Unless they go to 64 teams for the College Football Playoffs and Vandy makes the cut, Conference Championship still mean a lot!! Will note if Georgia, Michigan, Washington, and FSU win, then most of the sports media will have to turn all their discussion to Motorcycle Petrino heading back to Arkansas on Sunday Morning ( while they play “Sunday Morning Coming Down” by Johnny Cash which just seems to fit this scenario ). Ok, toss in an Oregon win as well since they are playing UW…..outside of that, more chaos than a homeless man under house arrest is possible.
ZT, post Thanksgiving, looking for products to help him “slim down/shape up” with out all the trouble of a good diet and exercise. ZT notes the “belt shaker” noted last week was found at a local flea market and after 12 hours of use, determined it was as useless as an inflatable dart board or a snooze button on a smoke alarm. May try one of these and report on effectiveness by New Years if ZT gets one for Christmas.
OK….no one should be subject to only socks, underwear, and fat burning devices for Christmas……. ZT telling all, this may be the greatest kitchen tool ever and #1 on his wish list!!
Ok, time for ZT to get down to some serious business of prognosticating some Conference Championships.
Friday December 1
Conference USA Championship 6PM
New Mexico State Aggies vs #24 Liberty Flames
Undefeated Liberty Flames ( 1st time in 50 years! ) host the CUSA Championship vs. the OTHER Aggies of New Mexico State (who have won 10 games and if Jimbo Fisher was here, he would still have a job – although he has 76 million reasons to glad he was at College Station instead ). More fun as this is a rematch from Week 2 where Liberty won 33-17 in Lynchburg. Hard to beat a team twice in a season. Liberty, led by QB Kaidon Salter ( 29 TDs & 5 INTs ) and RB Quintin “I’m so” Cooley ( 1,251 Yds, 13 TDs and 6.2 YPC! ) are the leaders on offense with a defense that stays fresh enough to win. HC Jamey Chadwell has taken the team Hugh Freeze left and maximized their output. For the Aggies, ZT wrote them off opening weekend when they lost to “UMESS” ( as noted by ESPN Bottom 10 ) and have gone 9-1 since the loss to Liberty. Solid wins over good conference foes and an upset in Auburn on “cupcake” weekend. NMST QB Diego Pavia can run in addition to the 29 TDs he has thrown and their Defense and special teams do most everything right as Jerry Kill coached team would. NMST likes to grind and Liberty likes to go fast. Like the homefield advantage in a close one. Flames 31 Jet-lagged Aggies 24
Pac – 12 Championship Las Vegas 7pm
#3 Oregon Ducks vs #5 Washington Huskies
Hard to beat a team twice in a season ( ZT, you just said the same in the CUSA matchup…will that be your “Captain Obvious” statement all weekend?…Geez!! ) so much that Vegas has Ducks as a 10 point favorite. Sure, if Bo Nix was your QB you would likely be favored as well….even against the likes of Washington with QB Michael Penix, Jr. Note the Ducks do have 6 double digit wins since the loss in Seattle. Huskies just continue to find ways to win. ZT knows both offenses can light it up but Ducks have shown much better defense down the stretch and expect that will be the difference maker in this one. 2 of the top 3 Heisman candidates in this one so an opportunity to “separate” exist for either of them if their WRs can do the same!! Shout out to LSU’s Jayden Daniels who may be the best of the 3 but will be watching this one on Bourbon Street Friday night. Ducks in a close one. Ducks 38 Mush Dogs 31
Saturday December 2
Big 12 Championship Arlington TX 11am
#18 Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. #7 Texas Longhorns
Cowboys rallied from a 24-6 deficit to win in 2OT over BYU to get here ( OU Sooners NOT amused at the comeback as they had committed to have 10 players to convert to LDS if BYU won as well as donate 100 new bikes to the cause! ). ESPN notes Cowboys only have an 11.9% chance to win ( remember Bama was a .1 % chance to win at end of last week, just sayin..)…… in this case, ZT believes the 11.9% is too generous and notes the Texas Longhorns keep their CFP homes alive under the “chaos” scenario with a close win at Jerry World. Longhorns 34 Cowboys with saddle sores 24
American Athletic Championship – NOLA 3PM
SMU Mustangs vs. #22 Tulane Green Wave
Can SMU beat Tulane in their house? If SMU QB Preston “Kidney” Stone ( over 3,000 yds & 29 TDs ) and their stable of RBs can continue to produce…then YES they can. Green Wave QB Michael Pratt is solid but will have to contend with a SMU defense that has a good secondary and solid pass rush. This plays into the hands of SMU as Tulane counts on Pratt’s arm to do most of the work. Upset in the Big Easy!! Upset Special Mustangs 28 Algae Water 27
Sun Belt Championship – Troy Alabama 3pm
Appy State Mountaineers vs. Troy Trojans
Another championship played at the home field of the #1 team in the Conference. Trojans ( who’s quarterback does NOT cry! ) has reeled off 9 wins since early season losses to Kansas State and James Madison. Appy State has played the likes of UNC, Wyoming, and dashed James Madison’s chance to finish 2023 undefeated and finishing the season with 5 straight wins. Both QBs have over 3,000 yds and lots of TDs. Appy State is 7-1 vs Troy and that is a hard monkey to get off your back but ZT notes APPY State QB more prone to toss an INT and that will be the difference in this one… Trojans 28 Small Hill People 24
SEC Championship HOTLANTA 3pm
#8 Bama vs #1 Georgia Bulldogs
ESPN had an extended segment on the 10th Anniversary of the Kick 6 ( which is still worth rewatching unless you are a Bama fan ) and then the 4th & 31 occurs in Jordan Hare….what does any of this have to do with the SEC Championship??? Well, not much but Bama will need a similar smile from the football gods to get a W this week vs. an excellent Bulldog squad. Saban may have done his best coaching job to get Bama to this game but 29 straight wins, and 5 star depth all over the field give the Dawgs an edge, even without a QB old enough to get offers from AARP like some of their recent ones. ZT sees the difference being penalties and mistakes…..Bama simply makes more of both! ZT expecting a close game where the last possession matters but believes this is the Dawgs year. Dawgs 27 Pachyderms 24
Big 10 Championship Indy 7pm
#16 Iowa Hawkeyes vs #2 Michigan Wolverines
Iowa scores less than a 16 year old guy that loves Chess and wears a T-shirt that says ” I love Math.” Michigan, for the 2nd time this year gets Jim “Parole” Harbaugh back on the sideline and the Wolverines have used his situation as extra motivation to take care of business. Iowa defense is tougher than an Albino hitchhiking in a snow storm but the offense is slower than an Amish drag race…..Problem is Michigan is solid on both sides of the ball. Not much else to say other than Harbaugh is being considered as lead for the next remake of The Longest Yard… Wolverines 27 Hawks with Black Eyes 9
ACC Championship Charlotte, NC 7pm
#14 Louisville Cardinals vs #4 FSU Seminoles
FSU continues to persevere and showed they were a TEAM vs. a 1-man show last week in The Swamp. Cardinals are basically in the spoiler position after losing at home to Kentucky. Big question is where will their heads be after that one. ZT sees the Seminole defense stepping it up to take a little pressure off QB Tate Rodemaker and FSU heads to the CFP. Some Late Breaking News on FSU QB currently under concussion protocol……may update this prognostication on Saturday but for now, even with #3 Freshman QB, sticking with it!!…..Seminoles 24 Dead Birds 21
ZT is out and will be back to prognosticate the New Years Bowls and CFP games…
Padre has been dispatched to the SEC Championship to support the cause…ok, Bama fans felt they likely needed more divine intervention after the Auburn game…..hopefully he can prognosticate…if not, he will return for the CFP and Natty!!
521pm Friday UPDATE for Padre via SIRI as he drives to the SEC Championship…
Driving down I-85 from NC to GA, one has much time to allow the mental juices to flow. Additionally, to eliminate any form of distracted driving, Friday Night’s Prognostications are without commentary…so here you go!
Oregon 37 Washington 30 – Bo Nix locks up the Heisman
New Mexico State 31 Liberty 23 – Another undefeated team goes down in VA.
Hopefully more on Saturday AM from HOTLANTA!!!
732am Saturday UPDATE from the Padre, already at SEC FanFare before the sun was completely up!!
Championship Saturday Prognostications
No individual game commentary this week. A dear Bama friend gave my son and me tickets to the SEC Championship. Although it was Saban who made Tebow cry and killed the Florida football program, this Gator will be “Roll Tide!” That’s how much I hate Georgia. Oh, and Go Cards!!!
Oh again, I picked Oregon and New Mexico State to win Friday night. So, clearly just being in Georgia has my brain clouded so I have no idea what I am talking about today. I don’t gamble, but it you do – best bet is to bet OPPOSITE of my picks below!
Big 12 Texas 34 Okie State 23
MWC Boise State 31 UNLV 27
MAC Toledo 30 Miami, OH 16
AAC Tulane 27 SMU 26
Sun Belt – Where Billy Napier came from… Appy State 26 Troy 24
ACC FSU 24 Louisville 23
B10 Michigan 34 Iowa 3
SEC Bama 30 Georgia 27
CFP Predictions 1. Michigan 2. Washington 3. FSU 4. Texas
Yep, SEC gets left out in the last of the 4-team CFP apocalypse.
Pigskin Prognostications by the Piedmont Padre and Zimmern's Twin 