āI know itās hoop Szn butā¦*football emoji and notepad emoji*ā-Spidersims.
As I tap my chest twice and say āmy badā I hope that Spidersims can find it in his heart to forgive Sleepers for the tardiness in typing up this newsletter. Hoops season may be well underway but that does not mean that there arenāt college football picks to be made. But before we get to the picks we must establish a theme (yes I am doing the intro let me not get ahead of myself). When I fired up my google doc and opened up as many tabs as humanly possible I thought why am I doing this when I could easily survey the schedule and just quickly whip up some picks. That was an option but just because something is an option does not mean itās the right thing to do. I owe it to the people who digest this newsletter to provide well thought out and efficient picks that I believe can be winners and dammit that is what I am going to do. So now that I rallied the readers with a hoorah statement let me say this before I get to the picksā¦all them ābetā tweets by the Michigan players, fans, president, etc. are as corny as corny can get. To the picks.
Kansas -4 vs Texas Tech
āGo back to the well that feeds youā. I know that isnāt the idiom but you catch my drift. Kansas has been one of the best stories and best teams to bet on in college football this season. Despite not having their star quarterback Jalon Daniels for the whole season, the Jayhawks just continue to get it done. Jason Bean seems to step up when needed and though he can be erratic and mistake prone at times he seems to just get it done and make enough plays. Texas Tech is a middle of the pack Big 12 team that has been up and down and had QB issues throughout the season. Look for the Kansas defense at home to take advantage of this. Kansas and Texas Tech both had a similar opponent this year in BYU. Kansas beat them by 11 and Texas Tech lost to them by 13. Kansas is playing for a major bowl game and even are in the mix for the Big 12 Title while Texas Tech is just trying to get through the season. Kansas to win and cover is a go.
Missouri +3 (buy half a point) vs TennesseeĀ
This is slated to be one of the better games today. I was thoroughly impressed with Missouri last week on the road as they hung with the #1 Georgia Bulldogs and in my opinion had chances to win that game. Tennessee, like Missouri, has a high octane offense that when it is clocking can be special. This to me seems like a game that will come down to the last possession between two good teams and in that situation I trust the home team and the team without Joe Milton at QB (guy is mistake prone). I think Missouri wins this game outright so I will buy half a point and feel good about +3.
Rutgers +1.5 vs Iowa
If anyone hasnāt noticed Rutgers football isnāt that bad. There is no shame in losing to Michigan and Ohio State especially when they were in both games. Since Iowa lost starting quarterback Cade McNamara they have been beyond awful offensively. Backup quarterback Dean Hill has been averaging 98 yards passing and has a 3 TD to 4 INT ratio. They have been getting by on defense and honestly a lot of luck. After narrowly getting by Northwestern last weekend by a field goal I think the luck and winning games defensively runs out for the Hawkeyes. Gavin Wismmatt will be able to make enough plays passing and Rutgers' dominant run attack will continue also. I like Rutgers to cover in this game.
Greg Waddell:
Oh so itās one of those weeks.
Iāve been waiting all season for a week where Cart and I are #aligned on nearly every pick. This week itās two of three. Iāll lead with those and add my third (not betting more because Iām focused on betting more college basketball these days, join my Dub Club here to see all that: dubclub.win/r/GregWaddell)
Kansas -4 vs Texas Tech
Cart nailed it so Iāll be quick. I am infatuated with Jason Bean. Kid rocks. He won me over when he was horrendous all game and then when he needed to march down 80 yards in 40 seconds with Cart and I on FaceTime, he immediately did. Kansas is legit, Leipold is rocking, and Texas Tech is a pulseless team.
Rutgers +1.5 vs Iowa
Speaking of pulseless teams! I love this pick from Cartino as well. Thereās no way Wismmatt is the correct spelling of their quarterbackās last name though but Iām just gonna let Cart rock with it. Iowa is a dead football team though and at this point in the year we love betting dead football teams. Go Knights.
*takes deep breath
*gets legitimately scared
*pulls out phone
*gets even more scared
*knows how lame heās being
*does it anyway
*tweets āBetā
Michigan -4.5 vs. Penn State
Let me be utterly unequivocally clear here:
Michigan could beat Penn State with an inflatable guy with wavy arms as their head coach on the sideline.
Drew Allar is not a big game guy, he might not be an any game guy. JJ McCarthy is, with all the cringe-inducing elements to go with it, but damn heās good at football. I donāt know where Michiganās season ends amidst this mess, but I know it doesnāt end today at the hands of James Franklin and Drew Allar.