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The Smoking Musket Pick ‘Em Gauntlet is an online college pick ‘em game where we will try to pick the winners of the weekly Big 12 contests plus Yahoo! editors’ selected games (usually the games involving the top 25 teams). We do pick against the spread (when available). There are usually 20-30 games to pick each week and each correct pick is worth one point. The winner (excluding Musket staff) will be the person at the end of the regular season who has the most correct picks/points. Points are cumulative, so don’t worry if you happen to miss a week or two. We will award the winner a WVU Nike T-shirt at the conclusion of the games in December.
All participants are subject to the Official Rules as determined by SB Nation.
We actually filled the first group, so we had to open a second league to fit everyone in. The second league will serve solely as an extension of the first league, and is not a standalone league. If you are in the second league, you are still competing with those in the first league.
Our game, as in the past, will be hosted by Yahoo! Fantasy. GAME LINK
Group Name: The Smoking Musket II
Group ID: 10859
Group password: letsgo
We have 27 games to pick this week, starting TONIGHT AT 7:30 PM EST. Deadline for each pick is 5 minutes before kickoff.
Here are the leaders after week 9. Congratulations to bwanamzungu for winning week 9 with 19 correct picks (all you win for this is kudos).
Smoking Musket Pick’Em Gauntlet Week Nine Leaderboard
| Rank | Pick Set Name | Total Points | Win-Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Pick Set Name | Total Points | Win-Loss |
| 1 | Cellyson84 | 136 | 136-101 |
| 2 | Mountaineer757 | 132 | 132-105 |
| 3 | WVUSWIM | 131 | 131-106 |
| 4 | JABJR1972 | 130 | 130-107 |
| 5 | Southern'Eer | 130 | 130-107 |
| 6 | Coal Powers America | 129 | 129-108 |
| 7 | Go eers | 129 | 129-108 |
| 8 | London | 128 | 128-109 |
| 9 | RHowell21 | 127 | 127-110 |
| 10 | WVUDewMan | 126 | 126-111 |
| 11 | pat white is still my hero | 126 | 126-111 |
| 12 | Dan D'Antoni is a chode | 125 | 125-112 |
| 13 | EYE23 | 125 | 125-112 |
| 14 | relyT | 125 | 125-112 |
| 15 | WVU Shoe | 124 | 124-113 |
| 16 | Genghis518 | 124 | 124-113 |
| 17 | Eat Sh!t Pitt | 124 | 124-113 |
| 18 | SmoxSayz | 124 | 124-113 |
| 19 | Don't Bet On It | 123 | 123-114 |
| 20 | TickleMeWillyG | 123 | 123-114 |
| 21 | Mountaineer93 | 123 | 123-114 |
| 22 | KY4WVU | 123 | 123-114 |
| 23 | The smoking musket 11 | 123 | 123-114 |
And now, the predictions!
Nick Shoemaker
I think this will be a very close game until the fourth quarter. I wouldn’t be surprised if West Virginia trails early on in this game. I predict that a forced turnover late in the game will set Will Grier and the WVU offense up for an easy touchdown to help the Mountaineers run away with a tough road win.
West Virginia 24 - Texas 14
WVUIE97
This is a strange thing to say, but I trust the WVU defense more than the offense at the moment and think they can handle the Texas offense. I do think the offense does enough and hits at least 2 long scores. The key, as usual, will be moving the chains on 3rd down and converting TDs instead of settling for FGs. This one will be tough but the good guys prevail.
West Virginia 34 - Texas 24
WVUNite
I want to believe that we will win this but something just has me thinking Herman will use last week against OSU as enough motivation and Texas, when they want to be, can be more physical. That seems like enough of a problem that we could press and we’re not far enough removed from the ass kicking in Ames.
Texas 28 - West Virginia 21
statsboyandi
WVU heats up the Texas defense.
West Virginia 42 - Texas 23
Matt Kirchner
This is mostly a blind guess. I think this team is closer to what we saw against Baylor than what we saw against Iowa State, but as always, the truth is somewhere in the middle.
West Virginia 35 - Texas 21
Michael Miller
Last week, I was feeling down about how well the Mountaineers could rebound from that Iowa State loss, predicting a narrow victory and challenged them to prove me wrong. They did just that.
I think we saw West Virginia exorcise a lot of demons last week in Morgantown, and that’s going to carry over into Saturday afternoon in Austin. The Mountaineer offense is back to firing on all cylinders and Tony Gibson’s defense will be out for revenge after last year’s debacle. Texas gets on the board first with a field goal, but the Mountaineers take the lead on the next drive and never look back.
West Virginia 38 - Texas 17
John Radcliff
I have to imagine Texas is going to bring the pressure and try to duplicate what ISU did to us. We have to be able to run the ball and Will has to know where the hot receiver is. I don’t believe for a second that he’s going to be able to sit back in the pocket and wait for anything to open up. If it isn’t there, throw it away. Minimize the negative plays and we have a good chance to win.
West Virginia 35 - Texas 31
Robert Hurst
After a quick opening score, the Texas D slows down Will and Co for most of the first half. Things open up a little in the third quarter and WVU is able to keep the Horns at arms length. Gibby’s D turns UT over three times and Dana gets out of Austin with a W.
West Virginia 31 - Texas 21
BartimusPrime
This will be the toughest game for WVU this season. By that, I mean physical effort. That said, a fast start from the Mountaineers leaves the Longhorns scrambling to catch up, giving WVU more possessions, and more points.
West Virginia 34 - Texas 27