Take the Broncos, the Ducks, the Dawgs, the Devils and Dabo
How would the Aggies fare in a head-to-head with Mighty Oregon?
Before we launch into the final picks of the regular season, please pour yourself a nice cool drink or a hot cup of tea, then grab a seat and pay close attention to the mathematical miracle I'm about to present.
As we know, the committee charged with selecting the 12 teams to the College Football Playoff relies heavily on comparative scores.
So, just for fun, but also to prove a point, my son Mick and I started applying comparative scores for our beloved Aggies to see where the playoff committee might seed UC Davis along with the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State and Texas.
If you are math-challenged, you might want to call in a family member to help you follow along.
Okay, we'll start with the Aggies playing Idaho, a 28-26 win for UCD over the Vandals. Thus, we've established that UCD is two points better than Idaho.
Is everyone clear on this? If not, we can go over it again.
Idaho, it turns out, beat Wyoming, 17-13. Thus, Idaho is four points better than Wyoming, which means UCD is six points better than Wyoming. As we all learned in kindergarten, two plus four is six.
Wyoming defeated Air Force, 31-19, a 12-point margin that makes UCD 18 points better than Air Force.
Air Force, in turn, skunked Oregon State, dumping the Meager Beavers, 28-0. Therefore, the Aggies are 46 points better than Oregon State.
The Beavers, not so meager when it came to Washington State, dumped Wazzu, 41-38, giving UCD a 49-point advantage over WSU.
Washington State won the Apple Cup with a 24-19 win over Washington, meaning the Aggies are 54 points better than the Huskies.
Washington beat Mighty Michigan, 27-17, pushing UCD's margin of victory over the Wolverines to 64 points.
Michigan, as everyone knows, clubbed Ohio State, 13-10, so now the Aggies are 67 points better than Ohio State.
No. 1 Oregon managed to beat Ohio State by just a single point, 32-31.
So, the Aggies are 67 points better than Ohio State, while the No. 1 Ducks are just one point better than Ohio State.
67 minus 1 is 66.
Projected final score: UC Davis 66, Oregon 0.
When I send these numbers to the playoff selection committee, they will no doubt declare the Aggies as the No. 1 seed in the country.
(If you need migraine medicine after this exercise, I have some good stuff in the medicine cabinet, free of charge.)
This week's picks are as follows:
(All of last week’s picks are available here)
OREGON over PENN STATE ... Final test for the Ducks before launching into the playoff, where everyone in the country thinks they'll eventually fail. Of all the defectors from the Pac-12 - fully 10 of them - only Oregon and Arizona State are happy about the move. Ducks, 35-21.
GEORGIA over TEXAS ... Hard to figure how the Longhorns are favored in this one after dropping a 30-15 decision to the Dawgs in Austin. Dawgs, 42-32.
ARIZONA STATE over IOWA STATE ... Two teams that kind of snuck up on everyone this year. Beware the Fork. Devils, 35-31.