2021 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 4

The coalition is back at it for a fourth week of picking NFL games!

I was a little worried early in the day on Sunday, as I fell behind early, but rallied back late, to split the four games I had disputed with Adam. Adam retains a two game lead on me in the column, and a one game lead on Jim and Joe among the entire group.

You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here. This week, Adam and I disagree on a season high seven games out of 16.

2021 NCAA Playoff Points: Week 4

Through four weeks of the season, we're starting to get the slightest bit of separation around the country in college football. But with 26 teams still unbeaten at this stage, there's still a long way to go before we can narrow the country down to a field of 16 for the Death to the BCS Playoffs.

So while we work on narrowing that down, let's look at the past weekend's results and how that has the conferences stacking up through four weeks of action.

2021 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 3

The coalition returns for its third week of the year picking NFL games against the spread!

If the pattern of even/odd years is holding true, this past week was not a good omen, as Adam took four of six disputed games, the difference being a couple successful hero picks, to take a two game lead. He and Joe are tied among the group at large, while I'm in a three way tie two games back of them.

You can view how we've all picked in relation to each other here. This week, Adam and I disagree on just four games out of 16.

2021 NCAA NCSS Rankings: Week 4

We're about a month into the season, as we move into Week 4 of the campaign and we take a look at the upcoming non-conference slate. 

More and more teams are starting to get into conference play, but we're not quite there yet, so this week and possibly next we're still going to be going a little more in depth about schedules for the week. Obviously, with the seven independent schools, there will still be updates to this on a weekly basis, but eventually the numbers will start to level off here.

So without further ado, here's the numbers for Week 4.

2021 NCAA Playoff Points: Week 3

With Week 3 of the college slate in the books, let's take a look back at what happened.

Now for me, the most important game of the weekend occurred in Wheaton, Illinois, where the Little Brass Bell came home where it belongs. No other result really mattered from the weekend, though I know that's not why you're here.

The FBS continued its season over the weekend, and with more results we're going to start seeing some separation from the pack. I'll go over some more team-specific rankings later, but here are how the conferences stack up with three weeks' worth of data.

2021 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 2

It was a bit of a rough start, but the coalition is back for a second week of picking NFL games against the spread!

No one really separated themselves and we're all pretty bunched up through 16 games. For the column's part, Adam and I split our four disputed games last week as we finished .500 through the first slate. Jim matched our total, with Joe and Geoffrey sitting just one game back. In the words of Lovie Smith, "We have a lot of football left to play."

You can view how we've picked in relation to each other here. It was a hero-heavy week, as nine of the 16 games were hero picks, five of which were successful. Let's see if that will become a trend.

So without further ado, let's get to Week 2. This week, Adam and I disagree on six games out of 16.

2021 NCAA NCSS Rankings: Week 3

With two weeks' worth of games in the books and on the sheet, let's look ahead now to Week 3.

There's still a lot of data left to gather given the fact that there's still several weeks of season left to play out, but we're starting to near the end of the bulk of non-conference play. There will still be big jumps for much of the country up to this point.

So as we look at Week 3, we'll add onto the score for Week 2 and compare to where we were just a few days ago.

2021 NCAA Playoff Points: Week 2

Now that most teams have a couple games under their belts, let's get a look at how things have been going.

There's been a ton of chaos through two weeks, as multiple FCS teams have picked up wins, and some highly ranked teams have already dropped games. This may be the time to do it since there's time to recover, but losing a non-conference game isn't necessarily a death knell, with conference titles still entirely up for grabs across the country.

So for this weekly feature, I'm going to look at every conference (and for this post, I include the seven independent teams as their own conference, for what it's worth). I'll note the average of wins, First Degree Playoff Points, Second Degree Playoff Points, and Adjusted Playoff Points.

2021 NCAA NCSS Rankings: Week 2

I'm running way behind this week between the holiday, a heavy work week, and making sure this year's Pigskin Pick 'Em contest got off the ground. But we're catching up, so let's get back to the college gridiron!

Week 1 is always a fun one because of the massive non-conference games that help kick the season off. And because for almost the entire division this was the first game of the season, I'm skipping the Week 1 Playoff Points post. I'll look into that early next week when the Week 2 games are in the books.

So now that I have a baseline though with a week's worth of games, I'll have a comparison point. Each conference will list what their average score for the week was, followed by their cumulative score for the season to date. I'll also include where that league ranked last week. This is being written from the perspective of the games being upcoming even though it's Sunday night and everything is complete.

2021 COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em: Week 1

Nature is healing.

The NFL season is upon us, and with it, the tenth season of one of my favorite features returns as the coalition is back to once again pick NFL games against the spread!

Adam Quinn is once again returning as the featured weekly guest and, if the pattern that we've taken over the last several years holds, he will resume his odd year magic and win the column title.

The rest of the coalition is back aboard this year as well. Our friend/my brother-in-law Joe returns, his uncle and our friend Jim is back as well, and good friend of the COAS franchise and defending group champion Geoffrey Clark.

So for those of you unfamiliar with this feature, we are in a group playing ESPN's Pigskin Pick 'Em contest. ESPN sets lines for games the Tuesday prior to kickoff (or in the case of Week 1, way way in advance). We pick the games, Adam and I come on here (or do a podcast) and make our picks, explaining the rationale (or lack thereof) behind them. One point is awarded per win. We'll keep track of how we pick in relation to each other here.

I did add one new wrinkle to the contest this year. In the past, we've been locked into picks once the column/podcast goes live, even if, say, an injury or something occurs after the fact that would change our pick. To avoid this, Adam and I will each get four mulligans to use at any point this season if we decide we want to change our picks after they go live on here but before the game kicks off and ESPN locks it. Posts will be updated if these mulligans get used.

And so without further ado, let's get to this year's contest! To start us off, Adam and I disagree on four games out of the opening 16.