College Football Results Against The Spread Week 13
I thought I had this published earlier in the week, but with all the holiday travel and DFS stuff going on, I must have missed it. Better late then never, right?
We had another huge college football week with 62 FBS vs. FBS games. I had another solid week last week to inch closer to my 55% goal. How did rivalry week treat me?
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My college football pick em picks were better this week, but everyone had a solid week. It will be all I can do just to finish in the top ten of the FantasyCPR readers group.
Here we will recap my picks against the spread. The winner against the spread will be in BOLD. My result will follow. Let’s get to it!
In case you want to follow along:
Tuesday-Thursday
Friday
Early Saturday
Saturday Afternoon
Late Saturday
Kent State at Akron(-15.5): MISS! It’s an ominous sign for the week if Akron couldn’t even cover Kent….
Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan(-13.5): MISS! Wow…..and the Eagles barely pull one out. I know they didn’t have a bowl to play for, but wow…..
Miami(OH)(-17.5) at Ball State: HIT! Too bad I don’t have Ball State to pick against anymore to pad my stats.
Mississippi at Mississippi State(-16.5): HIT! This may have been a different story had Nick Fitzgerald not been hurt. The Bulldogs were looking good early before he got hurt.
Western Michigan at Toledo(-13.5): MISS! Okay, so we learned who the best team in the MAC is. The only thing left before the Motor City Bowl is Toledo wiping the field with Akron in the MAC Championship.
Miami(FL)(-12.5) at Pittsburgh: MISS! Ten years ago, Pitt ruined the Championship hopes of West Virginia in the backyard brawl in the last game of the 2007 season. That was one of the wackiest college football seasons in my lifetime. I can’t wait to see what 2027 brings! Who wants to play Pitt last that year?
Baylor at TCU(-24.5): HIT! Imagine the surprise of the people sitting ringside when a football game broke out. At least they got two sporting events for the price of one ticket!
Northern Illinois(-3.5) at Central Michigan: MISS! This was a fine time for Central Michigan to finally play some defense.
Navy at Houston(-4.5) MISS! That Houston run defense is nasty. Something to watch for bowl season.
Ohio(-4.5) at Buffalo: MISS! Dammit! It was a trick!
Missouri(-9.5) at Arkansas: MISS! I am more than a little surprised that this valiant effort by the Hogs still resulted in Bielema’s firing. Arkansas had a ton of injuries this year, but I guess the Piggies didn’t want to end up like Florida….
South Florida at Central Florida(-9.5): MISS! Thanks to Quinton Flowers, the Bulls were able to take this to the wire.
New Mexico at San Diego State(-20.5): HIT! The Aztecs did finish strong after a November swoon. That at least gives them some confidence heading into the Poinsettia Bowl.
Texas State at Troy(-24.5): MISS! Well, Troy finally covered one of those big spreads that they have had issues with this year.
Iowa(-3.5) at Nebraska: HIT! At least Nebraska tried for a while, then Iowa went all Ohio State on Nebraska. Either what the Hawkeyes did to Ohio State or what the Buckeyes did in Lincoln. Either analogy works.
Western Kentucky(-2.5) at Florida International: MISS! What a show by the Panthers! I knew they were improving, but this could be a turning point. There are a lot of good football teams in Florida right now. Well, besides the Gators….
Virginia Tech(-7.5) at Virginia: MISS! What better way to embarrass a rival than to shut them out at home? This was a dominant performance by the Hokie defense.
Texas Tech at Texas(-9.5): HIT! Holding Texas Tech to 27 points is a pretty solid achievement. You can say that the Texas defense did their job, but the Texas offense sputtered again in the second half.
California at UCLA(-6.5): HIT! I do think that UCLA would have won going away if Josh Rosen were able to play the whole game. The offense slowed down after he was knocked out.
Georgia(-10.5) at Georgia Tech: HIT! I think that Auburn loss woke up the Bulldogs. This looked more like a practice than a game. The Bees couldn’t do much of anything here.
Ohio State(-12.5) at Michigan: HIT! You can’t say that Michigan didn’t have their chances to win this game. They blew a 14-0 lead, and couldn’t capitalize once J.T. Barrett was knocked out of the game.
Kansas at Oklahoma State(-40.5): MISS! Losing by a half always sucks, but somehow it’s worse when the line is this high. Come on Kansas! Would one last stop have hurt you?
East Carolina at Memphis(-28.5): MISS! See? Somehow this was better. Well, maybe not, since I knew better…..
Florida State(-5.5) at Florida: MISS! When was the last time that FSU came into the Swamp and just whipped Florida? McElwain was there at least one year too long.
Louisville(-10.5) at Kentucky: MISS! I knew better here as well. I read too much into rivalries when picking this week.
Indiana at Purdue(-2.5): MISS! This was more about the Purdue defense. Indiana has a pretty good offense, but they were completely shut down here.
Connecticut at Cincinnati(-5.5): HIT! This is what UConn was hoping to see this year. They went from a team getting blown off the field in September to a team that kept things close enough for them to win down the stretch. Against teams that weren’t significantly better than them anyway.
Tulane at SMU(-7.5): MISS! SMU could be dangerous if they recruit a defense….
Boston College(-3.5) at Syracuse: HIT! Unfortunately, I think the injury to Eric Dungey cost Syracuse a bowl game this year. And does anyone really want to play Boston College right now? They blew out Virginia, Florida State, UConn, and Syracuse and played NC State to a three point loss in the last five games. The one before that, they beat Louisville. Whoever gets them in a bowl is in for more than they bargained for.
Duke at Wake Forest(-11.5): MISS! Yep, this was just my luck. Not only did Wake not cover, they lost by 8. That’s nearly 20 points off the spread!
North Texas(-12.5) at Rice: HIT! Nic Smith kind of came out of nowhere this year, but he has carried the Mean Green lately with everyone keying on Fine.
UTEP at UAB(-20.5): HIT! That was close! I don’t know who I want to see UAB play in a bowl, but I hope it’s someone like Kentucky or Duke.
Appalachian State(-6.5) at Georgia State: HIT! Appalachian State is another one of those Sun Belt teams that could put on a show in a bowl. Then again, the Sun Belt struggled in bowls last year. Will this year be the same?
Florida Atlantic(-22.5) at Charlotte: MISS! Since when did Lane Kiffin start letting up in the fourth quarter? What in the world is going on here?
Southern Mississippi at Marshall(-2.5): MISS! The Herd had no answer for Ito Smith.
Old Dominion at Middle Tennessee State: MISS! Okay ODU, I’m done with you!
Arkansas State(-7.5) at Louisiana-Monroe: HIT! Wow. Monroe scored 50 and still got covered! By more than double the original line!
UNLV at Nevada(-2.5): MISS! I don’t like UNLV much right now. Every time I think they turn a corner and take their side, I get burned.
Alabama(-5.5) at Auburn: HIT! I never thought I would see a Nick Saban coached team play this sloppy. Alabama did not look ready for this game. Auburn showed up for this one.
Wisconsin(-17.5) at Minnesota: HIT! The Badgers become the second rival to perform a road shutout in rivalrly week. This was absolute domination by the Badgers. Even more than Virginia Tech.
Penn State(-23.5) at Maryland: MISS! Is Maryland’s offense really worse than Nebraska’s? I have a hard time believing that.
North Carolina at North Carolina State(-16.5): HIT! The Tarheels showed up, but they were still really overmatched. They had a hard time keeping up in the fourth quarter.
Boise State(-6.5) at Fresno State: MISS! Is there such a thing as looking past the team you are playing to next week when you play the same team again? If so, the Broncos definitely did just that…..
Iowa State at Kansas State(-2.5): HIT! I’m glad I changed this one, even though Iowa State gave the game away. This was a fantastic finish, and probably the best game of the day. Unless you like offense with a side of offense. Then it was Arkansas State- ULM.
West Virginia at Oklahoma(-22.5): HIT! Oklahoma is fulfilling their destiny. Next up, a Big 12 Championship. Then, a blowout loss in the playoff.
Michigan State(-13.5) at Rutgers: MISS! I’m through trying to find positives for Rutgers. There was nothing positive in this game whatsoever. Michigan State’s defense just dominated this game. Rutgers had just 117 yards of offense for the entire game!
Northwestern(-16.5) at Illinois: HIT! I guess we found out who the bully is in the state of Illinois. This was a beat down.
Vanderbilt at Tennessee(-1.5): HIT! Tennessee had no business being favored in this one. I kind of feel bad for whoever takes this job. Yes, it is a SEC gig, but this team is a mess. It started last year, and Jones should have been fired then. Instead, it spiraled for another year, which makes it that much harder to come back from.
Temple(-4.5) at Tulsa: MISS! This was no way for D’Angelo Brewer to go out. He deserved better. Well, he deserved a win anyway. Brewer did all he could with 255 yards on the ground.
Idaho at New Mexico State(-9.5): MISS! Idaho played a strong game, especially on defense. It still wasn’t enough for the win.
Arizona(-1.5) at Arizona State: MISS! There were an incredible amount of athletes in the game. When it came down to it though, it was the Arizona State backfield that decided this game.
Georgia Southern at Louisiana(-6.5): HIT! From 0-9 to two straight wins. Not bad, guys!
Wyoming(-18.5) at San Jose State: HIT! That was awfully nice of Wyoming to give the Spartans a FBS win. They really are gentlemen over there in Laramie.
Oregon State at Oregon(-25.5): MISS! What was I thinking? This game was 62-7 at halftime! Can you imagine where Oregon would be with a healthy Herbert all year?
Clemson(-13.5) at South Carolina: MISS! I knew better than this. The Gamecocks have been terrible at home all season long.
Texas A&M at LSU(-10.5): MISS! Apparently, I need to quit making picks at 5 am. It’s either too late or too early, depending on how you look at it.
UTSA at Louisiana Tech(EVEN): MISS! I just want to know why the Roadrunners thought it was a good idea to sit on the ball. They played like they had the lead down the stretch.
Notre Dame(-2.5)at Stanford: MISS! Uh oh, Stanford has a quarterback! And Bryce Love on about 1.5 legs….
Washington State at Washington(-10.5): MISS! Welcome back to obscurity, Blahshington State! That was a hideous performance in a rivarly game.
BYU(-3.5) at Hawaii: MISS! It has been a long time since I have missed seven games in a row. More than a year, in fact. I didn’t miss it…..
Colorado at Utah(-10.5): HIT! Where do the Ralphies go from here? There was a lot of optimism heading into this season, but there can’t be much left after a disappointing 5-7 season.
Utah State(-1.5) at Air Force: MISS! What a way to end the week! This was a fantastic game. Hard fought on both sides. I’m looking forward to watching Jordan Love for the next three years! Hopefully he can stay on the field where Chuckie Keeton could not.
I had a truly awful rivalry week this year. I went 24-38, which is easily my worst total of the season. That brings my season numbers down to 375-344. My percentage dropped to 52.2%. I need a huge Championship week and bowl games to even come close to my goal now. Now the only question is: how many points did I lose this week?
This week’s totals follow the number. The season totals are in parentheses.
1. 2-2 (52-48) = 4
2. 11-15 (138-120) = 36
3. 8-14 (113-98) = 45
4. 2-3 (47-51) = -16
5. 1-4 (25-27) = -10
I lost 45 betting points this week, but I am still 59 points to the good on the season. I am still only 15 points to the good over the last three years. I need some good five pointers in the bowls!
Next: ESPN College Pick Em Picks Week 14
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