Welcome back to another week of the ACC/SEC Pick’Em League!

If you’re new here, this a league with some friends where we pick the straight up winner of any game with an ACC or SEC team playing. That’s the gist of it, but, like everything in life, there’s more to the story than that. If you missed the introduction to this wonderful and stupid world last week, click the link and get caught up:

With that out of the way, let’s dive back into things, recap last week’s results, and make this week’s picks.

Week 1 Picks Recap

Alright. We’re on time now (I started this series AFTER Week 0 like a dummy) so we’re getting instant(ish) feedback from last week.

Entering the week, I had 3 points based upon my picks from Week 0. There were 27 points on the table in Week 1. As I now have 25 points that means I earned 22 points for correct picks last week.

Here are the games I missed:

1. Old Dominion beating Virginia Tech (which I was tempted to take, but didn’t)
2. Rutgers beating Boston College
3. Syracuse demolishing Louisville
4. Florida beating Utah (C’MON CAM RISING!!!!! YOU CAN’T STARE DOWN THAT THROW!!!! AND Y’ALL LEFT OTHER POINTS ON THE FIELD!!!! DAMNIT!!!! WE WERE RIGHT THERE!!!!)
5. Florida State beating LSU (learn how to protect for FGs and XPs, man DAMN!!!)

The VT-ODU, Utah-UF, and FSU-LSU games were really, really bad beats for me. Moreso UF and FSU than VT because that was a shitshow from the Hokies. But the other two......those hurt. Because I don’t like those teams AND because they cost me valuable league points.

League Standings

With 22/27 points last week, I now have a total of 25 points in the league. That’s tied with Tyler the commissioner and a multitude of others who are all tied for 18th at the moment.

I know that sounds bad, but 18th is only 3 points back of 1st. So like, all 3 of those “bad beat” games from last week would have me tied. And, IF SCOTT FROST WASN’T A FUCKING MORON BY GOING FOR THAT ONSIDE KICK IN WEEK 0 WE’D BE IN FIRST PLACE!!!!!!! That’s how much a 2pt bonus game can matter. And that’s why I hate him.

There are 2 people tied in 1st with 28 points. 3 people tied for third with 27 points, 12 people tied for sixth with 26 points, myself, Tyler and a bunch others tied for 18th with 25 points, then a group tied for 32nd with 24 points, and further groups tied for 41st (23 points), 46th (22 points), and 49th (21 points), with the last two players in 51st with 20 points, and 52nd with 2 points....because they didn’t submit picks for Week 1 and got the big goose egg. Now THAT is a “play for pride” moment because there’s no way to get back into contention by starting the season down by a full week from the field.

Week 2 Games and Picks

Alright. It’s a new week, and we’re gonna make moves. Remember, we’re not picking against the spread here. In the ACC/SEC pick’em league, we’re picking winners. At the end of 60 minutes, which team will have won the game. Narrative doesn’t matter. Results do.

This week there are 23 games for a total of 24 points (including the bonus game 2pter). There are fewer games than last week because we have a couple conference games, and a couple ACC vs SEC non-conference games as well. As always, we’re shooting for a perfect week of picks, while also looking for places we can take some chances and try to “lap the league”, or at least be one of very few people to accurately predict the upset result.

Again, my picks are in BOLD for each game.

• Louisville at UCF
• Southern Miss at MIAMI
• Duke at NORTHWESTERN
• NORTH CAROLINA at Georgia State
• Charleston Southern at NC STATE
• Furman at CLEMSON
• TENNESSEE at Pitt
• Virginia at ILLINOIS
• SYRACUSE at UConn
• Western Carolina at GEORGIA TECH
• BOSTON COLLEGE at Virginia Tech
• ALABAMA at Texas
• South Carolina at ARKANSAS
• WAKE FOREST at Vanderbilt
• MIZZOU at Kansas State
• Appalachian State at Texas A&M
• Samford at GEORGIA
• Kentucky at FLORIDA (an early test game for UF. Can they sustain success?)
• Central Arkansas at OLE MISS
• San Jose State at AUBURN
• Southern at LSU
• MISSISSIPPI STATE at Arizona
• 2PT BONUS GAME: Baylor at BYU

I feel very good about these picks. I always joke with Tyler the Commissioner that the picks I submit are a perfect week of picks....but I really think this can be it. Sure, there are close games like Baylor-BYU and Wake Forest-Vanderbilt that could go the other way....BUT THEY WON’T!!!!

And there you have my STRAIGHT UP WINNER picks for Week 2 of the ACC/SEC Pick’Em League.

Let me know which picks you’d make, and how you think I’ll do with my picks, too. Me? I’ll be looking at the next few week’s schedules so I can pick my spots to try and “lap the league” and make up some ground on the standings.

See you next week to recap and make more picks!

Go Canes