Uggh!
Remember how happy everybody was after the first week of the season? The two games that everyone thought we had a good shot to lose were the only games the B1G lost.
Then week two. O.M.G. Watching week two unfold was like watching the actual footage of Aron Ralston amputating his arm with a broken imitation Leatherman multi-tool.
Anyway...Margin Call values after the jump.
Trading will be open today from 7am CDT to 7pm CDT.
Rules here if you missed them.
Illinois looked incompetent and never dominant in a shellacking by the Arizona State Sun Devils out in the desert. I'm not sure if it is too early to jump to conclusions but the Illini performance in week two did nothing to inspire confidence that they should be a darkhorse for Indianapolis. A rebound against Charleston Southern might engender some faith in this team...One and half Delany Dollars.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
Indiana crushed the UMASS Minutemen who were playing their second game ever on the I-A level and lost Tre Roberson in the process. IU gets a bump this week for winning two straight. Up next for the Hoosiers the Cardinals of Testicle Tech Ball State. For those of you holding IU stock, Congratulations! Your investment just doubled in value to one Delany Dollar.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
Iowa not only wore throwback uniforms, it also played throwback football. Only this throwback football was reminiscent of one of those barnburners from the NFL in the 80's when Tampa Bay and Seattle would play, no one would score a touchdown, and everyone who invested any time in the game would lose. Which is more sad? Iowa lost 9-6 to Iowa State or that people are saying this is the best ISU team in years and they could only manage to beat a poor Iowa team 9-6? This week Iowa gets a Central Michigan squad fresh off a drubbing by the Spartans. Should there be a line in this game? One and a half Delany Dollars is probably too generous.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
Yeah! Denard Robinson had more yards of offense than the entire Michigan Wolverine team. Still it took a couple of fortuitous defensive stands for the Wolverines to escape the Air Force Academy. Shoelace will go for 500 yards combined, 4 TD's and 2 interceptions as the Big House hosts a UMASS team that just was axe handled by IU. Shouldn't be pretty. Shouldn't prove anything. UM holds at one Delany Dollar in week two.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
Spartans hold at Five Delany Dollars for this week. Andrew Maxwell, Bennie Fowler and Dion Sims got the passing game back on track against CMU. Larry Caper, Le'Veon Bell and a plethora of other running backs went for 163 yards. Notre Dame coming off a squeaker over Purdue gets Cierre Woods back in time for Michigan State's second night home game in three weeks. This game may shape whether MSU is capable of big things this year.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
The four teams eligible in the B1G left undefeated after two weeks of play are MSU, IU, Northwestern, and Minnesota . Let that sink in for a minute. Maybe the Mayan apocalypse had nothing to do with the end of the world. Let's see what the Gophers can do with Western Michigan. Two Delany Dollars.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
Well. That was fun while it lasted, huh? Nebraska isn't getting crushed for the road loss to UCLA, as the Bruins may turn out to be better than we thought. The Red Wolves of Arkansas State visit Lincoln. They put up 34 on the Ducks in week one and beat Memphis this week. NU-L shouldn't take anything for granted and must hope to get Rex back soon. Three Delany Dollars for the Huskers this week.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
As Chad has happily recounted for us; Northwestern is the only squad in the country with two wins over AQ conference teams this season to date. Another nerd fight looms in week three as the Boston College Eagles come to town. NU is up to four Delany Dollars.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
Braxton Miller had another good game going for nearly 300 yards rushing/passing with 4 TD's and an interception. He's kind of like Denard Robinson except he can throw the ball. UCF hung around a into the 2nd half. California comes in for a game this week and after an upset to Nevada in week one, who knows what we'll get from the Bears. Four and half Delany Dollars for the Buckeyes.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
After this week's performance Penn State stock has no bank value. You can sell it between yourselves (or give it back to the bank) if you'd like but PSU shares will not be issued or sold from the bank this week. Navy, who hasn't played since a week one drubbing by ND, comes to town this week. Let's hope PSU can reclaim some value. A Margin Call first: Zero Delany Dollars.
BUY/SELL/HOLD BURN
Purdue nearly beat Notre Dame on the road for the first time in a while (2004?). The Boilers alternated between Marve-lous and Ter-rible against the Domers. I realize TerBush led the Boliers to a game tying score, but one wonders what Marve might have accomplished had he had the whole game to play. Hold at two and half Delany Dollars. Eastern is really bad and Purdue's "Three Quarterback Monte" probably should appear successful against the Eagles.
BUY/SELL/HOLD
Um. Yeah. Wisconsin lost for the first time in 33 non-conference games to an Oregon State team that won three games last year. It really was that bad. Guess they really didn't need that game film, eh Brah? I lied last week...this is probably a low as you will be able to get the Badgers all season. Utah State comes in after upseting the in-state rival Bee HIves, Polygamists, Utes. This is supposed to be a victory...not sure I see UW losing at Camp Randall to these guys but stranger things have happened in the B1G already. Two Delany Dollars
BUY/SELL/HOLD
You know how this works. Trades in the comments.
Many thanks to the excellent site Helmet Project for all the helmet pictures used in this post.