MB College Football Weekly Picks

With the dawning of a new college football season approaching in just over a week, I thought I would take a moment and give some insight into how the games are chosen for the weekly picks. The first week’s picks page has 30 games listed, while later weeks will range from 30-40 based on the quality of the week. Following is the breakdown for how the games are selected.

• All Iowa games – 5 of the original 7 MB members are alumni of Iowa and 5 of the 7 are from the state of Iowa
• All Nebraska games – 1 original MB members is an alumnus while another attended for a time, and 1 member is from the state of Nebraska
• All Buena Vista games – 2 original MB members are alumni of BV
• All Campbell games – they are called the Fighting Camels. Enough said.
  • The author’s fascination with the Fighting Camels began in March of 1993 as Campbell University won their conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Division I basketball tournament. They faced the top-ranked and top-seeded Duke Blue Devils and lost in a blowout. However, as a 15-year old obsessed with sports and blessed with a good sense of humor and a love of the obscure (the combination of which, of course, led to MB itself), I immediately fell in love with the Fighting Camels. It’s the same combination that caused my favorite baseball player ever to be Razor Shines. But I digress…
• All Montana State games – 1 original MB member is a current employee of MSU
• All Iowa State games – several original MB members have a pathological hate for the Cyclones
• All Oklahoma games – 2 original MB members currently live in Norman, OK
• All Sioux Falls games – 1 0riginal MB member grew up in Sioux Falls, SD
• All Texas State games – 1 original MB member is a current employee of Texas State
• Sun Belt Game of the Week – one game per week selected from the Sun Belt Conference, based on rotating the games among the teams and finding the most intriguing game
• MAC Game of the Week – one game per week selected from the Mid-America Conference, based on rotating the games among the teams and finding the most intriguing game
• Armed Forces Game of the Week – one game per week selected from among Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard & Merchant Marine, based on rotating the games among the teams and finding the most intriguing game
• FCS Game of the Week – one game per week selected from FCS, typically a match-up of rated teams
• D-II Game of the Week – one game per week selected from Division II, typically a match-up of rated teams
• D-III Game of the Week – one game per week selected from Division III, typically a match-up of rated teams
• NAIA Game of the Week – one game per week selected from NAIA, typically a match-up of rated teams
• CIS Game of the Week – one game per week selected from CIS, typically a matchup of rated teams
• All games in which both teams are ranked in that week’s FBS Associated Press poll
• All nationally televised (ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, etc.) games on days other than Saturdays
• A large numbers of rivalry / trophy games or games with nicknames
  • We have compiled a list of nearly 150 football games that fall into this category and will include most of them in the picks category. Time permitting, we will also include a weekly piece that includes information about the game and/or teams

We are open to including other games that may have special significance to fellow MB members. Send us an e-mail or a tweet or leave a note in the comments for any teams or games that you wish to see included in the weekly picks.