CFCC Week 3: Ugly Duckling Week turns out to be a Beauty

by: Shudda, Cudda, Wudda

Low DD Scores due to some big upsets!
When we were picking these games last week, I knew historically that Week 3 usually presented a lull, and for 2023 Week 3 didn't even have one Top 25 Matchup. As Saturday dawned, I wasn't too excited about many of the Games--yes looking forward to Tennessee/Florida and a renewed "Backyard Brawl" with Pitt at West Virginia, but not much else. However, as the day unfolded, there were lots of surprisingly close games and exciting finishes. In the early block, Missouri's 61-yard game-winning field goal over Kansas State set the stage for other games later in the day. And the day ended with a 2OT thriller as Coach Prime and the Buffs staved off an "It's Personal" effort of their own by in-state rival Colorado State. But then there were some not-for-primetime efforts as well: Tennessee laid an egg in the Swamp and Oklahoma State got swamped by Alabama 33-7--"What's that???" "SOUTH Alabama???" "Are you sure???" Ouch!!!

Dirty Dawg Play
For CFCC Week 3, the average score was a shaky 47.8, but with only 4 upsets, according to Johnny Vegas (fictitious player using an average Vegas line). Dirty Dawg Consensus picks of Kansas State (5), Tennessee (6), BYU (8), and Oklahoma State (9) explained why the points added up quickly. Only nine people successfully picked the South Alabama upset over Oklahoma State. We had no one score 100+, but Lisa Dunn of Rowlett, TX topped all Dawgs with a score of 86, edging out Mark Linhares, Seymour Moseley, and Brandon Bigelbach who each scored 84. Lisa correctly picked the Gators over the Vols and wisely only wagered a "1" on Oklahoma State.

CFCC Year-to-Date Standings
In the overall standings, a couple of names from the previous paragraph: Mark Linhares, Calera, AL moved up 7 places to #1 this week, with Lisa Dunn surging up 20 places to #2, four points behind Mark. Rounding out the Top 5 are #3 Nick Sloan, Meridianville, AL, and tied for 4th place are Cameron Bryson, Johnson City, TN and David Marsalek, Bay Village, OH. And for your information last week's #1 Geoffrey Heidelberger, fell to #17 after scoring 46--still within striking distance though.

CFCC Group Play Standings
In team play, BoomerBacks continue as #1, in fact, the Top 4 places remain status quo, with #2 Hailraisers, #3 Barksdale McBubble Face, and #4 High Plains Drifters. There is sure to be some shuffling in the coming weeks, especially for the largely alma mater-based DD teams that faithfully put "15" on their fave each week. We'll see how that goes!

Looking ahead to Week 4
Ok, Week 4 will definitely not disappoint with higher level games, including several Top 25 matchups! And Coach Prime and Colorado will definitely get a legit test as they travel to Autzen Stadium (one of the better Pac12 environments) to take on Oregon. And will struggling Alabama be further exposed by Ole Miss or will they finally get their shact together? And oh yeah, by the way, Ohio State plays at Notre Dame under the lights. Should be fun!!!! Good luck!

Canes/Horns Surge; Tide Recedes in CFCC Week 2

by: Sugar (September 11, 2023)

Drama ran high during CFCC Week 2 with several close games amongst the 15 dirty-dawg game selections. And revenge was served rudely in Miami And (gulp)Tuscaloosa where the Canes stomped The Aggies and their new OC while The Horns finally took down The GOAT and The Crimson Tide a year after losing on a game-ending Alabama field goal in Austin in 2022. CFCC consensus was a relatively low 3 on Texas A&M, but a solid 8 on Alabama. Maybe Texas and The U really are back this year? And you know I have predicted the slow downfall of Alabama for a few seasons now. I think they probably even won a Natty during this predicted downfall. And they may very well go 11-1 and end up in the playoff, but it sure doesn't feel that way this year. They obviously have talent, but it takes more than talent and money and good coaching to keep winning at the highest levels. Why? Because when you are as good of a program as Alabama has been for so long, other teams replicate the talent, the money and the coaching, i.e. the process. Georgia has done it. Ohio State has done it. Clemson has done it. And I guarantee you another team or two has done it as well. We just don't know which teams those are... yet. But I bet a new team makes the playoff this year and perhaps wins the whole thing. Check back on the column in January and we will let you know how that goes. Elsewhere, dawgers took the bait and put a consensus 12 on North Carolina over App State and then held their breath before The Tar Heels prevailed in OT. The consensus was also 12 on Mizzou which allowed Middle Tennessee State to hang around the WHOLE GAME. But all is well that ends well I guess! Oh, and the annual Iowa/Iowa State cornfield snoozer didn't dissapoint.

Despite a tough set of games, the average score for Week 2 was a respectable 76 points. And 2008 CFCC Champion, Cyndi Pulis of Kyle, Texas, took home the Week 2 honors with 114 points on a 13-2 record. She missed only 1 on A&M and 2 on Wisconsin. That's the way to do it, Cyndi! And just 4 points behind Cyndi was 2004 Champion Brent Ryder from Gresham, OR. Brent dropped only one game, his 5 confidence on Alabama. On the other side of the Weekly Standings, Phil Nave had a disastrous -54 point week. Phil managed to miss all of his double-digit selections, save his 11 courtesy of Washington State. Better luck in Week 3, Phil!

Overall, we have a new leader by the name of Geoffrey Heidelberger from Huntsville, AL. Geoffrey had a 98 point week and we are proud of a player from Alabama only having a 2 on the Crimson Tide! Dave Marsalek is in 2nd place up from 4th and Philip McCarthy is in 3rd place overall up from #49. In Group Play, BoomerBacks lead the way with a five-hundredths point lead over Hailraisers. Barksdale McBubble Face is in 3rd place after two weeks.

As always, time marches on and Week 3 CFCC games have been selected and posted for your expert selections. Colorado State takes their stab at Coach Prime in Boulder and Tennessee travels to Florida. Deadline is the usual 11 AM CDT. Good luck in Week 3!

2023 CFCC Week 1 Transfer Portal is Undefeated

By Boda

Its generally a Dirty-Dawg tradition to have a Week 1 game slate that promotes good feelings and very few upsets, and 2023 is no exception. Its also no exception to see some dirty-dawgers produce inexplicable picks in both the winners/losers and confidence picks. Some of those work spectacularly, but most border on hilarious. Obviously, we like hilarious better. So this year the Board of Directors will occasionally call out some of the crazier picks in any given week, just for your amusement and ours.

Seven of this week's top ten had 13-2 records to start the season, and 140 players are still within 25 points of first place. Of course it was an easy week. And a big "You're Welcome" to those that were thankful for TCU/Colorado and Duke/Clemson not being on the game form. Nathan Rick of Roseville CA took first week honors with 106 points - losing only on Texas Tech and LSU. Despite some rather large favorites on the game form last week, Nathan went off the board by picking Rutgers (Rutgers ??) as his most confident pick of the week. That's 12 points higher than consensus ! Needless to say, no other player put a 15 on Rutgers. On the flipside, Shannon Moran did put 14 on the Rutgers opponent- Northwestern, which was a good start for 325th place. Also in the top 5, a shoutout to Don Baker of Platte KS who always picks against his beloved Boilermakers, whether they are favored or not. And to 9th place Ashley Ravenscraft of Huntsville AL, who had 5 games that deviated from consensus by double digits and was right on 3 of them - but living dangerously. For Group Play, the old Dawgs, (High Plains Drifters) start the year in first place, although ShatGPT wins this years award for best Group name. Dirty-Dawg.com never disappoints for group names.

On the actual College Football scene, everyone was surprised to see Colorado beat last year's national runner-up TCU last week. Especially after Coach Prime turned over three-fourths of his roster through the transfer portal. Evene more surprising, rumor has it that he has doubled down on the strategy this week but turning over the roster again in preparation for Nebraska. All Dirty-dawgers are urged to properly consider this little know tidbit before submitting their pick. Texas and Alabama is the week's marquee game, although don't bet against Iowa State in their annual in-state Iowa showdown. Also, will we get to see how good Notre Dame really is this week ? Or do we have to wait for the Ohio State game ? The Week 2 Game Form is posted and ready for your submissions. Good luck on what should be a much tougher week. And Go Lions against the Chiefs Thursday Night !