Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Sports Cognition's Top 10 (Week 10)



Here are my Top 10 teams in college football for week 10:

1. Michigan
2. Washington
3. Alabama
4. Western Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Ohio State
7. Louisville
8. Baylor
9. Texas A&M
10. Troy

I understand that this doesn't resemble the rest of the Top 10 lists of the majority of Top 10 lists. That is because everyone else thinks safely tucked into their little boxes, where they won't be scrutinized for having an original thought. For starters, to me Michigan is the best team that I've seen all year, and until something happens to make me think otherwise I won't be changing their status as the #1 team. Everyone thinks that Alabama should be the #1 ranked team because they won the national championship last year. Well, that is partially true. Alabama, the school, the name, the head coach, and even some of the players, won the national championship last year, but this isn't the same team as last year. They aren't really defending the championship, as a team. As a team, they are starting over. They have new players coming in, and some of last year's players have left, so in reality, this isn't the defending national championship team. 

I know everyone wants to give me grief about having Western Michigan ranked #4, but that's because I see things differently. I take the records of a team into account first and for most. Out of 128 teams, only five of them are undefeated. To be one of the five is pretty impressive, I don't care what conference you're playing in. There aren't any teams from Conference USA that are undefeated, nor are there any teams from the Sun Belt Conference, or the American Athletic Conference. So the argument against Western Michigan being in a non-power five conference is invalid. Western Michigan has been blowing up their opponents, and I truly believe they could give any of these teams a run for their money. Of course this is my opinion and they only way to find this out is to have them play one of the Top 10 ranked teams. 

Clemson has had too many close games for me to put them ahead of Western Michigan, one of those close games came against the team I have ranked #10, Troy. That's right, I have Troy as the #10 team in the country. A team from the Sun Belt Conference, a team that lost to Clemson by only six points, and has destroyed the rest of their opponents.

Unfortunately only the most popular teams that are household names in power five conferences tend to get ranked high by the voters. Unfortunately, nobody tends to look at some of the smaller schools that also have really good programs because they aren't well known, Those small schools that aren't as well known don't do anything for ratings. Ratings for the playoff games, bowl games, or the big sport networks like ESPN and Fox Sports come from the fans of the bigger schools, schools that have a bigger number of enrollment, and have historically larger fan bases. This is what tends to drive the rankings for college football, it's all about the ratings more than it is actually being objective and having original thoughts. 

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Thursday, October 27, 2016

Top 25 Upsets (Week 9)



This will be short and to the point. There is only one team ranked in the Top 25 that I see getting upset this weekend.

South Florida upsets #22 Navy 36-31


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Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Top 25 Upsets (Week 8)



Here are the teams ranked in the Top 25 that I see being upset this week:

Iowa upsets #10 Wisconsin 25-23

Memphis upsets #24 Navy 34-21

#21 Auburn upsets #17 Arkansas 26-17

Texas Tech upsets #16 Oklahoma 43-42

#25 LSU upsets #23 Mississippi 23-18


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Monday, October 17, 2016

My College Football Top 10 (Week 8)

                                                                                  Photo courtesy of Hypeline.org

As always, I have a problem with how things are done in regards to college sports, particularly with how college football teams are ranked. It seems like no one ever considers the records of the teams, but instead views the conferences that the teams are affiliated with. I believe in rewarding teams that have remained unbeaten, especially when there only 11 teams out of 128, which is 8.6% of the teams in the FBS. That's pretty incredible in itself. Since rankings are really nothing more than people's opinions on who they think the best college football teams are by using numbers to back up their opinions, I'm going to start giving my Top 10 teams in college football every week, starting now. Here is my Top 10 college football rankings for week 8.

1. Michigan
2. Ohio State
3. Washington
4. Alabama
5. Western Michigan
6. Baylor
7. Clemson
8. Texas A&M
9. Nebraska
10. Boise State

I love hearing the opinions of other people, mostly because it can generate discussion, which is a great thing. If you agree or disagree with any part of my rankings tell me in the comments, and tell me why you agree or disagree.


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Thursday, October 6, 2016

2016 MLB ALDS & NLDS Predictions



October is here and with that comes cooler weather, football, tailgating, and postseason baseball. The play-in games did not lack in excitement this year. Both games saw game winning homeruns, one of them was a walk-off from Edwin Encarnacion to defeat the Orioles, and last night's homerun from Conor Gillespie in the top of the 9th. Both Madison Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard had phenomenal pitching performances, but ultimately Syndegaard was taken out and the Mets' bullpen was unable to finish it up for him. So far this postseason has been an exciting one, let's hope it continues. Without further ado, here are my predictions for the upcoming ALDS & NLDS:


Blue Jays vs Rangers: Blue Jays win in 4 games
The first series for the American League will see two rival teams going at it. It could be that they will literally go at it seeing as how they have already gotten into fights with each other this season. The Rangers will have a very slight advantage in hitting, but I don't think they will be able to withstand the Blue Jays' pitching, which has the sixth lowest ERA in all of baseball.

Boston Red Sox vs Cleveland Indians: Red Sox win in 4 games
Cleveland has had a surge in sports teams this year with the Cavaliers winning the NBA Championship for the first time in history, and now the Indians making it to the playoffs and looking like one of the top three teams in the American League. The Red Sox are looking to send "Big Papi" David Ortiz off to retirement as a World Series Champion. For David Ortiz, you couldn't ask for a better way to finish your final season. The Indians have been a scrappy team all year, leading the Central Division throughout most of the year. But they have lost some of the big arms, and the Red Sox are one of the hottest batting teams in the MLB, leading the majors in runs. The Red Sox will be too much for the Indians to handle this time around.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Washington Nationals: Dodgers win in 3 games
That's right I said it. The Dodgers are going to sweep the Nationals in the NLDS. This should be a very exciting match-up with both of these teams being in the Top 5 in lowest ERA  in the majors. Kershaw is looking like himself again, and he isn't playing the Cardinals so he should be fine. Even though the numbers show that Washington has the better bats and arms, I tend to lean toward the Dodgers coming away with a sweep, solely looking at the pitching match-ups.

San Francisco Giants vs Chicago Cubs: Cubs win in 3 games
As much as it makes me sick to my stomach to say anything positive about the Chicago Cubs, I can't help but think they will sweep the Giants in the NLDS. The Cubs have been dominating baseball all year, and I don't see any reason why they would let up now. Even though the Cubs lost it last year to the Mets, and lacked that experience, I feel they will learn from that and be an unstoppable force against the Giants. Even though the Giants have Bumgarner, who is the equivalent to a cyborg that is superior to all human beings in the postseason, I still think the Cubs' bats will have an advantage against the Giants and Bummie.


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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Top 25 Upsets - Week 6



I don't see many teams in the Top 25 getting upset this week in college football. For the most part, the teams that are supposed to win will win. But there are two games that I can see where the higher ranked team will get upset. These games are:

#25 Virginia Tech upsets #17 North Carolina 34-22

Washington State upsets #15 Stanford 38-23


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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Top 25 Upsets - Week 5




Here are the teams in college football's Top 25 that I believe will be upset in Week 5:

#10 Washington defeats #7 Stanford 40-22

Oklahoma State defeats #22 Texas 33-31

North Carolina defeats #12 Florida State 35-32

Memphis defeats #16 Mississippi 37-4

Indiana defeats #17 Michigan State 25-12


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Saturday, September 24, 2016

Top 25 Upsets Week 4




Here are the teams ranked in the Top 25 that I think will be upset this weekend.

South Florida upsets Florida State 44-17

Wisconsin upsets Michigan State 25-19

Florida upsets Tennessee 28-11


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Wednesday, September 21, 2016

NFL Week 3 Picks

Image result for nfl picks
                                                                    Image courtesy of 7poundbag.com


Here are my NFL picks for Week 3:

Texans defeat Patriots 15-11

Cardinals defeat Bills 25-3

Broncos defeat Bengals 22-11

Dolphins defeat Browns 11-3

Lions defeat Packers 21-20

Raiders defeat Titans 26-25

Panthers defeat Vikings 27-24

Giants defeat Redskins 15-0

Ravens defeat Jaguars 20-0

Rams defeat Buccaneers 2-0

49ers defeat Seahawks 22-15

Chargers defeat Colts 27-9

Jets defeat Chiefs 24-21

Eagles defeat Steelers 23-21

Cowboys defeat Bears 17-3

Falcons defeat Saints 24-22 

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Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Fisher's Lambs Stink it Up, Enjoy the Smell Los Angeles



Hey everyone, the Rams are back in Los Angeles! That's what many of the Rams fans of the past and future were thinking when Stan Kroenke pulled the team out of St. Louis and moved them to Los Angeles. There was excitement throughout the entire Los Angeles area about having an NFL team again. That was until Monday night when the Rams took on division rival San Francisco 49ers. The Rams looked like a mid-major college team taking on a defending national champion Power 5 school. The 49ers blew out the Rams 28-0.  But that didn't get Jeff Fisher down.

During the post-game interview, Fisher commented on how he was "disappointed," but that there were "15 other teams that lost", and that the Rams were, "looking pretty good." Looking pretty good? It's true that there were 15 other teams that lost, but no other team was shutout like the Rams. As a matter of fact, the average NFL team lost by 7.6 points. The Rams lost by 28. So don't worry Rams fans, Jeff Fisher sees everything in a positive light. The fact that they had the worst loss out of the entire league to a team that isn't expected to make much of a splash doesn't concern Coach Fisher, a.k.a. Captain Average.

The Rams organization should feel pretty good about it as well. They just gave Fisher a contract extension which means Fisher will have plenty of time to come up with all kinds of excuses and new ways to tell everyone to look on the bright side.

To all the fans in Los Angeles and St. Louis Rams fans that stayed fans after they dumped you -- I still don't understand how you can stay loyal to an organization that isn't loyal to you -- they're your problem now. 

Here is a link to Fisher's post-game press conference Monday night: Fisher's Post-Game Press Conference

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