football

Obviously there is a good chunk of you guys going to the game, but either way, lets hear what you plan to do all day Saturday and where you plan to watch the game. Going to college gameday? Bar for the game? Watch-party? ....

So, it is opening night. We're all going to watch South Carolina despite nobody giving a crap about South Carolina. This is supposed to involve BOOZE!, which I have selected as a user tag. What will be yoru BOOZE! of choice?

They had Dogfish Head Midas Touch on sale for $9.99 at the local store, which is actually a shockingly good price for the nectar that is Midas Touch. So good. Also, it packs a punch if your lucnh was an orange. WHOO!

In a brief article this afternoon at the Free Press, Dave Brandon shared that he is aggressively seeking to schedule big football games in the future.

Dave Brandon said today that he soon will announce games, possibly out to 2018. He implied that they’ll be against high-level opponents.

“You’ll see some matchups, particularly in the nonconference schedule, that will be a notch above some of the things we’ve done in the past. 

We are taking the approach that strength of schedule is going to be important (to the new playoff selection committee). Not just for fans because they love these great matchups, it helps sell tickets and keeps interest high. Not just because the networks love it, because they get more interest around the games or the broadcasting. We really want to put our program in a position where we can be rated against the best programs in the country, so we can compete at that level.”

LINK:  http://www.freep.com/article/20120830/SPORTS06/120830058/michigan-football-dave-brandon?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Michigan%20Wolverines

Apparently, they were waiting until things shook out with the relationship with the Pac-10 (and whether or not we would be playing a game vs. the Pac-10 on an annual basis.) They also waited until things were settled as to whether the Big 10 would play 8 or 9 conference games annually.

I think the excitment over the Alabama game underscores the interest fans have in playing legitimate opponents (rather than "snacky cakes.") It will be interesting to see if Brandon is willing to make less financially on an annual basis in exchange for the benefit of scheduling competitive home and home games versus marquee opponents. I personally would love to see home and home games with top 10 teams across the country. This would also allow UofM alumni from California to Florida the opportunity to see the Wolverines in the neck of the woods where they live.

I'm starting a Pick'em tournament through ESPN http://games.espn.go.com/college-football-pickem/en/frontpage, the group name is MGOBLOG password is hoke. The winner at the end of the year gets a case of Arcadia beer! 

EDIT: I didn't think about those under 21, so the winner has a choice, the case of beer or a shirt from the mgoblog store!

Just a note: Writing your picks in the comment section is NOT a valid entry. You must enter your picks using the form below or at this link.  Feel free to discuss your picks here, but you must submit the form in order to enter the contest.

[ED: Bump. Get your picks in!]

After a great first year of Pick Six on MGoBlog, we’re back by popular demand.  Unfortunately, we never had a results post in order to honor the original creators .  (The MGoBlog summary will be posted after Blue-Gray Sky releases their results from 2009)  This year I will be handling the technical details but we are going to have somebody else write the recaps.  If you are interested in the job of writing the weekly summaries send an email to [email protected].

Onto the contest.  Here's how it works.

1. We divide the top 25 into 5 groups of 5 based on the preseason AP Poll: 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc. For this year's poll, the groups are:

• A: Southern Cal, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon
• B: Georgia, Florida State, Michigan, South Carolina, Arkansas
• C: West Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Clemson, Texas
• D: Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, TCU
• E: Stanford, Kansas State, Florida, Boise State, Louisville

2. Before the season starts you pick one team from each group, plus one unranked team. You're trying to pick the teams you think will finish highest in the final AP poll (after the bowl games).

3. Each week we'll try to update and publish the standings in a spreadsheet so you can track the progress of your teams. You get 25 points for having the #1 team, 24 points for the #2 team, on down to 1 point for the #25 team. Unranked teams get zero points.

4. The winner is the person with the most points (i.e. the highest ranked teams) after the bowl season.  The midseason standings are only for entertainment purposes.  Only the final AP poll counts.

5. And the grand prize?  I will personally give the winner 10 meaningless upvotes.  Plus, last year some guy named Brian offered a small prize.

Throughout the season someone will hopefully give regular updates on the progress of the contest in the Diaries.

That's it for the Pick Six: short, sweet and simple. The entry form closes on Thursday August 30 before the first kickoff, so get your picks in now. Good luck!

I've been busy so I haven't been promoting the contest as much this year.  So, here's a quick reminder to enter the contest today before football kicks off.

Use the form in the comments below, or read the directions at the original page http://mgoblog.com/diaries/pick-six-2012