The Vodka Tonics were going down a little too good Bruce and Mrs. Bruce decided to host a get together for the 4th. All the young'uns were invited along with Mrs Doofus.
Bruce cooked up plenty of American fare including Burgers and Brats and he served up some fine beverages too.
I was fighting a cold but decided to go with the old saying Drown a Cold - Feed a Fever. Wait, that doesn't sound right. No matter that as my strategy.
The strategy didn't work as planned as the cold came back with a vengeance the next day. But it was worth it.
The Bruces gave us the run down on the European River Cruise they went on recently, including some videos of Bruce dancing the polka - alone. Now I know Mrs Buce likes dancing so I asked Bruce why he was solo on the dance floor.
Turns out she likes dancing - just not with Bruce. I can see why. He dances about as white as you can get. And age hasn't helped matters. Add in a barrel aged physique and it makes for an hilarious video.
The best part of the night was when Bruce and I dominated our brides in in euchre. As the evening wound down, I had completely depleted Bruce's supply of Vodka Tonics. As I started in on the Buffalo Trace, Mrs Doofus made it last call for me with the slightest wave of her hand. I responded with a loner hand to win the final euchre match. That'll show her.
Just before the 4th, Bovada released win totals for all 128 Div 1A teams. I decided to take a look and see if there were any easy pickings
I started out by comparing all the totals with the regular season wins from last year. I also added in whether the team has a new head coach (good for bad teams last year and bad for good teams) and coaches on the Hot Seat
Here is all the teams by conference
Bruce cooked up plenty of American fare including Burgers and Brats and he served up some fine beverages too.
I was fighting a cold but decided to go with the old saying Drown a Cold - Feed a Fever. Wait, that doesn't sound right. No matter that as my strategy.
The strategy didn't work as planned as the cold came back with a vengeance the next day. But it was worth it.
The Bruces gave us the run down on the European River Cruise they went on recently, including some videos of Bruce dancing the polka - alone. Now I know Mrs Buce likes dancing so I asked Bruce why he was solo on the dance floor.
Turns out she likes dancing - just not with Bruce. I can see why. He dances about as white as you can get. And age hasn't helped matters. Add in a barrel aged physique and it makes for an hilarious video.
The best part of the night was when Bruce and I dominated our brides in in euchre. As the evening wound down, I had completely depleted Bruce's supply of Vodka Tonics. As I started in on the Buffalo Trace, Mrs Doofus made it last call for me with the slightest wave of her hand. I responded with a loner hand to win the final euchre match. That'll show her.
Just before the 4th, Bovada released win totals for all 128 Div 1A teams. I decided to take a look and see if there were any easy pickings
I started out by comparing all the totals with the regular season wins from last year. I also added in whether the team has a new head coach (good for bad teams last year and bad for good teams) and coaches on the Hot Seat
Here is all the teams by conference
Here's my overview on every team and my picks for the over and under on the win totals
This week I'll start with the American conference
This week I'll start with the American conference
 Central Florida | UCF was a let down last year winning only 9 games last year. In 2013 and 2012 they won 12 and 10 games respectively. A big part of the "let down" was losing QB Blake Bortles (3rd overall in 2014 to Jacksonville) and RB Storm Johnson (7th Rd Jags). There are two new Coordinators in Orlando this year. OC Brent Key was promoted from OL coach and recruiting coordinator when the Old OC Charlie Taafe retired. DC Chuck Bresnaham comes up I4 from South Florida to replace Tyson Summers who left for Colorado State. Bresham will need to replace 7 starters, including his entire secondary - on a team that finished 9th in points allowed. The offense must replace all four WRs including Breshard Perriman (1st Round Baltimore). It's because of all the replacements that Vegas dropped the win total to 7.5 There are two nasty games on the schedule - @ Stanford and @ South Carolina. The rest is cupcakes (Furman and FIU) and conference play. If HC O'Leary can replace Bortles and win 9 games then he can reload and win 8. This is an easy OVER |
 Cincinnati | Yawn, another season, another 9 wins. That's four straight years now. The BearCats return QB Gunner Kiel as well as all seven of his top receivers - which means that Cincy should be as explosive as ever. Last year they finished 13th in passing yards - averaging over 300 yards per game. It's the defense that needs to step up. No doubt - they were awful last year finishing 98th overall. In their 4 losses they let up an average of 45 points. If they make any improvement on defense, Cincinnati could surprise a lot of pollsters. The schedule is favorable with 3 easy wins (Ala A&M, Miami (OH) and UConn) and only one real bear BYU. Split the rest and its an easy 8 wins. I'll go with the trend and say 9 wins and the OVER |
 UConn | Boy, does UConn miss Randy Edsall. Since he left the Huskies have won 5 games, then 3 and then rock bottom with 2 wins last year. They even lost to a one win SMU. UConn was bad, I mean really bad on both sides of the ball. The offense was the worst finishing 125th in points scored. The defense was only slightly better finishing 86th in points allowed. Husky fans are hoping that former Notre Dame DC and now HC Bob Diaco will fare better in his second year. He'll need some special magic as the talent cupboard is bare. No Husky was even considered for All AAC. At the all important QB position, 4 players are in contention. That's not a good thing to have. The schedule starts out favorably with home games against Villanova and Army. But for this team, those are not cupcakes. I lean towards the under but with the bar so low at 3 wins I'll PASS |
 East Carolina | That had to hurt. East Carolina started out winning 6 of 7 games including back to back wins over two ACC teams and the BAM! they hit a wall - losing 4 of their last six including a bowl loss to a bad Florida team. Now the Pirates need to replace all time passing leader QB Shane Carden (UDFA Chicago) and star WR Justin Hardy (4th round Atlanta) as well OC Lincoln Riley (OC Oklahoma). On defense, seven starters are gone too from a somewhat average defense. This season will be all about how HC Officer McRuffian handles all the adversity. Does his system really work and he can reload his 3rd rank passing attack? Or was it just that he had a couple of his best players ever. McRuffian's system relies on the QB and he is trying to chose among a back-up who is a sophomore this year and a JUCO transfer. There are four likely defeats in Fla, Va Tech, BYU and UCF. If he loses two more to say Temple and Cincinnati then it's a six win season. I'll go with the UNDER |
 Houston | 7 and 8 win seasons weren't good enough in Oil City so Houston went out hired a new HC Tom Herman (OC Ohio State). Herman has the luxury of getting his starting QB back and all three top RBs. That's a good start. The defense returns 8 starters from a squad that finished 15th in points allowed. So Herman inherits a team that is talented and a year older. The Cougars schedule has 4 layups - Tenn Tech, Texas State, SMU, UConn and four tough assignments Louisville, UCF, Cincinnati and Vandy The rest are toss ups to slight favorites. It all comes down to whether Herman can squeeze 1 more win out of this team. I'll wait and see and PASS |
 Memphis | That came out of nowhere. Memphis went from 3-9 to 10-3, an American championship and bowl win over BYU. Better yet for Tiger fans they kept HC Justin Fuente. But can they repeat? The Tiger's improved defense lost 8 starters including their top 5 tacklers and their DC Barry Odom (DC Missouri) from LY. That's a major reshuffling On the plus side, record setting QB Paxton Lyton returns. Memphis is helped by the naton's 7th easiest schedule. The schedule is too soft to take the under but who knows what will happen with the defense. Memphis needs to prove that they are not a one year wonder. I'll PASS |
 Navy | Welcome to the American conference Navy. For the first time in its storied history, Navy moves from Independent into Conference play. They should be ready. Since 2003, the Middies have the most wins (21) over Power Five conference members. And, over the last 12 years they have won eight or more games 11 times. The defense replaces all three of its linebackers. But it's not the defense that drives Navy (they were last in sacks last year with 8) - it's the triple option. QB Keenan Reynolds is outstding leading the running attack. He needs 14 more TDs to be the all time leader (he's averged 27/year over the last two years). With 4 layups (Colgate, UConn, SMU and Army) I'll go with the trend and take the OVER |
 SMU | After losing 2 head coaches last season, SMU scored a miracle by hiring highly sought after Chad Morris (OC Clemson). The defense will be led by new DC and former Detroit Lion Van Malone (DB coach Oklahoma State) who will move to a 4-3 defense with lots of position changes occuring during the Spring Any comparison to last year is moot as the Mustangs were awful. 127th in points for and 128th in points against. Doesn't get any worse than that. It's year one of a steep turnaround. I'll PASS and see how much progress Morris makes. |
 South Florida | Hot Seat denizen HC Willie Taggert had the best reruiting class in the American for the 2nd straight year. The incoming talent adds to a roster that returns their RBs as well as the top 5 tacklers from LY. As all usual for a Hot Seat coach he fired both his OC and DC in one last desperate attempt to keep his job. No one came running. His OC is former Purdue HC Danny Hope who's been sitting on the curb the last two years. DC Tom Allen has the better resume coming over from Ole Miss where he was LB and Special Teams coordinator. he is moving from a 3-4 defense to 4-2-5. That should match up well with the athleticism on the roster. As far as the schedule - to get to 5 wins the Bulls will need to beat Florida A&M and then find 4 wins out of 5 games during Sept and Oct of Maryland, Syracuse, UCOnn and SMU. As Spartan fans know it's more about player development that recruiting. USF is a train wreck. I just don't see 5 wins on the schedule. I'll take the UNDER. |
 Temple | Temple beat an SEC team (Vandy) and a ranked team (East Carolina) last year. Now the return with all 11 starters on the 25th ranked defense and all five of their All Conference players. If QB PJ Walker will be content to be a game manager and let the defense do the work, the Owls will easily become bowl eligible. Last year Walker tried to do too much and struggled. Temple was dead last in 3rd down efficiency. The schedule is manageable as the their two toughest games (Penn State and Notre Dame) are at home. They should be heavy favorites against UConn, UMass, SMU, Charlotte and Tulane. If the Owls upset the Nits watch out!. Temple is the best team you haven't heard of. I'll take the OVER |
 Tulane | Will the real Tulane please stand up. The Green Wave went from 2 wins in 2012 to 7 in 2013 then back to 3 in 2014. This, despite finishing 2nd in red zone defense last year. 7 starters return for a defense that should be more that adequate. If Tulane hopes to improve on last years record, they will need for significant improvement in So. QB Tanner Lee. Under Lee, the Wave struggled finishing 124th in points scored. Over the last nine game, Lee failed to get more than 14 points 8 times. There is a path to 5 wins. Beat Maine on Sept 19th and then close out the season with wins over UConn, Army, SMU and Tulsa. Not sure they get there. I'll take the UNDER |
 | Former Baylor OC Phil Montgomery now takes the reins after former HC Bill Blankenship netted only 5 wins over the last 2 years. Montgomery spent the last 16 years with Art Briles and now strikes out on his won. He will bring Briles' up tempo offense to a team that returns 10 starters on offense. While Montogmery is installing his new offense, he needs his defense to improve and quickly. Tulsa was the worst in allowing yards per play at 6.9 last year. Tulsa not only got their HC from Baylor but their new co-DC in Brian Norwood (safeties Baylor). The other co DC is from Penn State - Bill Young (also safeties coach). They will need to start out fast with easy games against Florida Atlantic and New Mexico. After that its Oklahoma and then conference play. I'll take the UNDER |
Remember - the 2015 GO JUMBO trip is Nov 7th at the Westgate Resort. Rooms are getting tight as the automotive aftermarket convention is in town
