Duking it out

The week off from traveling was a welcome respite. The headline above is a bit misleading – I spent most of Saturday watching games. It was one of those weekends where it seemed every team I was pulling for ended up losing. Some of the games were particularly tough to watch.

Observations from last week.

• It was hard to see Penn State lose to Ohio State because I do like their coach James Franklin. Obviously, players have to execute, but the play calling on their final endzone drive was frustrating to watch. It feels like Franklin really needs to finish the season strong or his job may be lost.
• Watching Virginia Tech play so well without their starting QB and star running back and then lose in OT was heartbreaking. It is a year of what could have been for the Hokies.
• It looked like the Miami Hurricanes luck might run out, but they handled Dukes brief upset challenge easily. It was not the same for Clemson. Apparently, playing a team with a winning record does make a difference.
• Not that I am proud of it, but I did say that Iowa State was likely to lose against Texas Tech. If I only I was more consistent with my picks.

The Picks

Week 10 Results

Another 3 -1 weekend, one more week it won’t be a coincidence, but a real live streak.

• I only glanced at the Buffalo game. It was on a multi-view over my mancave bar, but their lead over the Zips was never in question.
• Indiana did scare me briefly when they went down by 10 against MSU. Worse, the game was on Peacock(?!?) so I had to follow up by updates. The Hoosiers scored the next 47 points so it was all good.
• Likewise Vanderbilt played Auburn tough the whole game. The fact that they ultimately won the game was icing on the cake.
• Saturday night I was relying on Pitt for not only a 4-0 week but also a four game parlay, and it made me eager to watch them play SMU. Unfortunately, the Panthers forgot they actually had to play to win the game. That game was over early, very early.

Week 11 Picks

A perfect 4-0 week would put me back at 500 and I am 6-2 for the last two weeks. It is probably time to revert back to the mean. Nonetheless, here are my picks for Week 11

• I correctly picked Iowa State to lose last week. This week, however, I pick them to bounce back easily against a Kansas team that has to be tired of playing away games in Kansas City
• Despite some shaky quarterback play, I like Georgia to cover against Ole Miss. The SEC has been hard to pick this year, but I think Georgia is starting to get serious.
• We are at the JMU game so I would be rooting for the Dukes in the base case. I don’t love them having to cover 17 points, but they do seem hot and they need some style points if they have any hopes of getting into the playoffs.
• Maryland is a plucky team, but listening to Coach Locksley made me decide to go with the Ducks. I’d be happy to see Maryland pull out the upset or even keep it close, but it feels almost like this is a field trip and not an away game.

Other random observations for this week:

• The Hoosiers should handle Michigan this weekend. It is at home and they have been rolling. Hard to believe I am saying this, but could the Wolverines be a trap game for Indiana?
• North Texas is a four point underdog to Army. I don’t know about that, but I do know an Under of 63.5 seems light. Both of these teams can score in bunches.
• Alabama is a slight favorite going into Death Valley on Saturday night. Bama isn’t quite Bama these days, and LSU is really tough at home. I like the Tigers.
• Are you upset about the presidential election results? It could be worse – you could have tickets to see 1-7 Kennesaw State play 1-7 UTEP. El Paso is sketchy under normal conditions. A looming army of ICE officers getting ready round up undocumented locals cannot improve the vibe.

That’s all I got, enjoy the games.

Tree