Fraud Five by Mike Kern – September 27th Edition

The Fraud Five

by Mike Kern

September 27, 2020

The first one of the season. And really, it has been too long. But we need something. At this point, we need almost anything.

Oklahoma — We knew this season could be a lot different, just because. But it only took one week of the heavy hitters playing to realize just how much that might apply. Sooners, who always make the playoffs, had a 21-point lead at home to a Kansas State team that had lost at home to Arkansas State. Oh well. Wasn’t enough. K-State upset them for the second straight season. It happens. I just don’t think we saw it happening again. Which is why the Sooners, ranked No. 3, were favored by like three or four touchdowns. But that’s why Fraud Five has existed for all this time.

LSU — Ok, few expected the defending champs to make another serious run at a title. The Tigers had simply lost too much. But they’re still the Tigers. Now they’re the 0-1 Tigers, after they lost at home to Mississippi State and new coach Mike Leach. And gave up 44 points in the process, as a transfer quarterback from Stanford threw for over 600 yards. Yo.

Texas Tech — Sorry, but you can’t have a 15-point lead at home with like three minutes left over Texas and lose. But the Red Raiders did. They allowed the Longhorns to recover an insides kick, and get a two-point conversion at the end to force overtime. It’s why some teams are Texas, and others are Tech. Just pointing out. Don’t hold it against the bloke sending the message.

Florida State — I know this isn’t Florida State any more, and hasn’t been in awhile. But you still shouldn’t be losing 52-10 at Miami, which used to be the game of the year almost every year. Times change. And maybe Miami with the guy who was the Temple coach for like five minutes is really back. Nevertheless, this seems like an excessive transgression. Cud be a sign of the times though.

Louisville — I guess losing at Pitt isn’t a great sin, but I thought Louisville was supposed to be legitimately good, or something like that. Now the Cards are 0-2, and I don’t know how many folks would have predicted that. This loss was only by three points on the road, coming off a bigger loss at home to the already-mentioned Miami. So I guess we’ll see who was right or wrong.

Georgia Tech — I don’t know how good either Georgia Tech and former Temple coach Geoff Collins are, in his second season. For that matter, I could say the same about Syracuse. But the visitors were favored, coming off a nice win at Florida State. Oops, maybe I read too much into that. And Syracuse had lost at North Carolina, which is supposed to be pretty good, by 25. So who knows? But the final here was 37-20, which feels like too much. And mine is the only opinion that matters, for better or whatever.

Boston College — I have to admit I know little about BC. Or its new coach, Jeff Harley, a former Ohio State assistant, except that he replaced Steve Addazio and that the Eagles haven’t been relevant in some time. I also don’t know much about Texas State other than, well, they’re Texas State. But the visitors, a 21-point dog, was up 14. Wasn’t enough. BC scored a TD with a minute left, and won it on a field goal at the buzzer. Hey, the Eagles had lost to Kansas as a 21-point dog last year, which is one reason why Addazio is gone. But now they have a Notre Dame transfer at QB. Texas State had never beaten a team from a Power 5 conference since moving up to FBS in 2012. It last beat a team from a top league in 1986. For trivial pursuit purposes, that was Rice of the Southwest Conference. The final was 31-6. Call Alex Trebek. I want to bet it all.

Enjoy. See you next week. I was going to put the Phillies in, but that would be piling on. And as I’m writing this on Sunday morning they still have a slim chance to get into the playoffs, so there. But it sure hasn’t been pretty lately. The doubleheader loss to the Washingtons on Tuesday pretty much summed up their journey. Sadly.

And of course I’m assuming the Eagles don’t fall to 0-3 at home against the Bungles and their prized top draft pick. But I guess you never know. Ask Oklahoma.