IS IT CHRISTMAS?
Ohio State lands three transfer commitments in two hours: CJ Donaldson Jr., Logan George and Max Klare.
Last weekend's impressive lineup is now in the books and overall we had a pretty successful card. All but two members of our nine-man selection team managed to finish above the .500 mark for the second week of the 2019 season. David and Ramzy are our fearless leaders heading into week three.
Five of our pickers had the Buckeyes covering the 17-point spread against the Bearcats. As we are now well aware, that one wasn't even close with Ohio State cruising to a 42-0 shutout of Luke Fickell and his crew. It didn't take long for Justin Fields and J.K Dobbins to light up the scoreboard and the defense was lights out against what should be a solid offense.
Most had Army covering (+23) against Michigan and I'm still a little heartbroken over that one. We have to give some serious props to the Black Knights, though. They came into Ann Arbor and should have left with a victory. The Josh Gattis experiment has been disastrous thus far as the Wolverines' "modern" offense has looked anything but.
Maryland opened last week as an underdog (we had them +3) but the line ended up moving in the Terps' favor. Mike Locksley had his team ready as they destroyed No. 21 Syracuse by a score of 63-20. Purdue was a 10-point favorite over Vandy and everyone (except Andy) had the Boilers covering. Rondale Moore led the way to a 42-24 home win.
If you had some money on Clemson covering against Texas A&M then Saturday's game was probably quite maddening. The Tigers were an 18.5-point favorite and they were up 24-3 with under a minute left on the clock. The Aggies then proceeded to score a touchdown – with just six seconds remaining – giving them the cover. I can only imagine the folks in Vegas watching that one.
LSU at Texas was the game of the week and it delivered in a big way. Heading in as a 4.5-point favorite, Joe Burrow threw for 471 yards and four scores en route to a 45-38 road victory. Chris and Jones sided with Matthew McConaughey. Everyone else correctly put their faith in the young man from Athens.
It's worth noting that we got our first "push" of the season as well. Minnesota was a three-point favorite over Fresno and the Gophs pulled that one out by a score of 38-35. The push/tie is reflected in our weekly tally but won't be factored into the overall season number.
- Just a reminder that all of our submissions are against the spread rather than a straight pick'em. The lines are from www.sportsbook.ag and are collected on Mondays of each week. There's always a chance that the lines will move in the days leading up to kickoff.
How's week three shaping up? It's certainly not the most exciting lineup as there are exactly zero matchups between Top-25 teams.
| KEVIN | CHRIS | RAMZY | HOPE | JONES | ELLIS | WERTHEIM | REGIMBAL | VANCE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAST WEEK: | 5-4-1 | 5-4-1 | 6-3-1 | 6-3-1 | 2-7-1 | 6-3-1 | 6-3-1 | 7-2-1 | 4-5-1 |
| OVERALL: | 8-11 | 10-9 | 13-6 | 9-10 | 7-12 | 11-8 | 14-5 | 12-7 | 11-8 |
| ACCURACY: | 42% | 53% | 68% | 47% | 37% | 58% | 74% | 63% | 58% |
| #6 OHIO STATE (-15) @ INDIANA | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | INDY | OSU | OSU |
| #13 PENN STATE (-17) VS. PITTSBURGH | PITT | PITT | PSU | PSU | PITT | PSU | PITT | PSU | PSU |
| #21 MARYLAND (-8) @ TEMPLE | MARY | TEMP | MARY | MARY | MARY | MARY | MARY | MARY | MARY |
| #2 ALABAMA (-26) @ SOUTH CAROLINA | BAMA | BAMA | BAMA | SCAR | BAMA | BAMA | SCAR | SCAR | BAMA |
| #24 USC (-4.5) @ BYU | USC | BYU | USC | USC | USC | BYU | USC | USC | USC |
| #18 MICHIGAN STATE (-13.5) VS. ARIZONA STATE | ASU | ASU | MSU | MSU | MSU | MSU | MSU | ASU | MSU |
| #19 IOWA (-1.5) @ IOWA STATE | ISU | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA |
| #9 FLORIDA (-9) @ KENTUCKY | KENT | FLOR | FLOR | FLOR | FLOR | FLOR | FLOR | FLOR | FLOR |
| #25 VIRGINIA (-7.5) VS. FLORIDA STATE | UVA | UVA | UVA | FSU | FSU | UVA | UVA | UVA | UVA |
| #5 OKLAHOMA (-21.5) @ UCLA | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA | OKLA |
Ohio State heads to Bloomington and the Hoosiers have given the Buckeyes some fits on their home field. The 2015 game was decided by only a touchdown and then the 2017 version featured the J.K. Dobbins coming out party and Simmie Cobbs Jr. catching what seemed to be about 20 passes. We're liking the Buckeyes to cover the 15-point spread. David isn't quite seeing eye to eye with the rest of the crew.
Remember when Pittsburgh beat Penn State back in 2016? The Panthers probably won't be doing that again this go around, but perhaps they can slow down a hot Nittany Lion offense. The 17 points are a bit of a hefty spread and we're fairly split on this contest. Pitt is 1-1 and lost its opener against Virginia.
Maryland is officially a dangerous team after topping Syracuse last week. The Terrapin offense has been phenomenal and is ranked in the top-five nationally. The defense has been the surprising part thus far and the unit is ranked No. 17 heading into week three. Do we expect the defense to keep up this level of work? Probably not, but we're still liking the Terps to cover against Temple.
Last season Michigan State blew a lead on the road against Herm Edwards. This year the Sun Devils head to East Lansing as nearly a two-touchdown underdog. Both teams are unbeaten on the young season and we're mostly feeling the Spartans getting the cover at home.
You know it's a rough slate when the Cy-Hawk Trophy may be a part of the weekend's top game. No offense to our corn-loving friends, but this sort of contest isn't a headliner for a typical college football weekend. Still, both Kirk Ferentz and Matt Campbell have their teams unbeaten heading into the rivalry game.
The Hawkeyes have looked like the better team so far as the Cyclones had to go to overtime to beat Northern Iowa in week one. I was a little surprised to see this spread at just 1.5 points in favor of Iowa, but maybe the home crowd in Ames has something to do with that. Iowa State is also coming off an "open" week so they did get some extra prep time. Another rivalry win would make it five in a row for Ferentz.
It's tough to get too excited about what's to come in week three, but crazy things tend to happen in this sport we all know and love. Any other games you'll be keeping a close eye on? Do the Buckeyes cover in Bloomington?
