Fansided

ESPN College Pick Em Picks Week 12

By Mike Marteny

Nov 12, 2016; College Park, MD, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Curtis Samuel (4) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown during the second quarter against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; College Park, MD, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Curtis Samuel (4) celebrates with teammates after a touchdown during the second quarter against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Nov 12, 2016; Memphis, TN, USA; South Florida Bulls quarterback Quinton Flowers (9) and South Florida Bulls wide receiver Rodney Adams (87) celebrate after the game against the Memphis Tigers at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. South Florida Bulls defeats the Memphis Tigers 49-42. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Memphis, TN, USA; South Florida Bulls quarterback Quinton Flowers (9) and South Florida Bulls wide receiver Rodney Adams (87) celebrate after the game against the Memphis Tigers at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. South Florida Bulls defeats the Memphis Tigers 49-42. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports /

ESPN College Pick Em Picks Week 12

Where has this college football season gone? We only have three full weeks, including this week, left in ESPN College Pick Em. This game ends before the conference championship games.

More from College Football Odds

That means us confidence players only have 165 more points that we can possibly get. Believe me, I need them after last week. I lost my number ten game when Michigan fell in their first true road test. I ended up with only four right picks and 27 points. Fortunately, I got picks 7-9 right.

The silver lining ends there. I had the lowest total in the Fantasy CPR group, and fell one more slot. My 401 points is a solid total, but I am still 45 points away from the top three in the group, and have little chance of catching Soccergoalie6, who has 461 points to lead the group. In all fairness, the average total in the group is over 400 points, so we have a tough group!

Here are the ESPN College Pick Em picks for Week 12. They are in order from least confidence(1) to most (10) for those of you that play the confidence version of the game like I do.

Nov 12, 2016; Fayetteville, AR, USA; LSU Tigers running back Derrius Guice (5) runs down the sidelines for a 94 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. LSU won 38-10. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Fayetteville, AR, USA; LSU Tigers running back Derrius Guice (5) runs down the sidelines for a 94 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. LSU won 38-10. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports /

(1) Washington State over Colorado:

This could be the best game of the weekend. Colorado has the better defense, but they haven’t really faced an offense with the skill players that Washington State has. The Cougars are playing as well as anyone, and likely win this game if they aren’t looking ahead to the Apple Cup.

(2) Northwestern over Minnesota:

This is another tough one. Northwestern in the more consistent team despite having a worse record. I do think Minnesota has the better offense. The defense is good if they can stay out of trouble. They have had more targeting penalties than any team I have seen since the inception of the rule. My main reason for picking the Wildcats is because I know at least two people in front of me are taking the Gophers. This is a skillfully aggressive pick. The game is close enough that maybe I can pick up a couple of extra points.

(3) San Diego State over Wyoming:

The Cowboys are getting close, but I don’t think they are quite to this point yet. Stopping Donnel Pumphrey is something few teams have accomplished this year. This stays close, but SDSU pulls it out.

(4) Oklahoma State over TCU:

The Cowboys may be the most consistent team in the Big 12(10), if that means anything. TCU is fresh off of a 40 point thrashing of rival Baylor, a team that Oklahoma State lost to in the first week of conference play. Of course, Baylor still had starting QB Seth Russell back then. I do expect TCU to stay close at home. I just think Oklahoma State comes up with a big play when they need it.

(5) LSU over Florida:

This is the rescheduled game from October 7th, so while the rest of the SEC is eating cupcakes, LSU is finishing their brutal stretch. No one thought they had a chance in any of these with Les Miles at the helm. Now the defense played well enough against Alabama, and they hammered rival Arkansas. Florida isn’t quite as good with Austin Appleby leading the team, but I would have taken LSU even with Del Rio under center.

Nov 12, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold (14) rolls out of the pocket to pass against the Washington Huskies during the third quarter at Husky Stadium. USC defeated Washington, 26-13. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold (14) rolls out of the pocket to pass against the Washington Huskies during the third quarter at Husky Stadium. USC defeated Washington, 26-13. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /

(6) Oklahoma over West Virginia:

I have long been saying that this is the Sooners’ biggest test in conference play. This will be a high scoring game. While West Virginia does have the better defense, I don’t feel like they can consistently run the ball well enough to take this with Rushel Shell still limited. That said, any of you who have read me with regularity know that I am an Oklahoma fan. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of this containing a bit of homerism/wishful thinking. In the same vein, we have at least one West Virginia fan in the group. I am making my move this week!

(7) South Florida over SMU:

The Mustangs have played well lately, but they still don’t have enough on defense to take down South Florida. Quentin Flowers is a poor man’s Lamar Jackson. He matured a lot during the disastrous year last year. Expect Flowers to have a big game here and lead the Bulls to win number nine.

(8) Virginia Tech over Notre Dame:

The Hokies have had trouble with teams that can consistently run the ball. Fortunately for them, Notre Dame can’t. This will be a tougher road game since the Irish are playing better lately, but I don’t see them winning this game. They will stay close enough that anything can happen if the Hokie offense falls apart.

(9) USC over UCLA:

This is a rivarly, but it is also a huge mismatch. Can you imaging where USC would be if they had started Darnold since the beginning? I’m not saying they would have beaten Alabama, but they likely beat Stanford and maybe Utah as well. The Trojans could be sitting at 9-1 in the playoff hunt instead of playing spoiler at 7-3. Oh, sorry, 8-3 after this trouncing is done, likely by halftime.

(10) Ohio State over Michigan State:

The Spartans are young, and this offense is predicated on having a leader who doesn’t make mistakes. Someday Brian Lewerke could be that, but that day isn’t here yet. All the Spartans have to look forward to is this. They are just hoping to escape without any major injuries. Somehow, some way, the Buckeyes find themselves right in the thick of the playoff conversation once again.

Next: College Football Picks Against The Spread November 15th-18th

Stay tuned for all of the college games against the spread, even though that has mostly been a bad thing this year. We will also have all of your DFS needs for the NBA and NHL on both FanDuel and DraftKings. We also have tons of NFL strategies coming your way!