2018 Major Hoople, Fearless Forecaster, College Football Predictions Week 14

                                                   Mill Works USA

                                                     Major Hoople

                                             'The Fearless Forecaster'

Heap your praise on the Major after a stellar 17-4 week! Many BIG rivalry games like the'Iron Bowl', 'Apple Cup' The 'Game' and 'Palmetto Bowl” leading the way toward season's conclusion.

The Major can be best described as being no genius. But, he does have an opinion and wants it to be heard each week! His full name is Major Amos B. Hoople, considered to be the King of the Grumps and for outlandish college football predictions. It must have been all the retro television comeback shows like Murphy Brown, Hawaii Five O, Magnum PI and McGyver that caused 'the Fearless Forecasters' return from the trash heap of past comic strips.

The 'Major' first appeared as a cartoon character in Our Boarding House. It ran in hundreds of newspapers across the nation, from 1921 until 1984. The cartoon was so well received by the public, that a weekly radio show ran for six seasons in the 1940s on NBC.

The syndicated college football prediction column started much later in 1968. The current Major Hoople writer remembers each week reading about games all over the nation in his daily local newspaper sports section He used the article as a preview for the slate of games that totaled almost 200 with the small school interest like with the Ivy Leagues. The people, back then actually read newspapers where ink most of the time got on your hands from turning the pages! A true contact sport of sorts...

The writer of the column, Tom Peoples, the original Football Prediction Wizard ended each column with :

Now go on with my forecast. We will also...and enjoy the read.

It's a short week here at the 'Boarding House' so my predictions for games must be analyzed beyond my Hoople Pick System-the flip a coin, select a team...or first toss me. I can do this game pick technique when I have some of the 'crooked nose” guys over to watch the games. It seems though, I very rarely end up on my feet, usually land on the front lawn. Not like my pass out spells from a night of only 'sodas' at the VFW Hall...Hehehehe...okay soda..pop, it be, for the protection of the underage children that read my selections.

I did have another great week which now brings my overall record to 57-21, Um-Kumph...got to do even better as we proceed toward the last full schedule of the season. I got ND right, a 36-3 drubbing of Syracuse. The Orange men were so badly beaten (I had them only losing by 15 points!), they sent out their kicker with a few minutes left to play to break up the Irish shut out. Kaff-Kaff, ….If I was their AD, I would fire that Head Coach tomorrow for lack of vision and huspah... psshaw, because everyone knows you always go for the score.

In the other feature games UCF and Fresno State win their games. However, the Hoople Upset Pick, Iowa State lost to now ranked this week Texas.

The Mill Sport Top 25 Poll weekly recap:

The top teams remained in the same rank positions until Washington State #8 and Ohio State #9 flipped ranking spots in the poll...no, my friends did not flip me physically for that decision, Booyah!. The fact the Cougars cruised again, while the Buckwheats struggled against conference dead beat Maryland, made the swap very easy for the poll. #10 LSU moved back into that elite position after a number of teams lost their games. 

Penn State #12, Texas #13 and Washington #14 all moved up 5 spots. While, Boise State #16 and #17 Fresno State, each moved up 8 spots, include fellow Mountain West Conference team at #11 Utah State (same position after only a 5 point victory), and you see a very strong group of teams.

The Debbie Downers of the poll: West Virginia #18, from 10 and UAB #25 from the twelve spot. But, we welcomed six new teams to the poll, that means probably next week another group of new teams again joins the poll. I wrote about this musical like chair poll position ranking swaps.before in this space. 

The Hoople Heisman Candidates are Murray QB, Oklahoma, Tagovailoa, QB, Bama, Taylor, RB, Wisconsin, and Grier, QB, WVU. Next week before the conference championship game predictions, I will give you my opinion (okay, with the statistics) on these four stud players along with a few Hoople goodies.

Now go on with my forecast and have a great Thanksgiving:

Okay, boys and girls, lets give you some useful or useless information depending on how you look at me. The 'Iron Bowl' pits under performing Auburn versus #1 Alabama. Take the Tide (but, please leave those pods alone as they taste terrible) all day 42-6, as Tago looks to win the Heisman in a few weeks.

The 'Apple Cup' game has Pac 12 and in- state rivals Washington State #8 versus the Huskies of Washington # 14. The Cougars escape the jaws of the Huskies 38-28. Leach's squad also will take another bite from the apple with a big Bowl pay day for his school.

The 'Game' has a Big Ten playoff birth on the line as both #3 Michigan and Ohio State have identical 10-1 records. The Wolverines lick their chops on the thought that bottom dweller Maryland last week scored a ton of points against the Buckeyes. Big Blue rolls 38-16, for a possible rematch in the First Round of National Championship Playoffs to avenge their early season loss to ND.

In a clash of South Carolinian teams in the 'Palmetto Bowl', #2 Clemson, takes on South Carolina. The SEC Game Cocks have been inconsistent on offense all year, while the Clemson team runs like a fine tuned engine.. The Tigers down the birds in a land slide, 44-16

Here are the other Top 25 Mill Sport USA poll game score predictions:

Mississippi State (23) 49 @ Mississippi 14

Nebraska 23 @ (24) Iowa 14

Texas (13) 42 @ Kansas 24

UCF (7) 31 @ USF 20

Oklahoma (6) 35 @ (18) WVU 38

Illinois 21 @ (21) Northwestern 49

GT 22 @ (5) Georgia 29

Utah State (11) 44 @ Boisie State 45

BYU 26 @ (22) Utah 22

UAB (25) 38 @ MTSU 23

Florida (15) 14 Florida State 19

Maryland 20 @ (12) Penn State 56

SJST 10 @ (17) Fresno State 37

LSU (10) 26 @ Texas A & M 10

ND (3) 38 @ USC 14

Record 57-21

                                                           MILLWORKS USA.

                                            COLLEGE FOOTBALL/TOP 25 POLL

                                                                                      Week 13

  Rnk/ Team/ Record/ LR

1. Alabama 11-0 1
2. Clemson 11-0 2
3. ND 11-0 3
4. Michigan 10-1 4
5. UGA 10-1 5
6. Oklahoma 10-1 6
7. UCF 10-0 7
8. Washington State 10-1 9
9. Ohio State 10-1 8
10. LSU 9-2 14
11. Utah State 10-1 11
12. Penn State 8-3 17
13. Texas 8-3 18
14. Washington 8-3 19
15. Florida 8-3 NR
16. Boise State 9-2 24
17. Fresno State 9-2 25
18. WVU 8-2 10
19. Army 9-2 21
20. Kentucky 8-3 NR
21. Northwestern 7-4 NR
22. Utah 8-3 NR
23. Mississippi State 7-4 NR
24. Iowa 7-4 NR
25. UAB 9-2 12
    Honorable Mentions: Troy, NIU, Wisconsin, NC State, FIU, Houston, Temple, Texas A & M and Georgia Tech.
    Gone this week, and will be forgotten: Buffalo, Iowa State, Duke, UVA, Syracuse and Cincinnati..