MAC Blogger Pickem (Week 1)

MAC Blogger Pickem is back for its second season. Every week active MAC Bloggers will take their best guess at who wins the coming weeks games. Last season the pool grew from five to seven blogs as the season wore on. Eventually 'Lets Go Rockets' edged out Van Delay for the regular season crown. Nick had to console himself with picking most accurately in conference games.

I am hoping the pool grows to at least ten Bloggers this season, so far I have five confirmations, two of whom are from new participants. The confirmed participants are:

	Van Delay has been covering MAC sports longer than just about anyone else. Last Season he won the 'MAC Daddy Award' for picking conference matchups better than anyone else.
	Not too many Bloggers put more time and excitement into their Blog as Temple fanatic Dave over at the Owls Nest.
	Few sites cover the MAC to the depth that the MAC Daily does. Most blogs focus on only money sports. TMD covers every MAC sport and member institutions teams that compete out of conference.
	As a blog Hustle Belt is a relative new comer but Matt Sussman Is a veteran blogger and the whit, and content of hustle belt makes that pretty apparent. In less than a month the Belt has become one of my must read blogs.
	The Bowling Green blog aptly, albeit plainly, named "Falcon Blog" has been dishing up Bowling Green info since 2004. In the year I have been doing Bull Run few blogger have been as helpful as BJ has in helping me establish a presence.
	Mike Gibson's award winning blog has been pushing Temple football since way before it was fashionable. Few blogs are as well written or historically versed as Temple Football Forever
	Fire Up Chips, Kyle Warbers mlive Central Michigan Blog features more player and recruit interviews than just about any site blogging the MAC. It's a great combination of professional writing and fan passion.
	Red and Black Attack is a long time SBNation blog run by Mike Breese. Focusing on NIU Football, Basketball, and Baseball R&B's exposure on SBNation rivals anyone in the conference.
	Carter Addler's Eastern Michigan Blog "EMU Eagles" disscusses not only the game day events but what the university needs to do off the field. It’s a very new read, but rather informative.
	JPH and L8N have built one of the sleekest looking MAC Blogs out there. But don't be fooled "Let's go Rockets" is not just another pretty face, as evidenced by their victory in last seasons pick'em
	I have been running this site for a bit over a year and despite the fact when I started Bull Run I was challenged by a hardwired disregard for spelling, grammar, and punctuation The Blog has grown, and been embraced by UB Nation

This Weeks Games, and the computer generated favorites form CollegeFootballPoll.com are:

Favorite	Computer	Underdog
BALL STATE	-18.46	SE Missouri St.
BUFFALO	-18.43	Rhode Island
CENTRAL MICHIGAN	-33.35	Hampton
IOWA STATE	-3.85	Northern Illinois
KENT STATE	-19.46	Murray State
Arizona	-10.22	TOLEDO
Syracuse	-6.47	AKRON
Army	-6.15	EASTERN MICHIGAN
TROY	-7.42	Bowling Green
FLORIDA	-35.41	Miami, O.
MICHIGAN STATE	-11.32	Western Michigan
OHIO	-24.16	Wofford
TEMPLE	-33.28	Villanova

This Weeks Picks ( * Indicates an upset pick). All MAC Blogger Pickem are straight up, the spread above is only informational. Blogs can also change a pick right up until kickoff by sending an email.

	sem @ bsu	ri @ buf	ham @ cmu	mur @ ksu	niu @ isu	vil @ tem	arz @ tol	mia @ fla	wmu @ msu	syr @ akr	wof @ ou	arm @ emu	bg @ try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	niu*	tem	arz	fla	msu	syr	ou	arm	try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	niu*	tem	arz	fla	msu	syr	ou	arm	try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	niu*	tem	arz	fla	msu	syr	ou	emu*	try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	niu*	tem	arz	fla	msu	syr	ou	arm	try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	isu	tem	tol*	fla	msu	syr	ou	arm	try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	niu*	tem	tol*	fla	msu	syr	ou	arm	try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	isu	vil*	tol*	fla	msu	syr	ou	emu*	bg*
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	niu*	tem	arz	fla	msu	syr	ou	emu*	bg*
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	isu	tem	arz	fla	msu	syr	ou	arm	try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	niu*	tem	arz	fla	msu	syr	ou	arm	try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	niu*	tem	arz	fla	msu	syr	ou	emu*	try
	bsu	buf	cmu	ksu	niu*	tem	arz	fla	msu	syr	ou	arm	bg*

Pre-Kickoff Ballot notes:

Teams
Road Warriors: The teams that are most picked to win on the road. In the event of a tie the lowest computer generated point spread will decide.

• Syracuse on the road at Akron (Unanimous Pick)
• NIU on the road against Iowa State (Picked 8 times, 3.85 point dogs)
• Arizona on the road against EMU (Picked 8 times, 10.22 point favorites)

Home Boyz: The teams most often picked to win at home. Games where an FCS team is being hosted are not eligible. The Tie Breaker will be the greatest computer generated point spread:

• Florida hosting Miami (Unanimous Pick, 35.41 point favorites)
• Michigan State hosting WMU (Unanimous Pick, 11.32 point favorites)
• Temple hosting Villinova (Piked 8 times)

Poochie: The Underdog most often picked. The tie breaker is the greatest computer lowest point spread:

• NIU at Iowa State (Picked 8 times)
• EMU hosting Army (Picked 4 times)
• Toledo hosting Arizona (Picked 3 times)

Bloggers

Kennel Club Member: The blog that picks the most dogs. The tie breaker is the greatest sum of the spreads from their pooches.

• Fire Up Chips: 4 dogs (Bowling Green, EMU, Toledo, Villinova)
• EMU Eagles: 3 dogs (Bowling Green, EMU, NIU)
• Temple Football Forever: 2 Dogs (Toledo, NIU for a total of 14.07 points)

Dog Hater: The blog that is most averse to picking dogs. The tie breaker is the least sum of the spreads from their pooches

• Lets Go Rockets: 0 Dogs

Dare Devil: The boldest single pick of the week

• Fire Up Chips: For picking Villinova, a 33 point dog, at Temple.

Blog	Total Right	Total Wrong	Total %	Dogs Right	Dogs Wrong	Dogs %
Lets Go Rockets	6	0	1.000	-	-	-
Bull Run	5	1	0.833	0	1	0
EMU Eagles	5	1	0.833	0	1	0
Falcon Blog	5	1	0.833	0	1	0
Hustle Belt	5	1	0.833	0	1	0
MAC Daily	5	1	0.833	0	1	0
Over the Pylon	5	1	0.833	0	1	0
Red and Black	5	1	0.833	0	1	0
The Owl Nest	5	1	0.833	0	1	0
Van Delay	5	1	0.833	0	1	0
Fire Up Chips	4	2	0.667	0	2	0
Temple FB Forever	4	2	0.667	0	2	0