Glennis Curry remains in first place in local ESPN College Pick 'Em contest

It’s been a long time since Hillcrest High School has had a football game as big as the one tomorrow (Friday) night in Evergreen.

Region rival T.R. Miller will enter Brooks Memorial Stadium as one of the top teams in Class 3A, and the game is a must-win for the Jags if they hope to have a shot at making the playoffs. Hillcrest has lost its past two games by a combined four points, and many will view the game against Miller as a David vs. Goliath-type match-up.

Like a lot of people, I don’t think that Hillcrest’s 1-2 overall record really reflects what type of team Hillcrest has this season. Hillcrest is more than capable of upsetting Miller tomorrow night, and that would be just the thing to give the Jags the shot in the arm they need to finish out the rest of the season strong.

----- 0 -----

The third week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em contest has come to a close, and the standings on Sunday morning showed that Glennis Curry remained in sole possession of first place for the second straight week.

Aaron Albritton was in second place. Arthur Ingram III, Chuck Murph and Mike Dailey were in a three-way tie for third place.

Hunter Norris was in sixth place, and Barlow_91 was in seventh place. Rod Sims was in eighth place. Sharon Peacock and Ricky Powell were tied for ninth place.

Steve Stacey and Jeremy Matheny were tied for 11th place.

After the dust settled on Saturday, I found myself in a three-way tie for 15th place with my brother, Mark, and Chris Garner of Evergreen.

If you’re playing this local contest and didn’t finish in the Top 10, don’t fret. This contest will run for 11 more weeks, and it’s a marathon not a sprint. You’ll find that the standings will change a lot over the next few months.

----- 0 -----

In the SEC this week, there are three head-to-head match ups between conference teams and five other games involving conference teams facing opponents from outside the SEC.

No. 3 Alabama will play Florida Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Tuscaloosa (CBS). Mississippi State will take on No. 8 LSU Saturday at Baton Rouge, starting at 6 p.m. (ESPN), and South Carolina will play Vanderbilt Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Nashville (SECN).

In other action, No. 5 Auburn will visit No. 20 Kansas State tonight (Thursday) at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN). On Saturday, Troy will play No. 13 Georgia in Athens at 11 a.m. (SECN), and No. 6 Texas A&M will play SMU in Dallas at 2:30 p.m. (ABC). Indiana will play No. 18 Missouri Saturday at 3 p.m. in Columbia (SECN), and Arkansas will play Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. in Fayetteville (ESPNU).

For what it’s worth, here’s how I see each of those games playing out. I look for Auburn to beat Kansas State and I expect Alabama to squeak by Florida. I also like Georgia over Troy, Texas A&M over SMU, Missouri over Indiana, Arkansas over Northern Illinois, LSU over Mississippi State and South Carolina over Vandy.

Last week: 8-3. So far this season: 30-5.