Alex Floyd
Local Columnist
What a week! College football continues to produce great stories and chair-gripping moments as Texas snatches victory from the very jaws of defeat by the Evil Empire of Ohio.
Maybe some of the 47,549 Ohio State flags flying in South Bryan can at least lower to half mast for a while.
We roll into our next week of Pembroke Football Mafia League with another slate picked by yours truly and sent out to our panel of local experts in everything from county administration to mass communication to journalism to whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing. We take our selections deep into a top-secret lab facility hidden in the bushes behind the Holly Hill trailer park and sacrifice a labradoodle to the football gods to impart their wisdom to us. Jeff dances nekkid around the fire and chants CW McCall’s “Convoy” until we achieve enlightenment. We can’t wait until later in the cooler part of the season when the mosquitoes go away. Poor Jeff is eaten up and picked over as a Golden Corral at 3:00 Sunday afternoon. The standings are currently Ben in the lead with 26 winning picks, BJ and Mike C-25, Ted-24, Noah and Mike B-23, Doc-22, Bob-19, Carter-18 and Me in the basement with 17. Here’s what we got out of the tea leaves this week.
North Carolina State @ Vanderbilt. We all think the Commodores have it just like they did with “Three Times a Lady” in 1978.
Kentucky @ Texas A&M. Two great programs. Everyone picks Texas A&M except me. I typically pick the Aggies too but the Wildcats really held their own in the first half this weekend against Alabama. This might be the upset of the week.
#16 SMU @ #23 Louisville. Ted, Mike B, Ben, BJ and Mike C pick Louisville; Me, Bob, Jeff, Noah, Carter and Doc pick SMU.
Our first of three SEC matchups this week.
Mississippi State vs South Carolina. Me, Bob, Mike C, Carter and Doc pick Mississippi. Rest pick the Gamecocks.
Next is Florida @ Auburn. How do you get a Florida graduate off the porch? Pay for the pizza. How many Auburn freshmen does it take to change a lightbulb? None, that’s a sophomore course. Ok I’m done. Noah, BJ and Mike C pick Auburn. Sidenote, Noah’s grandson Asher plays guard next to my boy Ellis on the Hendrix Park 8U Redskins and they’ve already adopted a secret set of hand signals. Must’ve worked: they won 30-8 Saturday morning.
A Big Ten matchup, Michigan State @ Notre Dame. Michigan State has struggled through two games against two teams they really ought not to have struggled with. We all picked Notre Dame.One we’ve all been waiting for in the wake of the Lane Kiffin dustup, LSU @ Ole Miss. Baton Rouge PD gonna have their hands full with this one. Jeff and BJ think the Ole Miss rage is enough to overcome LSU. Would be a great story but the rest of us pick LSU.
West Virginia plays University of Virginia in Charlotte. Chairman Carter and I pick West Virginia to summon the ghosts of John Denver and Pat White past and roll the Cavaliers.
Virginia Tech @ Maryland: Again me and Carter stand alone picking Maryland to beat Virginia Tech. We laughed when the Tarheels and Horned Frogs went to Europe but the Hokies and Terrapins would be equally fun to explain.
Georgia Southern made me proud this weekend holding Clemson in Death Valley to only one touchdown. Five field goals made the difference. Great show. Ted, Mike B and Jeff pick Jacksonville State, the rest of us pick the Eagles.
Play on, PMFL!
Alex Floyd is part of the Bryan County Commissioners.