Benster and D Pick Your Games----LOL SEC Edition

After ESPN and the CFP hyped up Alabama for a month like nobody's business, the SEC won't have a team in the title game? You know I am going to enjoy dropping some truths that the SEC won't want you to hear.

You better watch out, you'd better not cry. Bensterman is coming to town!.

Meanwhile, the Packers have a chance to get into the playoffs by beating the Bears.

Always a pleasure when accomplished.

I am feeling the HYYYYYYYYPPPEEEEEE! and ready to pick some games. Watch me work.

Washington Huskies (+4.5) vs. Michigan Sign Stealers, in Houston Ah yes, no SEC in sight for once. The real winner of this game no matter what is going to be the Big Ten, who will get a rematch next season and the ability to claim that the national champion is in their conference next year. Michigan didn't look great, but were able to get past Alabama. Washington is a team that I love. They are well-coached, play very well, and are untainted by scandal. Regardless of what happens, this game is going to be a lot of fun and should be at the level of the 2006 Rose Bowl. Huskies 38, Jim Harbaugh Can't Win On A Level Playing Field 33.

Do we need to hear it again?

Few things are more majestic and yet more annoying. And the off-color version they sing in Madison is pretty amusing, too. As for the game, I think it will be a classic. Michigan is not a big muscle-bound group; they have superior athletes all over the field. But I have to say that Michael Penix is something else. He's going to play on Sundays and play very well. Washington 28, Michigan 27.

Minnesota Vikings (+3.5) vs. Detroit LOLions Oh my, the locals are not happy about what happened to the Vikings. When JJ got shut down by Joe Barry of all defensive coordinators, you know that you have issues. Now the Vikings are going to need an absolute miracle to make the playoffs, and could see the Packers make the playoffs in a rebuilding year. The LOLions need to get over what happened last week. Regardless of what you think about the refs, the Lions made a number of bad coaching decisions and let the Cowboys stick around to win it late. Dan Campbell may have done a great job getting the Lions their division title, but he still makes questionable decisions in games and is using the refs as a scapegoat to cover for his own flaws. He's not a first year coach, and those types of decisions could haunt them down the line. How a tough minded city like Detroit gives him a pass for his excuses is beyond me, but it's not my problem. Even if the Lions rest some starters, the Vikings are going to have a tough time winning in Detroit. Lions 24, Vikings 14.

The Lions won't rest their starters. I don't think the Vikings will phone it in, either, but the team I saw on Sunday was not impressive. Vikings fans can't have nice things after all. Lions 31, Vikings 20.

Bear Down Chicago Da Bearz Still Suck (+3) vs. Glorious Green Bay Packers Last week was a great performance by the Packers. They did a lot of things right, and just need to win one more game against the Bears to win, and are getting healthier for once. But this won't be easy. The Bears have been playing better, are playing for jobs, and they remember getting blown out all the way back in Week 1. Also, the Bears always play the Packers tough given the nature of the rivalry. If the Packers can keep doing what they have been doing, then I like their chances. Even if disaster strikes, the future looks a lot brighter. Packers 28, Bears Still Suck 17.

Jordan Love looks like the real deal. He's played very well down the stretch and the young receivers and tight ends wearing green and gold are varied and impressive. The Bears are getting a lot of, well, hype this week. I think they are improving and with the fortification of a million high draft picks in the spring, I think they'll be a problem. But in the end, rivalry ownership remains closer to the 45th parallel. Packers 27, Bears 20.

And now, it's time to laugh at the SEC. 

Here's a bitter face to begin the festivities:

I'm a very unhappy man with an enormous forehead

Don't post pictures like that, old dude - you're going to scare away the paying audience.

Wait - you're getting paid?

If you keep interrupting, you're gonna pay, all right. Ahem. After all of the hyping up ESPN did about how the SEC is a beast, how they are the greatest conference, and how Oklahoma and Texas are going to be such a great fit, it turns out that you won't have any schools in your 2024 lineup in the national title game being held in SEC country. You really hate to see it. The Big Ten is laughing in their offices in suburban Chicago. It turns out that Alabama didn't deserve to be there, and don't forget that the Big Ten makes more money than you do, even with you adding Texas and Oklahoma. The Big Ten is adding cable subscribers at the in-market rate in California, Washington, and Oregon. You are only adding in market rate subscribers in Oklahoma. The Big Ten makes 9 million dollars more than you do per school, and will get to go to the media rights well before you do thanks to you waiting until 2034 to redo your big shiny ESPN deal. The Big Ten has a minimum of 3 games on network television every single Saturday, and the top 3 games that the conference offers have a defined timeslot. You threw away the SEC on CBS 2:30 timeslot. When is your best game going to air? The Big Ten is a national conference. You are a regional conference in the Southeast. When the Big Ten increases their lead on you in the financial arms race, I'd worry about losing your top brands. The alarm clock is ticking, Greg Sankey. I suggest you answer it. But you won't do that. Instead, you will have ESPN and the SEC fanboys continue to be yes men while you ignore that college sports is changing and your cycle of dominance may be coming to an end. 

Enjoy your football this weekend. Ben out.