Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
I’m going to take a bit of a different form for the column this weekend. You see, I spent my entire Saturday in Indianapolis at the WWE event, Wrestlepalooza. I know, I’m not huge on the name either. Anyway, by doing so, I missed practically the entire college football Saturday. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices in order to see childhood heroes like John Cena in person for the first time, even if it's just for eight minutes and 54 seconds while he gets destroyed by Brock Lesnar.
Now, I’m sure all of you either fit into the camp of not knowing what I’m talking about or just not caring, so I’m going to get into the meat and potatoes in a second. As much as I’d love to dedicate this entire column to that show and my thoughts on professional wrestling as a whole, I’m not so sure this is the place to do that. So, I had another idea.
There were a lot of different storylines that happened in both professional and college football this weekend. While I was not locked in enough to pick one of them and go deep in depth about it, I’m going to go through three stories and share my thoughts on them quickly. I know you all think a homer like me is going to start down in Columbia, Mo., but I have a different college town to head to first. Bloomington, Ind.
HOOSIER DADDY
When I was at the show, I did my best to not look at my phone. Mainly to stay in the moment, but I was also worried that if I checked scores and Mizzou was losing, I’d be in a horrible mood. The second it ended I loaded up the ESPN app and headed straight to the NCAA football scores. After checking on my Tigers and seeing they had defeated South Carolina to open up SEC play, my next item of interest was between Indiana and Illinois.
I was hoping to see that the Hoosiers had pulled it off. I was not expecting to see that final score. 63-10. A beatdown of biblical proportions. I quickly entered the group chat with my dad (an IU grad) and my brother (a U of I grad) to partially see what I had missed, and to partially stir the pot. I was happy to see Indiana pull it off, but part of me could not believe the score was so lopsided. Sure enough, it was.
This was a massive win for Indiana. So much of last season was made up of people debating their worthiness because of the schedule they played. It’s much more difficult this time around, and for them to start things off with a 53-point win over a top-ten team, that should prove that this ain’t last year’s Hoosiers. I’m interested to see if they can follow up last year’s surprise run by showing it was no fluke.
TIGER KINGS
The fantastic start to the Missouri football season has got me feeling some type of way. I didn’t watch any of their Saturday night win aside from the highlights, so instead of focusing on that, here’s the bigger picture.
I have spent a large chunk of my adult life as a cautiously optimistic Mizzou fan. It’s hard to put into words just how unlucky things have felt at times. Always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Watching your team put together a good performance over a top SEC foe only to blow it at the very end. Injuries. Suspensions. Bowl bans. You name it. I mean, on campus, “mizzouing” is a verb! It means to mess something up. I bring all of this up for one reason and one reason only.
Those days are behind us.
These are not those same old Missouri Tigers. This is a Missouri team that has a top 5 win total in the country since 2023. This is the last SEC team to beat Ohio State. This is a team that has won 10+ games two years in a row and can easily do it for a third. This is the team that has dominated both recruiting and the transfer portal.
Eli Drinkwitz has turned this program from the laughing stock of the SEC to a team that can compete to win it year in and year out. When I was in school, finding tickets and seats in the stadium was no problem at all. Now, they sell out every single game. They have a legit Heisman candidate in running back Ahmad Hardy. Being a fan of this team is fun.
I will not be spending this run waiting for the other shoe to drop or for them to “Mizzou” it. I will enjoy every second of the good times while they last. I will not temper my expectations. I am ready to be hurt.
After all, that’s what sports are all about.
REMEMBER WHEN?
Do you guys remember when the Kansas City Chiefs were fun to watch? I do. They were out there beating teams by 30 every game. Patrick Mahomes was throwing the ball 50 yards down the field on every drive. They would be doing things you’d never seen before pretty much every single week. It was awesome.
Nowadays, the only thing that has remained the same are the results. They’re still winning a majority of their games, but they’re doing it in almost the exact opposite fashion. Every game is close, ugly and ends up being decided by one possession. Because the Chiefs have the best player on the planet, they usually end up coming out on top.
I had made it no secret that I was very anti-Chief the last couple of years, but now, they just bore me. And in sports, the only thing worse than disinterest is no interest at all. This is a team that is basically a killdozer, getting rid of everything in its path in the most mundane way possible. I do not hope that they fail to make a deep playoff run this year out of animosity, I hope they don’t because I feel there are much more exciting teams I’d rather see on that stage. Only time will tell if that will be the case.
I could go on, but I’ll leave it at that today. I finished a game below .500 on my picks this last week, so I will be looking for a bounce back.
FAVORITE FAVORITE
Seattle Seahawks (-1.5) at Arizona Cardinals
This has been my least favorite pick to make each week, and I think that’s because at my core, I am an underdogs guy. Because of this, I seldom see a favorite that I really like. For some reason, this one stuck out to me this week. I think Seattle is a lot better than what they were given credit for in the preseason, and I think the Cardinals are liable to struggle after losing James Conner to a horrific injury last week. I’m going with a Thursday night game in this category for the second straight week, but this is about as far from a double-digit spread as you can get. Let’s see if it pays off.
The Pick: Seahawks -1.5
BIG DOG GOTTA EAT
Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans (-7.5)
I know The Titans have looked pretty bad so far this season, but this pick hinges on one question: What have the Texans done to warrant being over a touchdown favorite against anybody? I picked Houston as my underdog last week and it was just miserable to watch. Cam Ward has shown flashes and he has a new play caller this week. Not sure Tennessee wins, but this has one-score game written all over it.
The Pick: Titans +7.5
BEAR DOWN
Chicago Bears at Las Vegas Raiders (-1.5)
I should have known when I saw how crazy last week’s line was that the Bears were going to do it. I still have not picked a game of theirs accurately this season. The offense finally looked like what a lot of us fans thought a Ben Johnson offense could look like last week. Caleb Williams looked great. The defense took a step forward. Now, I know the Cowboys defense has been atrocious thus far, but with how bad the Bears looked in the first few weeks, I’ll take wins wherever I can get them. I think they get another one here. I don’t think the Raiders are very good on either side of the ball, and Chicago will have some momentum here. I can see Monday’s headlines now: The Bears are back.
The Pick: Bears +1.5
THIS IS OUR COLTS
Indianapolis Colts at Los Angeles Rams (-3.5)
On the flip side, I’ve predicted every Colts game correctly thus far. I’d like to keep it that way. This will undoubtedly be their toughest test yet, as the Rams were very nearly 3-0 as well before a massive comeback by the Eagles last Sunday. I think this is a game where we find out just how real both of these teams are. The run defense for Los Angeles has been stout, and a large part of Indy’s success has been the resurgence of Jonathan Taylor. The Colts find a way to cover, but I can’t guarantee a win.
The Pick: Colts +3.5
GAME OF THE WEEK
Philadelphia Eagles (-3.5) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
You were probably all expecting to see the Ravens-Chiefs game here right? Well, both of those teams are 1-2. Both of these teams are undefeated and in my opinion, the two best teams in the NFC. No matter what has been thrown at him this season, Baker Mayfield has gotten it done for the Bucs. The Eagles looked to be in deep trouble last week, but pulled off a miracle comeback to beat (and cover) the Rams. I am biased in favor of the Bucs in most cases, but I’m not sure I can be here. The team is incredibly banged up, and the Eagles have looked incredible this season. They stay undefeated.
The Pick: Eagles -3.5
I have to say, while it does make my life a lot easier having to pick only five games every week, doing so makes the weight of those games 10 times heavier. As the season goes on and I get a better grasp of these teams, hopefully I can make it a bit easier on myself.
Cheers.
Last Week’s Record: 2-3
Season Record: 9-7
