We've made it to October and we are just about to the midway point of the 2018 college football season. There was plenty of action last week and the biggest stories were Dwayne Haskins orchestrating a late comeback in Happy Valley and Notre Dame taking it to an unbeaten Stanford squad.
As for our picks, David was the only contestant who correctly chose the Nittany Lions to cover the 3.5-point spread. Everyone else took an "L" in that department, so I suppose he gets the last laugh on that one. Spoiler alert: don't expect the whippersnapper to go away from his tendencies this week either.
Most sided with Joe Burrow and the Tigers to cover -13.5 against Mississippi. Our old friend came through with the best game of his career and totaled nearly 400 yards of offense and four scores. The Bayou Bengals remain unbeaten after throttling the Rebels by a score of 45-16.
The staff was split on the Kentucky/South Carolina game. I gotta say it is a little weird seeing Mark Stoops' squad in the Top-25, but perhaps it's time to start believing in the Wildcats a little bit? UK was favored by 1.5 at home against the Gamecocks and ended up with a two-touchdown victory.
- How it works: Every week we will include 10 of the country's top games with a mix of Big Ten and national matchups. Each participating staff member will submit their picks – against the spread – for the selected slate of games. The odds will certainly fluctuate a bit throughout each week, but we'll be using sportsbook.ag for all betting lines.
We've got a couple good ones this week and I'm especially fond of the Red River Rivalry (shootout still sounds better) getting underway at high noon ET. It's one of the better rivalries in college football and it just feels right seeing that one kick off early in the day.
| CHRIS | RAMZY | HOPE | HARRISH | JONES | WEBB | ELLIS | WERTHEIM | REGIMBAL | ANDERSON | VANCE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAST WEEK: | 4-6 | 3-7 | 5-5 | 4-6 | 3-7 | 7-3 | 8-2 | 8-2 | 5-5 | 5-5 | 5-5 |
| OVERALL: | 27-23 | 20-30 | 27-23 | 21-29 | 25-25 | 28-22 | 35-15 | 28-22 | 22-28 | 26-24 | 26-24 |
| ACCURACY: | 54% | 40% | 54% | 42% | 50% | 56% | 70% | 56% | 44% | 52% | 52% |
| #7 Oklahoma (-7.5) vs. #19 Texas | TEX | TEX | OKLA | TEX | OKLA | TEX | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA |
| #15 Michigan (-17.5) vs. Maryland | MICH | MARY | MICH | MICH | MARY | MICH | MICH | MICH | MARY | MICH | MICH |
| #20 Michigan State (-11) vs. Northwestern | NW | NW | NW | NW | NW | MICHST | NW | MICHST | MICHST | NW | MICHST |
| #5 LSU (-2.5) @ #22 Florida | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | FLOR |
| #17 Miami (-12.5) vs. Florida State | MIA | FSU | MIAMI | FSU | FSU | FSU | MIAMI | MIAMI | MIAMI | MIAMI | MIAMI |
| #3 Ohio State (-25.5) vs. Indiana | OSU | OSU | IND | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | IND | IND | OSU | IND |
| Texas A&M (-5.5) vs. #13 Kentucky | KENT | TAMU | KENT | TAMU | KENT | KENT | KENT | KENT | TAMU | KENT | KENT |
| #8 Auburn (-3.5) @ Mississippi State | AUB | MISST | AUB | AUB | AUB | AUB | AUB | AUB | AUB | AUB | MISST |
| #16 Wisconsin (-20.5) vs. Nebraska | WISC | WISC | NEB | WISC | WISC | WISC | WISC | NEB | WISC | WISC | WISC |
| #6 Notre Dame (-6) @ #24 Virginia Tech | VT | VT | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | VT | ND | ND | ND |
I recently learned that the State Fair of Texas lasts for a whopping 24 days. I also learned a little bit about the finalists for this year's "Big Tex Choice Award." My personal favorite dish would have to be the Arroz Con Leche (Sweet Crispy Rice). I'm not big when it comes to attending fairs, but some of this could be worth the trip.
A delectable cinnamon-spiced rice ball is formed, battered, and coated in crispy puffed rice cereal. The ball is then deep fried to golden perfection. This scrumptious indulgence is sprinkled with powdered vanilla and complimented with a Texas-sized scoop of vanilla ice cream. To serve, a mouthwatering drizzle of caramel sauce and powdered cinnamon crowns each tasty treat.
Anyway, our selections for the game itself? Most seem to like Oklahoma to cover the 7.5-point spread. This series has produced some weird ones, however, so nothing would surprise me. Texas has improved by leaps and bounds since the disastrous opener against Maryland, but Kyler Murray is playing as good as anyone in America right now.
Most of the staff remains on the Joe Burrow train as LSU is a 2.5-point favorite on the road at The Swamp. Florida looked solid last week against Mississippi State and will look to give the Tigers their first loss. One former Buckeye doesn't appear to be too worried about things:
Last season, UF WR Trevon Grimes and LSU QB Joe Burrow were teammates at Ohio State. On Saturday, Grimes said Burrow doesn't stand chance vs #Gators defense: https://t.co/Hf6Ql4TWWo pic.twitter.com/lXHWnMkwKZ
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) October 2, 2018
Scott Frost is off to an 0-4 start at Nebraska, and I can't imagine he picks up his first win in a night game at Madison. A spread of 20.5 is pretty substantial, but most seem to be pretty confident on the Badgers' chances of covering.
We've all seen what a Bud Foster defense can do at times, and Notre Dame is heading to Blacksburg with a much improved offense under the leadership of Ian Book. The Hokies suffered a historic loss two weeks ago against Old Dominion, but they bounced back nicely last week with a win over Duke. The Irish are favored by six point and we are fairly split on that one. Kickoff from Blacksburg will come at 8:00 p.m.
Who do you got in week six? Indiana has given the Buckeyes some trouble at times, Can Ohio State cover the 25.5-point spread? #GetRich
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