Championship week is here! Our Hawkeyes blew a chance at the title game, losing to a horrible, rotten, no-good Nebraska team. It was so disgusting that the Spread Awareness staff agreed to not even put out an article this week until we realized something….
Last week we caught FIRE. After struggling for weeks, we had our winningest week of the season by going 11-5 (this doesn’t count the soccer pick we made because this is a FOOTBALL betting advice column, not SOCCER). This has led to the weirdest regular season results ever. I kid you not, this is where our picks are currently sitting for the season:
- Overall: 98-98-1
- Against the Spread: 72-72-1
- Over/Under: 26-26
Perfectly balanced is great for a lot of things in life. It is good for offenses, defenses, your work/home life, etc, etc. It is literally good for all things EXCEPT WHEN YOU ARE BETTING. Being .500 stinks! We poured HOURS and HOURS of our life into this only to end up tied. THAT ISN'T GOING TO FLY HERE. THIS IS AMERICA. TIES ARE NOT A THING. We refuse to end the season with a .500 record.
We are going to go out SWINGING FOR THE F****** FENCES. Picks for every conference championship game and ABSOLUTELY ZERO UNDERS. SPREAD AWARENESS READERS, THIS IS OUR MOMENT. RIDE WITH US TO THE PROMISED LAND OR GET LEFT BEHIND LIKE AN IOWA OFFENSIVE LINEMAN THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BLOCK THE BLITZING SAFETY.
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP (Friday, 7:00 PM CST, FOX)
#4 USC -2.5 vs #11 Utah
Caleb Williams essentially won himself the Heisman last week against Notre Dame, but can he lead the Trojans to a Pac-12 championship? USC had every chance to put Utah away in their regular season matchup and they absolutely did not, allowing Utah to win on a last-second two-point conversion. Caleb Williams is on a mission, though, and I don’t think he will let USC lose this game, even if the defense gives up 90 points.
PICK: USC -2.5, OVER 67
Big 12 Championship (11:00 AM CST, ABC)
#10 Kansas State +2.5 vs #3 TCU
After close game after game, TCU finally put the throttle down and destroyed Iowa State in their final regular season game. It appears the Horned Frogs were tired of people questioning their undefeated season. Kansas State has won three in a row following the loss of QB Adrian Martinez, who apparently was just holding the team back. TCU won by 10 in the first match-up between these two in October, and our experts think they will win again here by a similar margin. Get ready, world, the Horned Frogs are taking over the College Football Playoff.
PICK: TCU -2.5
MAC Championship (Saturday, 11:00 AM CST, ESPN)
Toledo -2.5 vs Ohio
When our lord and savior Frank Solich retired, we thought Ohio was done for. Instead of collapsing without their fearless leader, they fought harder for the retired legend and finished the regular season going 9-3 ATS, covering in each of their last EIGHT games. That is a team of destiny. The Bobcats are finally going to get their first MAC championship since 1968. Some dumb people may say they are finally going to win because Solich is not the coach. DO NOT ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH THOSE PEOPLE. They are going to win because Frank Solich retired and gave them the extra motivation they needed.
PICK: Ohio +2.5
SEC Championship (3:00 PM CST, CBS)
#14 LSU +17.5 vs #1 Georgia
LSU may have gotten caught looking ahead to this game last week or at least that is the excuse they need to go with because losing to the dumpster fire that is Texas A&M is a bad, bad look. Now they get to play the best team in the country. Georgia is going to win BIG BIG BIG to ensure they get the #1 seed in the playoff where they will probably matchup against a USC team that does not play defense. Also, did anyone else out there throw some money on Stetson Bennett to win the Heisman a few weeks ago and is now hoping Caleb Williams has an epic collapse? No? Just us? OK then.
PICK: Georgia -17.5
AAC Championship (3:00 PM CST, ABC)
#22 UCF +4 vs #18 Tulane
In two years, this game will be for an automatic bid into the 12-team playoff which is sick. UCF completely choked last week against a 1-10 USF team, but they somehow managed to come out with a win. They can't look that bad two weeks in a row, right? UCF beat Tulane by 7 two weeks ago, no reason they should be a 4-point dog here.
PICK: UCF +4, OVER 56.5
ACC Championship (7:00 PM CST, ABC)
#9 Clemson -7.5 vs #23 North Carolina
Does anyone know why Clemson is still ranked in the Top 10? I do not understand. Anyway, Drake Maye is a baller, and even though the Tar Heels have lost two in a row, we still think they are going to win this game. Why? Because sometimes in life you have to stand up and make a statement against something that is wrong in this world. This is that time. #GetClemsonOutOfTheTop10
PICK: North Carolina +7.5
Big Ten Championship (7:00 PM CST, FOX)
Michigan -17 vs Purdue
Michigan is good, but are they that good? I mean, they haven't really played anyone besides Ohio State! And sure, they dominated Ohio State and guaranteed themselves a spot in the playoff, but doesn't that mean they have no motivation to play a really bad team from the B1G West in the title game??
Those are the questions we asked ourselves last season before Iowa played Michigan in the Big Ten Championship. We used the lack of motivation argument to convince ourselves that our beloved Hawkeyes, though highly flawed, had a real chance to win the championship. It was dumb, reckless, and irresponsible, and we will not make that mistake again.
Purdue may score a few more points than Iowa did last year, but Michigan is still going to win by a big number.
PICK: Michigan -17, OVER 51.5
BONUS BEAUTIFUL JERSEY GAME OF THE YEAR
Conference USA Championship (6:30 PM CST, CBSS)
UTSA -8.5 vs North Texas
The Beautiful Jersey Game of the Year has been GREAT for Spread Awareness. It is now 3-0 on the season thanks to the University of South Florida, a one-win team, covering against UCF last week after trailing 28-0. That, my friends, is called FATE. There are not a lot of special uniforms this week so we were going to skip this bet, but then we found it. UTSA is breaking out these beauts, and folks, this just feels right.
Friday night fit.
— UTSA Football (@UTSAFTBL) December 1, 2022
#210TriangleOfToughness #LetsGo210 | #BirdsUp pic.twitter.com/wp2l2wKfSN
PICK: UTSA -8.5
YEAR-TO-DATE RECORD
- Overall: 98-98-1
- ATS: 72-72-1
- O/U: 26-26
