It;s a BYE week and thank the lord we don’t have to watch that trash Iowa offense this week. We stink. I don’t even want to watch football anymore. Yuck. Gross. Why. We are so bad. Nepotism is also bad. Touchdowns are good. Iowa does not score them. Am I going crazy? Maybe. Boo. OMG Ohio State is going to beat us by 600 next week. Not great!
SA went 8-6 last week which is also what the final score is probably going to be when Iowa plays Northwestern in a few weeks. The big issue this week is that because there is no Iowa game, we don’t have any true guaranteed winners. Taking the UNDER in the Iowa game has become a surefire way to win some money, but with a BYE things get complicated.
Oh well. Just sit back and watch some good football this weekend. Watch competent offenses move the ball up and down the field with ease and think about how Iowa has literally the worst offense in the entire country, everyone is laughing at us, and absolutely ZERO changes will be made during the bye week. This is fun. We need to find some positive BYE week vibes FAST.
OK, on to the picks.
BIG TEN GAMES OF THE WEEK OF THE CENTURY
#10 Penn State +7 @ #5 Michigan (11:00 AM CST, FOX)
The game of the week! Neither of these teams has been lighting the world on fire as of late. Michigan was tied with Indiana going into halftime last week and the week prior gave up MULTIPLE offensive touchdowns to Iowa which is pretty embarrassing if you ask me.
Penn State only beat an awful Northwestern team by 10 two weeks ago. The week before, they struggled to pull away from Central Michigan until late in the third quarter.
The rush defense for Penn State has been great so far this year, and they will need it to be again if they want to keep it close. I don’t think they win this game, but they can cover. Also, a 51.5% chance of rain during the game means we are all over the UNDER.
PICK: Penn State +7, UNDER 51.5
Minnesota -6.5 @ #24 Illinois (11:00 AM CST, BTN)
First off, shout out to Illinois, whose fifth win last weekend allowed us to cash our Illinois OVER 4.5 wins ticket with no stress, so thank you, Bert! Even with five wins, it is tough to pick Illinois here after what I watched last Saturday. I feel like Iowa was the only team in the entire conference that would have lost that game. The fighting Illini will be without their starting QB and will lean on a former Rutgers QB which I do not love.
As for Minnesota, well, I really wish someone would have told us Mo Ibrahim wasn’t going to play against Purdue. That is the only reason we picked them and they looked awful without him. He is expected to be back this weekend, so we are jumping back in the Gopher boat as we still think they are the best bet to win the West (for now).
PICK: Minnesota -6.5
Maryland -11.5 @ Indiana (2:30 PM CST, ESPN2)
Maryland heads to Bloomington to face Indiana, a team that fired their offensive line coach because the team was ranked 124th out of 131 FBS teams in rushing offense (Iowa averages eight fewer rushing yards per game than Indiana). Will that be the change the Hoosiers needed to take down a Maryland team that is receiving Top 25 votes? Probably not, but Maryland being an 11.5-point favorite on the road seems a little wild.
PICK: Indiana +11.5, UNDER 62
Wisconsin -7.5 @ Michigan State (3:00 PM CST, FOX)
This game looked like a great match-up before the season, now? Not so much. Wisconsin bounced back after firing their coach by destroying Northwestern. Maybe getting Chryst out of there was the spark the Badgers needed to turn things around…or maybe Northwestern is just that bad.
Michigan State has now lost four in a row and they have some major problems. They have lost those games by a combined 81 points and have absolutely no answer for any team that drops back to pass. They also have issues on offense, where their QB has thrown nine interceptions (seven touchdowns though, which is five more than the guy Iowa has starting…)
Wisconsin keeps rolling and you start to wonder, could Michigan State fire Mel Tucker after giving him that giant contract? Probably not, they really only have two winnable games left on the schedule…
PICK: Wisconsin -7.5
Nebraska +13.5 @ Purdue (6:30 PM CST, BTN)
Nebraska interim coach Mickey Joseph started the week by calling out Rutgers for claiming there was a sellout crowd for their game when it really wasn’t.
Nebraska is expecting a more hostile environment this week at Purdue than it faced at Rutgers on Friday. "I think the boys did a great job at Rutgers with the so-called sellout crowd." It wasnt a sellout, Joseph said. "Lets be real about it."
— Mitch Sherman (@mitchsherman) October 11, 2022
That's one of the funnier things I have seen recently considering Nebraska basically forces donors and local companies to buy all the remaining tickets to games so they can keep their “sellout" streak alive. I am glad he said it though. Life was getting boring without Scott Frost opening his mouth every week.
As for this game, well Nebraska has won two in a row and the people of Lincoln are starting to feel really good about the football team. They think the Blackshirts are back after dominating defensive performances against Indiana and Rutgers. Well, Purdue might not be great, but their offense is 50x better than Rutgers and Indiana, and I fully expect Charlie Jones to have a huge game. With that being said, Purdue hasn’t blown anyone out since their Week 2 win over Indiana State. They tend to do stupid things that make games way closer than they should be (SEE: PURDUE VS SYRACUSE). Nebraska also tends to do stupid things, so this could be a hilarious game.
PICK: Nebraska +14
TOP 25 GAMES OF THE WEEK OF THE CENTURY
#19 Kansas +9 @ Oklahoma: Kansas will be without their starting QB, but their backup played well enough in relief against TCU to make think there won’t be that big of a drop-off. Add in Oklahoma being terrible on defense and I think Kansas has a decent chance to win this.
#6 Tennessee +7 vs #3 Alabama: Tough road match-up for an Alabama team that has looked beatable in both of their road games so far this year. Bryce Young is probably out, which makes me think Tennessee has a legit shot in this one. Hendon Hooker has the Volunteer offense rolling, and you know what? It kind of feels like 1998?!?!
#8 Oklahoma State +4 @ #13 TCU: Is there a team that is more routinely forgotten about and overlooked than Oklahoma State? Probably not. TCU is 4-0-1 ATS, but that streak has to end at some point. Cowboys win, and take the OVER at 68.5
#16 Mississippi State -4 @ #22 Kentucky: Clanga Clanga Clanga. Will Levis is doubtful for Kentucky. MSU wins.
#7 USC +3.5 @ #20 Utah: Why is USC an underdog in this game? Is it because they struggled on the road vs Oregon State? Dumb. I see UCLA and USC as essentially the same team. Is this accurate? Probably not, but just go with it. USC does to Utah what UCLA did just last week and wins by 10+.
YTD Record
- Overall: 49-42-1
- ATS: 38-31-1
- O/U: 11-11
