Hampton Forecast 59 – 39 (.602)
Trojan Horse 51 – 39 (.567)
Blue House Lives 41-42 (.494)

Looking at the schedule at the beginning of the year, I look at this game and yawned. No sitting here in week 14 I look silly. Both of these teams have a serious shot at winning their division but the loser of this game won’t. Sorry Oakland. I’m still not a believer.
Hampton Forecast
Jaguars 33 – Raiders 23
Trojan Horse
Jaguars 27 – Raiders 24

Hampton Forecast
Buccaneers 26 – Redskins 24
Trojan Horse
Redskins 17 – Buccaneers 14

Hampton Forecast
49ers 24 – Seahawks 17
Trojan Horse
Seahawks 30 – 49ers 20

Hampton Forecast
Eagles 30 – Cowboys 17
Trojan Horse
Eagles 34 – Cowboys 24

Nickle invaded ESPN College GameDay Saturday morning in Corvallis, Oregon.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — I arrived at the Memorial Union quad at 4:22 a.m. to check out a live broadcasting of ESPN College GameDay. I had but one mission: find the Washington State University flag waver.

Since 2003, a WSU flag has proudly waved in the background during every GameDay. Incidentally, this week’s edition was held at my current school, Oregon State University, covering the Oregon/Oregon State game, popularly known as the Civil War. It was an exciting day for Beaver fans because it was the first time in OSU history that College GameDay was hosted on campus.

I decided to mingle amongst my fellow Beavers and scope out the Duck invasion firsthand. A voluminous cluster of blood orange and black streamed across the grassy quad, with hints of yellow and green steadily expanding.

But sadly, no crimson and grey. Or at least not yet.

After an hour of waiting, I was freezing, tired, coffee-deprived and anxious for the Cougar fan to show. I feared that the faithful flag waver might end up as a no-show, since the Apple Cup, between U. of Washington and Washington State, was being held today in Pullman, WA.

Unlike most college football fans, who camped out all night to see Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and Erin Andrews, I aspired for someone greater: someone with more pride and determination than anyone present, who was willing to travel the distance to uphold a tradition. Any fan willing to stand for 3 hours waving a flag that will only appear on screen for less than 5 minutes is what we like to call inspiring. At The Blue House, we have much admiration for anyone willing to display determination and dedication on a grand scale.

OSU fans gathered early in the morning to headbang their school spirit into an ESPN-watching public.

Before my mission, BH Sports Analysts speculated that more than one WSU fan is involved in the tradition due to large travel expenses. But who started this flag bearing phenomenon? Why persist today? What’s to be achieved? These were question I wanted to get answered from the mouth of a flag waver. But where was the resilient Cougar?

Turns out, the tradition started in 2003 when a 1981 WSU graduate named Tom Pounds, living in Albuquerque, NM, gave the flag its GameDay debut in Austin, TX for a Texas/Nebraska game. Shortly after, another Cougar living in Minnesota displayed the flag in Madison, WI, also for a game not involving the Cougars. After that, a tradition was born.

As I grew impatient and began to think that this dream was just another meaningless reverie, I caught a glimpse of hope from the corner of my eye. Could it be? Had my eyes deceived me? Or had my prayers been answered? I officially saw it: the messianic flag.

Yes, WSU did not disappoint and the flag waver was in attendance for yet another GameDay. As a surge of joy refueled my excitement, I cared less about the cold, the mud, and the crowd. I had found a crimson Waldo and was not going to divert my eyes for a second. I made my way through the congestion and waited to speak with the reputable flag bearer. He was nice enough to grant me a moment of his time and answer the question we all wanted to know:

Why?

“If we bring Pullman to GameDay, then hopefully GameDay will come to Pullman,” Craig Murphy, flag waver of GameDay 2010 explained. Murphy graduated from WSU in 1999 and said that this was his fifth appearance. He currently resides in Springfield, OR and became a flag waver in 2007 when Nebraska played USC. Murphy has traveled as far as Lincoln, NE, to campaign for the school’s cause.

While speaking with him about his voyages, I couldn’t help but notice a UW flag directly next to us attempting the same stunt. Murphy replied, “When I see other schools following in our footsteps, I feel flattered, not challenged.”  Indeed, mockery is the best form of flattery.

The flag wavers’ fanatic drive and energy has inspired other people to campaign for their schools as well. Murphy was not the only flag waver in the crowd. On the opposite side, another group of alumni sported their white and crimson Cougar flag.

Also, it turned out that our analysts were correct. To be cost efficient, the ubiquitous flag is mailed to other alumni across the country to share and display. A non-profit organization has even been set up to assist in the traveler’s expenses.

The Cougars show perseverance in their efforts to get GameDay consideration. If it were all based on the fans, GameDay would be in Pullman every week. Finding their emblem in the background has become more than just fun. It has become symbolic of undying school spirit, and it embodies the belief that anything can be achieved with a little persistence. Essentially, it is the American way.

I was proud to meet two WSU flag wavers in the flesh. I hope their flag continues wafting in the early morning breeze behind future GameDay sets.

Washington State flag wavers show up at every College GameDay, including the recent one in Corvallis. Nickle met up with two of the revered WSU alums (center).

Hampton Forecast 53 – 36 (.596)
Trojan Horse 46 – 35 (.568)
Blue House Lives 38-36 (.514)

This is a must win for both teams. The 49ers will have to have a very explosive running attack to prevail this week. The Packers should win.
Hampton Forecast
Packers 33 – 49ers 13
Blue House Lives
Packers 14 – 49ers 10
Trojan Horse
Packers 28 – 49ers 15

Alshon Jeffery could steal the show on Saturday against Cam Newton and Auburn.

Is it true that Alshon Jeffery cheated at Monopoly this past week? If so, and the SEC allows him to play on Saturday, it just proves that America’s top conference is willing to let anything slide for gridiron excellence. It’s Championship Saturday, nonetheless. ESPN College GameDay is out west covering what could be Oregon’s first-ever trip to the national championship. Nickle is on-site in Corvallis representing the Blue House Lives (she’s actually not covering the Apple Cup). Early reports state that the crowd is raucous at Oregon State, as the Beavers and the Ducks clash in one of the most anticipated Civil War match-ups in history.

In the South, where football matters, Auburn and South Carolina fight for SEC supremacy. The world will be watching to see if Cam Newton has one more Heisman moment up his sleeve. Gamecock wide-receiver Alshon Jeffery, however, would love to steal the show, as would the Old Ball Coach, who has not been to the conference title game in a decade. Throw in the Big 12 Championship, the ACC Championship, and Connecticut vying for the Big East title, and it is a beautiful day for football.

With that in mind, here are this week’s Boardwalked picks:

Hampton Forecast: 83-40 (0.675)

The Blue House Lives: 78-45 (0.634)

Striker Report: 77-46 (.634)

Trojan Horse: 76-47 (0.618)

Cam Newton is like a Hover Round. The Tigers ride him to the Grand Canyon.

It’s finally here, the Black Friday of football. No other weekend is so turkey-stuffed with intense rivalries. Like Best Buy at 4 a.m., rivalries breed nothing but lingering animosity and hatred. Specific crowd chants are created just for such games, and people cut themselves and surrounding fans if their team loses. College football rivalries are deadly games. I dare any terrorist to mess with a Michigan fan after the Wolverines lose to Ohio State again. If you attend any of game this weekend, be sure to wear Kevlar.

The big one is undoubtedly Auburn versus Alabama. The Tide faithful have created their own T-shirts for the game displaying the glorious text, “Scam Newton”. Yet, the ‘Bama defense better beware of Newton’s “scambling” ability, as he has torched the entire SEC over the course of a season. Other heated contests include Boise State and Nevada, Arkansas and LSU, and the “Big Game” between Ohio State and Michigan.

Bowl	BHL	Hampton	Striker	Trojan Horse
	Oregon vs. Auburn	Oregon vs. Auburn	Oregon vs. TCU	Oregon vs. Boise St.
	LSU vs. TCU	LSU vs. Ohio St.	Auburn vs. Ohio St.	Auburn vs. Ohio St.
	Virginia Tech vs. Connecticut	Virginia Tech vs. Pittsburgh	Virginia Tech vs. Connecticut	Virginia Tech vs. LSU
	Nebraska vs. Boise St.	Oklahoma St. vs. TCU	Nebraska vs. Boise St.	Oklahoma vs. Alabama
	Stanford vs. Wisconsin	Stanford vs. Wisconsin	Stanford vs. Wisconsin	Wisconsin vs. TCU

Here are this week’s gobbling picks:

Hampton Forecast: 75-34 (0.688)

The Blue House Lives: 68-41 (0.624)

Striker Report: 67-42 (.615)

Trojan Horse: 67-42 (0.615)

Super Bowl

Baltimore Ravens vs Green Bay Packers

Every one faired well last week and here is how we stand for the season:

Hampton Forecast 47 – 33 (.588)
Trojan Horse 42 – 31 (.575)
Blue House Lives 35-31 (.530)

The Packers and the Falcons are the two most consistent teams in the NFC.  The team that wins this game, will have home field advantage through the playoffs.  The Packers have more weapons at wide out, but the Falcons have more weapons in the running game.  The Packers D has a slight edge.  Aaron Rodgers ability to run may be will create a few extra opportunities.  I give the Pack the edge:
Hampton Forecast
Packers 33 – Falcons 28
Blue House Lives
Falcons 27 – Packers 25
Trojan Horse
Falcons 28 – Packers 21

Let’s look back to week 1:

The Hampton Pre-Season Forecast

Super Bowl

Baltimore Ravens vs Green Bay Packers

Knowing what I know now, Sub in the Eagles for the Cowboys, the Steelers for the Dolphins, and the Giants for the Vikings. Everything else I’m sticking to. 9-3 isn’t that bad.

As far as our records go:

Hampton Forecast 40 – 30 (.571)
Trojan Horse 36 – 27 (.571)
Blue House Lives 28-28 (.500)

Jets 27 – Texans 10

Cowboys 34 – Lions 13

Raiders 28 – Steelers 19

Chiefs 345 – Cardinals 344

49ers 14 – Bucs 13

Patriots 35 – Colts 24

Giants 21 – Eagles 17

Chargers 2 – Broncos 0

Wrigley Field will host a Big Ten 'barnburner' between Northwestern and Illinois.

CHICAGO — Welcome to perhaps the least explosive week of college football. Case in point: ESPN is celebrating College GameDay at Chicago’s Wrigley Field in anticipation of the grueling contest between 5-5 Illinois and 7-3 Northwestern. This game would be fun if they’d decided to let the teams play in Wrigley Field’s small endzone, where players would run the risk of being slammed into the wall. Unfortunately, the Big Ten took this possibility away by making the game exclusively east to west. To continue to diminish the excitement surrounding this game, ESPN is broadcasting it on ESPN U, which rests in the high hundreds on digital cable.

Across the nation the coldness continues. Only one SEC game features two ranked teams, Arkansas versus Mississippi State, and the so-called biggest game of the day is a dull Big Ten clash between Ohio State and Iowa. Wow. This day appears to be the epitome of a lazy Saturday.

Over the past few weeks, it has come to the attention of this publication that a full description and a  predicted score of each game is utterly useless, as the following chart is the easiest way to peruse the victors. So, in the spirit of brevity, here are this week’s vapid picks:

Hampton Forecast: 68-30 (0.694)

The Blue House Lives: 61-37 (0.622)

Striker Report: 60-38 (.612)

Trojan Horse: 60-38 (0.612)

This generation's Zonka?

This weekend marks Randy Moss’s first start with the Titans, which if nothing else should prove beneficial for Chris Johnson.   Moss’s presence should force the Dolphin’s safeties out of the box and that could prove all Johnson needs to bust a home run.  Also this could be the week we finally see Sidney Rice return for the Vikings and with a divisional match up vs the Bears he’s greatly needed.  Will this be the week the Bills finally win?  They get a Stafford-less Lions squad, so it may be their time.  We also get to see if the Browns can knock off another team from the top spot.  Factoring in the Jets their opponents combined records over the last 4 weeks are 24-9 and that’s factoring two wins by the Browns.  It likely won’t be an impressive game, but the Seahawks travel to Arizona in what may decide the fate of the NFC West.  The Seahawks won the first matchup and a sweep of a divisional series can be massive.  We also have another divisional matchup as the Texans go to Jacksonville for the bottom of the AFC South.  However it’s not merely the same old game between two bottom feeders.  The loser will merely fall to 4-5 and will remain within 2 games of the wild card.  Finally we have New England at Pittsburgh as they battle for a share of the best record in the league.  The winner will be 7-2 but will have no more than a game lead in their respective division.

Hampton Forecast 37 – 26 (.587)

Trojan Horse 30 – 26 (.538)

Blue House Lives 25-24 (.510)

Hampton Forecast
Lions 33 – Bills 30

Blue House Lives Upset Pick of the Week

Bills 20 – Lions 17

Trojan Horse

Bills 34 – Lions 20

Hampton Forecast
Texans 38 – Jaguars 27

Blue House Lives

Texans 31 – Jaguars 26

Trojan Horse

Jaguars 35 – Texans 31

Hampton Forecast
Titans 30 – Dolphins 22

Blue House Lives

Titans 28 – Dolphins 20

Trojan Horse Upset Pick of the Week
Dolphins 17 – Titans 14

Hampton Forecast
Jets 27 – Browns 24

Blue House Lives

Jets 23 – Browns 13

Trojan Horse

Jets 23 – Browns 10

Hampton Forecast
Cardinals 20 – Seahawks 13

Blue House Lives

Cardinals 27 – Seahawks 21

Trojan Horse

Seahawks 28 – Cardinals 20

Hampton Forecast
Cheatriots 30 – Steelers 20

Blue House Lives

Steelers 18 – Patriots 17

Trojan Horse

Steelers 24 – New England 16

49ers 30 – Rams 24

Florida fans pray every night that Trey Burton is the second coming of Tim Tebow.

This evening, something once thought impossible can occur: South Carolina can clinch the SEC East. The Gamecocks, like half the teams in the division, have never been to the SEC Championship Game, yet this season appears to be their best hope. Unfortunately for the Old Ball Coach, the Cocks have to stroll into Gainesville and face God and his band of blue-clad angels. This fact begs the indelible question: will divine providence once again send the holy Gators to the Championship? According to the nation’s most respected sportswriters, the answer is ‘most likely’. Therefore, once again, all of the heathen football fans outside of Gainesville can contemplate throwing themselves from a bridge as mediocre Florida is touted as an elite football squad. If only, and I write this knowing that it is blasphemy, South Carolina could beat the Gators today. Just for writing that, I will have to cast an apprehensive glance to sky for the rest of the day, sitting solicitously awaiting a strike of lightning to torch my head. I must repent. I believe in Urban Meyer. I trust in John Brantley. I anxiously await the coming of Trey Burton. Hopefully, that will keep my soul cleansed enough to safely watch football today.

That brings us to this week’s miraculous picks:

Mississippi Rebels at  Tennessee Volunteers

One cannot say enough about Tyler Bray’s performance last week against Memphis. Bray embarrassed the Tigers by throwing for 308 yards and five touchdowns in the first half of Tennessee’s 50-14 win. The true freshman gets his start in an SEC game today against Ole Miss. The Vols desperately need this game to keep their floundering bowl hopes alive. In order to qualify, they need to win out their remaining three games. Today, they should get off on the right foot. Especially, if Jeremiah Masoli is not cleared to play for the Rebels.

The Blue House Lives

Tennessee 34   Mississippi 31

Hampton Forecast:

Tennessee 38   Mississippi 27

Striker Report:

Tennessee 29   Mississippi 27

Trojan Horse:

Tennessee 31   Mississippi 20

No Washington Huskies at Bye Week

The Bye Week makes it 2-0 against that embarrassment of a team out west.

The Blue House Lives:

Bye Week 0   Washington -1

Hampton Forecast:

Washington tries to hide evidence of Jake Locker’s false Heisman hopes and is even less prepared for next week.

Striker Report:

Bye Week 45   Washington -37

Trojan Horse:

Bye Week wins

#23 South Carolina Gamecocks at #22 Florida Gators

The Blue House Lives:

South Carolina 28   Florida 26

Hampton Forecast:

Florida 45   South Carolina 33

Striker Report:

South Carolina 28   Florida 20

Trojan Horse:

Florida 27   South Carolina 20

#19 Mississippi State Bulldogs at  #12 Alabama Crimson Tide

The Blue House Lives:

Alabama 30   Mississippi State 20

Hampton Forecast:

Alabama 27   Mississippi 20

Striker Report:

Alabama 31   Mississippi State 17

Trojan Horse:

Alabama 21   Mississippi State 14

Georgia Bulldogs at #2 Auburn Tigers

The Blue House Lives:

Auburn 41   Georgia 31

Hampton Forecast:

Auburn 47   Georgia 30

Striker Report:

Auburn 38   Georgia 28

Trojan Horse:

Georgia 27   Auburn 24

Penn State Nittany Lions at #9 Ohio State Buckeyes

The Blue House Lives:

Ohio State 25   Penn State 21

Hampton Forecast:

Ohio State 53   Penn State 24

Striker Report:

Penn State 26   Ohio State 24

Trojan Horse:

Ohio State 35   Penn State 21

#24 Kansas State Wildcats at #17 Missouri Tigers

The Blue House Lives:

Missouri 30   Kansas State 14

Hampton Forecast:

Missouri 30   Kansas State 20

Striker Report:

Missouri 36   Kansas State 16

Trojan Horse:

Missouri 35   Kansas State 28

USC Trojans at #18 Arizona Wildcats

The Blue House Lives:

Arizona 31   USC 20

Hampton Forecast:

USC 41   Arizona 27

Striker Report:

Arizona 33   USC 27

Trojan Horse:

USC 42   Arizona 40

#25 Texas A&M Aggies at Baylor Bears

The Blue House Lives:

Baylor 35   Texas A&M 28

Hampton Forecast:

Baylor 47   Texas A&M 29

Striker Report:

Texas A&M 33   Baylor 31

Trojan Horse:

Baylor 35   Texas A&M 34

Harvard Crimson at Pennsylvania Quakers

The Blue House Lives:

Penn 21   Harvard 17

Hampton Forecast:

Harvard 24   Penn 23

Striker Report:

Penn 23   Harvard 22

Trojan Horse:

Harvard 1   Penn 0

Hampton Forecast: 61-27 (0.693)

Trojan Horse: 54-34 (0.613)

The Blue House Lives: 53-35 (0.602)

Striker Report: 52-36 (.591)