Week one has come and gone and now we look back at some hits and misses from our first round of staff picks. Overall, it was a pretty eventful weekend and perhaps the most delightful part was watching Florida State and Tennessee fall flat in front of their home crowds.
Our forecasters put forth their best efforts, but a few games proved to be problematic. David was the only staff member who had Florida Atlantic covering the four-touchdown spread, and he gets the last laugh on that one. The Buckeyes were up 28-0 after the first quarter, but the offense sputtered in the second half en route to a 45-21 home win.
Andrew, David, and Andy all had Wisconsin covering the 13 points on the road against South Florida. That one wasn't even close as Jonathan Taylor and the Badgers cruised to a 49-0 road victory. Alabama didn't have any trouble with Duke and most of our forecasters correctly picked the Tide to cover the five touchdowns.
Auburn was a 3.5-point favorite against the Ducks in Arlington, and some late magic from true freshman quarterback Bo Nix paved the way for a Gus Malzahn cover. Nix tossed a 26-yard touchdown with just nine seconds left on the clock to give the Tigers a 27-21 victory. This was a game that Oregon had in hand as the Ducks led the entire time up until the game-winner.
David Wertheim had the best weekend among our staff, hitting on eight of his ten submissions. Ramzy and Andy both notched impressive 7-3 performances. Dan and Kevin are hoping for better luck in week two.
This weekend's headliner features two familiar faces and a pair of top-10 teams doing battle down in Austin. Just a reminder that all of our submissions are against the spread rather than a straight pick'em.
| KEVIN | CHRIS | RAMZY | HOPE | JONES | ELLIS | WERTHEIM | REGIMBAL | VANCE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL | 3-7 | 5-5 | 7-3 | 3-7 | 5-5 | 5-5 | 8-2 | 5-5 | 7-3 |
| #5 Ohio State (-17) vs. Cincinnati | OSU | OSU | CINCY | OSU | CINCY | OSU | CINCY | OSU | CINCY |
| #7 Michigan (-23) vs. Army | ARMY | MICH | ARMY | ARMY | MICH | ARMY | ARMY | ARMY | MICH |
| #22 Syracuse (-3) @ Maryland | SYR | MARY | MARY | MARY | SYR | MARY | MARY | MARY | MARY |
| Purdue (-8) vs. Vanderbilt | PURD | PURD | PURD | PURD | PURD | PURD | PURD | PURD | VANDY |
| Missouri (-14.5) vs. West Virginia | MIZZ | WVU | WVU | WVU | WVU | WVU | WVU | MIZZ | WVU |
| #1 Clemson (-18.5) vs. #12 Texas A&M | CLEM | CLEM | TAMU | TAMU | CLEM | TAMU | TAMU | TAMU | TAMU |
| #24 Nebraska (-5) @ Colorado | NEB | COLO | COLO | NEB | COLO | NEB | NEB | NEB | COLO |
| #6 LSU (-4.5) @ #10 Texas | LSU | TEX | LSU | LSU | TEX | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU |
| Miami (-6) @ North Carolina | MIAMI | UNC | MIAMI | MIAMI | MIAMI | MIAMI | UNC | MIAMI | MIAMI |
| Minnesota (-3) @ Fresno State | FRES | MINN | MINN | FRES | MINN | MINN | MINN | FRES | MINN |
I'm a little surprised the Bearcats don't find themselves ranked this week, but I suppose that's not all that important. Luke Fickell is bringing the troops to Columbus as a 17-point underdog and we're fairly split on this one. The offensive line struggled at times against FAU, but Ryan Day doesn't seem all that concerned at the moment. Cincinnati is a physical team, and can a mobile quarterback give the Buckeye defense some fits?
The Wolverines are favored by 23 against Army's triple-option offense. The Black Knights won 11 games last year but are coming off a lackluster 14-7 win over Rice. Army dang near beat Oklahoma last year and they'll be looking to challenge the Wolverines in Ann Arbor. We're getting some mixed vibes on this contest as well.
Many pundits are viewing Syracuse as the second-best team in the ACC, but the Orange may be on upset watch this week against a mid-level Big Ten opponent. The Terps' 79-0 drubbing of Howard didn't tell us too much, but this will be a different story for Mike Locksley and Co.
If it weren't for the big one in Austin, it'd be the Aggies and Tigers as the weekend's top event. Dabo Swinney and Trevor Lawrence are 18.5-point favorites and that's a hefty number even for the home team. The Tigers topped the Aggies 28-26 last year in what was a great game at College Station. Most of our staff like TAMU to cover Saturday afternoon.
The Buffs topped the Huskers last year in Lincoln and now Scott Frost will look to get some revenge on the road. Adrian Martinez left last year's game with an injury that stemmed from a bit of a questionable hit. Nebraska is a five-point favorite in this one and Frost will look to get his offense going after last week's poor performance.
If I didn't know better I could be easily convinced that Joe Burrow has been in a witness protection program since high school. pic.twitter.com/fgBHz6U0hJ
— Shea Dixon (@Sheadixon) September 4, 2019
The main event goes down at 7:30 p.m. with No. 6 LSU squaring off with No. 9 Texas. Joe Burrow is coming off a 278-yard five-touchdown performance, but the Longhorns aren't the Georgia Southern Eagles and Austin isn't Death Valley. Tom Herman has already lost starting tailback Jordan Whittington, so Sam Ehlinger may have to put in extra work in the ground game. Most of our prognosticators are liking the Bayou Bengals by five or more.
What are some of your picks for the weekend? Can Herman and the Horns get it done at home? Do the Aggies stand any chance against the country's top team?
