31 picks (although a few posters left out a game, might want to go back and check if you are reading this and made picks). So I might be a game off on some of the big underdog games (I think everyone picked the 3 close games, by the line)

WAC Big Favorites
All 31 chose Boise and Hawaii

WAC Big Underdogs
Texas Tech 29, SMU 2
Arizona St 28, UTEP 3
Stanford 28, SJSU 3

Toss-Ups (line has WAC teams 2-3pt dog in all 3 games)
Fresno 24, Washintgon 7
Rice 20, Houston 11
Kansas 20, Tulsa 11

I find the last set interesting. You would expect with us being WAC fans, that our homer picks would take over in games that should be close or toss-ups. So Rice and Fresno fit that trend pretty well. But the Tulsa game goes completely against it. Not only does it not favor Tulsa, its not even 50/50. Anyone care to give an idea as to why? As a Tulsa fan, I'd be interested.

Probably because Kansas is an away game for the Golden 'Canes.
I just figured they are about the same talent-wise (Kansas-not so hot in the Big 12 and Tulsa-pretty decent in the WAC). So the deciding factor (at least for me) was that they are playing in Kansas.

However, I don't put much stock in my analysis because I haven't had the time to look at all the teams as in depth as I'd like :bang:. So I'm reduced to picking the home team when there are no other deciding factors.

The "few posters" who did not predict winners for all of the games are BroncoBob, bsufan5, BroncoPhil and richcali1. You four might want to review your predictions.

And SoCalValleyDog and Stan both did not predict scores for the W.A.C. game of the week, so if they end up tied with someone else they will lose by default (unless they edit their predictions in time).

See but that is what is odd. Because Fresno is also playing a road game, just like Tulsa. And the lines of the two games are similar. I dont see a trend that would make the picks on here so different.

The only trend I can think of is that Fresno has a history of beating BCS schools while it's been a while since Tulsa has.

Probably so. I went with all 3. I usually homer the close WAC games. Which is why I probably dont have a chance to win

For the 25 pickers I could tell who they support (either because of handle or because I'm familiar with them from other boards), 17 were from the west (I counted UTEP fans as east). So that could be some of the familiarity aspect.

Here's to all WAC teams doing well this weekend, starting with UTEP Thursday night

You're right about the familiarity thing as well. All of us on the West Coast know that Washington is going to be horrible again and I'm actually surprised their the favorite in this game.

I don't know much about Kansas this year but after reading a few of the season projections i'm starting to change my mind about that game. As long as Tulsa can stop the run (which is a big if since the only 2 games of Tulsa's I saw, Nevada and GaTech, Tulsa looked pretty vulnerable).

I picked Tulsa, but I'd say that it's because Tulsa still has to overcome years of bad WAC play, especially with that bad bowl loss still in people's minds. It takes awhile to change perception--which is why even though you have a lot of starters returning, a lot of pundits picked you 4th in WAC play. The only big OOC game I can ever remember Tulsa winning was over of the Oklahoma Schools in the 90's.

WAC_FAN Wrote:I picked Tulsa, but I'd say that it's because Tulsa still has to overcome years of bad WAC play, especially with that bad bowl loss still in people's minds. It takes awhile to change perception--which is why even though you have a lot of starters returning, a lot of pundits picked you 4th in WAC play. The only big OOC game I can ever remember Tulsa winning was over of the Oklahoma Schools in the 90's.

I like Kragthorpe. He will be a great head coach at Tulsa and beyond!
Don't judge him by the bowl game in Boise! Everything went wrong and their QB was not 100%!!!!!

I guess most had it right.

Frustrating from a Tulsa perspective. The defense was great. Offense was attrocious (just like GaTech). Matter of fact, I am certain KU watched the GaTech game film.

We gave KU an int return to our 2, a fumble inside our 35, a blocked punt inside our 15, and a kickoff return to our 42.... and a safety.

The defense can be great but if our offense doesnt get it figured out any better than the GaTech and KU games (1st team offense hasnt scored a TD in 8Quarters), we wont win many games. I am confident they will (well pretty confident :D )

The Eye Wrote:I guess most had it right.

Frustrating from a Tulsa perspective. The defense was great. Offense was attrocious (just like GaTech). Matter of fact, I am certain KU watched the GaTech game film.

We gave KU an int return to our 2, a fumble inside our 35, a blocked punt inside our 15, and a kickoff return to our 42.... and a safety.

The defense can be great but if our offense doesnt get it figured out any better than the GaTech and KU games (1st team offense hasnt scored a TD in 8Quarters), we wont win many games. I am confident they will (well pretty confident :D )

I think Kragthorpe's teams improve a lot as the season progresses. The later you play them, the harder they are to beat. Like Boise State, they run a complex offense that takes a while to learn.

Also, Like Boise State, Tulsa has a great Tradition of Winning Football!!!!!

The Eye Wrote:I guess most had it right.

Frustrating from a Tulsa perspective. The defense was great. Offense was attrocious (just like GaTech). Matter of fact, I am certain KU watched the GaTech game film.

We gave KU an int return to our 2, a fumble inside our 35, a blocked punt inside our 15, and a kickoff return to our 42.... and a safety.

The defense can be great but if our offense doesnt get it figured out any better than the GaTech and KU games (1st team offense hasnt scored a TD in 8Quarters), we wont win many games. I am confident they will (well pretty confident :D )

You're telling me. I was at the game... :mad:

That was a winnable game for us. We matched up well. Don't know what the problem was on offense, except that we couldn't pick up their blitz schemes in the second half (the first half was fine).

Hope that loss motivates the guys. We have nobody to blame but ourselves.