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When I told my wife I was headed to the local Walmart at midnight sharp to pick up a video game, she looked me over like I was insane—perhaps even slightly more so than usual. Following up with a crafted defense that this excursion was “work-related” didn’t necessarily save face, but she understood. Even though she’ll never truly understand, she understands.

With fresh coffee in hand, I was off. NCAA 13 was in my hands 37 minutes later.

For the third consecutive year, I’m using a video game to predict how the college football season will unfold. The results up until this point have been mixed to say the least, but my confidence in EA’s NCAA series remains strong as a simulation device.

Perhaps more impactful than the simulation, however, is the release of the game itself and what it signifies. It’s an offseason milestone, another item to check off your checklist, which is suddenly shrinking expeditiously.

As for the simulation, it’s all very real (or whatever you’d feel comfortable calling it). There is no doctoring of these results. This all took place around 3:30 in the morning, and rigging a video game seems like a bit much, even for the guy strange enough to orchestrate such an event to begin with.

Mild roster adjustments were made to correlate with recent movements (sorry, Georgia fans), but other than that, I’m relaying what the game believes will transpire over the next six months. No player ratings or schedules have been tampered with, and as much as I’d like to see Akron shock the virtual world with a Heisman winner and a BCS victory, that’s simply not the case. Maybe next year, Zips.

Here is what NCAA 13 believes will happen this year. Enjoy, and please direct all “BUT THERE’S NO WAY [YOUR TEAM] COULD BE THIS BAD!” complaints to videogamesimulationpolice@relaxbro.com.

Lead image courtesy of gameinformer.com.