Hijinks Inc.

Tag: football

  • 2010 NFL: Regular Season Predictions

    First of all, happy Labor Day! Second, happy opening week of the 2010 NFL season. We finally kick off the regular season on Thursday with the Vikings playing in New Orleans at the Superdome against the defending Super Bowl champs. Here’s my picks for the upcoming season (Madden simulated picks in italics):

    Division Winners
    NFC West – San Francisco 49ers
    — San Francisco 49ers (7-9)
    NFC North – Minnesota Vikings
    — Minnesota Vikings (11-5)
    NFC South – New Orleans Saints
    — New Orleans Saints (13-3)
    NFC East – Dallas Cowboys
    — Philadelphia Eagles (11-5)
    AFC West – San Diego Chargers
    — Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)
    AFC North – Baltimore Ravens
    — Baltimore Ravens (11-5)
    AFC South – Indianapolis Colts
    — Indianapolis Colts (9-7)
    AFC East – New York Jets
    — New England Patriots (10-6)
    NFC Wildcards – Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers
    — Atlanta Falcons (11-5), Dallas Cowboys (9-7)
    AFC Wildcards – Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals
    — Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5), NY Jets (9-7)

    Conference Champions
    AFC – Indianapolis Colts
    — Kansas City Chiefs
    NFC – Minnesota Vikings
    — New Orleans Saints

    Super Bowl Winner
    Minnesota Vikings
    — New Orleans Saints

    **Edit** – Here’s ESPN’s expert predictions, it’ll be interesting to see how I fare against these schmucks.

  • Prognostication 101: Man Versus Machine

    I wanted to use this article to make some quick picks for the upcoming college football season. I thought it would be fun to see if I can do a more accurate job of forecasting than the NCAA 11 video game and since real life college football starts this Thursday, this figures to be a good time to do it. NCAA 11 picks in bold, my picks in italics. At the end of the season, we’ll compare and see who fared better.

    ACC Champ
    Miami, FL (12-2)
    Virginia Tech (11-3)

    Thoughts: Whoever comes out of the ACC is going to have a number of losses. Miami has 5 very tough games this season, 3 of which are at home, so I doubt they’ll only lose 2 games this season. However, I expect them to make another big step towards that return to prominence. I could see Miami taking this conference if things go their way (or even North Carolina for that matter), but I like Virginia Tech out of the ACC. They have the week 1 clash with Boise State, but can basically coast all the way until weeks 9-11, when they play Georgia Tech at home and then on the road at North Carolina and Miami, FL. How they fare in that 3 week stretch will determine their season. My guess is they split those 4 games and then lose either in the ACC Championship or in their bowl game.

    The rest of my picks after the break. (more…)

  • 2010 NFL Quick Picks: NFC Edition

    Welcome back to our pre-season football series, so far we’ve hit on Phil Steele’s Top 25college football teams, I shared some quick fantasy football picks, and last week I compiled all the off-season additions for the AFC and dropped quick thoughts about each team.

    This week we’ll cover the NFC, and just like last week I referenced Foxsports.com for all of the free agent signings (accurate as of July 4),Backseatfan.com for all the trades (accurate as of June 19), and fftoolbox.com for the draft picks. I did my best to keep all the meaningful additions up to date as they happened, please forgive me if I missed some for your team. My team ratings after the jump. (more…)

  • 2010 NFL Quick Picks: AFC Edition

    So far in our football series leading up to the season, we’ve discussed Phil Steele’s Top 25 college football teams, and I shared some quick fantasy football picks with you last week. This week we’ll cover the AFC, some quick blurbs about each team’s offseason and how I think the season might shake out.

    I referenced Foxsports.com for all of the free agent signings (accurate as of July 4), Backseatfan.com for all the trades (accurate as of June 19), and fftoolbox.com for the draft picks. I did my best to keep all the meaningful additions up to date as they happened, please forgive me if I missed some for your team. My team ratings after the jump. (more…)

  • 2010 Fantasy Football Season Preview

    I love me some fantasy football. Although, to be honest, I really don’t participate in any re-draft leagues anymore, other than the Co-Ed league I’m in with my wife and a few of our friends. Oh, in case you aren’t familiar with the term ‘re-draft’, that’s just at league that holds a full draft every year, you don’t keep any players. I really focus on dynasty leagues, where you keep most or all of your team from season to season, and then hold a yearly rookie draft or a draft to re-fill your team. And even so, I used to be in almost 10 leagues, but life has caught up to me and I’m down to 2 or 3 leagues at the most.

    However, I still spend most of my Sundays with my eye on the ticker, and ample time researching the players for my league drafts. I’m not going to get particularly in depth with these rankings or picks, but I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you might have, either in the comments (remember, you can get yourself entered into our contest to win an iTunes gift card!) or via twitter. With that in mind, after the jump I’ll present you a quick overview of my position rankings… focusing more on the long term value of players over their immediate production this season. (more…)