What do Brett Farve, Abraham Lincoln, Michael Jordan, and myself all have in common? We all suffered a first major defeat. Brett Farve threw an interception on his first career pass, Abraham Lincoln lost his first political election, Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team, and I went 1-6 on my ATS picks for Week 0. 

Before anything else I need to put my hand up and say that I shit the bed, and I need to be better. It literally could not have gone worse. But here is the thing, Week 0 is not about football games, it is not about making the right picks, it is about practicing for the regular season. To clarify, it is like a rehearsal dinner, or a Friday pregame walkthrough. It is making sure you have the beer in the fridge, it is making sure your buddies know what bar you are going to, it is making sure you have your schedule in order so you can watch the games Saturday. Week 0 is about prepping yourself for the following 12 weeks so that there are no hiccups come that following Saturday.

Let’s talk about the games. 

TCU lost more than UNC won. That game was so sloppy, TCU lost by having 90 penalty yards on 11 penalties, worst all that atrocious unsportsmanlike on Jeremy Payne for signaling 1st down. That was actually a national crisis because now all the Irish probably think we are soft. TCU could not run the ball between the tackles, they could only run to the outside and once UNC figured that out, it was wraps. UNC’s defense looks dramatically better than they did last year and Xavier Lewis balled out. Maybe I was higher on Jaden Craig than I should have been as well, he was playing from what felt like behind all game which is not the situation you want for a first time starting FBS QB. In my opinion you also cannot have mental errors from a QB who has a Harvard degree, just cannot happen. 

The thing I was worried about betting USC -38.5 is what ended up happening. USC got out to a commanding lead, and then took out the starters and gave up 23 4th quarter points. That’s just tough, no way around it. I thought Lincoln Riley would have wanted to pile on the points in a playoff or bust year for him. 

I was just plain wrong about NC State and Virginia. I thought CJ Bailey was going to ball out, and instead he gave up the ball 3 times alone. Virginia overwhelmed NCST in every aspect of the game. I also did not see Beau Pribula being as efficient as he was, buddy went 9/11 for 155 yards and 2 TD’s through the air, and rushed for 110 on 15 carries. Virginia looked really good, and I absolutely undervalued the experience they brought in. 

NDSU was the one bright spot, they won handedly and covered. Fargo was in fact a zoo, and they looked fantastic. 

Hawaii sold so hard. They were covering with a minute left, fumble the ball, and Stanford returned it for a TD to go up by 10. Absolute sell job. No further questions.

FSU are bums, and I will no longer be betting on them. Yes FSU won, but it was a 10 point game in the 4th and this game was way closer than it should have been. Mike Norvell is on the hot seat, if you can’t put belt to ass against New Mexico State, you are in trouble. 

Memphis balled out, credit to them. I said previously if they were going to win this game it would be by winning the turnover battle. Instead they won by physically dominating the 4th quarter. They sacked Jackson Arnold 4 times in the 4th, and scored the final 13 points of the game. They could not have closed out the game any better. Credit to Charles Huff and Memphis, they were the better team and the final score showed that.

This week wasn’t good for the brand, but good thing our good Lord creates multiple opportunities. Week 0 and Week 1 are incredibly tough to bet because we have not seen the teams play. You can read as many articles or preview magazines as you want, but to my knowledge those articles do not play the games the teams on the field do. And we do not know which type of team is going to show up. Week 1 is going to be tough as well, but I will do better. No, I need to do better.