Analysis. History. Perspective.

Sports Then and Now



Mighty Zultan’s Fearless College Football Forecast for Week 13 31

Posted on November 21, 2011 by JA Allen

Purude knocked off Ohio State in a big upset in Week 11.

Chaos reigned over college football this past weekend as top-ranked and favored teams crashed and burned on surreal Saturday.

Yet, in the midst of such upheaval, a pattern emerged. All of the “O” teams lost, as in Oh, No—not Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon and Ohio State—all losers in week 12.

This scenario would have revealed itself early if Zultan’s Mom had not dropped-kicked his crystal ball into the Iowa River after the Hawkeyes lost to Minnesota in week nine. The subtle floating clue remained hidden since the Big Z had no crystal ball to gaze into, granting him gridiron visions of the future.

As it turned out, none of you detected this slight tilt in the prognosticating wheel of fortune either because not one of you out-guessed the all-seeing seer in week 12. Zultan went 7-3 and no one who entered the contest did better.

Unfortunately for all of you, this is Zultan’s last regular season forecast—so make sure you click here to enter your guesses in dreaded and decidedly wicked week 13. Zultan shudders at the prospect of selecting winners in such a cursed week.

This is your very last chance to better the Mighty Zultan in 2011—so take a spin.

Week 13 this marks the end of the schedule for several conferences. Now teams scurry to become bowl eligible—which forces respective athletic directors to sit by the phone, praying for a call from the selection committee inviting their team to the “bowl.”

Zultan expects his fans will demand a special “bowl selection” prognostication from the all-seeing seer—which he will do if demand is high enough.  Let Zultan hear from you if you wish to challenge him in picking the winners of the ten biggest bowl games!

Read the rest of this entry →

Lucky Week 13 of Zultan’s Fearless College Football Forecast… 1

Posted on November 22, 2010 by JA Allen

Zultan's last college football forecast for the regular season.

Here we are at long last at the end of the season.

All the questions we had in September have been answered, for the most part. Some teams exceeded expectations while others fell short.

Most of the perennial favorites remained where they always reside––at the top.

For Week 12, Zultan failed three times––at Iowa, Nebraska and Miami. Miami lost by two touchdowns and Iowa and Nebraska, each by three points.  Besides sharing a border, the Hawkeyes and Huskers shared mutual pain as time ticked down irrevocably on their season.

A dozen did better than Zultan and guest prognosticator, Craig Bancroft. These prophetic soothsayers will be listed at the end of the article along with appropriate kudos.

Be sure to click here to match wits with Zultan himself for the last time in this regular season finale.

As the 2010 regular season fades into the history books, it is time to look forward to Bowl Season. It promises to be another sizzler.

But in the meantime let us look at lucky Week 13 picks:

Game 1: (24) Iowa at Minnesota

After another devastating loss to one of the big guys in the Big Ten, Iowa (7-4, 4-3 Big Ten) heads north to play the Minnesota Gophers (2-9, 1-6, Big Ten) at TCM Stadium in Minneapolis.

The Gophers finally won a Big Ten game on the road at Illinois.

Buoyed, Minnesota will be looking forward to a disheartened Iowa team sitting on their doorstep, poised for another loss.

Iowa, however, after suffering through a two-game losing skid, will be on a mission to end their season on a positive note by defeating the Gophers on the road.

Hopefully, the end result for the Hawkeyes will lead to another great Bowl game someplace warmer than chilly Iowa City.

Pick  Iowa

Read the rest of this entry →

  • Vintage Athlete of the Month

    • Rusty Staub: A Man For All Ages
      April 8, 2024 | 1:26 pm
      Rusty Staub

      The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.

      Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.

      Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.

      Read more »

    • RSSArchive for Vintage Athlete of the Month »
  • Follow Us Online

  • Current Poll

    Who Will Win the 2024 World Series?

    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...
  • Post Categories



↑ Top