Nov 30, 2013; Auburn, AL, USA; A fan holds up a sign at Toomer’s Corner. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood
Last week I thought I had a poor week at first glance, and I ended up with my best week ever. I have finally watched all of the games on my DVR, and I think I did pretty well this week. Let’s check for sure, shall we? Winners against the spread will be in bold.
Western Michigan at Northern Illinois(-34.5): MISS! I should have known better than to take UNI for five touchdowns since the Husky defense has been average or worse all season.
Texas Tech at Texas(-4.5): MISS! I let the Longhorns getting bulldozed by Oklahoma State cloud my judgment. Shame on me!
Mississippi(-3.5) at Mississippi State: MISS! Egg on my face for missing the Egg Bowl…….how appropriate…..
Iowa at Nebraska(-2.5): MISS! Another sloppy game by the Cornchuckers. When will I learn?
SMU at Houston(-9.5): HIT! The Ponies suffer yet another embarrassment.
East Carolina at Marshall(-3.5): HIT! Glad I typed the wrong team. I think I actually meant to pick ECU…..
Toledo(-9.5) at Akron: MISS! The Zips deserve credit for beating a good Toledo team, but who would have picked them to?
Miami(OH) at Ball State(-34.5): HIT! Yes, the Redhawks are this bad….and maybe even worse. Can they play Idaho now?
Bowling Green(-2.5) at Buffalo: HIT! I actually expected this game to be closer. Maybe the Falcons have a shot at derailing UNI after all…..
Massachusetts at Ohio(-18.5): MISS! I guess I let UMass winning a game put more stock in them than I should have.
Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan(-18.5): HIT! Another week, another blowout loss for the Eagles. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.
Texas State at Troy(-7.5): MISS! This was one of Troy’s better games on the year.
Arkansas at LSU(-25.5): MISS! I thought for sure the Piggies would get blasted on the bayou. Instead, they almost pull a shocker.
Florida International at Florida Atlantic(-28.5): MISS! I really should know by now that you never take a mediocre at best team to cover a spread like this….
Fresno State(-8.5) at San Jose State: MISS! So much for those BCS hopes, huh?
Miami(FL)(-2.5) at Pittsburgh: HIT! The Canes aren’t where they were at the beginning of the year, but they aren’t that bad either.
Washington State at Washington(-16.5): HIT! The Cougars might be a contender in the Pac 12 North next year. No, I’m not kidding.
Oregon State at Oregon(-22.5): HIT! The Beavers can always be counted on to give the Ducks a tough time, no matter what the teams look like on paper.
South Florida at Central Florida(-26.5): MISS! The Knights certainly aren’t doing themselves any favors. The computers only see wins and losses, but the human voters see how lousy they have looked in two of the last three games. That might be enough to knock them out of a BCS bowl.
Rutgers(-3.5) at Connecticut: MISS! UConn looks much better than they did in September. Then again, that isn’t saying much…..
Florida State(-27.5) at Florida: HIT! The Gators actually stayed closer than I thought they would…..
Minnesota at Michigan State(-14.5): MISS! This game was never in question, but the Sparty offense looked pretty awful against a decent Minnesota D.
Ohio State(-16.5) at Michigan: HIT! I figured it would be close, but this was even closer than I thought.
Duke at North Carolina(-5.5): HIT! Duke did take this straight up to win ten games for the first time in school history.
Temple at Memphis(-8.5): HIT! There is always at least one line that is way off. This week it was right here where an 8.5 point favorite lost by 20 at home.
Kansas State(-17.5) at Kansas: HIT! I’m a bit surprised that the Wildcats didn’t win by more than 21….
Wake Forest at Vanderbilt(-13.5): MISS! Wake lends some credibility to the ACC by hanging with an 8 win SEC team on the road.
Maryland(-2.5) at North Carolina State: HIT! I really wasn’t sure about this one considering how average the Turtles have looked since getting mauled by Florida State.
Southern Mississippi at UAB(-13.5): MISS! How bad is UAB? They lost to a team that had lost 23 straight games by five touchdowns at home!
Air Force at Colorado State(-13.5): HIT! The Rams won seven games to become bowl eligible for the first time in five years. I hope they get a bid because RB Kapri Bibbs deserves some time on the national stage. He is the best back you have never heard of.
Colorado at Utah(-16.5): MISS! The Ralphies are no longer the laughing stock of the Pac 12. That would be Cal. But how long until moral victories aren’t enough?
Wyoming at Utah State(-23.5): HIT! The Aggies have managed to stay afloat, and will be a very dangerous draw with Chuckie back at QB for the bowl game.
South Alabama(-7.5) at Georgia State: HIT! It only took 11 weeks for the oddsmakers to give the Panthers some respect, then they gave them too much. This was only the second time the Panthers were covered on the season. However, it was the only silver lining on an 0-12 season….
North Texas(-4.5) at Tulsa: MISS! What was I thinking?????? This is the one I am most upset about missing this week.
Tulane at Rice(-10.5): HIT! Tulane is finally on the way back after several lean years.
BYU(-14.5) at Nevada: HIT! This was easy money. Never take an option team by more than two touchdowns on the road unless they are significantly better than the other option team that they are playing. The Cougars really have not looked good on the road all season…..
Alabama(-10.5) at Auburn: HIT! I had a feeling Auburn might win, but I never could have imagined it would happen in the way it did. What a game! You think Bama regrets lobbying for that one second to be put back on the clock?
Georgia(-3.5) at Georgia Tech: HIT! I actually expected Georgia to have an easier time than this, but oh well, a win is a win.
Purdue at Indiana(-20.5): MISS! Those damned half points strike again…..
Idaho at New Mexico State: MISS! No one should have been forced to pick this game.
Boston College(-2.5) at Syracuse: MISS! The Orange did a very good job against Williams, pretty much taking him out of the Heisman conversation.
Virginia Tech(-12.5) at Virginia: MISS! Again, this was never in question, but the Hokie offense is horrid.
Penn State at Wisconsin(-24.5): MISS! Yeah, I’m kicking myself for this one too….
Northwestern(-3.5) at Illinois: MISS! I missed my second straight lock by, you guessed it, that half point. Argh!
Baylor(-13.5) at TCU: MISS! Considering TCU is 4-7 and Pachall is about as accurate as the local weatherman, I thought this was a gimme. Guess not…..
Louisiana Tech at UTSA(-15.5): HIT! Anyone want to offer the Roadrunners a Big 12(10) invite? They can’t be any worse than Kansas! They have three wins by more than 20 points this year. They deserve better than CUSA…..
UTEP at Middle Tennessee State(-22.5): HIT! Surprise, surprise, the Miners get bludgeoned again….
Arkansas State at Western Kentucky(-5.5): HIT! The Red Wolves just missed the straight up I predicted, but oh well, it still counts!
Iowa State at West Virginia(-7.5): HIT! Cmon, WVU lost to Kansas! How can I pick them again after that??
Notre Dame at Stanford(-14.5): MISS! The Domers showed up for this one, but still came up short. Now the question is, how will Stanford look away from The Farm? They have been average on the road this year, and a bowl game is a road game. Will that be taken into consideration?
Tennessee(-3.5) at Kentucky: HIT! Kentucky is improving, but this line was ridiculously low.
Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette: HIT! Yep, Monroe took it straight up!
Clemson at South Carolina(-5.5): MISS! Clemson still can’t figure out how to beat these guys, even with all the talent they have on offense.
Texas A&M at Missouri(-5.5): HIT! The dream season for the Tigers continues.
UCLA at USC(-3.5): HIT! I expected a close game, not for UCLA to run off with it and any chance Orgeron had of retaining the USC job….
Arizona at Arizona State(-12.5): MISS! Arizona looked really good last week in thumping Oregon. Arizona State dealt it back to their rivals in spades.
New Mexico at Boise State(-36.5): HIT! This game was never close, and the Broncs still were ten points away from covering…..
San Diego State(-3.5) at UNLV: HIT! This is not the UNLV team that has been bad for decades. These guys are pretty good.
Army at Hawaii(-6.5): HIT! Finally, a half goes my way!
That puts me at 32-27 in the last full week of the season. This week there are only around 15 games I think, so it will be more difficult to stay above .500 on the week. This puts my season total at 383-320 with the championship week, the Army-Navy game, and the bowls yet to go. Even if I miss every prediction from here on out, I would still finish above .500, but that wasn’t the goal. I aimed high, and now it seems that I will fall just short. Anyway, I hope it has been as fun for you as it has been for me. I will have the full odds for this weekend up tomorrow. Here is the line for the game tonight:
(19)Louisville(-3.5) at Cincinnati: Well, considering how well the Bearcats have played lately, and how awful the Cardinals have been against the spread, I am inclined to take Cincy at home. That said, this line is way too low. The adjustment has already been made by the oddsmakers. I’m taking Louisville for this small of a margin.