Blowin' Smoke Presented by Weston Tobacco

What's more fun than us giving you a chance to mock us every single week? In our new feature, Blowin' Smoke presented by Weston Tobacco, we will do that each and every Thursday. Gabe DeArmond and Mitchell Forde will make five predictions almost sure to go wrong every week in this space. These will range from big games to big picture predictions with a bit of the comedic and absurd mixed in most weeks as well. On to this week's predictions.

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Mitchell: This one is a toss-up for me. On one hand, Mississippi State totally outplayed Missouri six weeks ago in a 27-point rout, and it's hard to chalk up that big a gap to the Tigers simply not coming to play. But on the other hand, Mizzou is on a roll at home and Mississippi State has lost three of its last four games away from The Hump. I think the key will be limiting Reggie Perry, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the first matchup. With Jeremiah Tilmon (likely) back on the floor, Missouri should stand a better chance to do that. I wouldn't be surprised by any result but will take Missouri in a close game, 68-66.

Gabe: Mississippi State is a bad matchup for Mizzou as evidenced by the demolition in Starkville which was probably the Tigers' least competitive game of the season. That said, last I checked, the game is being played at Mizzou Arena, which makes Missouri significantly better. Based on no analysis, I'll say Mizzou 72, Mississippi State 66,

Mitchell: I'm going with Kansas, Baylor, Gonzaga and Dayton. Barring an unforeseen disaster, I think the first two teams on that list are virtual locks to remain on the 1 line. I also think Gonzaga got its one conference loss out of its system and will cruise the rest of the way, at least to the WCC title game, and even if it does get a rematch with BYU there, the Zags will want revenge and will win. The fourth spot is the most intriguing. I think Dayton probably needs to win out to get that spot, and even then, if San Diego State also wins out, I could see the Aztecs getting the nod. Right now, I think the Flyers are more likely to run the table. It gets more tricky if Dayton loses an A10 game. If that happens and one of Duke, Florida State or Maryland gets hot and wins its conference tournament, I could see one of them jumping up to the one line. The problem is, I don't know which of them to pick to do so, so I will stick with Dayton at the fourth spot for now.

Gabe: I am eminently qualified to answer this based on the fact that I have not watched a complete half of basketball other than a game Missouri has played in all season long. Kansas and Baylor appear to be locks. After that, throw about ten teams in a hat and I don't know if it much matters who is a one and who is a three. I'll say Gonzaga gets one because they'll probably not lose the rest of the way and give me Florida State getting hot and making enough of a run in the ACC to take the fourth one.

Gabe: Missouri is 4-3 so far. They play McNeese State after I'm writing this but before I'm publishing it, so let's give them a win and say they're 5-3. They play 47 more games after that, including 27 against teams that are at least receiving top 25 votes and 15 against teams currently ranked in the top ten. My word, the SEC is a mother. I think this is a .500ish type team. In a playing to the audience move, I'll say Missouri goes 28-27.

Mitchell: I readily admit to not knowing a ton about this year's baseball team other than that it is not eligible for postseason play. First, I went through the schedule game by game and tried to approximate a reasonable record and I got 25-29, but then I looked and realized they were 34-22-1 last year and 34-22 the year before that, so my pick seems low. So I'm adjusting to 27-27. An even .500 season. I know that's not exactly a scalding take, but whatever.

Editor's Note: Apparently Gabe and Mitchell count differently to come up with how many games are played, but the editor is not interested in counting and seeing who's right and changing one of the predictions.

Mitchell: Give me the over! Now, I would never actually put money on that. Given how many good golfers there are right now it would be silly to bet that any individual outside of maybe Brooks Koepka will win a major this year, much less a 44-year-old. But Tiger has shown decent form in the past few months at the President's Cup and by winning in Japan, plus I will be rooting for it to happen, and if there's one athlete I would never bet against it's Tiger Woods.

Gabe: This was a selfish one because I know we're both huge golf honks. Outside of games my team is playing in or I'm covering, golf is my favorite sport to watch. I really would like to see Tiger Woods put together another major run or two. The PGA two years ago and the Masters last year were amazing theater. That said, I think he emptied the tank at Augusta. I think that was his 1986 Jack Nicklaus performance. I don't think he's going to get another one.

Gabe: Despite having small hands, which is the dumbest most baseless criticism in all of sports, I'd assume Joe Burrow is going to go No. 1 overall to the Bengals. To me, it's a no brainer that Tua Tagovailoa is the second quarterback off the board unless something nightmarish pops up in the medical evaluation. The Redskins at 2 and the Giants at 4 took their franchise quarterbacks last year. I think the Lions have too many holes to start planning for the post-Matthew Stafford era just yet. The Dolphins will take him at five...unless someone trades up. I can see the Chargers moving up from six to three or four to get him. I'll say Tua goes to Los Angeles.

Mitchell: I think ultimately Tua Tagovailoa's potential is too much to pass up and he goes before Justin Herbert. I also think someone trades into the top five to pick Tua. The question is which team. I'll go with the Chargers, who need to find a new franchise quarterback now that Phillip Rivers will be playing elsewhere but who also have Tyrod Taylor as a stopgap while Tua recovers from his hip injury (shoutout to the CBS Sports and Pro Football Focus mock drafts I read, from where I got all of that information).