Nothing changed the college football prediction game more than the NIL and the transfer portal.

It’s almost impossible to predict the outcome of any game, let alone any game, with the possible exception of a big-time powerhouse like Pitt going against a small-time team like Bucknell.

The computer gave Bucknell 54.5 points and, while that seemed high, the Panthers easily covered, winning 59-0. Thought that number was high but I ran it through this website’s simulator about an hour before the game and the first result was Pitt winning, 56-0.

Pretty damn close.

That seemed pretty reliable, so I worked a model of Temple’s remaining games through, taking only the first result and applying it here. Of course, if this were 100 percent reliable, they wouldn’t have to play the games. Nobody in a computer simulator sees, say, a North Carolina State quarterback failing to secure a ball while going for a safety and lose.

This one simulator that nailed the Pitt score has very good news for Temple football fans, though. I ran each and every remaining game through the simulator run by the website and it had the Owls winning every single game left on the schedule regular-season schedule and that would mean the Owls would finish 9-3.

I know.

Hard to believe Harry. I don’t know if you can feed the computer information about both Owls’ quarterbacks locking on their primary receivers nor the defense not blitzing enough, but I will sign for this right now.

From that hard drive’s lips to God’s ears but here are the results.

Temple at South Florida _ Simulator has the Owls handing the host Bulls their first loss, 42-35. Conversely, Bill Connelly’s ESPN ratings has USF ranked No. 55 and Temple ranked No. 92.

UConn at Temple _ Simulator has the Owls coming away with a 32-20 win. Connelly’s ESPN rankings have the Huskies ranked No. 85 but weighs three points for home teams so he makes the Owls a slight favorite.

Temple at East Carolina _ Shockingly, the computer has the Owls avenging a 45-14 loss with a 30-11 win. Connelly has the Pirates has a solid touchdown favorite and currently ranked No. 79.

Temple at Navy _ Computer has the Owls winning 37-7. Connelly has Navy currently ranked No. 86 and a 3-point favorite.

UAB at Temple _ Computer has the Owls winning, 30-13. Connelly also has the Owls winning.

Rice at Temple _ Computer doesn’t have the Owls playing very well against Connelly’s No. 119-ranked Owls, but still has Temple winning, 17-3.

Temple at Memphis _ Computer has Temple winning, 34-12, at Memphis, coming up with their most dominating win at Memphis since Matt Rhule’s first year when the Owls won there, 41-21. Connelly has the Tigers currently ranked No. 63 and a 10-point winner.

The win at Memphis knocks the Tigers out of the championship game and puts the Owls in the title game against either Army or Tulsa, both on the road.

That game will come on Dec. 5, meaning the Owls have all of October and November to come up with a way to close up the A gap in a rematch in Army and devise a few run blitzes to get the Cadets off schedule. Or repeat what they did at Tulsa last year.

Me?

I don’t have a computer in my gut but my gut is telling me 6-6 with wins over UConn, UAB, Rice, Navy and ECU. Hope I’m wrong and the simulations are correct.

Can’t see winning at USF like the simulator does but, if Bowling Green can give the Bulls a game, the Owls can win down there. This would be as good as any a time to start throwing the ball to an All-American tight end.

If Temple wins on Saturday, 42-35, I’m going to change that 6-6 prediction to 9-3. The computer will have won me over.

Friday: USF Preview