Hey y’all.

With my newly discovered Southern roots and a generous steeping in Louisiana football, I’m back and ready to clean up the mess that Fearless Forecasters has become.

As the only returning starter on this team, I have a distinct advantage — never mind last year’s last-place finish.

But with the graduation of Daily sports All-stars Glenn Kasses and Adam Rittenberg, I can finally stake my claim to Forecasters glory.

And so can you.

All it takes is a quick e-mail to [email protected] and you could see your picture alongside the current weak crop of challengers.

Go ahead. Try it out. Just pick winners to the 12 games listed (no need to pick scores) and send off your e-mail by Friday at midnight. (You’re at Northwestern, it’s not like you have anything better to do on a Friday night.)

Now, I know you won’t beat me. But you can at least show up the rest of the bunch. That’ll be easy.

First off, there’s sports editor Andrea, my evil twin. With her slim editing staff and empty beat slot, she’ll be writing too many stories to pay attention to Forecasters. That’s already obvious with her pick of California over USC. The Trojans have rolled their way to a No. 3 ranking in both polls — which will continue as they topple Cal.

Deputy Jim, as he’s affectionally known around these parts, has let the Boston underdog mentality affect his picks this week (something I understand, also hailing from the Hub). But Kansas over Missouri? Illinois over Wisconsin? That’s going a little too far.

And then there’s Adrock, our lovable editor in chief and the resident non-sports entry. He likes the Daily. Really likes the Daily. In fact, he likes it enough to hold Editorial Board meetings on Friday nights. I spend a lot of time here, too, Adam. But I still enjoy a life outside of the paper.

So now you know the fools I’m competing against. You’re welcome to join the fray. There’s little competition for the spot on the left — where I’ll be hanging out for a while.

But you can always try.

Good luck. Y’all come on back now.