PiRate Ratings Selections for December 15-21 Bowls and NFL Week 15

The Return of the Land Sharps

After taking a week off to regroup, our five Land Sharps are ready to return to their hopefully winning ways after ending the season on a sour note.  As bowl season begins, Cal Gal Tiffany has opened a commanding lead in return on investment, maintaining a healthy double digit percentage profit that has been rather consistent for the last several weeks.  Tiffany admits that she knows more about numbers than football strategy, so maybe we can learn something from her.  She likes underdogs, and she likes numbers that are a half-point higher than typical game outcomes.  In other words, she has played a lot of 3 1/2, 7 1/2, 10 1/2, 14 1/2, and 17 1/2 point underdogs this year.  Tiffy believes the books know what they are doing in setting the lines, and there is no way she can outsmart them by trying to figure out which team is better or worse than the line.  She goes simply by the numbers, and it has helped her take a large lead in our little contest.

Stewed Meat is in second place, but Stewed has been playing the B-team of selections this year, because Stewed plays other picks for real and does well enough to make it a full-time profession in Nevada.

Buckeye Michelle is very unhappy.  She believes Ohio State is the only team that can beat Alabama, and her Buckeyes will not get that chance.  She also is unhappy, because she was in first place at the start of November and now has a record just above .500 with no profit.  Michelle and Tiffany are friendly rivals who have known each other for 10 years, and Tiffy has given Michie the business in recent weeks.  Now to make you more unhappy–these two ladies are what you would call “smokin’ hot” and unfortunately,  for all but two of the male gender, are taken.  The funny thing is their guys are not really into football, as they follow the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics and nothing else.  It’s the two ladies that occupy their woman caves to watch their games.

Dean615 was in the lead for a few weeks, but Dean says that a heavy November schedule made it hard to find time to study.  Dean says that he has had ample time to study the bowls.  Dean is the ex-football player who played in three bowl games and knows what it is like and believes he knows which teams are there to play and which just want to collect their bling packages and start their off seasons.

Friday Dog 13 is the renegade of our Land Sharps.  He has played a lot more favorites than underdogs, and it worked until No Fave November.  The Autumn winds raided his bank account, and sent him into the red at the wrong time of the year.  Friday Dog has had extracurricular issues this Autumn and also has not had a ton of time to devote to the lines as of late, but he should be able to study the bowls with more time.  You will see his theme in his first set of picks.  He is a fan of Mid-America.

And what about the PiRates themselves?  We have been contrarians to the Land Sharps.  When the Land Sharps began the season hot and profitable, the PiRates were sinking like rocks.  Then, after we noticed that our NFL teaser picks kept winning consistently, we began to add more teaser selections, and the last 5 weeks have been somewhat profitable.  Hopefully, this isn’t the kiss of death talking about it and including more of these selections.

Let’s start with the Land Sharps and their picks for the first week of bowl games.  All five made three selections.  Four of the five took the same team, and three of the five took another team, so take this for what you believe it is worth.  Also, a majority of the picks were on the underdogs.

#1) Cal Gal Tiffany

Season: 40-30-0 57.1%

Return on Investment: 10.0%

Georgia Southern -1 1/2 vs. Eastern Michigan

Western Michigan +12 1/2 vs. BYU

Tulane -3 1/2 vs. Louisiana

 

#2) Stewed Meat

Season: 38-32-3  54.3%

Return on Investment: 3.8%

North Texas +8 vs. Utah St.

Middle Tennessee +7 1/2 vs. Appalachian St.

Western Michigan +12 1/2 vs. BYU

 

#3) Buckeye Michelle

Season: 33-30-1  52.4%

Return on Investment: 0.0%

San Diego St. +3 vs. Ohio U

Tulane -3 1/2 vs. Louisiana

Western Michigan +12 1/2 vs. BYU

 

#4) Dean615

Season: 31-29-2  51.7%

Return on Investment: -1.5%

South Florida +2 1/2 vs. Marshall

Tulane -3 1/2 vs. Louisiana

Western Michigan +12 1/2 vs. BYU

 

#5) Friday Dog 13

Season: 36-35-1  50.7%

Return on Investment: -3.5%

Northern Illinois +2 1/2 vs. UAB

Toledo -5 1/2 vs. Florida International

Ohio U -2 1/2 vs. San Diego St.

 

The PiRate Rating Picks

For the bowl season, we have been experimenting with playing the underdogs with money line selections.  It is our hypothesis that if one plays the same amount on every bowl game by taking the underdog and the best money line odds you can get, that it could be very profitable.  Since we play with imaginary currency in an imaginary bank account, it does not hurt to play $100 on every bowl game by taking the underdog and finding the best odds.  If we lose every game, we are out $0, and if it wins, and returns a profit, then maybe the public will have knowledge for the future.  Therefore, you will see us picking the underdog to win every bowl game (not playoffs) this year and shopping for the best odds.

Here are the selections for the first week of games.

Favorite	Underdog	Moneyline	Pick
Tulane	Louisiana	+155	Louisiana
Utah St.	North Texas	+275	North Texas
Fresno St.	Arizona St.	+167	Arizona St.
Georgia Southern	Eastern Michigan	+120	Eastern Michigan
Appalachian St.	Middle Tennessee	+235	Middle Tennessee
UAB	Northern Illinois	+125	Northern Illinois
Ohio U	San Diego St.	+135	San Diego St.
Marshall	South Florida	+125	South Florida
Toledo	Florida Int’l.	+195	Florida Int’l.
BYU	Western Michigan	+400	Western Michigan

NFL Teaser Picks to date:  26-12  68.4%

NFL	10-point Teasers
Favorite	Underdog	Spread	Pick
Chicago	Green Bay	17	Green Bay
Minnesota	Miami	17.5	Miami
Baltimore	Tampa Bay	19.5	Tampa Bay
Team	Team	Total	Pick
Kansas City	L.A. Chargers	43	Over
Chicago	Green Bay	35	Over
Minnesota	Miami	34.5	Over

 

NFL	13-point Teasers
Favorite	Underdog	Spread	Pick
Detroit	Buffalo	15.5	Buffalo
Tampa Bay	Baltimore	5	Baltimore
Atlanta	Arizona	23	Arizona
Cincinnati	Oakland	16	Oakland
Favorite	Underdog	Spread	Pick
San Francisco	Seattle	8.5	Seattle
New England	Pittsburgh	14.5	Pittsburgh
Philadelphia	L.A. Rams	4	L.A. Rams
Tennessee	N.Y. Giants	15.5	N.Y. Giants
Team	Team	Total	Pick
Houston	N.Y. Jets	28	Over
Cleveland	Denver	32.5	Over
Buffalo	Detroit	25	Over
Baltimore	Tampa Bay	60	Under
Team	Team	Total	Pick
Oakland	Cincinnati	33	Over
N.Y. Giants	Tennessee	30.5	Over
Washington	Jacksonville	49	Under
Indianapolis	Dallas	34	Over
Team	Team	Total	Pick
Seattle	San Francisco	57.5	Under
L.A. Rams	Philadelphia	40.5	Over
Arizona	Atlanta	31	Over
New Orleans	Carolina	65	Under

Remember that all of our selections on this site are strictly for entertainment purposes only.  We do not wager actual currency or coinage on these games.  We are purely a group of math statistics lovers that also love and played sports.  Please do not wager real money based only on what we publish here.

 

 

 

PiRate Ratings–College Football Bowls & Playoffs

All times given are Eastern Standard

Saturday	December 15
New Mexico Bowl		2:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Utah St.	North Texas	11.6	10.2	12.4
Cure Bowl		2:30 PM on CBSSN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Tulane	Louisiana	9.3	7.5	7.3
Las Vegas Bowl		3:30 PM on ABC
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Fresno St.	Arizona St.	2.8	3.7	3.4
Camellia Bowl		5:30 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Georgia Southern	Eastern Michigan	-4.7	-4.2	-4.3
New Orleans Bowl		9:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Appalachian St.	Middle Tennessee	-0.6	-0.7	-0.2
Tuesday	December 18
Boca Raton Bowl		7:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
UAB	Northern Illinois	-0.6	0.7	-0.2
Wednesday	December 19
Frisco Bowl		8:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
San Diego St.	Ohio U	-8.7	-9.8	-9.4
Thursday	December 20
Gasparilla Bowl		8:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
South Florida	Marshall	-1.9	-2.8	-3.0
Friday	December 21
Bahamas Bowl		12:30 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Toledo	Florida Int’l.	9.8	7.9	9.3
Idaho Potato Bowl		4:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Western Michigan	BYU	-11.1	-10.0	-11.2
Saturday	December 22	12:00 PM on ESPN
Birmingham Bowl
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Memphis	Wake Forest	-2.3	0.7	0.3
Armed Forces Bowl		3:30 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Houston	Army	-1.3	-1.5	-1.2
Dollar General Bowl		7:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Buffalo	Troy	5.6	5.8	5.1
Hawaii Bowl		10:30 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Hawaii	Louisiana Tech	-3.3	-3.6	-4.0
Wednesday	December 26
First Responder Bowl		1:30 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Boise St.	Boston College	-0.3	1.7	0.5
Quick Lane Bowl		5:15 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Minnesota	Georgia Tech	-11.4	-11.6	-11.4
Cheez-it Bowl		9:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
TCU	California	0.4	1.2	-0.8
Thursday	December 27	1:30 PM on ESPN
Independence Bowl
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Duke	Temple	6.4	4.1	5.0
Pinstripe Bowl		5:15 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Wisconsin	Miami (Fla.)	-6.5	-7.5	-7.0
Texas Bowl		9:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Baylor	Vanderbilt	-0.4	-2.1	-1.1
Friday	December 28
Music City Bowl		1:30 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Auburn	Purdue	6.8	7.2	8.4
Camping World Bowl		5:15 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Syracuse	West Virginia	1.0	0.8	1.2
Arizona Bowl		5:30 PM on CBSSN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Nevada	Arkansas St.	3.6	2.2	1.6
Alamo Bowl		9:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Iowa St.	Washington St.	-3.3	-3.9	-3.6
Saturday	December 29
Peach Bowl		12:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Florida	Michigan	-9.7	-9.9	-9.6
Belk Bowl		12:00 PM on ABC
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
South Carolina	Virginia	5.9	4.8	6.6
Cotton Bowl		4:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Clemson	Notre Dame	12.6	12.9	14.3
Orange Bowl		8:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Alabama	Oklahoma	19.2	18.7	20.8
Monday	December 31
Redbox Bowl		3:00 PM on Fox
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Oregon	Michigan St.	-0.8	1.0	0.4
Military Bowl		12:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Virginia Tech	Cincinnati	1.9	-0.2	1.0
Sun Bowl		2:00 PM on CBS
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Stanford	Pittsburgh	5.3	4.2	6.1
Liberty Bowl		3:45 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Missouri	Oklahoma St.	12.0	12.1	13.1
Holiday Bowl		7:00 PM on FS1
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Utah	Northwestern	6.0	6.1	6.7
Gator Bowl		7:30 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
North Carolina St.	Texas A&M	-2.9	-2.7	-4.0
Tuesday	January 1
Outback Bowl		12:00 PM on ESPN2
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Iowa	Mississippi St.	-7.5	-7.8	-9.3
Citrus Bowl		1:00 PM on ABC
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Kentucky	Penn St.	-6.7	-5.6	-6.5
Fiesta Bowl		1:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
LSU	Central Florida	2.9	1.5	3.0
Rose Bowl		5:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Ohio St.	Washington	6.9	7.1	6.6
Sugar Bowl		8:45 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Georgia	Texas	14.9	14.3	17.1
Monday	January 7
National Championship Game		8:00 PM on ESPN
Team 1	Team 2	PiRate	Mean	Bias
Bama or Okla.	Clem or N. Dame

For those that need to know–these ratings include the list of star players that are sitting out their bowl so as not to risk injury prior to the 2019 NFL Draft.  For example, Will Grier will not play for West Virginia, and that is enough to switch the Mountaineers from favorite to underdog.  This includes a list through Saturday, December 9.

NOTE:  The PiRate Ratings will commence with college basketball coverage as soon as all the major conference teams have played their tenth game.  Our rating is meaningless until every team has played 10 games.

Once again, we have combined all three of our sub-ratings into one more accurate rating.  We will issue spreads on weekend games through the conference tournaments and then spreads on the conference tournament games.

Additionally, starting in Mid-January, we will see the return of our Bracketology Gurus, who in two years of existence have gotten all 68 teams in the tournament one year and 67 of the 68 teams in the other.  We hand-picked 12 not-so-angry men that love college basketball and devote about the same amount of time in analyzing college basketball data as we analyze Major League Baseball.

 

 

PiRate Picks For College and Pro Football: December 27, 2012-January 2, 2013

This Week’s Selections

 

College

 

1. Duke +9 ½ vs. Cincinnati

 

2. UL-Monroe -7 vs. Ohio U

 

3. Rice +3 vs. Air Force

 

4. Navy +14 vs. Arizona St.

 

5. Texas +3 ½ vs. Oregon St.

 

6. L S U -5 vs. Clemson

 

7. Mississippi St. -2 vs. Northwestern

 

8. Northern Illinois +13 ½ vs. Florida St.

 

9. Florida -14 vs. Louisville

 

N F L

 

1. New York Jets +3 ½ vs. Buffalo

 

2. New England -10 vs. Miami

 

3. New York Giants -7 ½ vs. Philadelphia

 

4. Washington -3 vs. Dallas

 

5. Chicago -3 vs. Detroit

PiRate Picks For College and Pro Football: December 20-26, 2012

College Bowl Previews: December 20-26, 2012

 

Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego

 

Brigham Young vs. San Diego State

 

Line: BYU by 3                                             Totals: 47 ½

 

PiRate: BYU by 8.7                                      Vintage: San Diego St. by 1

 

 

Beef O’Brady’s Bowl at St. Petersburg

 

Central Florida vs. Ball State

 

Line: Central Florida by 7                           Totals: 61 ½

 

PiRate: Central Florida by 6.6                     Vintage: Central Florida by 5

 

 

New Orleans Bowl

 

Louisiana-Lafayette vs. East Carolina

 

Line: UL-Lafayette by 5                               Totals: 65 ½

 

PiRate: UL-Lafayette by 3.4                        Vintage: UL-Lafayette by 0.5

 

MAACO Bowl at Las Vegas

 

Washington vs. Boise State

 

Line: Boise St. by 5 ½                                   Totals: 44 ½

 

PiRate: Washington by 2.6                           Vintage: Boise St. by 2.5

 

Hawaii Bowl at Honolulu

 

Fresno State vs. S M U

 

Line: Fresno St. by 12 ½                               Totals: 59 ½

 

PiRate: Fresno St. by 9.7                              Vintage: Fresno St. by 17

 

Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl at Detroit

 

Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan

 

Line: Western Kentucky by 5 ½                  Totals: 57 ½

 

PiRate: Western Kentucky by 4.8               Vintage: Central Michigan by 1.5

 

 

This Week’s Selections

 

College

 

1. San Diego State +3 vs. Brigham Young

 

2. UL-Lafayette -5 vs. East Carolina

 

3. Boise St. -5 ½ vs. Washington

 

 

N F L

 

1. Atlanta -3 ½ vs. Detroit

 

2. Pittsburgh -3 ½ vs. Cincinnati

 

3. Philadelphia +7 vs. Washington

 

4. New York Giants -2 ½ vs. Baltimore

 

5. Minnesota +7 ½ vs. Houston

 

6. Arizona +5 ½ vs. Chicago

 

7. 6-point Teaser

Green Bay -6 ½ vs. Tennessee

Carolina -2 vs. Oakland

 

8. 6-point Teaser

Pittsburgh +2 ½ vs. Cincinnati

Indianapolis -5 vs. Kansas City

 

9. 6-point Teaser

Denver -7 vs. Cleveland

Minnesota +13 ½ vs. Houston

 

PiRate Picks For College and Pro Football–December 13-17, 2012

College

Bowl season kicks off Saturday with two games on the schedule.  Nevada and Arizona face off in the New Mexico Bowl in Tucson, and Toledo and Utah State play in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise.  We are going to pick every bowl game against the spread, but these are not “official picks” unless we indicate them as so.

 

New Mexico Bowl: Arizona -9 ½ vs. Nevada

PiRate Pick: Nevada

 

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Utah St. -10 ½ vs. Toledo

PiRate Pick: Toledo

 

PiRate 13-point Teaser

Nevada +22 ½ vs. Arizona

Toledo +23 ½ vs. Utah St.

Nevada and Arizona UNDER 89

Toledo and Utah St. OVER 45 ½

 

N F L

This has been one of those topsy-turvy seasons in the NFL, and our picks have followed that same trend.  We have a lousy week one week and then go 5-0 the next.  Overall, we are above the waterline, posting a small profit for the season, but we are not getting clients banned from sports books this year like we did in 2011.   We’re going with seven selections this week.

 

1. Cincinnati -4 ½ vs. Philadelphia

Bengals absolutely must win this game or they are almost assuredly out of the playoff race.  The Eagles showed signs of life last week, but can they do it two weeks in a row with nothing to play for?  We see Cinti winning by double-digits on the final Thursday night game of the season.

 

2. St. Louis -3 vs. Minnesota

Jeff Fisher-coached teams have a knack for shutting down opponents that must run the ball to succeed.  This Rams defense will not shut down Adrian Peterson, but they will lower his rushing average by one and a half to two yards per attempt.  Christian Ponder will not get it done, and the Rams will move above .500 and stay alive in the playoff race, while knocking the Vikings out of contention.

 

3. Buffalo +5 ½ vs. Seattle (game played in Toronto)

Seattle must travel 2,500 miles east to Ontario and play in a game three times zones ahead.  This comes after the Seahawks destroyed Arizona last week.  We see a major bounce this week and believe the Bills have a shot at the upset.  We’ll take the points here, thinking that if Seattle wins, it will be very close.  We just hope it doesn’t go to overtime.  Six points would kill us here.

 

4. 13-point Teaser

Cincinnati +8 ½ vs. Philadelphia

Chicago +16 vs. Green Bay

New York Giants +14 ½ vs. Atlanta

Tampa Bay +16 ½ vs. New Orleans

 

5. 13-point Teaser

New Orleans +9 ½ vs. Tampa Bay

St. Louis +10 vs. Minnesota

Cleveland +14 vs. Washington

Denver +10 ½ vs. Baltimore

 

6. 13-point Teaser

Indianapolis +22 vs. Houston

Carolina +16 vs. San Diego

Buffalo +18 ½ vs. Seattle

Pittsburgh +11 ½ vs. Dallas

 

7. 13-point Teaser

Dallas +14 ½ vs. Pittsburgh

Oakland +10 vs. Kansas City

New England +7 ½ vs. San Francisco

New York Jets +14 ½ vs. Tennessee

PiRate Picks For College And Pro Football–December 23-29, 2011

Have Yourself A Merry Little Windfall, But Not From These Picks

Oh, what a festive weekend!  Even in these trying times for many, we all have something to be thankful for.  For us here at the PiRate Ratings, we are so thankful for our families and friends, of which there are many. 

 

Now, of course, if there is some secret Santa out there, we wouldn’t mind a really excellent closing to our NFL football ratings’ season.  By excellent, we are not talking about a particular team.  The PiRate Ratings have moved up to number two in the overall against the spread comparison in The Prediction Tracker, just a slice of a percentage behind number one.  Never mind, Santa.  You have a lot more to do in the next couple of days. We’ll have to try to reach your female friend, Lady Luck.

 

Okay, here are our merry picks this week.

 

1. 13-point Teaser

Independence Bowl: Missouri +8 vs. North Carolina

Belk Bowl: Louisville +14 ½ vs. North Carolina State

Holiday Bowl: Texas +10 vs. California

Champ Sports Bowl: Florida State +10 vs. Notre Dame

 

2. 10-point Teaser

Oakland +12 ½ vs. Kansas City

Denver +7 vs. Buffalo

New England + ½ vs. Miami

 

3. 10-point Teaser

Baltimore – 2 ½ vs. Cleveland

Washington +3 ½ vs. Minnesota

Green Bay -2 vs. Chicago

 

4. 13-point Teaser

Tennessee +5 ½ vs. Jacksonville

Cincinnati +9 vs. Arizona

Giants +16 vs. Jets

Pittsburgh -1 vs. St. Louis

 

5. 13-point Teaser

Oakland & Kansas City OVER 29

Jacksonville & Tennessee OVER 27

Cincinnati & Arizona OVER 28

Cleveland & Baltimore OVER 25 ½

PiRate Picks For College And Pro Football–December 16-22, 2011

We Won’t Get Bowled Over With Too Many Selections

The bowl season commences Saturday with the New Mexico, Famous Idaho Potato, and New Orleans Bowl.  The Beef O’Brady’s, Poinsettia, and MAACO Bowls will be played in the next seven days, giving us a chance to play a troika of college selections.

 

We are going to throw a pair of NFL 13-point teasers to give us five quality selections for the week.

 

1. New Mexico Bowl: Wyoming +7 vs. Temple

This should be an exciting, hard-fought game won in the trenches.  Temple will attempt to grind it out in three yards and a cloud of dust running, while Wyoming will try to spread the field and force the Owls to defend 53 yards wide.  The Cowboy blocking corps will be pressed to protect their QB, and it will provide the viewer with an excellent contrast in styles.  We believe this game will be close, but Wyoming will be able to strike quickly with a cheap score.  We cannot see that happening for Temple, so we will take the underdogs and get a TD straight up.

 

2. Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Utah State -1 vs. Ohio U

Utah State had some rough outings early in the season, but the Aggies rebounded to win big down the stretch.  Truth be told, USU just might be the best team in the WAC right now.

 

When Ohio punter Paul Hershey tweeted his dislike for going to Boise for a bowl, it got a lot of press, but not many sports media writers read between the lines.  Hershey obviously was relaying his teammates reaction when they were overlooked for the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl.  We seriously question the desire of the Bobcats in this game, while Utah State is very happy to be playing at the blue field.

 

3. 13-point teaser

New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette +18 vs. San Diego St.

Beef O’Brady’s Bowl: Marshall +17 vs. Florida International

Poinsettia Bowl: T C U +3 vs. Louisiana Tech

MAACO Bowl: Boise State -1 vs. Arizona State.

 

4. 13-point NFL teaser

Green Bay – ½ vs. Kansas City

New Orleans +6 ½ vs. Minnesota

Seattle & Chicago OVER 22 ½

Tennessee +6 ½ vs. Indianapolis

 

5. 13-point NFL teaser

Cincinnati & St. Louis OVER 27

Detroit +12 vs. Oakland

New England +5 ½ vs. Denver

Arizona +6 ½ vs. Cleveland

PiRate Ratings: College Football Bowls 2011-12

Check Back Monday For Round One Of Simulated College Playoffs

The first round of the 2011-12 college football simulated playoffs were simulated Friday, and the results will be posted Monday, December 12.  Check back to see which four teams won and which four lost as we pare down from the Dandy Dozen to the Elite Eight.

 

Now to get back to reality, here are the ratings for the real season—the one that ends with 34 dull bowls and one that means anything.

 

Even the old pre-BCS system would be preferable to the way things are today.  The New Year’s bowl games are not worth tuning in any more.  The one event that is meaningful on New Year’s is the NHL Winter Classic.

 

Let’s look at how New Year’s Day (actually January 2 this year) might have been if the old system was still in place.

 

Sugar Bowl:  L S U vs. Stanford

Cotton Bowl: Kansas State vs. Alabama

Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Wisconsin

Orange Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Clemson

 

These four games would all be meaningful, and three of the four could have played a part in the National Championship.  If Stanford upset LSU in the early game, then Alabama and Oklahoma State would still have a shot at the title, and all four teams could have ended up with one of the big four or five national championships.  In our opinion, it is better to have split champions than to exclude a team from having a chance.  It is much better for the bowls, because to be frank, we will not watch the first 34 bowls.  On New Year’s Day, we will have NFL Playoffs this year, but we will not watch the bowls on January 2; there is nothing entertaining about them, especially with one game being played against two 6-6 teams.

 

Final Regular Season PiRate Ratings

#	Team	PiRate
1	L S U	139.6
2	Alabama	135.1
3	Oklahoma St.	131.5
4	Southern Cal	130.9
5	Oregon	128.3
6	Stanford	127.2
7	Wisconsin	126.8
8	Arkansas	123.6
9	Oklahoma	121.6
10	Florida St.	120.3
11	Boise St.	120.0
12	Michigan	119.2
13	Michigan St.	118.9
14	TexasA&M	118.5
15	Georgia	116.8
16	Baylor	116.8
17	Notre Dame	116.7
18	S. Carolina	115.9
19	T C U	114.5
20	Houston	114.4
21	Kansas St.	113.9
22	California	113.9
23	Clemson	113.6
24	Missouri	113.6
25	Texas	113.1
26	Nebraska	112.0
27	Virginia Tech	111.5
28	Vanderbilt	111.3
29	B Y U	111.0
30	Florida	110.6
31	LouisianaTech	109.3
32	Utah	109.0
33	Arizona St.	108.9
34	Southern Miss.	108.8
35	Miami(FL)	108.8
36	Mississippi St.	108.7
37	Washington	108.5
38	Ohio St.	108.1
39	Nevada	107.6
40	W. Virginia	106.9
41	Cincinnati	106.5
42	Tulsa	106.4
43	Georgia Tech	105.8
44	N. Carolina St.	105.7
45	Penn St.	105.4
46	U C L A	105.4
47	BostonColl.	105.1
48	N. Carolina	105.0
49	Pittsburgh	104.6
50	Oregon St.	104.4
51	Iowa	104.3
52	Iowa St.	103.9
53	Louisville	103.7
54	Auburn	103.5
55	Northwestern	103.3
56	Virginia	102.8
57	Arizona	102.8
58	Washington St.	102.1
59	Tennessee	101.7
60	S. Florida	100.6
61	Air Force	100.4
62	WakeForest	100.3
63	Toledo	99.9
64	Temple	99.4
65	Rutgers	98.8
66	Utah St.	98.4
67	Purdue	98.3
68	Illinois	98.0
69	San Diego St.	97.3
70	Minnesota	97.2
71	Connecticut	97.1
72	TexasTech	96.9
73	Arkansas St.	95.8
74	Colorado	95.4
75	Wyoming	95.3
76	Western Michigan	95.3
77	Duke	95.3
78	Central Florida	95.2
79	Kentucky	94.9
80	Navy	94.9
81	Northern Illinois	94.8
82	San Jose St.	93.6
83	S M U	91.9
84	Maryland	91.6
85	East Carolina	91.4
86	Syracuse	91.2
87	Fresno St.	91.1
88	Hawaii	90.6
89	Miami(O)	90.2
90	WesternKy.	89.6
91	OhioU	89.3
92	FloridaInt’l	89.2
93	Kansas	89.1
94	Ole Miss	88.7
95	UL-Lafayette	86.8
96	UL-Monroe	86.0
97	U T E P	85.5
98	Marshall	84.9
99	North Texas	84.8
100	Bowling Green	84.2
101	Rice	83.9
102	Colorado St.	83.9
103	Army	83.5
104	Ball St.	82.9
105	Eastern Michigan	82.0
106	Indiana	82.0
107	Kent St.	81.9
108	Idaho	81.5
109	New Mexico St.	80.7
110	U A B	78.8
111	U N L V	76.9
112	Central Michigan	76.5
113	Buffalo	76.0
114	Troy	74.6
115	New Mexico	71.0
116	Tulane	70.5
117	Memphis	68.0
118	MiddleTennessee	67.2
119	FloridaAtlantic	64.0
120	Akron	57.4

 

Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
FloridaState	5-3	8-4	120.3
Clemson   √	6-2	10-3	113.6
North CarolinaState	4-4	7-5	105.7
BostonCollege	3-5	4-8	105.1
WakeForest	5-3	6-6	100.3
Maryland	1-7	2-10	91.6
Coastal Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Virginia Tech	7-1	11-2	111.5
Miami-FL	3-5	6-6	108.8
Georgia Tech	5-3	8-4	105.8
North Carolina	3-5	7-5	105.0
Virginia	5-3	8-4	102.8
Duke	1-7	3-9	95.3

 

Big East Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
West Virginia   √	5-2	9-3	106.9
Cincinnati	5-2	9-3	106.5
Pittsburgh	4-3	6-6	104.6
Louisville	5-2	7-5	103.7
South Florida	1-6	5-7	100.6
Rutgers	4-3	8-4	98.8
Connecticut	3-4	5-7	97.1
Syracuse	1-6	5-7	91.2

 

Big Ten
Leaders Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Wisconsin   √	6-2	11-2	126.8
PennState	6-2	9-3	105.4
OhioState	3-5	6-6	108.1
Illinois	2-6	6-6	98.0
Purdue	4-4	6-6	98.3
Indiana	0-8	1-11	82.0
Legends Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Michigan	6-2	10-2	119.2
MichiganState	7-1	10-3	118.9
Nebraska	5-3	9-3	112.0
Iowa	4-4	7-5	104.3
Northwestern	3-5	6-6	103.3
Minnesota	2-6	3-9	97.2

 

Big 12
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
OklahomaState   √	8-1	11-1	131.5
Oklahoma	6-3	9-3	121.6
TexasA&M	4-5	6-6	118.5
Baylor	6-3	9-3	116.8
KansasState	7-2	10-2	113.9
Missouri	5-4	7-5	113.6
Texas	4-5	7-5	113.1
IowaState	3-6	6-6	103.9
TexasTech	2-7	5-7	96.9
Kansas	0-9	2-10	89.1

 

Conference USA
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Southern Mississippi   *	6-2	11-2	108.8
Central Florida	3-5	5-7	95.2
East Carolina	4-4	5-7	91.4
Marshall	5-3	6-6	84.9
U A B	3-5	3-9	78.8
Memphis	1-7	2-10	68.0
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Houston	8-0	12-1	114.4
Tulsa	7-1	8-4	106.4
S M U	5-3	7-5	91.9
U T E P	2-6	5-7	85.5
Rice	3-5	4-8	83.9
Tulane	1-7	2-11	70.5

 

Independents
Team		Overall	Rating
Notre Dame		8-4	116.7
B Y U		9-3	111.0
Navy		4-7	95.4
Army		3-8	83.0

 

Mid American Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Temple	5-3	8-4	99.4
Miami(O)	3-5	4-8	90.2
OhioU	6-2	9-4	89.3
Bowling Green	3-5	5-7	84.2
Kent St.	4-4	5-7	81.9
Buffalo	2-6	3-9	76.0
Akron	0-8	1-11	57.4
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Toledo	7-1	8-4	99.9
Western Michigan	5-3	7-5	95.3
Northern Illinois   *	7-1	10-3	94.8
BallState	4-4	6-6	82.9
Eastern Michigan	4-4	6-6	82.0
Central Michigan	2-6	3-9	76.5

 

Mountain West Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
BoiseState	6-1	11-1	120.0
T C U   *	7-0	10-2	114.5
Air Force	3-4	7-5	100.4
San DiegoState	5-3	8-4	97.3
Wyoming	5-2	8-4	95.3
ColoradoState	1-6	3-9	83.9
UNLV	1-6	2-10	76.9
New Mexico	1-6	1-11	71.0

 

Pac-12 Conference
North Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Oregon   √	8-1	11-2	128.3
Stanford	8-1	11-1	127.2
California	4-5	7-5	113.9
Washington	5-4	7-5	108.5
OregonState	3-6	3-9	104.4
WashingtonState	2-7	4-8	102.1
South Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
U S C	7-2	10-2	130.9
Utah	4-5	7-5	109.0
ArizonaState	4-5	6-6	108.9
U C L A	5-4	6-7	105.4
Arizona	2-7	4-8	102.8
Colorado	2-7	3-10	95.4

 

Southeastern Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Georgia	7-1	10-3	116.8
South Carolina	6-2	10-2	115.9
Vanderbilt	2-6	6-6	111.3
Florida	3-5	6-6	110.6
Tennessee	1-7	5-7	101.7
Kentucky	2-6	5-7	94.9
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
L S U   √	8-0	13-0	139.6
Alabama	7-1	11-1	135.1
Arkansas	6-2	10-2	123.6
MississippiState	2-6	6-6	108.7
Auburn	4-4	7-5	103.5
Ole Miss	0-8	2-10	88.7

 

Sunbelt Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
ArkansasState   *	8-0	10-2	95.8
Western Kentucky	7-1	7-5	89.6
FloridaInternational	5-3	8-4	89.2
U.ofLouisiana	6-2	8-4	86.8
Louisiana-Monroe	3-5	4-8	86.0
North Texas	4-4	5-7	84.8
Troy	2-6	3-9	74.6
MiddleTennessee	1-7	2-10	67.2
FloridaAtlantic	0-8	1-11	64.0

 

Western Athletic Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
LouisianaTech   *	6-1	8-4	109.3
Nevada	5-2	7-5	107.6
UtahState	5-2	7-5	98.4
San JoseState	3-4	5-7	93.6
FresnoState	3-4	4-9	91.1
Hawaii	3-4	6-7	90.6
Idaho	1-6	2-10	81.5
New MexicoState	2-5	4-9	80.7

 

2011-12 PiRate Spreads For Bowls

			PiRate Spread
Bowl	Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
New Mexico	Temple	Wyoming	4.1	28-24	6 1/2
Famous Idaho Potato	Utah State	Ohio U	9.1	30-21	3
New Orleans	San Diego St.	Louisiana-Lafayette	8.5	33-24	5
Beef O’Brady’s	Florida Int’l	Marshall	5.3	24-19	4
Poinsettia	T C U	Louisiana Tech	5.2	28-23	10 1/2
MAACO	Boise St.	Arizona St.	11.1	38-27	14
Hawaii	Southern Miss.	Nevada	1.2	35-34	6
Independence	Missouri	North Carolina	8.6	28-19	4 1/2
Little Caesar’s Pizza	Purdue	Western Mich.	3.0	31-28	2 1/2
Belk	North Carolina St.	Louisville	4.0	27-23	2 1/2
Military	Air Force	Toledo	0.5	35-34	-3
Holiday	California	Texas	0.8	22-21	-3 1/2
Champs Sports	Florida St.	Notre Dame	4.6	26-21	3
Alamo	Baylor	Washington	9.3	41-32	9
Armed Forces	B Y U	Tulsa	4.6	38-33	2 1/2
Pinstripe	Iowa St.	Rutgers	3.1	27-24	-2
Music City	Mississippi St.	Wake Forest	8.4	20-12	6 1/2
Insight	Oklahoma	Iowa	17.3	34-17	14
Meineke Car Care of Texas	Texas A&M	Northwestern	16.2	44-28	10
Sun	Utah	Georgia Tech	3.2	34-31	-3 1/2
Kraft Fight Hunger	U C L A	Illinois	7.4	28-21	-2 1/2
Liberty	Vanderbilt	Cincinnati	4.8	31-26	2 1/2
Chick-fil-A	Auburn	Virginia	0.7	24-23	1
TicketCity	Houston	Penn State	9.0	29-20	5 1/2
Capital One	South Carolina	Nebraska	3.9	20-16	2
Gator	Florida	Ohio St.	4.5	21-16	2
Outback	Michigan St.	Georgia	2.1	30-28	-3 1/2
Rose	Oregon	Wisconsin	1.5	37-35	6
Fiesta	Oklahoma St.	Stanford	4.3	42-38	3 1/2
Sugar	Michigan	Virginia Tech	7.7	24-16	2
Orange	Clemson	West Virginia	6.7	31-24	3 1/2
Cotton	Arkansas	Kansas St.	9.7	34-24	7 1/2
BBVA Compass	Pittsburgh	S M U	12.7	27-14	5
GoDaddy.com	Arkansas St.	Northern Illinois	1.0	29-28	1 1/2
National Championship	L S U	Alabama	6.5	16-9	1

 

PiRate Ratings: College Football for December 1-10, 2011

It’s Open Season On Coaching Jobs

It started early this year.  New Mexico was forced to dismiss Mike Locksley early, and the Lobos were quick to name former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie as their new coach.  Ohio State’s job was available as soon as the Buckeyes lost their second game.  To say the brass in Columbus did not know who they wanted from the start was an “Urban” myth.

 

Ole Miss terminated Houston Nutt.  Arizona and Mike Stoops parted ways.  Joe Paterno lost his job over off the field issues.  Then, Bob Toledo was sent on his way from Tulane.

 

The floodgates soon opened, and by Sunday, the list of coaching vacancies had swelled.  At its worst, Akron fired Rob Ianello over the phone while he was driving to his mother’s funeral.  What a tasteless act!  A pox on the program, the Zips should be punished with 30 losing seasons in a row and a bankrupt athletic department.  How would any honest, hard-working coach ever want to sign on with the Zips?

 

If you ever wanted to find a living example of the Peter Principle, then look at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.  Ron Zook proved for the second time that he is not up to the task of handling a major college football program.  The Illini dismissed Zook Sunday following their sixth consecutive loss after beginning the season 6-0 with talent strong enough to contend for the Leaders Division title.  Zook should be a recruiter and an assistant coach.  He admitted earlier this season that he did not know the score of more than one game when he made decisions to go for two points following a touchdown.

 

More vacancies are sure to come.  Rick Neuheisel is expected to be fired as soon as his UCLA Bruins lose at Oregon this week.  He could even lose his job if the Bruins upset the Ducks and earn a Rose Bowl bid.  With Meyer filling the Ohio State vacancy and former Michigan and West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez filling the Arizona vacancy, the vacancy in Westwood becomes the cream of the crop if it indeed becomes a vacancy.  You have to believe the Penn State job will not be as enticing.

 

As The Leach Turns

Mike Leach, an honorary member of the PiRate Ratings, will be considered for many of the coaching vacancies this year.  Fans at Kansas, Ole Miss, Washington State, Arizona State, Tulane, Florida Atlantic, and UAB have already begun to talk about Leach being at or near the top of their wish list.  As soon as Neuheisel is let go at UCLA, Leach fever will break out in Westwood.

 

Leach does not understand the principle of tactfulness.  Like Howard Cosell, he tells it like it is, and the “good ole boys network” does not like 100% honesty coming forth from their employees.  It’s the company line or the unemployment line, and Leach is doing quite well as a sports talk show host.  Throw in a wrongful termination suit against Texas Tech (which appears to be justified) and a lawsuit against ESPN, and Ron Zook may have a better chance getting hired for one of these coaching vacancies. 

 

Gary Barnett took a Northwestern program that had been 0-11 or 1-10 over 50% of the time in the 20 years prior to his coming to Evanston.  He guided the Wildcats to the Rose Bowl.  He went to Boulder and guided Colorado to a Big 12 Championship, yet he found himself unemployed following an incident in which he used tactics to encourage a female placekicker to quit the team.  No school ever approached him following his termination, and Leach could very well be in the same boat.

 

The Big East Isn’t As Messy Now

After a wild week of games on the Eastern Seaboard, the race for the automatic bid to a BCS Bowl comes down to three teams in the Big East’s final weekend.  Louisville defeated South Florida to become one of the three finalists.  The Cardinals do not control their own destiny, and they will be on the sidelines anxiously awaiting the results of games to be played Thursday and Saturday.

 

West Virginia ventures to Tampa Thursday night to take on South Florida.  If the Mountaineers win, then Cincinnati is eliminated from the race.  If West Virginia loses, then Cincinnati would then control their own destiny.  The Bearcats host Connecticut Saturday.

 

If West Virginia and Cincinnati both win, then West Virginia is the Big East Champion in a three-way tiebreaker.  If West Virginia wins and Cincinnati loses to Connecticut, then Louisville is the winner in a two-way tiebreaker.  If West Virginia loses and Cincinnati wins, then Cincinnati bests Louisville in a two-way tiebreaker.  Of course, if both West Virginia and Cincinnati both lose, Louisville wins the conference outright.

 

According to game theory, Louisville has two options to win the conference championship, while WVU and Cinti have just one.  So, Louisville is the favorite to get the BCS bowl bid.  Regardless of which team wins, that team will be the 10^th and final BCS bowl selection, and they will play the ACC Champion in the Orange Bowl, which has the final pick this year.

 

This Week’s PiRate Ratings

#	Team	PiRate
1	L S U	137.8
2	Alabama	135.1
3	Southern Cal	130.9
4	Oregon	129.5
5	Stanford	127.2
6	Wisconsin	127.1
7	Oklahoma	126.8
8	Oklahoma St.	126.3
9	Arkansas	123.6
10	Florida St.	120.3
11	Houston	119.9
12	Boise St.	119.9
13	Michigan	119.2
14	Georgia	118.6
15	Michigan St.	118.6
16	Texas A&M	118.5
17	Virginia Tech	116.8
18	Texas	116.8
19	Notre Dame	116.7
20	S. Carolina	115.9
21	Kansas St.	114.2
22	T C U	114.1
23	California	113.9
24	Missouri	113.6
25	Baylor	113.1
26	Nebraska	112.0
27	Vanderbilt	111.3
28	Florida	110.6
29	B Y U	109.9
30	Louisiana Tech	109.3
31	Utah	109.0
32	Arizona St.	108.9
33	Miami (FL)	108.8
34	Mississippi St.	108.7
35	Washington	108.5
36	Clemson	108.3
37	Ohio St.	108.1
38	W. Virginia	106.8
39	Tulsa	106.4
40	Cincinnati	106.4
41	Georgia Tech	105.8
42	N. Carolina St.	105.7
43	Penn St.	105.4
44	Boston Coll.	105.1
45	N. Carolina	105.0
46	Pittsburgh	104.8
47	Oregon St.	104.4
48	Iowa	104.3
49	U C L A	104.2
50	Nevada	103.8
51	Louisville	103.7
52	Iowa St.	103.6
53	Auburn	103.5
54	Southern Miss.	103.3
55	Northwestern	103.3
56	Virginia	102.8
57	Arizona	102.8
58	Washington St.	102.1
59	Tennessee	101.7
60	S. Florida	100.7
61	Air Force	100.4
62	Wake Forest	100.3
63	Toledo	99.9
64	Temple	99.4
65	Utah St.	98.9
66	Rutgers	98.8
67	Purdue	98.3
68	Illinois	98.0
69	San Diego St.	97.2
70	Connecticut	97.2
71	Minnesota	97.2
72	Texas Tech	96.9
73	Wyoming	95.6
74	Navy	95.4
75	Colorado	95.4
76	Western Michigan	95.3
77	Duke	95.3
78	Central Florida	95.2
79	Northern Illinois	95.0
80	Kentucky	94.9
81	Arkansas St.	94.5
82	San Jose St.	93.6
83	S M U	91.9
84	Hawaii	91.7
85	Maryland	91.6
86	East Carolina	91.4
87	Fresno St.	91.2
88	Syracuse	91.0
89	Miami (O)	90.2
90	Western Ky.	89.6
91	Florida Int’l	89.2
92	Ohio U	89.1
93	Kansas	89.1
94	Ole Miss	88.7
95	UL-Lafayette	86.8
96	U T E P	85.5
97	Idaho	85.3
98	Marshall	84.9
99	UL-Monroe	84.8
100	Bowling Green	84.2
101	Rice	83.9
102	Colorado St.	83.6
103	Army	83.0
104	Ball St.	82.9
105	Eastern Michigan	82.0
106	Indiana	82.0
107	Kent St.	81.9
108	New Mexico St.	80.2
109	North Texas	79.3
110	U A B	78.8
111	U N L V	77.3
112	Central Michigan	76.5
113	Buffalo	76.0
114	Troy	75.9
115	Middle Tennessee	72.7
116	New Mexico	71.1
117	Tulane	70.5
118	Memphis	68.0
119	Florida Atlantic	65.2
120	Akron	57.4

 

 

PiRate Ratings By Conference

* = team has clinched conference or division title

 

Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
FloridaState	5-3	8-4	120.3
Clemson	6-2 *	9-3	108.3
North CarolinaState	4-4	7-5	105.7
BostonCollege	3-5	4-8	105.1
WakeForest	5-3	6-6	100.3
Maryland	1-7	2-10	91.6
Coastal Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Virginia Tech	7-1 *	11-1	116.8
Miami-FL	3-5	6-6	108.8
Georgia Tech	5-3	8-4	105.8
North Carolina	3-5	7-5	105.0
Virginia	5-3	8-4	102.8
Duke	1-7	3-9	95.3

 

Big East Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
West Virginia	4-2	8-3	106.8
Cincinnati	4-2	8-3	106.4
Pittsburgh	3-3	5-6	104.8
Louisville	5-2	7-5	103.7
South Florida	1-5	5-6	100.7
Rutgers	4-3	8-4	98.8
Connecticut	3-3	5-6	97.2
Syracuse	1-5	5-6	91.0

 

Big Ten
Leaders Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Wisconsin	6-2 *	10-2	127.1
Penn State	6-2	9-3	105.4
Ohio State	3-5	6-6	108.1
Illinois	2-6	6-6	98.0
Purdue	4-4	6-6	98.3
Indiana	0-8	1-11	82.0
Legends Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Michigan	6-2	10-2	119.2
Michigan State	7-1 *	10-2	118.6
Nebraska	5-3	9-3	112.0
Iowa	4-4	7-5	104.3
Northwestern	3-5	6-6	103.3
Minnesota	2-6	3-9	97.2

 

Big 12
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Oklahoma	6-2	9-2	126.8
Oklahoma State	7-1	10-1	126.3
Texas A&M	4-5	6-6	118.5
Texas	4-4	7-4	116.8
Kansas State	6-2	9-2	114.2
Missouri	5-4	7-5	113.6
Baylor	5-3	8-3	113.1
Iowa State	3-5	6-5	103.6
Texas Tech	2-7	5-7	96.9
Kansas	0-9	2-10	89.1

 

Conference USA
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Southern Mississippi	6-2 *	10-2	103.3
Central Florida	3-5	5-7	95.2
East Carolina	4-4	5-7	91.4
Marshall	5-3	6-6	84.9
U A B	3-5	3-9	78.8
Memphis	1-7	2-10	68.0
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Houston	8-0 *	12-0	119.9
Tulsa	7-1	8-4	106.4
S M U	5-3	7-5	91.9
U T E P	2-6	5-7	85.5
Rice	3-5	4-8	83.9
Tulane	1-7	2-11	70.5

 

Independents
Team		Overall	Rating
Notre Dame		8-4	116.7
B Y U		8-3	109.9
Navy		4-7	95.4
Army		3-8	83.0

 

Mid American Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Temple	5-3	8-4	99.4
Miami (O)	3-5	4-8	90.2
Ohio U	6-2 *	9-3	89.1
Bowling Green	3-5	5-7	84.2
Kent St.	4-4	5-7	81.9
Buffalo	2-6	3-9	76.0
Akron	0-8	1-11	57.4
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Toledo	7-1	8-4	99.9
Western Michigan	5-3	7-5	95.3
Northern Illinois	7-1 *	9-3	95.0
Ball State	4-4	6-6	82.9
Eastern Michigan	4-4	6-6	82.0
Central Michigan	2-6	3-9	76.5

 

Mountain West Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Boise State	5-1	10-1	119.9
T C U	6-0 *	9-2	114.1
Air Force	3-4	7-5	100.4
San Diego State	4-3	7-4	97.2
Wyoming	4-2	7-4	95.6
Colorado State	1-5	3-8	83.6
UNLV	1-5	2-9	77.3
New Mexico	1-5	1-10	71.1

 

Pac-12 Conference
North Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Oregon	8-1 *	10-2	129.5
Stanford	8-1	11-1	127.2
California	4-5	7-5	113.9
Washington	5-4	7-5	108.5
Oregon State	3-6	3-9	104.4
Washington State	2-7	4-8	102.1
South Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
U S C	7-2	10-2	130.9
Utah	4-5	7-5	109.0
Arizona State	4-5	6-6	108.9
U C L A	5-4 *	6-6	104.2
Arizona	2-7	4-8	102.8
Colorado	2-7	3-10	95.4

 

Southeastern Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Georgia	7-1 *	10-2	118.6
South Carolina	6-2	10-2	115.9
Vanderbilt	2-6	6-6	111.3
Florida	3-5	6-6	110.6
Tennessee	1-7	5-7	101.7
Kentucky	2-6	5-7	94.9
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
L S U	8-0 *	12-0	137.8
Alabama	7-1	11-1	135.1
Arkansas	6-2	10-2	123.6
Mississippi State	2-6	6-6	108.7
Auburn	4-4	7-5	103.5
Ole Miss	0-8	2-10	88.7

 

Sunbelt Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Arkansas State	7-0 *	9-2	94.5
Western Kentucky	7-1	7-5	89.6
Florida International	5-3	8-4	89.2
U. of Louisiana	6-2	8-4	86.8
Louisiana-Monroe	2-5	3-8	84.8
North Texas	3-4	4-7	79.3
Troy	2-5	3-8	75.9
Middle Tennessee	1-6	2-9	72.7
Florida Atlantic	0-7	1-10	65.2

 

Western Athletic Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
LouisianaTech	6-1 *	8-4	109.3
Nevada	4-2	6-5	103.8
Utah State	4-2	6-5	98.9
San Jose State	3-4	5-7	93.6
Hawaii	3-4	6-6	91.7
Fresno State	3-4	4-8	91.2
Idaho	1-5	2-9	85.3
New Mexico State	2-4	4-8	80.2

 

 

Final Regular Season Games (12/1 to 12/10)

This Week’s Games–PiRate Ratings
Thursday, December 1		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
West Virginia	SOUTH FLORIDA	3.1	27-24	1
Friday, December 2		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
Northern Illinois   (n)	Ohio U	5.9	30-24	3
OREGON	U c l a	28.3	38-10	30 1/2
Saturday, December 3		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
CINCINNATI	Connecticut	12.2	32-20	9 1/2
PITTSBURGH	Syracuse	16.8	27-10	13
KANSAS ST.	Iowa St.	13.6	31-17	12
Wyoming	COLORADO ST.	9.5	24-14	5
T C U	U n l v	39.8	47-7	40 1/2
OKLAHOMA ST.	Oklahoma	2.0	35-33	3
Texas	BAYLOR	1.2	29-28	-2 1/2
NEVADA	Idaho	21.0	42-21	19
BOISE ST.	New Mexico	51.8	52-0	52
B y u	HAWAII	14.2	35-21	8
Utah St.	NEW MEXICO ST.	16.2	37-21	14
SAN DIEGO ST.	Fresno St.	8.5	33-24	6 1/2
ARKANSAS ST.	Troy	21.1	34-13	13
NORTH TEXAS	Middle Tennessee	9.6	27-17	7
Louisiana-Monroe	FLORIDA ATLANTIC	17.1	34-17	11 1/2
HOUSTON	Southern Miss.	19.6	41-21	16 1/2
L s u    (n)	Georgia	17.7	35-17	10
Virginia Tech    (n)	Clemson	8.5	28-19	4 1/2
Wisconsin     (n)	Michigan St.	8.5	35-26	7 1/2
Saturday, December 10		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
Navy     (n)	Army	12.4	24-12	NL

 

Bowl Predictions

At this point of the season, we are no longer making predictions on bowl games.  Instead, we are perusing the media for incites into which way the bowls are leaning.  For instance, from sport talk radio this morning, we have heard the rumor that the Gator Bowl is going to go after Florida and Ohio State due to the Urban Meyer factor.  Thus, when we predict this matchup, it is no longer our true prediction, but our repetition of the rumor.  We do not rely on any online bowl speculations; we are looking for legitimate media reports.  If there are no specific reports concerning a particular bowl, then we do the speculating based on an educated guess.

 

Teams in Italics have already accepted the bowl bid

* = At-large Team

 

As of today, we are projecting 71 teams to be bowl eligible after this weekend.  The 70^th spot will come down to a choice between Ball State and Illinois, unless something occurs with Penn State.  There is a move afoot for the bowls not to invite the Nittany Lions, but as of this writing, there is no legal means to do so.

 

Bowl	Conference	Conference	Team	Team
New Mexico	MWC #4	Pac12 #7 / WAC	San Diego St.	Temple *
Famous Idaho Potato	MAC #3	WAC	Toledo	Utah St.
New Orleans	Sunbelt #1	C-USA	U. of Louisiana	Marshall
Beef O’Brady’s	Big East #6	C-USA	South Florida	Florida Int’l *
Poinsettia	MWC #2	WAC	T C U	Louisiana Tech
MAACO	MWC #1	Pac 12 #5	Boise St.	Arizona St.
Hawaii	WAC	C-USA	Nevada	S M U
Independence	ACC #7	MWC #3	North Carolina	Wyoming
Little Caesar’s Pizza	Big 10 #8	MAC #2	Northwestern	Western Mich.
Belk	ACC #5	Big East #3	North Carolina St.	West Virginia
Military	ACC #8	Navy	Wake Forest	Air Force *
Holiday	Pac 12 #3	Big 12 #5	California	Baylor
Champs Sports	Big East #2	ACC #3	Notre Dame	Florida St.
Alamo	Big 12 #3	Pac 10 #2	Texas	Washington
Armed Forces	C-USA #3	B Y U	Tulsa	B Y U
Pinstripe	Big East #4	Big 12 #7	Rutgers	Iowa St.
Music City	SEC # 7	ACC #6	Mississippi St.	Virginia
Insight	Big 12 #4	Big 10 #4 or 5	Kansas St.	Iowa
Meineke Car Care of Texas	Big 12 #6	Big 10 #6	Texas A&M	Penn St.
Sun	ACC #4	Pac 12 #4	Georgia Tech	Utah
Kraft Fight Hunger	Pac 10 #6	Army/ACC	Ohio U *	Illinois *
Liberty	SEC#8-9/BigEast	C-USA #1	Vanderbilt	Southern Miss.
Chick-fil-A	SEC #5	ACC #2	Auburn	Clemson
TicketCity	Big 10 #7	C-USA	Purdue	Pittsburgh *
Capital One	Big 10 #2	SEC #2	Michigan St.	Arkansas
Gator	Big 10 #4 or 5	SEC #6	Ohio St.	Florida
Outback	SEC #3 or 4	Big 10 #3	South Carolina	Nebraska
Rose	BCS Pac12	BCS Big 10	Oregon	Wisconsin
Fiesta	BCS Big 12	BCS At-Large	Oklahoma St.	Stanford
Sugar	BCS SEC	BCS At-Large	Houston *	Michigan
Orange	BCS ACC	BCS At-Large	Virginia Tech	Cincinnati
Cotton	Big 12 #2	SEC #3 or 4	Oklahoma	Georgia
BBVA Compass	Big East#5/CUSA	SEC #8 or 9	Louisville	Western Ky. *
GoDaddy.com	Sunbelt # 2	MAC #1	Arkansas St.	Northern Illinois
National Championship	*** BCS #1 ***	*** BCS #2 ***	L S U	Alabama

 

 

*** Returning next week: Our computer simulated college football playoffs.  We will use the same formula we have used in past years—a 12-team college football playoff. 

PiRate Ratings: College Football for November 22-26, 2011

65 Bowl Eligible Teams—Need 70

Some of the lower-tier bowl committee members will have some very short fingernails this week.  There should be 67 bowl eligible teams this week.  However, Southern Cal is ineligible for postseason bowls, and Miami of Florida announced they will not accept any bowl bids this season.  That leaves a need for five more bowl-eligible teams. 

 

We here at the PiRate Cove believe there is nothing to worry about.  There are 10 teams that need one more win and five have a patsy left of their schedule.  All five of these one-more-win-needed teams should defeat their patsy.  Those five, with their patsy opponent in parentheses are: North Carolina State (Maryland), Purdue (Indiana), Air Force (Colorado St.), Tennessee (Kentucky), Mississippi State (Ole Miss).

 

Two definite additions will be the winner of the Syracuse-Pittsburgh game next week and the winner of this week’s Marshall-East Carolina game.  The Syracuse-Pitt loser can still get a sixth win; Pitt would have to win their Backyard Brawl against West Virginia, or Syracuse would have to beat Cincinnati.

 

Conference by Conference Analysis

ACC

The big news here isn’t which team is going to win the title; it is that Miami pulled itself from consideration for a bowl game.  The Hurricanes have issued a self-imposed bowl ban.  Might coach Al Golden take advantage of not having to worry about leaving his team in the lurch in December and bolt to the first place that wants him?  We wouldn’t be surprised if Penn State comes calling.  Ole Miss is a possibility as well.

 

Clemson is limping into the ACC Championship Game.  The Tigers may actually be the fourth or fifth best team in the league at the present time.

 

The Coastal Division championship will be decided in Charlottesville this week, as Virginia hosts Virginia Tech.  The winner of this game will have all the momentum, and we feel they will be the host team in the Orange Bowl.

 

North Carolina State is 6-5, but they own two wins over FCS teams.  Expect the Wolf Pack to become eligible with a win over Maryland.

 

1. Orange—Virginia Tech vs. Rutgers

2. Chick-fil-A—Clemson vs. Florida

3. Champs Sports—Florida State vs. Notre Dame

4. Sun—Georgia Tech vs. Arizona State

5. Belk—North Carolina vs. West Virginia

6. Music City—Virginia vs. Mississippi State

7. Independence—North Carolina State vs. Air Force

8. Military—Wake Forest vs. Western Michigan

 

Big East

Like this league or hate it (or just believe it should not have an automatic BCS bid), you have to laugh at the fact that all eight teams can still become bowl eligible.  We believe seven of the eight will be successful. Add Notre Dame to the mix here, as they will not finish high enough to earn a BCS bid, even if they upset Stanford.

 

The race for what will be the last BCS selection is up for grabs, with five teams still in contention.  West Virginia controls its own destiny.  If the Mountaineers defeat Pittsburgh and South Florida, they win all tiebreakers.  We do not believe they will win both games.

 

Cincinnati must defeat Syracuse and Connecticut to have a chance to grab the BCS bid.  Again, we do not see the Bearcats pulling off the feat.

 

Louisville and Pittsburgh are still alive in the race.  The Cardinals would have to defeat Connecticut and South Florida (both on the road) and hope for some help.  The Panthers would have to beat West Virginia and Syracuse. 

 

Rutgers has a home game with Cincinnati and a finale at Connecticut.  We believe the Scarlet Knights will win both to take the crown.

 

1. Orange—Rutgers vs. Virginia Tech

2. Champs Sports—Notre Dame vs. Florida State

3. Belk—West Virginia vs. North Carolina

4. Pinstripe—Pittsburgh vs. Texas

5. BVAA Compass—Cincinnati vs. Western Kentucky

6. Beef O’Brady’s—South Florida vs. Florida International

 

Big Ten

Wisconsin must defeat Penn State to secure the Leaders Division title, and we believe the Badgers will do it.

 

Michigan State has already secured the Legends Division crown, and the Spartans just might knock off UW in a rematch for the BCS bid.

 

Michigan should earn an at-large bid to a BCS bowl if they finally defeat Ohio State.  We believe they will.

 

There has been talk that the bowls should pass up Penn State, but we do not believe that will happen.

 

1. Rose—Michigan State vs. Oregon

2. Sugar—Michigan vs. Houston

3. Capital One—Wisconsin vs. Georgia

4. Outback—Nebraska vs. South Carolina

5. Gator—Penn State vs. Auburn

6. Insight—Iowa vs. Baylor

7. Meineke Car Care—Illinois vs. Missouri

8. TicketCity—Ohio St. vs. Marshall

9. Little Caesar’s—Purdue vs. Ohio U

10. Hawaii (at-large)—Northwestern vs. S M U

 

Big 12

In two days, this league self-destructed.  Gone are all chances for Oklahoma, while Oklahoma State needs two, and maybe three, SEC teams to lose.  Kansas State is still alive for an at-large BCS bowl, but we do not believe the Wildcats will get the invitation.

 

The other big stories this weekend will revolve around Texas and Texas A&M hooking up in College Station and Kansas and Missouri facing off at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.  This will be the last Big 12 games for the Aggies and Tigers, and it could be the final games in these long series for several years.

 

1. Fiesta—Oklahoma St. vs. Stanford

2. Cotton—Oklahoma vs. Arkansas

3. Alamo—Kansas St. vs. Utah

4. Insight—Baylor vs. Iowa

5. Holiday—Texas A&M vs. Washington

6. Meineke Car Care—Missouri vs. Illinois

7. Pinstripe—Texas vs. Pittsburgh

 

Pac-12

With Oregon losing, the Ducks can only play in the Rose Bowl if they win the Civil War game at home against Oregon State.  Stanford is still very much alive for a BCS Bowl, and a win over Notre Dame will secure one of the four at-large spots.

 

The South Division is the most interesting part of the conference race.  Southern Cal will win the division but will not play in the inaugural conference championship game.  The runner-up will get the nod, and three teams are still alive.

 

UCLA will win the spot with an upset over USC or if Utah loses to Colorado.  We say neither will occur.

 

Utah will win the spot if they defeat Colorado, USC beats UCLA, and Cal beats Arizona State.

 

Arizona State will win the spot if they defeat Cal and USC beats UCLA.

 

Arizona is not bowl eligible, but the Wildcats will announce Rich Rodriguez as their new coach.

 

1. Rose—Oregon vs. Michigan State

2. Fiesta—Stanford vs. Oklahoma State

3. Alamo—Utah vs. Kansas State

4. Holiday—Washington vs. Texas A&M

5. Sun—Arizona St. vs. Georgia Tech

6. MAACO—UCLA vs. T C U

7. Kraft Fight Hunger—California vs. Toledo

 

Southeastern

This is the most interesting of all conferences.  The big talk Sunday was the possibility that three teams could play in BCS Bowls because of a technicality in the rules.

 

If LSU beats Arkansas and then loses to Georgia by a slim margin in the SEC Championship, and if Alabama beats Auburn, Alabama will be number one in the BCS Poll, and LSU could fall only one spot to number two.  Alabama and LSU would then play for the National Championship, but Georgia, as SEC Champion, would be guaranteed a spot in the Sugar Bowl.  It could happen, but we believe LSU will be 13-0.

 

Three teams still need one more win to become bowl eligible.  Tennessee should defeat Kentucky, as they always do to get to 6-6.  Mississippi State should send Houston Nutt out of Oxford on a losing streak as the Bulldogs knock off Ole Miss.  However, we believe Vanderbilt will come up short at Wake Forest.  The Commodores are reeling after giving away bowl eligibility in Knoxville Saturday night.  As they say in Nashville, “Same Old Vandy.”

 

1. National Championship Game—L S U vs. Alabama

2. National Championship Game—Alabama vs. L S U

3. Capital One—Georgia vs. Wisconsin

4. Outback—South Carolina vs. Nebraska

5. Cotton—Arkansas vs. Oklahoma

6. Chick-fil-A—Florida vs. Clemson

7. Gator—Auburn vs. Penn State

8. Music City—Mississippi State vs. Virginia

9. Liberty—Tennessee vs. Southern Mississippi

10. BVAA Compass—XXX

 

Conference USA

Houston currently trails Boise State in the BCS rankings, but the Cougars have two remaining games against decent competition in Tulsa and then Southern Mississippi in the CUSA Championship Game, while Boise State has a home game against one of the five weakest teams (New Mexico) in the land.  Okay, Tulsa could defeat Houston and end this speculation, but we are going to go with the Cougars to improve to 13-0 and pass Boise State in the BCS Rankings.  Case Keenum should be invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation, and Houston should get the conference’s first BCS bowl bid.

 

1. Sugar—Houston vs. Michigan

2. Liberty—Southern Mississippi vs. Tennessee

3. Hawaii—S M U vs. Northwestern

4. TicketCity—Marshall vs. Ohio State

5. Armed Forces—Tulsa vs. B Y U

6. Beef O’Brady’s—XXX

7. New Orleans—XXX

 

Independents

Army and Navy have already been eliminated from bowl eligibility, so the Military and Kraft Fight Hunger Bowls will have to find an at-large team to fill these spots.  We predict that the Mid-American Conference will have three extra bowl eligible teams with seven or more wins, and two of those MAC teams will replace Army and Navy.

 

Brigham Young has already accepted a bid to the Armed Forces Bowl, while Notre Dame counts in the Big East bowl allotments.

 

1. Armed Forces—B Y U

2. Military—XXX

3. Kraft Fight Hunger—XXX

 

Mid-American

Although the MAC has just two bowl guarantees, they will have at least four teams going to bowls, and we believe they will get a fifth team in this year.

 

Ohio has already won the East Division title, while Northern Illinois and Toledo are the two contenders in the West.  If NIU defeats Eastern Michigan, the Huskies are in.  If EMU upsets NIU, then Toledo can get in with a win over Ball State.

 

1. GoDaddy—Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas State

2. Little Caesar’s—Ohio U vs. Purdue

3. Kraft Fight Hunger (at-large)—Toledo vs. California

4. Military (at-large)—Western Michigan vs. Wake Forest

5. New Orleans (at-large)—Temple vs. U. of Louisiana

 

Mountain West

Boise State is still alive for a BCS Bowl bid, but the Broncos’ computer rating will suffer when they host New Mexico in the season finale.  They could fall behind a 13-0 Houston team in both the human polls and computer ratings.

 

Air Force has two wins over FCS teams, so the 6-5 Falcons still need to defeat in-state rival Colorado State in Ft. Collins this weekend to earn a bowl bid.  We say it will happen.

 

1. MAACO—T C U vs. U C L A

2. Famous Idaho Potato—Boise State vs. Nevada

3. Poinsettia—San Diego State vs. Utah State

4. Independence—Air Force vs. North Carolina State

5. New Mexico—Wyoming vs. Louisiana Tech

 

Sunbelt

Arkansas State is the best team in the league’s short history.  The Red Wolves can become the first league team to win 10 regular season wins if they defeat Troy next week.

 

Louisiana (Lafayette) has never been to a bowl game, but the Ragin’ Cajuns should get that reward this year.

 

Florida International will get an at-large bid somewhere, because the Golden Panthers will have eight wins.  Western Kentucky should defeat Troy to finish 7-5 after starting 0-4.  Their only loss in the last eight would be to LSU, so the Hilltoppers should also get an at-large bowl bid.  It would be their first bowl as well.

 

1. GoDaddy—Arkansas State (already accepted) vs. Northern Illinois

2. New Orleans—U. of Lousiana vs. Temple

3. Beef O’Brady’s (at-large)—Florida International vs. South Florida

4. BVAA Compass (at-large)—Western Kentucky vs. Cincinnati

 

W A C

Without Boise State, this league has fallen a couple notches this year.  Louisiana Tech will win the conference championship this week when they defeat New Mexico State in Ruston.

 

Hawaii will dismiss Tulane this week, but they must also beat BYU to secure a spot in the Hawaii Bowl.  We smell an at-large invitation being mailed out.

 

1. New Mexico—Louisiana Tech vs. Wyoming

2. Famous Idaho Potato—Nevada vs. Boise State

3. Poinsettia—Utah State vs. San Diego State

4. Hawaii—XXX

 

This Week’s PiRate Ratings

#	Team	PiRate
1	L S U	136.5
2	Alabama	135.0
3	Oregon	129.0
4	Southern Cal	127.1
5	Oklahoma	127.1
6	Stanford	127.1
7	Oklahoma St.	126.3
8	Arkansas	124.9
9	Wisconsin	124.1
10	TexasA&M	121.5
11	Boise St.	120.3
12	Michigan	119.7
13	Florida St.	119.1
14	Michigan St.	118.3
15	Georgia	117.8
16	Notre Dame	116.8
17	Houston	115.8
18	Missouri	114.9
19	Texas	114.6
20	S. Carolina	114.4
21	Kansas St.	114.2
22	T C U	114.1
23	Utah	112.8
24	California	112.8
25	Virginia Tech	112.3
26	Miami(FL)	112.3
27	Florida	111.8
28	Nebraska	111.4
29	Baylor	111.0
30	Tulsa	110.5
31	Arizona St.	110.0
32	B Y U	109.9
33	Clemson	109.6
34	Penn St.	108.4
35	Mississippi St.	108.1
36	U C L A	108.0
37	Ohio St.	107.4
38	Virginia	107.3
39	Vanderbilt	107.1
40	W. Virginia	107.0
41	Washington	107.0
42	Georgia Tech	106.4
43	Cincinnati	106.1
44	N. Carolina St.	105.9
45	Iowa	104.9
46	LouisianaTech	104.9
47	Oregon St.	104.9
48	Pittsburgh	104.6
49	Nevada	104.6
50	WakeForest	104.5
51	N. Carolina	104.2
52	Arizona	103.9
53	Auburn	103.6
54	Washington St.	103.6
55	Northwestern	103.4
56	Iowa St.	103.3
57	Southern Miss.	103.1
58	S. Florida	102.9
59	Tennessee	102.9
60	Illinois	102.0
61	Rutgers	102.0
62	BostonColl.	101.6
63	Louisville	101.5
64	Temple	99.6
65	Toledo	99.4
66	TexasTech	99.0
67	Purdue	98.6
68	Air Force	98.6
69	Utah St.	98.1
70	San Diego St.	97.1
71	Northern Illinois	96.6
72	Duke	96.1
73	Navy	95.4
74	Wyoming	95.2
75	Central Florida	94.6
76	Arkansas St.	94.5
77	Connecticut	94.0
78	Kentucky	93.7
79	Western Michigan	93.6
80	Hawaii	93.5
81	Minnesota	93.2
82	S M U	93.0
83	San Jose St.	92.8
84	Fresno St.	92.0
85	East Carolina	91.9
86	Colorado	91.6
87	Maryland	91.4
88	Syracuse	91.3
89	Miami(O)	90.6
90	Ole Miss	89.3
91	FloridaInt’l	89.1
92	OhioU	88.7
93	WesternKy.	88.6
94	Kansas	87.8
95	U T E P	86.1
96	UL-Lafayette	85.7
97	Colorado St.	85.4
98	Idaho	85.3
99	UL-Monroe	84.8
100	New Mexico St.	84.6
101	Marshall	84.4
102	Ball St.	83.4
103	Army	83.0
104	Rice	82.8
105	Bowling Green	82.7
106	U A B	82.2
107	Kent St.	81.7
108	Indiana	81.7
109	Eastern Michigan	80.4
110	North Texas	79.3
111	Buffalo	77.5
112	U N L V	77.4
113	Troy	76.9
114	Central Michigan	76.5
115	MiddleTennessee	72.8
116	New Mexico	71.1
117	Tulane	68.7
118	Memphis	68.2
119	FloridaAtlantic	61.8
120	Akron	59.1

 

By Conference

Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
FloridaState	5-3	7-4	119.1
Clemson	6-2	9-2	109.6
North CarolinaState	3-4	6-5	105.9
WakeForest	5-3	6-5	104.5
BostonCollege	2-5	3-8	101.6
Maryland	1-6	2-9	91.4
Coastal Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Virginia Tech	6-1	10-1	112.3
Miami-FL	3-4	6-5	112.3
Virginia	5-2	8-3	107.3
Georgia Tech	5-3	8-3	106.4
North Carolina	2-5	6-5	104.2
Duke	1-6	3-8	96.1

 

Big East Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
West Virginia	3-2	7-3	107.0
Cincinnati	3-2	7-3	106.1
Pittsburgh	3-2	5-5	104.6
South Florida	1-4	5-5	102.9
Rutgers	4-2	8-3	102.0
Louisville	4-2	6-5	101.5
Connecticut	2-3	4-6	94.0
Syracuse	1-4	5-5	91.3

 

Big Ten
Leaders Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Wisconsin	5-2	9-2	124.1
PennState	6-1	9-2	108.4
OhioState	3-4	6-5	107.4
Illinois	2-5	6-5	102.0
Purdue	3-4	5-6	98.6
Indiana	0-7	1-10	81.7
Legends Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Michigan	5-2	9-2	119.7
MichiganState	6-1	9-2	118.3
Nebraska	4-3	8-3	111.4
Iowa	4-3	7-4	104.9
Northwestern	3-4	6-5	103.4
Minnesota	1-6	2-9	93.2

 

Big 12
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Oklahoma	5-2	8-2	127.1
OklahomaState	7-1	10-1	126.3
TexasA&M	4-4	6-5	121.5
Missouri	4-4	6-5	114.9
Texas	3-4	6-4	114.6
KansasState	6-2	9-2	114.2
Baylor	4-3	7-3	111.0
IowaState	3-4	6-4	103.3
TexasTech	2-6	5-6	99.0
Kansas	0-8	2-9	87.8

 

Conference USA
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Southern Mississippi	5-2	9-2	103.1
Central Florida	2-5	4-7	94.6
East Carolina	4-3	5-6	91.9
Marshall	4-3	5-6	84.4
U A B	3-5	3-8	82.2
Memphis	1-5	2-9	68.2
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Houston	7-0	11-0	115.8
Tulsa	7-0	8-3	110.5
S M U	4-3	6-5	93.0
U T E P	2-5	5-6	86.1
Rice	3-4	4-7	82.8
Tulane	1-7	2-10	68.7

 

Independents
Team		Overall	Rating
Notre Dame		8-3	116.8
B Y U		8-3	109.9
Navy		4-7	95.4
Army		3-8	83.0

 

Mid American Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Temple	4-3	7-4	99.6
Miami(O)	3-4	4-7	90.6
OhioU	5-2	8-3	88.7
Bowling Green	2-5	4-7	82.7
Kent St.	4-3	5-6	81.7
Buffalo	2-5	3-8	77.5
Akron	0-7	1-10	59.1
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Toledo	6-1	7-4	99.4
Northern Illinois	6-1	8-3	96.6
Western Michigan	4-3	6-5	93.6
BallState	4-3	6-5	83.4
Eastern Michigan	4-3	6-5	80.4
Central Michigan	2-6	3-9	76.5

 

Mountain West Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
BoiseState	4-1	9-1	120.3
T C U	6-0	9-2	114.1
Air Force	2-4	6-5	98.6
San DiegoState	3-3	6-4	97.1
Wyoming	4-1	7-3	95.2
ColoradoState	1-4	3-7	85.4
UNLV	1-4	2-8	77.4
New Mexico	1-5	1-10	71.1

 

Pac-12 Conference
North Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Oregon	7-1	9-2	129.0
Stanford	8-1	10-1	127.1
California	3-5	6-5	112.8
Washington	4-4	6-5	107.0
OregonState	3-5	3-8	104.9
WashingtonState	2-6	4-7	103.6
South Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
U S C	6-2	9-2	127.1
Utah	4-4	7-4	112.8
ArizonaState	4-4	6-5	110.0
U C L A	5-3	6-5	108.0
Arizona	2-6	3-8	103.9
Colorado	1-7	2-10	91.6

 

Southeastern Conference
East Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
Georgia	7-1	9-2	117.8
South Carolina	6-2	9-2	114.4
Florida	3-5	6-5	111.8
Vanderbilt	2-6	5-6	107.1
Tennessee	1-6	5-6	102.9
Kentucky	1-6	4-7	93.7
West Division
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
L S U	7-0	11-0	136.5
Alabama	6-1	10-1	135.0
Arkansas	6-1	10-1	124.9
MississippiState	1-6	5-6	108.1
Auburn	4-3	7-4	103.6
Ole Miss	0-7	2-9	89.3

 

Sunbelt Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
ArkansasState	7-0	9-2	94.5
FloridaInternational	4-3	7-4	89.1
Western Kentucky	6-1	6-5	88.6
U.ofLouisiana	6-2	8-3	85.7
Louisiana-Monroe	2-5	3-8	84.8
North Texas	3-4	4-7	79.3
Troy	2-4	3-7	76.9
MiddleTennessee	1-5	2-8	72.8
FloridaAtlantic	0-7	0-10	61.8

 

Western Athletic Conference
Team	Conf.	Overall	Rating
LouisianaTech	5-1	7-4	104.9
Nevada	4-1	6-4	104.6
UtahState	3-2	5-5	98.1
Hawaii	3-4	5-6	93.5
San JoseState	2-4	4-7	92.8
FresnoState	3-3	4-7	92.0
Idaho	1-5	2-9	85.3
New MexicoState	2-3	4-7	84.6

 

 

This Week’s Games–PiRate Ratings
Tuesday, November 22		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
OHIO U	Miami (O)	0.6	27-26	8 1/2
Thursday, November 24		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
TEXAS A&M	Texas	9.9	34-24	8
Friday, November 25		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
Bowling Green	BUFFALO	2.7	27-24	-1 1/2
NORTHERN ILLINOIS	Eastern Michigan	19.2	40-21	20
TEMPLE	Kent St.	20.4	30-10	17
WESTERN MICHIGAN	Akron	37.5	48-10	28
Toledo	BALL ST.	13.2	37-24	12 1/2
SOUTH FLORIDA	Louisville	4.4	24-20	3
Houston	TULSA	2.3	37-35	3
NEBRASKA	Iowa	9.5	24-14	9 1/2
WEST VIRGINIA	Pittsburgh	4.9	28-23	7
L S U	Arkansas	14.6	35-20	12 1/2
UTAH	Colorado	24.2	38-14	20 1/2
MIAMI (FL)	Boston College	14.2	27-13	14 ½
CENTRAL FLORIDA	U t e p	11.5	35-23	10
ARIZONA ST.	California	0.2	27-27 to ot	5 ½
Saturday, November 26		PiRate Spread
Favorite	Underdog		Score	Line
MICHIGAN	Ohio St.	15.3	24-9	8
Missouri   (n)	Kansas	27.1	41-14	23 ½
Rutgers	CONNECTICUT	5.5	30-24	3
Cincinnati	SYRACUSE	11.8	31-19	3
Michigan St.	NORTHWESTERN	11.9	40-28	6 1/2
Purdue	INDIANA	14.4	35-21	7 1/2
Illinois	MINNESOTA	5.8	28-22	10 1/2
Georgia	GEORGIA TECH	8.9	33-24	6
WAKE FOREST	Vanderbilt	0.4	28-28 to ot	-1 1/2
SOUTH CAROLINA	Clemson	7.3	28-21	4
NORTH CAROLINA ST.	Maryland	17.5	35-17	12 1/2
NORTH CAROLINA	Duke	10.1	34-24	13
Tennessee	KENTUCKY	6.2	20-14	8
BOISE ST.	Wyoming	28.1	45-17	32
Nevada	UTAH ST.	3.5	31-27	-1 1/2
S M U	Rice	13.2	34-21	14
Alabama	AUBURN	28.4	41-13	21
OREGON	Oregon St.	27.1	48-21	28
Virginia Tech	VIRGINIA	2.0	22-20	5
WISCONSIN	Penn St.	18.7	31-12	14 1/2
Baylor     (n)	Texas Tech	12.0	40-28	12 1/2
Florida St.	FLORIDA	4.3	30-26	2 1/2
East Carolina	MARSHALL	4.5	35-30	1
LOUISIANA TECH	New Mexico St.	13.3	31-18	19
SOUTHERN MISS.	Memphis	37.4	40-3	35 1/2
Air Force	COLORADO ST.	10.7	31-20	16 1/2
WASHINGTON	Washington St.	6.4	27-21	6 1/2
MISSISSIPPI ST.	Ole Miss	21.8	35-13	17 1/2
STANFORD	Notre Dame	13.3	34-21	6 1/2
FRESNO ST.	San Jose St.	2.2	27-25	6 1/2
OKLAHOMA	Iowa St.	26.8	45-18	28
San Diego St.	U N L V	17.2	34-17	15
SOUTHERN CAL	U c l a	21.1	38-17	14 1/2
HAWAII	Tulane	28.8	42-13	18
WESTERN KENTUCKY	Troy	14.7	27-12	6 1/2
ARIZONA	Louisiana-Lafayette	21.2	42-21	14
Florida Int’l	MIDDLE TENNESSEE	13.3	27-14	9
U a b	FLORIDA ATLANTIC	17.4	34-17	6 1/2