History is filled with near misses. The Kamikaze winds twice kept the Mongols from invading Japan and fully dominating east Asia in the 1200’s. The Zimmerman Telegram was intercepted before the German Empire could build an alliance with Mexico prior to American involvement in World War I. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear destruction, but cooler heads prevailed in the name of humanity over country.
Last Saturday, a near miss of equal magnitude occurred. Up three with under three minutes to play, Vanderbilt running back Rocko Griffin carried the ball for a first down to the South Carolina 10 yard line. At this point in the game, Vanderbilt, who’d last won an SEC road contest in October of 2018, had a 97.9% win probability. A touchdown would’ve sealed the win, but the Gamecocks defense stood tall and forced a field goal to keep the game within six points.
On the ensuing Carolina possession, former grad assistant-turned-quarterback Zeb Noland subbed in. Noland had started the first three games for his team, but had since been benched for Luke Doty. Noland would go on to complete five of eight passes for 75 yards in this final drive, capping it off with a nine yard touchdown pass to Xavier Legette with a mere 0:37 left on the clock.
South Carolina wins, Vanderbilt loses, and the bottom of the SEC stays in tact. Crisis averted.
Why do I bring this up? Had Vanderbilt finished off Shane Beamer’s first year squad, our little game would’ve met its end. Every single one of us, sans Travelin’ Tiger, picked South Carolina last week. So close, Tiger. So close.
IN MEMORIAM
Our first clean week! Congrats for barely scraping by, everyone. The final seven will live to pick again.
THE GAMES
All game times CT
Note - All remaining pickers have already chosen Georgia, so they will no longer be listed as an option.
South Carolina at #17 Texas A&M - 6:30 PM
LSU at #12 Ole Miss - 2:30 PM
Mississippi State at Vandy - 3:00 PM
Tennessee at #4 Alabama at Mississippi State - 6:00 PM
South Carolina at #17 Texas A&M - 6:30 PM
RESULTS
I’ll keep a running document of who’s picked who and who’s still alive. This will be the document of record, so let me know if you have any issues with it.
RULES
The rules are simple. Each week, you are to pick one SEC team to win their game. If you pick correctly, you advance. If you do not, well, see you next year I guess. Once you pick a team, though, you may not pick them again. If you decide to pick Alabama over Miami this week, you may not pick Alabama the rest of the year.
As usual, you can only pick a team who is playing a P5 opponent. No picking Auburn over Akron, or LSU over Central Michigan. I will go ahead and make a ruling on this now - you can pick Ole Miss over Liberty, who is an Independent.
All picks should be made in the comment section of the post, which will go up on Wednesdays (or Thursdays, whoops). Picks must be submitted by kickoff of the game you are picking.
Those who have been around will know, but a word of advice for any new players - go ahead and outline your picks for the season now. You don’t want to be the one with no eligible teams left to pick in October when everyone is on a BYE.
from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2021/10/21/22738713/the-official-unofficial-college-mag-survivor-pool-v5-8
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