Can you remember a more disastrous Saturday for favorites in a conference than we saw in the Pac-12 last week? Colorado blew a 31-3 lead in the last 23 minutes to a pathetic Oregon State team and lost in overtime AT HOME. Washington managed only 10 points as a 10.5 road favorite at Cal in a close loss. USC and Stanford, home favorites over ASU and Washington State respectively, blew second half leads and continued their underachieving seasons.
But what happened in Tucson might’ve been the most surprising. Oregon was a 9.5 point road favorite while my Wildcats hadn’t shown much all season. Somehow the Ducks forgot how to play football and/or UofA played pretty darn well. The 45-16 thrashing restored my faith in a team that wasn’t deserving of it only a few weeks ago.
In Vegas, if you had parlayed all five of the conference underdogs, your payout on a $100 bet would’ve been more than $116,000!
Here’s to hoping the favorites have a better weekend this time around…
Fanatic Guest Picker Standings:
Week 1 – Chris Schubert: 8-2 SU, 7-3 ATS
Week 2 – Wesley Franco: 7-3 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 3 – Shawn Crespin: 5-5 SU, 5-5 ATS
Week 4 – Jeff Hoodzow: 9-1 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 5 – Mike Bauer: 8-2 SU, 6-4 ATS
Week 6 – George Sarafin: 5-5 SU, 3-7 ATS
Week 7 – Mike Muraco: 5-5 SU, 4-6 ATS
Week 8 – Randy White: 5-5 SU, 5-5 ATS
Week 9 – Wesley Franco: 6-4 SU, 6-4 ATS
Wesley made the best of an upset-filled Week 9…so the guest pickers hold slight leads across the board with a 5 more weeks to go!
| Eric Cohen | Jon Bell | Shane Dale | Steve Malina | (Fanatic Staff Guest Picker) Wesley Franco |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
@eacohen83 |
@koshercoach |
@shanedaleabc15 |
@beardownsteven |
@ProducerWes |
|
| Last Week (SU) | 5-5 | 2-8 | 5-5 | 5-5 | 6-4 |
| Last Week (ATS) | 4-6 | 4-6 | 5-5 | 4-6 | 6-4 |
| Season (SU) | 55-35 | 52-38 | 54-36 | 57-33 | 58-32 |
| Season (ATS) | 46-44 | 41-49 | 45-45 | 39-51 | 48-42 |
| Colorado at Arizona (-3.5) | AZ 34-27 | AZ 34-21 | AZ 30-28 | AZ 33-28 | COL 35-24 |
| Utah (-6.5) at ASU | UTAH 30-20 | UTAH 37-24 | UTAH 34-27 | UTAH 31-27 | UTAH 34-27 |
| Georgia (-9.5) at Kentucky | GA 27-13 | GA 42-13 | GA 21-17 | GA 27-17 | GA 27-17 |
| West Virginia at Texas (-1.5) | TEX 32-27 | TEX 38-35 | TEX 30-27 | TEX 27-24 | TEX 43-34 |
| Penn State at Michigan (-9.5) | MICH 31-20 | MICH 31-16 | MICH 24-19 | MICH 24-20 | MICH 35-17 |
| Notre Dame (-9.5) at Northwestern | ND 28-17 | NW 20-17 | ND 31-21 | ND 38-28 | NW 38-35 |
| Oklahoma (-10.5) at Texas Tech | OK 48-34 | OK 38-24 | OK 44-27 | OK 41-27 | OK 52-27 |
| Alabama (-13.5) at LSU | ALA 27-17 | ALA 24-6 | ALA 23-13 | ALA 37-20 | ALA 27-14 |
| Stanford at Washington (-9.5) | WASH 23-20 | STAN 20-10 | WASH 21-20 | WASH 31-24 | WASH 23-21 |
| Cal at Washington State (-10.5) | WSU 31-14 | WSU 34-13 | WSU 38-24 | WSU 31-24 | WSU 42-10 |
This Week’s Bold Prediction:
EC: With a win this Friday night against Colorado, Arizona sets themselves up to be bowl eligible with one win in their final two games – at Washington State and home vs. ASU. Despite a miserable beginning to the season, I’m optimistic that a trip to the Cheez-It Bowl at Chase Field is definitely in play. And a bonus prediction of sorts: Texas -1.5, if the line remains that way, is play-of-the-year material!
JB: Notre Dame’s path to perfection and the playoffs is usurped in Evanston under the lights, as the Irish offense falls flat against Northwestern’s stingy defense and Cats beat Notre Dame for the third consecutive time.
SD: Chip Kelly’s Bruins will give his former team all they can handle in Eugene before the Ducks finally put UCLA away late.
SM: Even though I have ‘Bama covering, I think LSU will keep it very close game for the majority of the time. LSU will lead at half time and after the 3rd quarter before Tua Tagovailoa takes over in the 4th quarter (first time playing in the 4th all year) to push Alabama to the win and cover solidifying him as the Heisman winner and ‘Bama in the CFP.
WF: Northwestern has all the momentum beating Wisconsin and no matter who they play, ‘The Navy Hangover’ always rears its ugly head. Northwestern steals one over the #3 Fighting Irish.
Cohen’s Weekly College Football Playoff Bowl Forecast:
(Changes from last week in blue)
Peach: Texas vs. LSU
Fiesta: Florida vs. Central Florida
Rose: Ohio State vs. Utah
Sugar: Oklahoma vs. Georgia
Cotton (semifinal): Alabama vs. Michigan
Orange (semifinal): Clemson vs. Notre Dame
National Championship Game Prediction: Alabama over Clemson
To read previous entries of my blog, click here. Also make sure to follow me on Twitter @eacohen83.
Cohen's Corner 