Week five is in the books and most of our team had a solid showing. Ramzy was nearly perfect hitting on nine of ten selections which boosted his accuracy up to an impressive 59 percent on the season. David Regimbal continues to lead the way at 63 percent and Kevin is the lone staffer hitting below the .500 mark.
The Wisconsin/Northwestern game was the one that got most of us. The Davids were the only forecasters who had the Wildcats staying within 24 points, and that's precisely what went down in Madison. The Badgers didn't look all that great after destroying Michigan as they ended up winning by a score of 24-15.
Speaking of Michigan, everyone had the Wolverines topping Rutgers by at least 27 and that one wasn't even close. The Scarlet Knights were annihilated 52-0 and Chris Ash was promptly fired the very next day. Not a good weekend for the fine folks in New Jersey.
Clemson was a 27-point road favorite against the Tarheels and that one may have been the game of the week. I give props to Mack Brown for going for the win, but running the option on a two-point conversion wasn't the best play call. The Tigers went home a 21-20 winner and most correctly sided with the Heels.
Ohio State went to Lincoln and Scott Frost had no answer for Justin Fields, J.K Dobbins, and the Buckeye defense. Ryan Day was a 17.5-point road favorite and everyone but David sided with the Big Ten's top team. The Buckeyes left Lincoln a 48-7 winner and it could have gotten a lot uglier.
So what's on the docket for week six? How about a pair of good ones in the Big Ten and a top-10 SEC battle in Gainesville.
- 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.
| KEVIN | CHRIS | RAMZY | HOPE | JONES | ELLIS | WERTHEIM | REGIMBAL | VANCE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAST WEEK: | 4-6 | 6-4 | 9-1 | 6-4 | 7-3 | 7-3 | 6-4 | 7-3 | 7-3 |
| OVERALL: | 23-26 | 25-24 | 29-20 | 25-24 | 25-24 | 28-21 | 28-21 | 31-18 | 27-22 |
| ACCURACY: | 47% | 51% | 59% | 51% | 51% | 57% | 57% | 63% | 55% |
| #18 UCF (-4.5) @ Cincinnati | CINCY | CINCY | UCF | CINCY | CINCY | CINCY | UCF | UCF | UCF |
| #12 Penn State (-28) vs. Purdue | PSU | PSU | PURD | PSU | PSU | PSU | PUR | PSU | PUR |
| #19 Michigan (-4) vs. #14 Iowa | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA | IOWA | MICH | IOWA | IOWA |
| #11 Texas (-11.5) @ West Virginia | TEX | WVU | WVU | TEX | TEX | WVU | TEX | TEX | TEX |
| #7 Auburn (-3) @ #10 Florida | AUB | AUB | FLOR | AUB | AUB | AUB | AUB | AUB | FLOR |
| Minnesota (-14) vs. Illinois | ILL | ILL | ILL | ILL | ILL | MINN | ILL | MINN | ILL |
| Nebraska (-8) vs. Northwestern | NW | NEB | NEB | NEB | NEB | NEB | NEB | NEB | NEB |
| #3 Georgia (-25.5) @ Tennessee | UGA | TENN | TENN | UGA | UGA | UGA | UGA | UGA | UGA |
| #4 Ohio State (-19.5) vs. #25 Michigan State | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | MSU | OSU | OSU |
| #13 Oregon (-18) vs. California | OREG | OREG | CAL | CAL | CAL | OREG | CAL | OREG | CAL |
Let's hope the weekend starts off better than last Friday's dud. This go around it's the Fighting Fickells hosting a 4-1 UCF team in Cincy. The Bearcats are a home underdog with their lone loss of the season coming in Columbus. Our staff is split on the 4.5-point spread.
The Boilermakers aren't expected to put up much of a fight in Happy Valley. It's been a disappointing campaign for Jeff Brohm thus far, and losing Rondale Moore and Elijah Sindelar won't help his cause. We're fairly split here but mostly liking the Nittany Lions by more than four touchdowns at home.
The Wolverines are set to host the Hawkeyes at high noon and this could be one of the weekend's best. Michigan got things going in the right direction last week but it's hard to put much stock into any performance against Rutgers. Iowa has the nation's No. 5 defense and should give Shea Patterson some problems. He has six turnovers so far through just four games. Everyone but David is feeling the Hawkeyes to cover the four points.
Auburn heading to Florida is the other headliner this weekend. The Tigers have a great defense, but I'm still not entirely sure what to make of Bo Nix. The true freshman hasn't put up prolific numbers but has done enough to go undefeated so far. The Gators are a field-goal underdog at home, and we're rolling with the Tigers in this top-ten battle.
The Buckeyes will host the Spartans Saturday night in Columbus, and the line for this one has jumped around after opening at 17 points. The spread immediately started moving up, and as of Thursday afternoon, it's sitting at 20.5. When we locked in our picks, Ohio State was favored by 19.5.
David is obviously siding with the Spartans to cover, but everyone else is liking the Buckeyes at home. Michigan State's defense can present a challenge, but it's worth noting that Indiana completed 20 consecutive passes last weekend against the country's No. 37 pass defense. Overall, Sparty is No. 7 in total defense thanks to their stout efforts against the run (No. 4).
The Spartan offensive line isn't great as Mark Dantonio has been forced to rotate a trio of freshmen into the two-deep; including a pair of Ohioans. That should present some problems for Brian Lewerke against Chase Young and Co. Consistency has been a problem for a Spartan offense that ranks No. 71 nationally.
What's your call for the weekend? Can the Gators get it done at home or is the Auburn defense simply too much? Will it be another tough loss for the Maize and Blue? Does the Saturday evening blackout lead to an Ohio State cover?
