FTRS Picks 2025 Championship Week: Dealing with Disappointment

Pick results summary here. Despite the large number of picks we actually had quite a high median of 18 and average of 17.07 correct picks. The top pickers shared a 4 way tie with 20 correct picks each. Gtbadcarma, Edgarina, Russel, and kjjrb555 all did fantastic jobs this week. Gtbadcarma in particular needs celebration as he is now tied for the top spot on the season with donkeygoatrunner at 107 correct picks on the season. This is the last pick of the regular season where positions can change significantly (Army v Navy counts but only has a single game so not much is changing there) so we will see how things shake out at the end of this week. Good luck everyone!

The regular season is officially over for the Jackets. My feelings are mixed. While I understand that I should be happy with a 9-win season, currently I am feeling resounding disappointment due to us dropping 3 of our last 4 games.

It’s a thin margin between a good season and a great season. Brent Key, Haynes King, and the rest of the Jackets had a chance to make this not only a great season, but a legendary one. Unfortunately, they fell short for reasons I cannot yet fully explain.

The defense at times looked completely lost, and yet sometimes had miraculous performances that made them look on par with top 10 opponents. The offense was supposed to be our saving grace most of the year, but at times they struggled to get going early and had some bizarre playcalling decisions which hampered us at the worst times.

Maybe we lost focus, or maybe we were simply lucky in our first 8 games, either way we now sit at home with 9 wins while we get to watch a Duke team we beat on the road play for the ACC championship. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. Even worse is we don’t know what lies on the horizon for the transfer portal, for our coaches who may look for new jobs, and for the upcoming schedule as other opponents in the ACC seems to be improving their coaching and rosters.

So, while I thank Key and the rest of the staff for one of the best season’s I have seen in a long time, it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth that will sit with me till next year. I was honored to have a QB like Haynes King, but it’s sad that he ended his career with some of his worst game performances. This was not how I pictured the year ending, and while I know there is a bowl game awaiting us, I can’t help but feel disappointed.

Key has made it a point to keep building a better team each year. Hopefully we can build on the successes of this year and put the short comings behind us.

Anyway… Championship week is here and the teams that earned their spots are ready to play for the title of their respective conferences. This certainly means more to some teams than others. Ironically for the conference where it just means more, it seems uga would rather not be playing in the championship game. Meanwhile for the ACC, Duke has a great chance to make sure no ACC teams make the college football playoffs by winning the ACC title. Then there are teams like Kennesaw State who don’t even care about the college football playoff and just want to win one more game in their magical season. So much is on the line (for everyone other than uga) and when it’s all on the line that’s when we see the best come out in every team. I can’t wait to see what the weekend holds!

picks:

Conference USA Championship: Kennesaw State Owls @ Jacksonville State Gamecocks (-1.5)

Logan: What a year for Kennesaw State. They went from a 2-10 season last year to a 9-3 season with a chance at winning the C-USA championship. The Owls dropped their only in conference game this year against Jacksonville State and now have a chance to take on the Gamecocks once again. I don’t know if Kennesaw counts as being in the greater Atlanta area, but if it is this might be the success story of the year for Atlanta sports. I’d be lying if I said I knew much about either team, but I will pick Kennesaw State to win as it is just too good of a story.

Logan’s pick: Kennesaw State

Sun Belt Championship: Troy Trojans @ #19 James-Madison Dukes (-22.5)

Logan: With Duke in the ACC championship the next 2 games for G5 teams suddenly became very important. I have no doubt James-Madison will win this game; the real question is can they cover this huge point spread. I tend to view conference championship games as being pretty close matchups so I want to say Troy will cover, but James-Madison will be looking to beat down the opponent and get their ranking as high as possible before the CFP rankings come out. Vegas may be right about this spread but I will take Troy to keep things close.

Logan’s pick: Troy

American Athletic Conference Championship: #20 North Texas Mean Green (-2.5) @ #21 Tulane Green Wave

Logan: Whoever wins this game has a good chance of being catapulted into the CFP. Tulane has relied on their defense to help keep them in games as their offense has been good but not great. When the defense can’t stop high scoring teams that is when Tulane tends to struggle. North Texas has an aggressive high scoring offense with the #19 EPA per offensive play in the country. I think the Tulane defense will struggle to contain the Mean Green and if North Texas wins convincingly enough, they should be in the CFP.

Logan’s pick: North Texas

Mountain West Championship: UNLV Rebels @ Boise State Broncos (-3.5)

Logan: Both of these teams’ matchup pretty well against each other. In their matchup earlier in the year Bosie State beat the Rebels 56-31. since that game Boise State’s offense has not looked as clean and have struggled to put up points against top tier opponents. UNLV doesn’t have a great defense, but they should be ready for this rematch. UNLV has been building their program to win this game, and I think this is the year the Rebels finally win the Mountain West.

Logan’s pick: UNLV

BIG 12 Championship: #11 BYU Cougars v #5 Texas Tech Red Raiders (-13.5), Played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas

Logan: I have noted in a few games that it is hard for teams to beat the same team twice. I doubt the Red Raiders will have that problem. Texas Tech has shown a great deal of talent on both sides of the ball and wiped the floor with BYU in their first game. I think Texas Tech will take BYU to the cleaners in this game.

Logan’s pick: Texas Tech

MAC Championship: Miami of Ohio Redhawks v Western Michigan Broncos (-2.5), Played at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan

Logan: Sorry for the lack of takes here, this is the one matchup I know little about. I worked at Kalamazoo for a while when the Broncos were still a 9-to-10-win team every season, I’m glad to see them back to playing for MAC championships. I’ll take Western Michigan to win this one.

Logan’s pick: Western Michigan

SEC Championship: uga doggos (-2.5) v #10 Alabama Crimson Tide, Played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

Logan: The only bad thing that happened to uga all year was their loss to Alabama. It’s tough to beat a team twice. uga gets to play this game basically at home in the Benz, so a lot is in their favor. This has been the year of the universe granting good things to uga, and I don’t expect things to change much in this game. nothing bad happens to uga.

Logan’s pick: uga

BIG 10 Championship: #2 Indiana Hoosiers v #1 Ohio State Buckeyes (-6.5), Played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana

Logan: Oh boy! This is going to be a fun one. Both teams have the highest FPIs in the land and have been dominant on both offense and defense for pretty much all their games. For this game I keep coming back to how Indiana keeps exceeding expectations. Ohio State may be a better team talent wise, but Indiana plays with more passion than any other team in the NCAA at the moment. I’ll take Indiana to find a way to win this game.

Logan’s pick: Indiana

ACC Championship Game: Duke Blue Devils v #16 Virginia Cavaliers (-2.5), Played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina

Logan: The ACC is a joke. Being a salty Georgia Tech fan may be impacting my opinion of the ACC, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Keep in mind that the College Football Playoff only guarantees spots for the top 5 ranked conference champions. Some people assume that means all the P4 teams are guaranteed spots, but the text doesn’t specify P4 champions. If Duke wins this game, they will still likely be ranked behind James-Madison, and either North Texas or Tulane and, depending on how the committee views Miami, the ACC could be left out of the playoffs entirely. The logical side of me expects Viriginia to win, Duke is just too inconsistent on both defense and offense. That said, wouldn’t it be the most ACC ever for Duke to win this game and blow up everything? I’m going for the insanity pick and taking Duke to ruin the ACC’s year.

Logan’s pick: Duke

View Link