Week 1 was an unmitigated disaster for my college football picks. Most importantly for me, though, Arizona’s U-G-L-Y loss to BYU showed too many flaws for me to pick them for much more than a six win team in 2018. Optimistically I’m going to give them a shot in Houston this week but my head knows better. The play-calling was horrible and to say the offensive and defensive lines were dominated by the Cougars is an understatement.
But things aren’t much better for fans of Texas, UCLA, Michigan, Washington, Miami, and Florida State – all of whom had higher expectations than to lose in embarrassing fashion in Week One. UCLA and FSU can use the new coach / system excuse (similar to UofA) but Texas, Michigan, and Washington all had shots to break through, yet failed spectacularly.
While I’m trying not to overreact to the first set of games in 2018, hopefully Week 2 brings me more luck!
Last week’s Fanatic guest picker, Chris Schubert had a stellar 8-2 SU, 7-3 ATS week so we’ll see if station producer, Wes Franco, can keep it going. Congrats to Steve Malina for tying Chris for the top spot while I brought up the rear. On to Week 2…
| Eric Cohen | Jon Bell | Shane Dale | Steve Malina | (Fanatic Staff Guest Picker) Wesley Franco |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| @eacohen83 | @koshercoach | @shanedaleabc15 | @beardownsteven | @producerwes | |
| Last Week (SU) | 5-5 | 6-4 | 7-3 | 8-2 | 8-2 |
| Last Week (ATS) | 4-6 | 4-6 | 6-4 | 7-3 | 7-3 |
| Season (SU) | 5-5 | 6-4 | 7-3 | 8-2 | 8-2 |
| Season (ATS) | 4-6 | 4-6 | 6-4 | 7-3 | 7-3 |
| Arizona at Houston (-4.5) | AZ 30-27 | AZ 28-20 | AZ 20-16 | AZ 27-20 | AZ 42-24 |
| Michigan State (-6.5) at ASU | MSU 27-20 | ASU 28-20 | MSU 38-24 | MSU 31-24 | ASU 33-17 |
| UCLA at Oklahoma (-29.5) | OK 45-17 | OK 41-17 | OK 48-21 | OK 55-21 | OK 35-14 |
| Colorado at Nebraska (-4.5) | NEB 37-24 | NEB 31-10 | NEB 27-26 | COL 31-29 | NEB 24-20 |
| Georgia (-9.5) at South Carolina | GA 24-17 | GA 27-12 | GA 27-13 | GA 31-20 | GA 35-24 |
| Clemson (-13.5) at Texas A&M | CLEM 30-13 | CLEM 24-20 | CLEM 31-10 | CLEM 34-20 | CLEM 27-24 |
| Utah (-10.5) at Northern Illinois | UTAH 30-17 | UTAH 30-13 | UTAH 23-17 | UTAH 28-24 | UTAH 38-14 |
| Penn State (-8.5) at Pittsburgh | PENN 34-20 | PITT 31-30 | PENN 35-24 | PENN 34-24 | PENN 28-21 |
| USC at Stanford (-3.5) | STAN 31-17 | STAN 27-20 | STAN 35-20 | STAN 24-20 | STAN 31-28 |
| California at BYU (-2.5) | BYU 24-20 | BYU 17-14 | CAL 31-20 | CAL 27-24 | BYU 34-21 |
This Week’s Bold Prediction:
EC: Fresno State goes up to Minneapolis and defeats coach P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers as a 2.5 point underdog. FSU will then go to Pasadena and beat Chip Kelly’s UCLA squad next week to start a commanding 3-0 with a potential Fiesta Bowl berth in mind.
JB: Alright Herm, you have my attention. Maybe Ray Anderson knows a little more than we thought. After ASU was the laughingstock of the off season for the…well…surprise hire of the former Jets and Chiefs head coach, the Devils showed up big in Edwards debut, putting up 49 against UTSA. Sparky gets Sparty in the desert this weekend and Herm shows he knows a thing or two about coaching, out-muscling Michigan State 28-20.
SD: Visiting Iowa State shockingly upsets Iowa on the road.
SM: Feel good about this double digit dog winning outright on the road like I felt about Hawaii last week. Bet Nevada to upset Vandy and get around 4/1 on your money.
WF: Eno Benjamin gets his 2nd straight 100+ yard rushing game, this time against the Spartans, who are overwhelmed defending Manny Wilkins and N’Keal Harry. The heat from Sparky Gets to Sparty as ASU WINS 33 to 17.
Cohen’s Weekly College Football Playoff Bowl Forecast:
(Changes from last week in blue)
Peach: Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia
Fiesta: Wisconsin vs. Boise State
Rose: Michigan vs. Washington
Sugar: Auburn vs. Oklahoma
Cotton (semifinal): Alabama vs. Ohio State
Orange (semifinal): Clemson vs. Georgia
National Championship Game Prediction: Clemson over Alabama
For more college football analysis and thoughts, listen to The Daily Blender, weekdays from 1-3pm on 1580TheFanatic. You can tune in here.
Cohen's Corner 