If you would’ve told me at the start of the season that ASU could control their own Pac-12 South fate with two weeks to play, I would’ve thought you were INSANE…IN-SANE! But it works out this way – the Sun Devils can clinch a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game by winning on the road the next two weeks…at Oregon and at UofA. As much as I thought the Herm Edwards hire was disastrous at the time by ASU AD Ray Anderson, he now looks pretty darn smart to say the least. Can the Sun Devils pull it off and likely face Washington State in Santa Clara in 2.5 weeks? Hey, even my Wildcats have a small chance if Utah were to lose to Colorado in addition to pulling a shocking upset in Pullman on Saturday night. That’s why they play the games…am I right?
Check out our picks below…some surprising upsets from the panel (to say the least)!
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
Week 10 – Wesley Franco: 6-4 SU, 3-7 ATS
Week 11 – Wesley Franco: 9-1 SU, 5-5 ATS
| Eric Cohen | Jon Bell | Shane Dale | Steve Malina | (Fanatic Staff Guest Picker) Wesley Franco |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
@eacohen83 |
@koshercoach |
@shanedaleabc15 |
@beardownsteven |
@ProducerWes |
|
| Last Week (SU) | 9-1 | 9-1 | 7-3 | 9-1 | 9-1 |
| Last Week (ATS) | 7-3 | 6-4 | 4-6 | 6-4 | 5-5 |
| Season (SU) | 72-38 | 67-43 | 69-41 | 74-36 | 73-37 |
| Season (ATS) | 58-52 | 52-58 | 51-59 | 52-58 | 56-54 |
| Arizona at Washington State (-10.5) | WSU 38-20 | WSU 24-20 | WSU 38-35 | WSU 37-31 | WSU 45-21 |
| ASU at Oregon (-3.5) | ORE 35-28 | ASU 28-21 | ORE 34-27 | ORE 31-30 | ASU 27-23 |
| Utah (-6.5) at Colorado | UTAH 27-20 | UTAH 31-17 | UTAH 31-21 | COL 27-21 | COL 24-21 |
| Syracuse vs. Notre Dame (-9.5)(at Yankee Stadium) | ND 34-24 | SYR 31-21 | ND 28-17 | ND 31-20 | ND 42-30 |
| USC (-3.5) at UCLA | UCLA 30-27 | UCLA 24-16 | UCLA 28-27 | UCLA 27-24 | USC 45-17 |
| West Virginia (-4.5) at Oklahoma State | WV 37-31 | WV 48-38 | OKST 31-28 | WV 45-35 | OKST 42-31 |
| Oregon State at Washington (-32.5) | WASH 38-14 | WASH 31-10 | WASH 38-14 | WASH 38-17 | WASH 35-7 |
| Stanford (-1.5) at California | STAN 28-24 | STAN 23-20 | STAN 21-17 | CAL 24-20 | STAN 21-14 |
| Iowa State at Texas (-2.5) | TEX 24-20 | TEX 2017 | TEX 35-17 | TEX 27-23 | ISU 27-24 |
| Cincinnati at Central Florida (-7.5) | UCF 38-24 | UCF 42-20 | UCF 41-24 | UCF 41-27 | UCF 30-14 |
This Week’s Bold Prediction:
EC: Here’s your ironclad spread lock of the week…Northwestern -3 at Minnesota. Now this isn’t an upset pick like I handed out last week with Tennessee over Kentucky…but Northwestern isn’t going to let up even though they’ve clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. And let’s be honest, though Minnesota smashed Purdue last week, they still aren’t very good. The Wildcats should win this by double-digits, 30-17.
JB: Notre Dame QB Ian Book’s rib injury is worse than expected, forcing him to miss the second half. The Irish struggle mentally without him, and their CFP dreams come to an end at the hands of upstart Syracuse. Bonus pick: my alma mater, Wisconsin upsets Purdue in West Lafayette, 24-21.
SD: Utah clinches the Pac-12 South title with a win over Colorado coupled with an ASU loss to Oregon.
SM: Duke puts a real scare into Clemson by keeping it close until the final five minutes of the game. This close outcome leaves the door open for Notre Dame to be the #2 seed in the CFP rankings next week and forcing Clemson to run the table to make it into the playoff.
WF: True freshman QB (from AZ) Brock Purdy is too much for the Longhorns Defense even with RB David Montgomery’s first-half absence (due to suspension). Iowa State wins a close one, just as they did against Oklahoma State when Montgomery was sidelined with an upper arm injury.
Cohen’s Weekly College Football Playoff Bowl Forecast:
(Changes from last week in blue)
Peach: Texas vs. LSU
Fiesta: West Virginia vs. Central Florida
Rose: Ohio State vs. Washington State
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 