This is worse Stewart Mandel (SI) did worse he got 1 of 9.
In hindsight, it wasn't pretty
Readers force accountability for opening-week picks
Posted: Wednesday September 7, 2005 12:06PM; Updated: Wednesday September 7, 2005 1:37PM
There was a lot of ugly football played last weekend, but nothing was quite as hideous as my season-opener in the predictions department, as several readers were kind enough to point out -- the most vivid letter coming from
Jim Griscavage of Bristow, Va.:
To: Stewart Mandel, SI.com (so-called college football authority)
In my effort to keep sportswriters honest and not let them "forget" their mistakes, let me dredge up the article with your predictions for the opening weekend of 2005 college football. Ready?
1. N.C. State knocks off Virginia Tech. WRONG.
2. Georgia handles Boise State more easily than expected. RIGHT.
3. Miami wins another ugly, defensive struggle with the Seminoles. WRONG (but close).
4. Auburn's defense stifles Georgia Tech. WRONG.
5. Reggie McNeal lights up Death Valley. WRONG.
6,7. Northern Illinois puts a scare into Michigan, as does Miami of Ohio against Ohio State. WRONG/WRONG.
8. Bowling Green spoils the party at the newly renovated Camp Randall's christening. WRONG (but close).
9. Dave Wannstedt spoils Charlie Weis' Notre Dame debut. WRONG.
I'll admit it -- I stunk. While I do find it amusing how people think that, because writers follow the sport so closely, we should be able to predict the future (if we could, we would be in another profession: gambling), I won't make any excuses for such a poor showing. Opening weekend is always tough to forecast, because you have nothing to go on other than returning starters and practice reports ... but you can't do much worse than I did.
The thing is, all those picks (besides the Ohio State and Michigan games) involved matchups that could have swung in either direction. Therefore, I can't say I'm surprised Clemson beat Texas A&M, though I
am surprised McNeal was such a non-factor (either he's struggling to grasp A&M's new
Urban Meyer-infused offense, or Clemson's defense is a lot better than we expected). I'm not surprised the Badgers fended off BG, but I
am surprised UW was able to do so in an offensive shootout. I'm not surprised Georgia Tech beat Auburn, but I
am surprised at just how dominant the Jackets were on defense. I'm not surprised Virginia Tech prevailed, but I
am surprised the Wolfpack gained 438 yards and still lost. And while I'm not surprised Weis' offense had its way with Pittsburgh's defense, I
am downright stunned how well the Irish defense played against
Tyler Palko and the Panthers' offense.
While we're on the topic of opening-weekend surprises, others that caught my attention: the fact that Nebraska
still doesn't know what it's doing on offense (notching a whopping 16 points and 313 yards against Maine, a I-AA team), how much better Washington QB
Isaiah Stanback looked from a year ago, how badly Virginia struggled against a woeful Western Michigan team and how good Kentucky QB
Andre Woodson looked in his debut against Louisville.
In conclusion, I apologize for letting everybody down, and promise to do better next week.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/stewart_mandel/09/06/mailbag/index.html
