due to severe weather. But up until then, Michigan was allowing the Broncos to move the ball both on the ground and in the air. If Notre Dame can hold on to the ball, I think they'll be able to score enough to eke out a narrow win.
Pick: Notre Dame
Mississippi State at Auburn [Takimoto]:
Mississippi State looked good against Memphis last week. Auburn almost lost to Utah State. So all you Captain Obvious pickers out there will be inclined to pick against the defending national champs. But performances in opening games mean very little: it's the adjustments made from the first game to the second game. And these close calls can serve as a wake-up call to good teams, who rebound with a better showing in game number 2. It's the same reason why I'm picking washington, too. So I'm picking Auburn to win at home, and start off their SEC season with a win.
Pick:Auburn
Connecticut at Vanderbilt [Jared]:
Really? UConn at Vanderbilt? And random.org says.... UConn!
Hawaii at Washington [MattDaddy]:
Seriously, you give me washington? Did I do something to one of your ex-girlfriends that I forgot about? Anyway, Hawaii is looking to start 2-0 versus the new Pac 12 as they travel to the Lake to take on the huskies. Moniz is hoping the puppies haven't improved on their pass defense that gave up 473 yards to FCS Eastern Washington last week. Uw will obviously try and improve on what the Buffs weren't able to do last week and that is rush the ball. CU had a grand total of 17 rushing yards on 28 attempts (no I didn't get that wrong). With junior Chris Polk in the backfield after having surgery just 3 weeks ago, it should be interesting to see how productive he is against a FBS front 7. If this game was in Hawaii, I'd take the Warriors, but hopefully Uw has fixed their sell-out problems and husky stadium should give them the advantage.