FTRS Picks Week 11: Feels Good
Week 10 has come and gone and most of our pickers did quite well on the week. resultsfrom the week.
TheCalvinist picked up the top spot this week and only missed the perfect week by one pick. Can’t blame him too much, only 11 people picked Army to beat the spread against Air Force and I’m not sure how many of those expected Army to win that game.
kjjrb55 remains on top for total correct picks with 72 but Coin Flip has the highest pick percentage after missing a week with 62.73% correct picks. I was told in school that coin flips are 50/50, but this coin clearly never took statistics. Plenty of picks left to make and opportunities to jump our current leaders.
It feels good to beat your rivals, so I gotta imagine it feels real good to beat your rival in the last foreseeable game you will play against them. Hats off to Oklahoma State for giving their fans something to hold over Oklahoma until the next time they play... whenever that ends up being.
The PAC-12 is continuing to make it’s final year one worth remembering. Washington won a shootout against USC using their run game this time. Washington has a few more challenges left, but right now they certainly seem to be a playoff team.
In other news, Alabama should be the team coming out of the SEC West to challenge uga unless the Crimson Tide stumble unexpectedly. Texas is struggling to remain a one loss team as Kansas State took them to OT, but the Wildcats could not close out things against the Longhorns. Michigan, Florida State, and Ohio State are still winning, but there are some challenges remaining on the slate that could trip them up and bring some more chaos to the playoff picture.
So we finally won 2 in a row, in Charlottesville no less. I don’t have a whole lot to say about the game, despite the cursed environment and the season trends this was a game we should have won handily and we did. I’m proud of our team, and I’m glad that fans are starting to see that this isn’t the same program we had under coach 404-not found. It feels weird to not have GT either struggle or embarrass themselves against an opponent they should beat... but it feels good.
Next week is a weird one. Clemson just won against a ranked Notre Dame, but overall their season has been nothing but a downward spiral. At the start of this season I struggled to see a scenario where we could win against Clemson, now I am feeling more optimistic. Clemson will by no means be an easy matchup, but Georgia Tech has shown that we have the talent to matchup with anyone, This will be a fun week, I hope all our readers are invested to see what this team does down the stretch.
picks:
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ Clemson Tigers (-14.5)
Logan: Really? I know Clemson is talented, but us being 14.5 point underdogs seems like a slap in the face. I get that Clemson has mostly struggled against teams with talented defenses, and Georgia Tech does not have one of those. What we do have is one of hottest offenses in college football. If GT can get a few stops or turnovers, and if we continue to move the ball like we have been then I think we have a good chance to win this thing outright. Georgia Tech can certainly cover this spread. Let’s keep this rambling reck rolling to the end of the season.
Logan’s pick: Yellow Jackets
Duke Blue Devils @ UNC Tar Heels (-10.5)
Logan: Crazy how a few weeks ago people were expecting this matchup to decide who would play FSU. Things have changed a lot since then. Both Duke and UNC are 3-2 in the ACC and while both hit their 6 win mark for bowl games I don’t think they have much left to aspire to this season. For Duke this might be the most important remaining game on their schedule, maybe they can actually bring an offense to play because they have struggled to move things on the ground since Riley Leonard got injured against ND. Duke will need to rely on their defense against a UNC offense that has only been held to less than 30 points in a game once this season. I think UNC will find a way to win this one at home, but given how the past few weeks have gone I think Duke can cover this large spread so I’ll take Duke.
Logan’s pick: Duke
Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ Iowa Hawkeyes (-1.5)
Logan: I picked this game basically to highlight how impressed I am with Rutgers this season. For a team that hasn’t made a bowl game in 9 years they finally decided to have a postseason. Iowa doesn’t have much of an offense, and while Rutgers has a better one it is not great. I think this will be a defensive battle and I think Rutgers will find a way to win this one and make this season even sweeter for their players. That pick is reminiscent of some emotional investment for Rutgers, but I’m still making Rutgers my pick.
Logan’s pick: Rutgers
Miami Hurricanes @ #4 Florida State Seminoles (-15.0)
Logan: This game is usually a messy one for everyone involved. There used to be a time when this rivalry always came down to a missed field goal, I kind of miss those days. More recently there have been significantly more blowouts in this rivalry. Miami is a good team and could potentially pull and upset, but the Hurricanes have had serious struggles at the QB position for their last few games. FSU should be ready for this game and I expect them to win it running away given how both teams are trending.
Logan’s pick: FSU
Maryland Terrapins (-2.0) @ Nebraska Cornhuskers
Logan: Who wants to play in a bowl game? I really thought Nebraska would get there last week but the Huskers stumbled against Michigan State. Maryland has been on a 4 game losing streak, which is crazy considering they started off 5-0. Which team is more cursed in your opinion? I think I’m going to take Nebraska as I feel they are the more complete team on both sides of the ball. Also helps that Nebraska gets this game at home and Maryland is spiraling. I don’t have strong feelings on this pick, but that is the one I am making.
Logan’s pick: Nebraska
#8 Alabama Crimson Tide (-11.0) @ Kentucky Wildcats
Logan: Do I really think Alabama is going to slip up in this game? No, but I ran out of other interesting low key games to discuss this week (comment section, please let me know which interesting games I missed). Bama wins by a large margin.
Logan’s pick: Alabama
#20 USC Trojans @ #6 Oregon Ducks (-15.0)
Logan: Poor USC, you retained so much talent this year just to be a 3 loss team. This is a matchup where the most talented player on the field is Caleb Williams at the QB position for USC, but the more complete team is certainly the Oregon Ducks. I think USC will keep this game close as they have in most of their games, so a 15 point spread is a bit much (Vegas, what is up with these huge spreads this week). I’ll take USC to cover in what will ultimately be a Ducks win.
Logan’s pick: USC
#17 Tennessee Volunteers (-1.0) @ #12 Mizzou Tigers
Logan: Mizzou has looked significantly better than most of us expected them to be this year. Tennessee has stumbled against Florida (still can’t figure that one out) and Alabama (which makes more sense). Tennessee has been a pretty good team all around when they are working on all cylinders. This game could legit go either way, I will have to give Mizzou the edge though since they have the homefield advantage.
Logan’s pick: Mizzou
#18 Utah Utes @ #5 Washington Huskies (-9.0)
Logan: Utah has pulled some surprise upsets when they play in Utah this year. Unfortunately for them this game is in Washington and the Huskies are on fire right now. Washington should win this one going away.
Logan’s pick: Washington
#3 Michigan Wolverines (-3.5) @ #11 Penn State Nittany Lions
Logan: Is it too much to hope that Penn State somehow pulls off the upset at home? I think Penn State has a good chance in this game if they can get their offense going. This pick might be influenced by me not wanting Michigan to keep winning with this scandal going on... but I’m still picking Penn State.
Logan’s pick: Penn State
#10 Ole Miss Rebels @ athens correctional school (-11.5)
Logan: Mizzou was so close. Dang... welp time to pick against the dwags again. Ole Miss does have the offensive talent to win this game, its kind of sad they won’t be playing in the SEC championship. The spread is still too large in this game, I don’t know if Ole Miss can win but they should cover. Still, Ole Miss please help a brother out and win this game; It’s the least y’all can do after taking so many of our transfers last year.
