Mike Kern’s Fraud Five – September 9, 2018 Edition

Because, like White Castle sliders, for whatever reason many people seem to crave it. Go figure

1. North Carolina — Probably shouldn’t be losing at East Carolina. But definitely shouldn’t be losing by 22 at ECU. Especially not after you’re leading by two at halftime. Too bad the Tar Heels didn’t score after that.

2. Arizona — It’s OK to lose at Houston, but maybe not by 45-18. And it was 31-zip at the half. Good thing the Wildcats are supposed to be better this year.

3. Temple — I don’t usually pick on the Owls, but I thought they were going to be like an 8-win team in Geoff Collins’ second season. And they still might. But they can’t be losing to Buffalo, which admittedly isn’t bad, on a last-second touchdown. Especially the week after they just lost at home to FCS Villanova, which admittedly isn’t bad either. And the schedule still has a lot of tough games on it, with many of them on the road. So we’ll see.

4. Pitt — It’s OK to lose to Penn State, even at home, even after you’ve talked about how much the “rivalry” means and how you wish Penn State would play you all the time instead of once in awhile. But 51-6 does seem a little, well, excessive, particularly in Pittsburgh. Good thing it was only 14-6 at the half.

5. Florida — I guess the Gators had to lose to Kentucky sometime, after all these many years. But maybe not in The Swamp, and maybe not by getting outscored 20-6 in the closing 25 minutes. I’m guessing this isn’t what new coach Dan Mullen had in mind when he returned to Gainesville.

Dishonorable Mention: Nebraska — I don’t know how good Nebraska is going to be. Ditto Colorado. But the Cornhuskers were a slight favorite at home. I’m guessing this isn’t what new coach Scott Frost had in mind when he returned to Lincoln.

Michigan State — I know the Spartans were only a slight favorite at Arizona State (the line actually got bet down). But they were ranked 11th. Coupled with Michigan’s opening-week loss at Notre Dame and Penn State’s near home loss to Appalachian State, it’s not a good early look for the Big Ten East, which is supposed to be right up there with the SEC West as the nation’s toughest neighborhood. Anyway, they did only lose at the buzzer on a field goal. But they didn’t score in the second half. At least they don’t play Notre Dame, which has beaten them four of the last five meetings. Details.

I could have added Florida State, which struggled at home against FCS Samford (Bobby Bowden’s alma mater, when it was still called Howard College, not to be confused with Stanford), the week after getting whacked at home by Virginia Tech. And after which new coach Willie Taggart complained about the Hokies’ supposedly faking injuries to slow down the Seminoles, who of course managed all of three points. Yo. But I try whenever possible to stay away from picking on teams that still manage to win, no matter how close they came. Nevertheless, it should be duly noted that the Noles were losing this one with a little over four minutes to go.

See you next week.