College Football Week 14 Thread

Rivalry week! Kind of a bummer that this is the end of the college football regular season. Been a fun fall!

Here are the top 10 games of the week, based on the Athletic’s rankings of teams 1-136, in order of starting time. What makes this interesting is that there are a lot of road favorites against ranked teams at home, so we might expect some chaos here.

1. #36 Iowa at #38 Nebraska (+6.5), FRI, 12, CBS. Iowa looks down because they fell to Oregon and USC. But as the line suggests, they are a lot better than Nebraska. The question is that line though–Iowa doesn’t exactly score a lot of TDs. The real bet in a game like this is the under. But I think Nebraska covers by a point or two.
2. #4 Georgia at #22 Georgia Tech (+13.5), FRI, 3:30, ABC. Georgia Tech has a nice year but their defense has collapsed. That’s a bad sign for a Georgia team with a lot more to play for. Bulldogs in a rout.
3. #3 Texas A&M at #13 Texas (+2.5), FRI, 7:30, ABC. Texas has been much, much better in the last few weeks after really struggling to start the season. A&M hasn’t always looked perfect, but they are in fact perfect. This should be quite a good game, not to mention the rivalry still in renewal face after A&M bailed on Texas years ago to join the SEC. While it would not absolutely shock me to see Texas win, it would really screw with the football playoffs because it forces more SEC teams in, which no one wants. In any case, I think I feel comfortable taking A&M by a FG on the road.
4. #29 Arizona at #30 Arizona State (+1.5), FRI, 9, FOX. At this point, I think Arizona has proven itself the likely better team. They are on a hot four game winning streak. ASU has been winning, but by narrow margins over mediocre teams before easily handing the Not Fighting Deions of Boulder last week. This kind of game, you can never tell, but I like where Arizona is a lot more right now, so taking them in a victory with a couple of points on the road? I’m down.
5. #1 Ohio State at #17 Michigan (+9.5), 12, FOX. Who knows, maybe Ohio State will actually beat Michigan for once. It would be so funny to see another loss. Unlikely. And all year, Ohio State has looked much better than a Michigan team that has just kind of been hanging around the margins of being interesting. But this game, with this history, in Ann Arbor? I can take Michigan losing by less than 10 here.
6. #9 Miami at #21 Pittsburgh (+6.5), 12, ABC. Pitt handled Georgia Tech quite nicely last week after a tough loss to Notre Dame. Miami has looked pretty good since a couple of the kind of dumb losses Mario Cristobal teams always have. But you never know when Miami is going to lay another egg. On the road against a good Pitt team with a lot to play for? I’d take Pitt as home dogs.
7. #14 Vanderbilt at #19 Tennessee (-3.5), 3:30, ESPN. Vandy continues to not get the respect it deserves. Tennessee is alright, but I like Vandy playing for an outside shot at the playoffs to be at least very close in Knoxville, if not winning outright.
8. #7 Oregon at #31 Washington (+6.5), 3:30, CBS. Fuck Washington, Go Ducks. Plus I don’t see how the Huskies are going to move the ball. I know it’s in Seattle, but it’s not like Husky Stadium is some scary place for opponents. Oregon has everything to play for. Washington lost to a team whose passing leader was a punter off a single trick play in Wisconsin. Ducks in a rout. Also, fuck Washington.
9. #42 LSU at #8 Oklahoma (-10.5), 3:30. ABC. Please, Oklahoma is going to hammer a lost LSU team. I like them even with the points.
10. #39 Cincinnati at #41 TCU (-4.5), 3:30, FOX. A fun if not important Big 12 matchup to end the regular season picks. TCU had a nice win against Houston last week. Cincy has lost three straight–all to pretty good teams, but that’s tough to recover from, especially on the road against a pretty fair Horned Frogs team. So I think TCU covering at home is a solid bet.

Interestingly, no good evening games this week.

5-5 last week, 67-67 on the season. I am sure this week will provide no clarity other than flipping a coin in the future. And with 4 games already in the books when this gets published, I’m sure I will be up for some ribbing for more bad picks.