College Football, NASCAR Playoffs & Cold Craft Beer! 🏈 🏁 🍻
Some couples bond over cooking, travel, or binge-watching reality TV. We bond by trying to absolutely destroy each other in sports trivia, brackets, and fantasy standings.
Leesl: Welcome back to the household rivalry that divides our living room and fills our glasses! In our Pigskins department, while we are settling in for the long haul, Andy padded his college football lead by two games this week. But with plenty of the season left on the calendar, my gridiron picks have more than enough time to mount a massive comeback.
And, in Pit Stops, there is absolutely no time left. We are heading into the final race of the NASCAR season. While I am proudly taking a victory lap for dominating the year-long regular and playoff points, the ultimate championship trophy is slipping away. My top driver Denny Hamlin simply doesn’t have enough track left to catch Kyle Larson, meaning Andy has the title on lock before the green flag even drops this weekend.
Round 6 starts now!
🏈 Pigskins: The CFB High-Five
College Standings: Leesl: 21-23-1 | Andy: 23-21-1 (Margin: +2 Andy)
Our weekly college football picking slate is a pure battle of negotiation. Each week, after a healthy amount of debating and back-and-forth, we lock in a fun, random mix of five games across the country to put our overall records on the line!
Andy: Week 9 was exceptionally kind to me with a 3-2 run, expanding my lead over Leesl to two full games thanks to USC, Oregon, and Louisiana Tech. I never expected USC to handle Ohio State so decisively—even with the Buckeyes breaking in a backup QB, Trojan dominance was something we haven’t seen in a very long time! A special shout-out to LA Tech, too. The Bulldogs from Ruston handled South Alabama to reach 6-2 on the season, keeping their 10-win dream alive! Looking ahead, Saturday is loaded with huge, ranked matchups—it doesn’t get much better than this!!
Leesl: It definitely got better for you last week, but admit it, hubby—you got lucky! Oregon was down by 10 in the third quarter before Northwestern completely fell asleep at the wheel and handed them a win they barely deserved. And Ohio State looking that dreadful at home against a struggling USC team? Pure gift. I give credit to Georgia and TCU for taking care of business keeping me right in striking distance—and this Saturday is my chance!
Here is the Week 10 Lineup we finally agreed on:
- Game 1. Miami @ Notre Dame: Leesl (Miami) | Andy (Notre Dame)
- Game 2. BYU @ Utah: Leesl (Utah) | Andy (BYU)
- Game 3. Kentucky @ Tennessee: Leesl (Tennessee) | Andy (Kentucky)
- Game 4. Alabama @ LSU: Leesl (LSU) | Andy (Alabama)
- Game 5. Georgia @ Ole Miss: Leesl (Georgia) | Andy (Ole Miss)
Andy: Week 10 is bringing absolute heat to the schedule. With the new 12-team playoff format, a loss for a few of these top programs will completely knock them out of contention, so the stakes couldn’t possibly be higher. I’m feeling incredibly good about my picks—especially with Alabama and Ole Miss on my side. And as for the Miami at Notre Dame matchup? There was zero room for negotiation there. I’ve backed the Irish since I was a kid, and with them sitting as a comfortable 7.5-point favorite at home this weekend, getting Leesl to concede that pick felt like absolute highway robbery.
Leesl: Oh, please! That wasn’t the great heist of the century—it was pure marital diplomacy so I could survive the weekend in peace! As for who’s actually going to steal the weekend? I like my chances across the rest of the board. LSU inside Death Valley is a total trap for Bama, Utah is taking care of business in their rivalry game, and Georgia is primed for sweet revenge against Ole Miss. Oh, and picking against Tennessee at home? Did you accidentally pour a double shot of bourbon in your morning hot chocolate when you made that one?
🏁 Pit Stops: The Playoff Pulse
Current Fantasy Scoreboard: Leesl: 18,622 pts | Andy: 18,351 pts (Margin: +271 Lone Star Racin’)
Andy: At Martinsville, it looked like the field had a chance to bite into Kyle Larson’s lead, but strategic missteps and bad luck quickly derailed the chase. Denny Hamlin’s team stayed out on old tires and faded fast, Christopher Bell got caught by bad caution timing plus a pit road penalty, and the rest of the contenders simply lacked the speed to capitalize. Meanwhile, Larson methodically worked his way to a 9th-place finish—effectively sealing the title before we even hit Florida.
That leaves us entering Homestead-Miami with Larson holding a 67-point cushion over Bell, 70 over Hamlin, and everyone else mathematically eliminated. My team is too far back to catch Leesl for the overall fantasy title, but having Larson on the Windy City Racin’ roster means I’m the one taking the final burnout of the year. That’s right—I’m officially denying Lone Star Racin’ the ultimate season sweep for another year! 🏁 💨 🏆 🏎️ 😎 😏 🔥
Leesl: Take your foot off the gas and put that checkered flag down—you haven’t won a single thing yet! Is the path narrow for Lone Star Racin’ to pull off the ultimate Regular Season, Playoff Season, and Overall Championship sweep? Absolutely. But it’s not impossible—it just requires a serious streak of bad luck for Mr. Larson.
For me to take all three trophies, Denny Hamlin has to run a flawless race and win every stage while Larson gets capped at 5 points or fewer. Now, since Carson Hocevar went and got himself suspended for the finale, he can’t exactly do the dirty work for me. That means I am relying on pure racing fate: a loose wheel on lap two, an engine gremlin, or an early restart pileup that parks the 5-car in the garage before Stage 1 even finishes.
No trophies are being handed out in this house until the final points are tallied. I’m riding with Denny, praying for a little pit-road disaster, and keeping my 271-point lead right where it belongs! 💥 🚧 🛞 🛠️ 🤫 🤞 😈
🏁 Our Official Playoff Rosters
- Leesl’s Lone Star Racin’ – These boots are meant for racing!
- Hamlin, Logano, Reddick, Byron (winner 🏆), Briscoe, Wallace, Gibbs & Hocevar.
- Andy’s Windy City Racin’ – From second city to first place!
- Elliott, Larson, Blaney, Bell, Keselowski, Suarez, Cindric & Preece.
🍻 Pints: What We’re Sipping
November has officially arrived, bringing early evening sunsets, a crisp chill to the air, and the perfect excuse to shift our taps to the dark side. To celebrate International Stout Day, we decided to do things a little differently. We traded our standard flight for a decadent stout-and-ice-cream combo that proves dark beer isn’t just for sipping—it’s built for dessert.
- 🍨 The Scoop: Peanut Butter & Cookies Ice Cream
- 🍺 The Pour: Martin House Peanut Butter Pretzel Stout (6.5% ABV)
- 🔄 The Repeat?: 100% Yes!
Brewed right down the road in Fort Worth, the pretzel salt upfront paired with that sweet peanut butter swirl is an unbelievable combination for autumn game days.
➡️ Catch our “Scoop, Pour & Repeat” breakdown and see our full float lineup here!
Let’s Settle a Bet…
Help us clear the air before the games kick off:
- The Gridiron Gap: Does Andy keep padding his lead, or do my picks completely shred his scoreboard by Saturday night?
- The Track Countdown: Is there any absolute miracle left on pit road for Denny, or should I just start polishing Andy’s final trophy right now?
- The Sweet Tooth Verdict: Is a peanut butter pretzel stout float the greatest autumn creation ever, or have we completely lost our minds?
Who has the better lineup this weekend? Drop your comments below! 🏈🏁🍺
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