BS Chats With College Football Zealots

If you're wondering when guys who write about a college football team get asked to weigh in with their input on the upcoming season, the answer appears to be... May.

We were asked by the fledgling site College Football Zealots to answer some questions about Purdue football. We obliged because we're cool like that. And we were tired of making fun of each other for watching baseball and IRL.

If you're interested in what we had to say -- and you just can't stop jonesing for Purdue football talk -- head on over and check out the exchange.

Looking Back At Our 2009 Predictions

We probably should have done this post months ago, but we had plenty of other content to keep us busy then...plus since when do we do anything around here on any sort of schedule?

I thought it might be fun to look back at our Big Ten football predictions from last year and see how we did. I think college football is a lot easier to predict, but that could just be because I follow it so closely. Oh, and the NBA is easy to figure out, too, since it's rigged.

Anyway, here's what our off-the-cuff, half-assed analysis shook out last year and how we did.

Indiana -- BS Prediction: 3-9. Actual: 4-8.

One game off on the Hoosiers, who got off to their customary 3-0 start before stabbing their fans in the heart by dropping 7 of 8 to wrap things up.

Michigan -- BS Prediction: 5-7. Actual: 5-7.

We're so S-M-R-T! Michigan actually surprised a lot of people by starting 4-0, including a win over powerhouse (and ranked) Notre Dame, culminating with the maize and blue being ranked. Then they lost every legit game left on their schedule, only winning over Delaware State, who I think MGoBlog referred to as "Baby Seal U."

Illinois -- BS Prediction: 6-6. Actual: 3-9.

We were overly optimistic, it turns out, on the Illini, but they were just two years off a Rose Bowl season. We did say the "worst case" was 3-9, but expecting an experienced team to finish worse than the 6-6 we predicted was hard to envision, even for negative guys like us.

Iowa -- BS Prediction: 8-4. Actual: 10-2.

We weren't big believers in Stanzi, but we definitely knew Iowa was good. We missed the boat on just how good, though. But not by a lot.

Michigan State -- BS Prediction: 10-2. Actual: 6-6.

No, here's where we missed by a lot. For some reason, I fell in love with MSU football last year. Here's what I wrote:

MSU is going to be good. Really good. Barring John L. Smith flashbacks, this program is headed in the right direction. Toughest (and only significantly tough) game on the schedule is PSU, at home.

Man, I'm an idiot.

Minnesota -- BS Prediction: 4-8. Actual: 6-6.

Another one we missed on, but again, not by a whole lot. Minnesota is not very good and we stand by our assertion that they weren't very good last year, either. Purdue never should have lost to them, but that's the kind of thing Purdue football did in 2009.

Northwestern -- BS Prediction: 8-4. Actual: 8-4.

Right on the money again. Northwestern was so predictable from the very start, it was frightening. Here's what I said:

They'll win the games they should and they'll lose the games they should. Believe me, we know this kind of team when we see one. It's a Tiller Special, circa 2005-2008.

And were they ever, right up to their spectacularly entertaining -- yet futile -- bowl game effort.

Ohio State -- BS Prediction: 10-2. Actual: 10-2.

MAN, I'm tired of being right! OSU wasn't all that hard to predict, after all, since they seem to always come within a win or two of a truly epic season (ooh, burn!). And we all know where 50% of their losses (and 100% of their Big Ten losses) came from.

Penn State -- BS Prediction: 10-2. Actual: 10-2.

Penn State's another of those fairly easy-to-predict programs. They're going to win the games they should, they're going to take some tough ones, and they're going to find a way to agonize their fan base by dropping a close one or two. But as long as JoPa keeps winning, they'll let the old man "coach" there until he dies on the field.

Wisconsin -- BS Prediction: 8-4. Actual: 9-3.

Okay, so we missed by one game.

Boilermakers -- BS Prediction: 4-8. Actual: 5-7.

The official BS prediction going into the season was 4-8, and after the 1-5 start, that was beginning to look like an optimistic guess. But the boys made good on their season from that point forward and did us proud.

So, for those keeping score, that's four dead on and three within one game of being dead on. And only Michigan State as completely, nonsensically, way off.

Not bad, and definitely better than the fools on ESPN like Mark May.

BS Predictorama Rankings - Week 10

I've run out of less than witty things to open with, so on with the show...

The predictions for week nine were

Tim says:
Iowa - 23
Purdue - 17

J Money says:
Iowa - 27
Purdue - 16

Boilerdowd says:
Iowa - 28
Purdue - 10

Final score? Iowa 22 - Purdue 17

We all picked Purdue to lose, and sadly, they disappointed yet again and lost. I swept the scoring for this week as I was closest to Iowa's score, closest to overall score, and closest to Purdues score.

The scoring for week 8 is

Tim : 4
J Money : 1
Boilerdowd : 1

So the tally for the season so far is

Boilerdowd : 18
J Money : 17.5
Tim : 17.5

It's a tight race to the finish. It all comes down to the final IU predictions... whose predictions shall reign supreme?

BS Predictorama Rankings - Week 9

Plenty of children were crying in West Lafayette, so let's just cut to the chase after 5 too many sucky games.

The predictions for week eight were

Tim says:
Michigan State - 31
Purdue - 20

J Money says:
Michigan State - 24
Purdue - 16

Boilerdowd says:
Michigan State - 35
Purdue - 22

Final score? Michigan State 21 - Purdue 7.

All of us had no faith and picked Sparty to win, and sadly (or predictably at this point), they did. It's a clean sweep for J Money this week at he gets the other 3 points for being closest to Michigan States score, closest to overall score, and another for closest to Purdues score.

The scoring for week 8 is

J Money : 4
Tim : 1
Boilerdowd : 1

So the tally for the season so far is

Boilerdowd : 17
J Money : 16.5
Tim : 13.5

BS Predictorama Rankings - Week 8

Oh what a glorious day it was. Way back yonder on the 28th of October in the year of our Lord 2008. The flowers were in full bloom, bosoms were bouncing everywhere you looked, and Siller was starting at quarterback. The Cowboy named Joe rode into town for perhaps a final hurrah. Ah, the good old days.

The predictions for week eight were

Tim says:
Michigan - 22
Purdue - 10

J Money says:
Michigan - 24
Purdue - 10

Boilerdowd says:
Michigan - 3
Purdue - 2

Final score? Purdue 48 - Michigan 42. Who saw that coming? Apparently none of us. It was shocking. Terrifically shocking if I do say so myself.

Now on to our terrible predictions for that game. All of us picked the Victors to win, and win they did not, so we all gladly forfeit a point. J Money picks up a point for closest to Michigans score, a point for closest to overall score, and another half for closest to Purdues score. I get a half for being closest to Purdues score also. Boilerdowd gets nothing and likes it.

The scoring for week 8 is

J Money : 2.5
Tim : .5
Boilerdowd : 0

So the tally for the season so far is

Boilerdowd : 16
Tim : 12.5
J Money : 12.5

BS Predictorama Rankings - Week 7

Simply getting out of bed and seeing how terrible our predictions are makes this hard to continue. It's getting ugly. Strike that. It IS ugly.

The predictions for week seven were

Tim says:
Northwestern - 20
Purdue - 10

J Money says:
Purdue - 27
Northwestern - 24

Boilerdowd says:
Purdue - 35
Northwestern - 24

Purdue didn't even bother to show up to that game. They got dominated by Northwestern. NORTHWESTERN! The final score of another terrible showing was Northwestern 48 - Purdue 26.

I picked up a point for picking Northwestern to win. Whoopty-do. Will Purdue even win another game? J Money and Boilerdowd split a point for closest to Northwestern's score. Boilerdowd picks up a point for being closest to Purdue's score and another for being closest to overall final score.

The scoring for week 7 is

Boilerdowd : 2.5
Tim : 1
J Money : 0.5

So the tally for the season so far is

Boilerdowd : 16
Tim : 12
J Money : 10

BS Predictorama Rankings - Week 6

Since we're almost ready for the week 7 predictions, I've decided to roll myself out of bed and post the standings after week six.

The predictions for week six were

Tim says:
OSU - 31
Purdue - 14

J Money says:
OSU - 28
Purdue - 10

Boilerdowd says:
OSU - 35
Purdue - 13

Sadly, we all think too highly of the Purdue offense as the actual score was Ohio State 16 - Purdue 3. We all get points for correctly picking Ohio State to win. J Money picks up 1 point for being closest to OSUs score, 1 point for closest to Purdues score, and 1 point for closest to overall score in a sweep of all the categories.

The scoring for week 6 is

J Money : 4
Boilerdowd : 1
Tim : 1

So the tally for the season so far is

Boilerdowd : 13.5
Tim : 11
J Money : 9.5

BS Predictorama Rankings - Week 5

The predictions for week five were

Tim says:
PSU - 38
Purdue - 20

J Money says:
PSU - 48
Purdue - 17

Boilerdowd says:
PSU - 34
Purdue - 17

The actual score was Penn State 20 - Purdue 6. We all get points for correctly picking Penn State to win. Boilerdowd picks up 1 point for being closest to PSUs score, 1/2 point for tying with J Money for closest to Purdues score, and 1 point for closest to overall score.

The scoring for week 5 is

Boilerdowd : 3.5
J Money : 1.5
Tim : 1

So the tally for the season so far is

Boilerdowd : 12.5
Tim : 10
J Money : 5.5

Boilerdowd has opened up his lead with his picks this week.

BS Predictorama Rankings - Week 4

The predictions for week four were

Tim says:
Notre Dame - 27
Purdue - 17

J Money says:
Purdue - 32
Notre Dame - 21

Boilerdowd says:
Notre Dame - 31
Purdue - 28

The actual score was Notre Dame 38 - Purdue 21, leaving Tim with a point for picking Notre Dame (puke!), and a point for being closest to Purdues score. Boilerdowd was closest to the total score, closest to NDs score, and picked up a point for picking Notre Dame to win. J Money picked up no points this week.

The scoring for week 4 is

Boilerdowd : 3
Tim : 2
J Money : 0


So the tally for the season so far is

Tim : 9
Boilerdowd : 9
J Money : 4

As you can see, I must have Ed Zaunbrecher making my picks because I've choked away my 1 point lead over Boilerdowd.

BS Predictorama Rankings

We're starting a new feature here at BS central. To gauge our predicting performance, we will be awarding points based on the following criteria. At the end of the year, the winner gets Joe Tillers mustache, which he conveniently left behind in his cereal.

1 point for closest to Purdue score
1 point for closest to opponent score
1 point for closest to total score
1 point for picking the correct winning team

Since we're already complete with week 3 and we're just now starting, here are the retroactive scores for the first three weeks.

In week 1, the following predictions were made

J Money says:
Purdue 51
Northern Colorado 10

Tim says:
Purdue 42
Northern Colorado 7

Boilerdowd says:
Purdue 56
Northern Colorado 13

The actual score was Purdue 42 - Northern Colorado 10

That means that Tim gets 1 point for closest to Purdue's score, closest to overall score, and picking the correct winning team. J Money gets a point for closest to opponent score and picking the correct winning team. Boilerdowd gets a point for showing up. Err, picking the correct winning team.

That brings the week one totals to

Tim : 3
J Money : 2
Boilerdowd : 1



In week 2, the predictions were

J Money says:
Boilers 34
Ducks 31

Boilerdowd says:
Ducks 35
Boilers 30

Tim says:
Ducks 38
Boilers 20

The final painful score was Oregon 32 - Purdue 26

That gives Tim a point for picking closest to overall score, and picking the Ducks against his wishes. Boilerdowd also picking the Ducks was the closest to Purdues score. J Money had the closest prediction of Oregons points. That leaves the point totals for week 2 at

Tim : 2
Boilerdowd : 2
J Money : 1


The predictions for week three were

Tim says:
Purdue 30
CMU 17

J Money says:
Purdue 45
CMU 35

Boilerdowd says:
Purdue 41
CMU 24

The actual score was Purdue 32 - CMU 25, leaving Tim with a point for picking Purdue, and a point for being closest to Purdues score. Boilerdowd was closest to the total score, closet to CMUs score, and picked up a point for closest to total score. J Money picked up one measly point for picking Purdue.

The scoring for week 3 is

Boilerdowd : 3
Tim : 2
J Money : 1


So the tally for the season so far is

Tim : 7
Boilerdowd : 6
J Money : 4

As you can see, I have a dominating insurmountable 1 point lead over Boilerdowd. Hooray for me.