As we all know, Power Polls are silly- some of the voters don’t even watch any games! But people love lists, which is why Buzzfeed is a thing, so here’s Justin McIsaac’s TOP TEN!
 

10. MOM JEANS IN THE JAGUARS POOL WINS THE WEEKEND

Listen, we’ve all been there. You get stuck going to see the Jags play, maybe your boss gave you the tickets and you look like a jerk if you don’t go. But it’s 5000 degrees, the game stinks, and you just want to party. One problem- you’re wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Are you gonna let that stop you? Not if you the last on the right in this picture http://tinyurl.com/lznp5ux . That’s the spirit of America right there, or at least Florida.

9. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE PLAYOFF SYSTEM

Reasonable people seem to agree that 6 divisions was too many, but 3 seems to be too few, and that 4 is the right amount to have in NH (I’m predicting it’ll be 4 next year). But we have what we have this season, which  means only four of these teams:
 

Are going to make the playoffs, when you can argue that 7 should. The conference playoff games were a decent idea in theory, but we saw last year that A) It gets some teams in that shouldn’t be in and B) The so called “Conference Championship” was something nobody cared about. In fact, I think most people just referred to those games as quarterfinal games. Get it down to 4 Divisions, have conference winners get in to the playoffs, and then use a Heal Point system, or a committee, or SOMETHING to figure out the rest.

8. THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

I wouldn’t go there for heart surgery, but they’ve got 2 teams in the AP top 5, with Ole Miss beating Nick Saban, and Mississippi State handing A&M their lunch. I was in Alabama in April, and I heard the people talk about the Alabama spring game for 22 straight minutes. The deep south takes their NCAA football more seriously than you or I will ever take anything. Speaking of which….

7. KATY PERRY
I can’t really think of a way to put this where Dave won’t get complaints, so let’s just say I thoroughly enjoyed her on College Gameday.

6. MEMORIAL ENDING THE STREAK

I saw the Crusaders at the Queen City Jamboree, and again last Friday when they beat Dover at Dunaway Field. You never know what teams are running (or not running) in preseason, and with Dover having a down year, it was hard to gauge Memorial’s victory and what it meant. I had a feeling that they’d be able to pull the upset after seeing their team speed, and the intensity with which they played D. A switch at QB from head coach Peter Colcord in the 4th gave Memorial the go ahead TD and the W against defending champ Concord, ending the Tide’s 18 game wining streak– holding the tiebreaker with Concord will be huge if Memorial can win out.

5. THE SACHEMS SURPRISE EVERYONE

I had Saint Thomas going wire to wire in the regular season, especially after seeing them roll Plymouth on Saturday night – but Laconia had other ideas. Getting shut down in the running game, Laconia started chucking the rock, and ended up with a 35-28 win over Eric Cumba’s Saints. Losing to Lebanon on opening night means they’re going to need some help down the stretch to grab that 2nd playoff spot though.

4. JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE ANSWERS, THEY CHANGE THE QUESTIONS

Raise your hand if you had the Patriots beating up the Bengals last night…. Put your hand down, you liar. Everyone and their mother though the Pats would get rolled. Jerry Thornton and I talked about it for 20 minutes on my show Saturday, and we sounded like a family member had died. Ron Borges was making celebratory balloon animals. Dan Shaugnessy was getting ready to recycle yet another column. But backed into a corner, the Pats played nasty & angry, and everything is OK again… for this week.
 
3. BIG OL NATE BURKE

Nate Burke is the anchor for the Spaulding offensive and defensive lines- well, he usually is. In a 45-6 against ancient rival Dover Friday night, the Red Raiders went away from their usual double wing offense, and went with a Power-I, consisting of either Anthony DiPrizio or Brendon Mathias dotting the I, big Casey Craig, and then… big 62 Nate Burke . And he wasn’t just blocking – big man can rumble! He had two rushes that moved the chains to set up a Casey Craig run. But, you gotta hang on the pumpkin – Burke was stripped of the ball near the goal line by Dover’s Vinny Panetta for a 95 yard fumble return for a TD. Three points of contact when you got the ball Nate!

2. BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG TILT IN EXETER FRIDAY NIGHT

The Blue Hawks suffered their 2nd loss of the year to Bedford, a game which, quite literally, slipped through their fingers (a botched punt led to Bedford’s go ahead score). Portsmouth winning on the road means that the Clippers are 4-1, with the Hawks at 3-2, so when Exeter hosts Portsmouth Friday night, it could be for home field in an upcoming playoff game. It’s going to be a great clash of styles, with Exeter’s Wing-T and Portsmouth’s No-Huddle spread. PHS can light it up on the scoreboard, while Exeter’s D has been downright stingy. We’ll have the game on WTSN AM 1270 and it should be a classic. 

1. IF THIS WASN’T NUMBER ONE, DAVE WOULD FIRE ME

Dave Haley, our fearless leader, and unabashed Notre Dame homer, gave you his prediction for ND v Stanford – 17-14 Irish. And he hit it RIGHT ON THE MONEY. He’s predicted the exact number of points that ND would score in the past 3 games. What’s the number this week against North Carolina, Dave? I’ve got a mortgage payment to wager…

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: #Scotchtoberfest, Jack Priester is a damn good QB for Dover, Pumpkin Soup AND Croutons at Trader Joe’s… I mean really?, KC and Baltimore in the ALCS… just like we all predicted