Standings shake up again in local College Football Pick 'Em contest

The sixth weekend of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest closed out on Saturday night, and here’s the standings as they were on Monday morning. I remained in first place for the second week in a row. Steve Stacey and Drew Skipper were tied for second place. Steve was in sole possession of first place last week, and Skipper was in fifth place.

Robert Bozeman remained in the No. 4 spot for the fourth week in a row. Rod Sims dropped from third place to fifth place. Eric Byrd remained in sixth place for the second week in a row.

Travis Presley went from eighth place to seventh place. Nick Watson moved into eighth place, and Hunter Norris remained in the No. 9 spot for the second week in a row. Mark Peacock held onto the tenth place spot for the second week in a row.

If you’re participating in this contest and didn’t make the Top 10 this week, don’t beat yourself up about it. We’ve got eight more weeks to go, and we’ve got a long way to go before it’s all said and done. The Top 10 will likely change a lot over the next two months, so keep playing hard. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

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According to this week’s SEC football schedule, there are four head-to-head games between SEC teams this Saturday. Alabama will play Tennessee in Knoxville at 2:30 p.m. (CBS), and Vanderbilt will play Georgia in Athens at 11 a.m. (SECN). Missouri will play Florida in Gainesville at 3 p.m. (SECN), and Ole Miss will play Arkansas in Fayetteville at 6 p.m. (ESPN).

Tomorrow (Friday) night, Mississippi State will play BYU in Provo, Utah at 9:15 p.m. (ESPN). In other action Saturday, Southern Miss will play LSU in Baton Rouge at 6:30 p.m. (SECN). Kentucky, South Carolina, Auburn and Texas A&M all have open dates this week.

Here are my predictions as to how those games will turn out. I like Alabama over Tennessee, Ole Miss over Arkansas, Georgia over Vandy, Florida over Missouri, LSU over Southern Miss and BYU over Mississippi State.

Last week: 5-0. So far this season: 49-8.

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As of Monday, the Major League Baseball playoffs were well underway with three of the four Division Series still being played. Toronto swept the Texas Rangers in their American League Division Series, and the Blue Jays will play either Boston or Cleveland in the AL Championship Series. As of Monday, the Indians held a 2-0 lead in their Division Series with the Red Sox.

On the National League side, as of Monday morning, the Division Series between Washington and Los Angeles was tied, 1-1, but Chicago was enjoying a 2-0 lead in their Division Series against San Francisco.

Someone asked me earlier this week who I was pulling for, and I’d personally liked to see a World Series between Boston and Chicago, with the Cubs winning it all. No one reading this column was alive the last time the Cubs won a World Series in 1908, so to say that they are overdue is an understatement.

Of course, the Washington Nationals, who were once the Montreal Expos, before they moved the franchise to D.C., have never won a World Series. The Cleveland Indians haven’t won one since 1948, and the Dodgers haven’t won one since 1988. The Blue Jays last won a World Series in 1993. Boston won their last World Series in 2013, and the Giants’ last World Series title came in 2014.