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The MRI Says...10/19/07
October 19, 2007 | By Benjamin Miraski
I am going to wait a little while to address the South Florida loss last night. I do think it was important in the grand scheme of things, but I still only had South Florida at #5 and I (not the MRI) actually picked Rutgers to win last night on FanIQ.
While there has been a lot of moaning about how South Florida didn't deserve its ranking, I don't think I can agree. They had two very good wins, and even this loss should be considered one of quality. Or have we forgotten that Rutgers can actually play ball.
Another bad start to the week from the MRI, going 0-2 last night, when it probably should have one at least one of the games last night. Tonight, I would imagine might be a little more of the same. Let's start with the easy one featuring the school for my next degree.
Northwestern at Eastern Michigan - Northwestern continues what has been the tragedy of Big Ten scheduling this season as they travel to Eastern Michigan. I think we saw that Northwestern can play this year given their games against Michigan and Michigan State, at least well enough to play against a MAC school. Their 4-3 record says as much. Wait, one of those losses was against Duke. Er, uh. OK, so Northwestern is going to have their hands full on the road with Eastern Michigan.
Wait, Eastern Michigan is #115 in the MRI. Even Notre Dame is better than that! #115 is down in Marshall territory, and only 5 away from being Florida International.
Apparently no rational analysis can work here. The MRI likes Northwestern, even if they did lose to Duke. Last time I checked, Northwestern was still in the Big Ten, and that means, you shouldn't lose to directional Michigan.
MRI Says: Northwestern Confidence Factor: 70.49%
Louisville at #12 Connecticut - Given Louisville's pattern this year, they should lose this game. They win against team that they should lose to, and they get beat by teams that should be no problem.
However, Connecticut just lost its first game of the year. While they are still up there in the MRI, a loss against Virginia knocked them down quite a bit. Even with the loss, Connecticut still has one of the best defenses in the nation in terms of yardage allowed per game.
Maybe Brian Brohm can change that. He looks like he plays for New Mexico State or Hawaii with the way he is throwing right now. He almost has 3000 yards on the season and should pass that in this game. He might be on track to get 6000 by the end of the year, after the bowl games. That is sure making a statement for the draft (including his #5 passer rating this season).
The MRI likes the Huskies, but I see this one going the other way.
Of course, this year, anything is possible.
MRI Says: Connecticut Confidence Factor: 76.00%
This Week: 0-2
Season Record: 121 - 51, 70.35%
Lifetime Record: 1483 - 625, 70.35%
All rankings are the current MRI ranking of the team
The MRI is a computer football ranking system. It has been picking games since 2003. Ben Miraski writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com
Posted October 19, 2007 3:00 PM
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