There was an old teammate of mine in college named Nick Trainor. He was a lefty outfielder from Canada who loved partying and anything low 90s and middle in. Trainor used to have a saying when he’d try to rally troops into going out, especially on weeknights.
“It’s the biggest night of the year.”
The problem was, he’d say it multiple times a year. Hell sometimes if he was in a slump, he’d say it multiple times in a week.
There will be several biggest Saturday’s of the year this season in college football. And, we only get 12-16 of these every year, so allow yourself to pour a glass of whatever you want for the first biggest night of the year of 2026. Cheers to another week of Winning & Boozing!
Louisiana Tech at LSU
The most impressive win in the country last week happened in Baton Rouge. The most chaotic circus since that Siberian Tiger mauled the bedazzled boyfriend of Sigfriend (or Roy I don’t know) was also in Baton Rouge. For now it appears that the drama between the SEC and LSU is coming to an end. It’s been a long couple of weeks, but hopefully now we can focus on football.
That’s a scary thing for anyone who was praying for LSU’s downfall because of its disdain for Lane Kiffin and the Tigers. This week they’ll host another elite offense from the Boot that put up 80 points last Saturday. It’s the final tuneup before Ole Miss in Oxford which will surely be another week of chaos. So, in the meantime let’s sit and enjoy the calm before the storm.
The Winning
LSU 45, Louisiana Tech 13
The Boozing
Abita The Boot, but specifically in a 40-ounce bottle. Two of them actually. And, duct taped to Governor Jeff Landry’s hands so he can’t tweet. Nothing says Louisiana like Abita, and this year is especially great because it’s the 40th anniversary of the state’s premiere brew. I would say find some Respect Ya Body’s, but that delicious blueberry light lager, dressed in a can that would go perfectly with the uniform Louisiana Tech is wearing, is too hard to find. So, grab a bottle of The Boot instead of liquor this week because it’s time to rest the starters and our livers before heading to Ole Miss in seven days.
Alabama at Kentucky
Alabama heads to Kentucky in a sneaky-tough spot for the Tide. They will most likely be without their best offensive lineman Michael Carroll. Kentucky is the most puzzling team in the SEC. The Wildcats looked great last week against Youngstown State, but the bad news is that all the matchups with Kentucky’s strengths pair with Alabama’s strengths. Kenny Minchey is going to be really good at quarterback for the Wildcats, but he will face the best secondary in America. The run game looked great against an FCS team, but Alabama’s front seven was much better than advertised in Week 1.
It feels like Kentucky is becoming the popular upset pick for a lot of people, and understandably so. However, looking at the actual matchup there’s not really an area that favors Kentucky. Give me Alabama.
The Winning
Alabama 28, Kentucky 20
The Boozing
Brown liquor in a flask. I would say Tennessee whiskey, but that is sacrilegious in bourbon country. Whiskey makes people mean. At least it does in my experience, and that’s the kind of environment Kentucky head coach Will Stein wants.
“It needs to be the loudest 65,000 group of people in the history of the world,” Stein said. He later added he wanted fans “standing up, screaming obscenities at our opponent, making them feel very unwanted in Kroger Field, and creating an environment of excellence for Kentucky football.”
Nothing does that more than brown liquor.
Oklahoma at Michigan
The idea that quarterback Bryce Underwood is just going to magically improve from last week to this week against Oklahoma is a joke. What’s even funnier is the idea that the team scored on its first and last possessions to beat lowly Western Michigan by one point. In between those touchdown drives were eight other series that included: six punts, one interception, one fumble, and five three and outs where they gained less than seven yards in three plays.
Give me Oklahoma.
The Winning
Oklahoma 27, Michigan 16
The Boozing
Bell’s Cold Hearted IPA. There aren’t a lot of good things to come out of Michigan. It’s basically the Alabama of the north, it’s just shaped like a mitten. And, the only good thing about mittens is that they aren’t gloves, and OJ wore gloves. See the trend here guys? I don’t, but Michigan sucks and that’s the main point. Anyways, we are off the rails.
If there’s one good thing about the state of Michigan it’s Bob Seger. If there’s a second, it’s Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo. Bell’s Oberon is a citrusy wheat ale that’s absolutely elite and puts Blue Moon to shame. But, that would be a positive, and again, there’s almost nothing positive about Michigan. This game deserves an IPA. Bell’s Cold Hearted IPA is one of the only IPAs in the world that doesn’t taste like socks, so hopefully Oklahoma fans enjoy that and the 7% ABV that comes with it.
That number of the ABV might be higher than the points Michigan even scores in this game.
