Tusk to Tail: Are you smarter than a 15-year tailgater? WEEK 2

The members of Tusk to Tail have been following the Hogs nearly all their lives, missing only one game in the past 15 years. Each week, they will be asked to pick the winners of 5 games, and answer one question. Results from last week’s game picks and question are at the end of this report.

Think you can do better? Give it a shot! (Visit the link to the webform at the end of the predictions to make your picks.)

The games:

Arkansas vs. Samford
South Carolina vs. Georgia
Florida vs. Miami
Tennessee vs. Western Kentucky
Notre Dame vs. Michigan

The question:  Who wins the BCS national championship this year?

• Sean Casey
Arkansas wins big.
USC light crushes UGA and Richt's seat gets hot.
Florida barely beats Miami 14-10 in the most boring game of the weekend.
WKU cruises to an early lead and holds off a late surge by the Tenner volleyball team.
Notre Dame prevails at Michigan in a helluva pillow fight.

Bama beats Louisville handily in the final BCS Championship game reinforcing the need for a playoff.

• Jack Clark
Hogs 40-7 over Samford. The entire squad may get into the game this weekend.  Samford only reaches our side of the field twice the entire game.
Georgia 24-20 over South Carolina. The winner will be the SEC East champion at the end of the season.
Florida 13-10 over Miami.
I think Tennessee beats Western Kentucky, but it will be close, call it 30-24.
I'm a mild Irish Fan so I'll go with Notre Dame over Michigan, 38-28

Ohio State beats the winner of this weekend’s South Carolina – Georgia game.

• Dale Cullins
Hogs 48 to 9 over Samford
South Cackalacka will take this in another close one, 31 – 27
Still don't think Miami has enough, I'll take Florida 24 – 17
Close one but I think Tenner has more talent, 24 – 21
Never have been a ND fan, I'll take Michigan 33 – 27

Hard to pick this early, but I think you have to go with Saban and Bama until someone beats them. I like 4 other teams to get there, maybe Oregon, Ohio State, Florida State or Clemson. In the end, Oregon has the talent and a good schedule. I'll say Bama wins it over Oregon, 8 straight for the SEC!

• Greg Houser
Arkansas over Samford.  BIG!!!
South Carolina. Toss up really
Go Gators. Miami doesn't have enough
Tennessee by 2 TDs. O-line and D-line will be too much
Michigan. Notre Dame has lost too much

I'd like to see Stanford and any SEC team, which will probably be Alabama. SEC takes precedence, so Bama with another natty.

• Craig May
Arkansas
Georgia
Florida
WKU
Michigan

Georgia beats Texas for the National Championship.

• David Rice
Arkansas hangs half-a-hundred in a complete blowout.
South Carolina ends Georgia’s season in week 2.
Florida wins a low-scoring dogfight.
Tennessee beats WKU, due to talent difference in SEC.
Michigan beats the Irish.

I think the SEC’s championship streak ends, but can’t decide who ends it. How about Oregon over South Carolina?

• Mark Wagner
Arkansas wins big 42-10. This one won't be close, but score is kept low as Coach Bielema plays the second and third team.
South Carolina wins this in a close one, 27-24. Georgia was exposed by Clemson and SC has one the last 3, so call me a traditionalist.
I stick with the SEC in this one and predict a Florida win. Miami likes to run as does Florida, but the Florida defense is supposed to be better. I guess we will find out this week. Florida 21 – Miami 17.
Vols 35 – WKU  27. Hard to predict this one. I think there will be a lot of offense, and I think the difference in talent of the SEC vs. The Sunbelt will give Tennessee the win. Also if Bobby Petrino never wins another game, I can't say that I would be unhappy.
Notre Dame @ Michigan is a bit of a toss-up. Notre Dame was big last year, but the imaginary girlfriends have all moved on. My gut tells me that Michigan will win this in a defensive battle 14-10 over the Irish.

BCS Championship will be between Alabama and Louisville, with Alabama winning it. Louisville has a schedule that will leave them undefeated, but having played no one. When will these schools ever learn? They should just start taking whoever wins the SEC Championship and give them the trophy.

• The Guy with Dale’s Phone
Ark
Georgia
Florida
Tennessee
Michigan

What the national championship game ought to be:
SEC v. SEC
What I expect:
SEC v. some other team that doesn't matter
What it will be:
An SEC team with another championship

MAKE YOUR PREDICTIONS
Link here to make your predictions and challenge the wisdom of these veteran Razorback tailgaters.

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK
The Tusk to Tail crew is more optimistic than the small sampling of Razorback fans who responded to the “Are you smarter than a 15-year tailgater” survey.

Of the seven core members Tusk to Tail, five believe the Hogs will end the year with a 6-6 record. However, 40% of the survey respondents believe the team will end the year at 5-7, with just a little more than 13% predicting a 6-6 season.

Here are how the game predictions compared.
Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Arkansas (Arkansas 34, Louisiana-Lafeyette 14)
T2T: 100% picked an Arkansas win
Survey: 93% picked an Arkansas win
Advantage: T2T

#1 Alabama vs. Virginia Tech (Alabama 35, Virginia Tech 10)
T2T: 100% picked an Alabama win
Survey: 100% picked an Alabama win
Advantage: even

#5 Georgia vs. #8 Clemson (Georgia 35, Clemson 38)
T2T: 57% picked a Clemson win
Survey: 74% picked a Georgia win
Advantage: T2T

#12 LSU vs. #20 TCU (LSU 37, TCU 27)
T2T: 71% picked an LSU win
Survey: 86% picked an LSU win
Advantage: Survey

Mississippi State @ #13 Oklahoma State (Mississippi State 3, Oklahoma State 21)
T2T: 100% picked an Oklahoma State win
Survey: 80% picked an Oklahoma State win
Advantage: T2T

Overall, it appears the Tusk to Tail crew has a better handle on college football than the average fans.