COLLEGE FOOTBALL - WEEK 8
As predicted here first, upsets were aplenty last week. Per usual, TOB is the foremost predictor of college football, in a macro sense that is (disregard TOB’s pick’s record). Following a mundane first half of the season, this happened:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srq_MbsUTuM
We lost John “Jim Lahey” Dunsworth this past week. He will be sorely missed. Be prepared for full on Lahey clips the rest of the season. If you’ve never seen Trailer Park Boys, your life is incomplete. Back to football!
Penn State has moved all the way up to number 2 (upcoming schedule is brutal, will probably end the season with 2 losses minimum). If Ohio State can run the Big 10, the voters will be eager to put them into the final four. Same goes for Oklahoma in the Big 12. The biggest question is in the SEC. Georgia seems to have the clearest path to at least the SEC title game, so if they go in undefeated playing Alabama, will both teams go to the final four if it’s a tight game? The ACC and PAC12 will throw a fit, but who from those conferences would be able to boast such a resume at that point? Oh no, TOB fell into the week 7 championship trap! Not to worry, teams will lose, the right teams will make it, and the last paragraph will be useless in about 3 weeks.
Best of luck to those tailgating in Columbia this morning. Somehow Mizzou is a 14 point favorite over Idaho. I’m not sure how Mizzou can be a two touchdown favorite over any team, is anyone watching them this season?
Big weekend for Notre Dame versus USC. Could vault them into the top 10 with some top teams losing (unlikely based on match-ups, but the damn liberal media would have said that last week too). Win out and ND will have a very good case to be in the top 4 (that would mean wins over Michigan State, Miami, USC, NC State, Stanford – only loss to 3rd ranked Georgia by 1 point during Hurricane Irma). All of that leads to ND blowing the game today, finishing 8-4, and beating Tennessee in the Bridgetone Tire Can You Hear Me Now Sprint Network DirecTV Bowl brought to you by Lowe’s.
Now for the segment that Vegas is trying to get TOB to stop running, Tony and Cheech make picks sure to go wrong!
Last weeks’ results:
Cheech (16-13-1) – Someone got a little too big for their britches…
Florida State (-7) over Duke. FSU isn't ranked anymore? I guess that happens when you're 2-3. Anyway, I think they're better than that and win by 2 possessions. – PUSH (our first tie of the year)
Oklahoma (-8.5) over Texas. Neutral site, rivalry game that OU needs to make a statement with. - LOSS
Ole' Miss (-3.5) over Vandy, rednecks over smart kids - WIN
Central Michigan (+7.5) over Toledo. At 3-3, I think the Chippewas are the real deal - LOSS
Nebraska (+24.5) over Nebraska. Huskers are at home, and have shown that they can hang w/ big teams, at least for a bit. Plus, the Buckeyes aren't that good and I think Nebraska could give them a real scare. Maybe, hopefully, if they're lucky, - Didn’t notice that Cheech couldn’t make up his mind on this one last week. I guess I’ll give him a LOSS based on the context of the comment?
TOB (10-20): Climbing back in! Watch out Bobby!
TCU (-6.5) over K-State – TCU has put a whoopin on some people this year. K-State let me down a few weeks ago. If I sound bitter, it’s because I’m incredibly bitter. - WIN
Michigan (-7.5) over Indiana – Want to root for the Hoosiers here, but Coach Khaki is pissed! - LOSS
Wisconsin (-17.5) over Purdue – Purdue is having a fine season, beating Mizzou with their eyes closed, but Wisconsin is doing what they do, winning 10 or 11 games and no one notices. I see you Wisconsin, now send me some cheese curds! - LOSS
Ohio State (-24.5) over Nebraska – Ohio State saw their chance last night with two teams ranked above them going down. Win this and they could leapfrog Clemson into the 7 spot. 7th game of the year Bret, can’t hold anything back now! - WIN
Utah (+13) over USC – USC has had some shaky moments this year. Utah has looked decent, their only loss to a solid Stanford team and eventual Heisman winner, Bryce Love. - WIN
Warning: TOB did not go against his gut his week, may be a good week to bet against all of those picks if you’d like to make some quick cash…
This week:
Cheech:
I've been hearing a lot of chatter about my weekly college football selections and am going to address those concerns this week. People say "Yeah, Cheech makes great picks every week, but he's making his living off of the low hanging fruit. Take away his insider/local knowledge of MAC teams and he's just another sub-500 chucker." Other people have said "Sometimes it seems like he just picks the first 5 games that show up on on the ESPN schedule for the week." And the most stinging criticism of my work goes something along the lines of "I'm pretty sure Cheech is posting fake spreads and hoping Tony doesn't notice."
OUCH!
So, this week I'm picking 5 of the biggest games, and promise to use actual spreads as posted on http://www.espn.com/college-football/lines.
Notre Dame (-3.5) over USC - Griff's late night text message pep talks have turned me into a believer again. Go Irish! (Any suggestions on how I can prepare for / cope with the inevitable heartbreak at 11 pm Saturday night would be appreciated)
Penn State (-9.5) over Michigan - Fun fact: Supposedly the line for this game was 14 points at the beginnig of the year and has since moved to 9.5 even though Michigan has uderperformed, has a hurt QB, and PSU looks like the real deal. Hmmm.... Anyway, the Wolverines are fake. Their D is decent and will keep them in the game, but I don't think they have any shot of winning outright. As I type this, I'm sort of changing my mind about the spread, but I'll go w/ the Nittany Lions.
-------- another crap week of college football, matchup wise, so it's back to the MAC! -----------
Western Michigan (-3) over Eastern Michigan - This game is in Ypsilanti, but Eastern is 0-2 in conference play and Western is in the thick of the MAC West race. The Broncos have more to play for and should be able to handle the Eagles' West Coast offense.
Central Michigan (-2) over Ball State - Nate Davis isn't walking through that door. In another pivotal MAC West matchup, I expect the Chippewas (that's offensive!) to come into Muncie and take care of business against the much maligned Cardinals defense.
Washington State (-10) over Colorado - This seems like too easy of a pick. WSU is coming off a loss but still has a lot ot play for. They're at home and can put up a ton of points. Colorado sucks...time to head to Bovada.com...
TOB:
Funny Cheech should make note of some criticism he’s been receiving. TOB has been receiving some of his own. Things like, “You have no wife, kids, or job, why do you only write one article a week?” and “How are you able to watch any college football when you seem to watch the Harry Potter marathon every weekend?” Well critics, when you’re right you’re right. On to the picks!
Wisconsin (-24) over Maryland – TOB’s theory of Wisconsin’s success is widely known. Maryland has fallen off after being giant killers early in the year (oh yeah, it turns out Texas sucks anyway so maybe that victory wasn’t all that impressive).
OKST (-7.0) over Texas – Remember that time TOB said Texas sucks? Oh yeah, it was one sentence ago. Well, I stand by it.
Syracuse (+17.5) over Miami – The new giant killers, the fighting Oranges! After giving deep thought (read: 35 seconds) to the orange being an intimidating fruit, TOB has decided that oranges are indeed scarier than apples and bananas. Tell me something worse than biting down into an orange wedge and chipping a tooth on a seed! At least with apples the seeds are all in the middle, and bananas tend to go bad before you can even eat them. Oranges…a citrus flavored nightmare!
Oklahoma (-14.5) over K-State – TOB was fooled into thinking K-State was good this year. Likely due to being friends with Shane Lutchel on The Facebook (I still call it “The” Facebook, suck it Sean Parker). Turns out, they can’t score points or prevent the other team from scoring points. Those skills, as confirmed by Lee Corso, are critical to winning a football game.
South Florida (-11.5) over Tulane – USF is back to the cranky coach days, possibly shaking up the Big East. Oh wait, they are in the American Conference now? What the hell is that? Aren’t we all in America? Well, anyway, shout out to TOB’s future cousins-in-law Adam and Alex White. One already goes there, one was recently accepted (also to Tulane, which is an odd coincidence given this game). TOB can’t remember which one is which.
Warning: After going 3-2 on his gut, TOB has yet again chosen to not go against his instincts. Please place bets with caution.
Bonus games to keep an eye on:
LSU / Ole Miss – Somehow LSU has climbed back into the rankings despite having lost their Homecoming game to Troy. Shout out to Troy’s twitter handle for this gem:
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/9/30/16391456/troy-lsu-final-score-results-2017
Kansas/TCU – Sometimes it’s fun to watch a good old fashioned ass whipping. It’s always amazed me how great Kansas basketball is while the football team can’t get out of its own way. They have to be the largest disparity in Division I. What’s that Kentucky?
Michigan State/Indiana – Indiana gave Michigan quite the scare last week going to OT. Despite TOB’s original thought, MSU is having a strong season and could make some noise in the Big 10. Vegas is predicting a one score game, TOB feels MSU by 10…so take IU to cover.
Shout out to Mike DeMay and Emily Whitlock, doing it right, wedding at 5:30 pm, reception to follow. TOB gets all day to watch football!
GO IRISH!
-Tonyonball
