Thursday, September 13, 2012

LaBarin Banks leads local ESPN College Pick 'Em Contest

The second full week of college football is now behind us, and so is the second week of our local ESPN College Pick ‘Em Contest.


LaBarin Banks, who was tied for third last week, is in sole possession of first place in the local standings this week, having picked six out of 10 games correctly last Saturday to lead the pack.

Someone named “15hn” is in second place. Mike Dailey, Mark Peacock and Johnny Davis are tied for third place.

Justin Jensen was in sixth place. Aaron Albritton and Jacob Ramer were tied for seventh place. Jeff Gunn was in ninth place. Bill Bolton and I were tied for tenth place in the standings.

For those of you out there still playing, take heart. We’ve got 12 more weeks to go in the contest, so the thing is far from over. We’ve been playing this contest for over a decade now, and if I’ve learned anything it’s that this contest is a marathon, not a sprint. If you don’t do well one week, don’t worry, because the standings will be sure to change a lot as we move through the rest of the season. Only time will tell as to who will win this year’s local “Mr. Football” crown.

----- 0 -----

Hillcrest and Sparta will be out to capture their first wins of the young football season tomorrow (Friday) night when they play home games at their respective stadiums in Evergreen. Hillcrest will take on Andalusia, the No. 10-ranked team in Class 4A, and Sparta will face Escambia Academy.

When it comes to tough opponents, Hillcrest has had a tough go of it this year. Andalusia makes for the third-straight ranked opponent that the Jags have faced this season. UMS-Wright was ranked No. 6 in Class 4A, and Washington County was ranked No. 3 in Class 2A. Hillcrest had to play both of those teams on the road, but they’ll enjoy the home field advantage this week.

Andalusia is Hillcrest’s longest running rival. They’ve met 21 times on the football field since 1989, and Andalusia leads the series 11-10 all-time. The only seasons that the two schools didn’t play each other in football was during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

Escambia, which is coming off a big loss to ranked Monroe Academy, is Sparta’s longest running rival. They’ve met 41 times on the football field, and Escambia leads the all-time series 26-14. Sparta hasn’t beaten Escambia since 2008, but I look for that to change tomorrow night at Stuart-McGehee Field.

----- 0 -----

SEC football action is heating up and here are my picks for this week’s slate of games. I like Alabama over Arkansas, Auburn over Louisiana-Monroe, LSU over Idaho, Texas over Ole Miss, Mississippi State over Troy, Texas A&M over SMU, Tennessee over Florida, Georgia over Florida Atlantic, Kentucky over Western Kentucky, Missouri over Arizona State, South Carolina over UAB and Vanderbilt over Presbyterian. Last week: 8-3. So far this season: 21-3.

No comments:

Post a Comment