Poolsville Picks 2013, Week of Champions

I can honestly say I am not sad to see the 2013 regular season finally come to a close. Of course, for some teams, the end came last Saturday, or in fact in one notable case, last Friday afternoon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There is no worthwhile purpose in seeking out the perfect words with which to express the disappointment of the Razorbacks' 2013 season. Instead, we'll look ahead to next year's campaign which, it must be said, surely cannot be as bad as this year.

However, there is at least one aspect of college football 2013 that demands careful review -NCAAFConverter. Born in a DARPA lab in the desert outside Las Vegas, raised on a steady diet of NCAAF head coach Twitter feeds (mostly SEC but with a measure of other major and mid-major conferences added in), The Converter bills itself as a fine-tuned prognostication machine churning out winning pick after winning pick, week after week. Instead, in the first week of December, The Converter finds itself hovering at the surface of the bottom quintile of the pool, rattling off 2-3 outings like they were in danger of going out of style, all the while leaking oil on the garage floor and making an awful wracket to boot. All I can say is, if The Converter does not step turn things around, it may find itself out on the curb some snowy morning next January.

So let's fire up The Converter and see whether it'll try to redeem itself now that we're down to a salvage operation. Here we go:

1.  Oklahoma - Oklahoma State (nine point undersooner OU worth two bonus points)
     NCAAFConverter : Cowpokes timeless; Sooner schooner past its prime

Interesting to think that Levi's Jeans have been around for almost 150 years, overlapping the heyday of the covered wagon. But which one is still in service today, while the other is more suited for the history museum? Mike Gundy looks pretty good in those jeans; OSU for the win. You can keep your bonus points, O Mayor of Poolsville.
2.  Texas - Baylor (15 point undercattle worth three bonus points)
     NCAAFConverter : Time for Bears to fold?

I don't think Mack Brown's gonna pull this off, but from what I can see, those Bears have a weak hand, but in a way that's bigger than tomorrow's game. Could Baylor lose for winning? What if a dominant Bear performance results in UT luring Bryles away from the shores of the Brazos River? Just over a hundred years ago, Waco lost TCU to Ft. Worth; maybe the money in Austin will peel off another of its bright lights. BU for the win, you can keep those shiny bonus points, O Mayor of Poolsville.

3.  Missouri - Auburn (war eagle favored by 2)
     NCAAFConverter : Just out of reach.

Although talent and skill have appeared in abundance during Auburn's 2013 season, exceptional fortune have also played a role. And while Missouri has earned its romp though the SEC East, they'll find themselves at the end of the game staring at a clawful of tail feathers as the war eagle soars off with another lucky victory. AU for the win.

4.  Stanford - Arizona State (ASU by 3)
     NCAAFConverter : Maybe it's time to rethink my PAC-12 bias

I've never been a fan of the PAC-12: I'm sure it's because of USC's membership (although the Kiffin years were great!). But The Converter's pick for the PAC-12 championship game appears to be spot on. ASU for the win.

5.  Ohio State - Michigan State (5 point underspartan MSU worth a bonus point)
     NCAAFConverter : Mich. Agr. Col.?

The Converter is going old school old school with this one. MSU for the win. And I'll take that shiny bonus point, O Mayor of Poolsville.