BOUNCING BACK TO WINNING

Saturday's mission was to jump back on the winning track, and I think we accomplished that by going 5-3 on a game day in which the rankings were reshuffled once again. Gotta love college football!

Back to winning

A big thank you to Arizona for blowing a lead to Southern Cal, otherwise we would have gone 6-2, which is pretty respectable. But enough whining; we still made money, and hopefully you did as well.

We hit on two UPSETS albeit not huge upsets. Mississippi took care of Texas A+M in a hostile environment and Mississippi State knocked off #2 Auburn. Thank you, Magnolia State. You're helping us Make Mo' Money.

Let's do a quick recap before we start getting ready for Saturday.

YOUR WEEKEND REWIND™...

The Good

Them be Mullen's magic shoes

Hail State. Cowbells are still clamoring in StarkVegas as Mississippi State knocked off the Auburn Tigers/War Eagles/Plainsmen/Dying Oaks, 38-23. Another ESPN College GameDay kicked off a very special day for the Bulldogs. And the clamoring in Gainesville is only getting louder for the Gators to hire Dan Mullen. MSU better have their checkbook ready.

We warned you that these two quarterbacks, Bryce Petty and Trevone Boykin, would put up huge points. And they did, as Baylor stormed back to beat the Toads, 61-58, the second most total points in a matchup of ranked AP teams. 

12th Man was a No Show

The Twelvth Man went awfully quiet when the Ole Miss Rebs went up 21-0 by halftime and eventually won 35-20, the first time that a Kevin Sumlin team has been shut out at the half. Bo Wallace had another solid day as Ole Miss is off to it's best start in 52 years. Hotty Toddy.

#11 Oklahoma beat the Longhorns, 31-26, and took the Golden Hat Trophy back to Norman for another season and, more importantly, the Sooners stay alive for the big hat in January.

#12 Oregon beat #18 UCLA 42-30 as Heisman front runner, Marcus Mariotta, threw for two TDs and ran for two more. The Bruins rallied for three TDs in the fourth but it was too little, too late.

The Bad
Georgia made a bold statement on Saturday. While we weren't totally surprised that Georgia beat Missouri despite the loss of Todd Gurley, we were shocked that the Mizzou's offense would go in the tank and be shut out 34-0. Where did that come from?  It's the first time in UGA history that the Bulldogs have shut out a Top Ten team. Impressive anyway you slice it.

#10 Arizona lost 28-26 to Southern Cal as a last minute field goal attempt went wide, and the Trojans avoided another last second gut wrenching game like last week's loss to Arizona State. With one conference loss, the margin of error for the Wildcats is pretty slim as they still have UCLA in three weeks in Los Angeles.

The Ugly

What ball security?

Just when we think Georgia Tech had turned the corner and was on the glide path to the ACC Coastal title, they look like a bunch stinger-less bumble bees. This is especially embarrassing since we gave them kudos on ball security. Justin Thomas threw two picks as the Bees lost to Duke, 31-25, the first time in ten years that the Blue Devils have beaten the Jackets. Ouch.

Winning on less

EXTRA POINT

We've been impressed with the success at Mississippi State, especially when we realized that their total budget for football operations ranks 58th among the 65 power-conference schools. Bama sneezes that much money when they have a cold. This undoubtedly will be a factor as the Bulldogs will have to open up their checkbooks in order to keep Dan Mullen in Starkville. How deep are their pockets?

See you Friday with your winning picks.

MAKE MO' MONEY WITH MARK™