College Football Week 14 Expert Picks + Week 13 NFL Picks

Football in 2020. I know what you’re going to say. But let me stop you right there.

Whichever teams win the Super Bowl and College Football Playoff National Champ are legitimate. No asterisks are necessary…and let me explain why.

Forget the regular season. Whomever wins the titles will have to have beaten likely a murderers row of teams to win that title.

If Ohio State goes 6-0 in the regular season with wins over Northwestern (Big 10 Championship Game), Clemson (Rose Bowl), and Alabama (title game), you’re telling me it should have * by it. Stop.

If the Steelers go 15-1 or 16-0 in the regular season, heck even 14-1 if a game gets cancelled later on and then win it all, it counts.

The Lightning had to win more playoff games than usual and won the Stanley Cup at a neutral site. So did the Dodgers in baseball. And the Lakers didn’t play any less playoff games than before en route to an NBA Championship. In the record books, make note that those series’ were won at neutral sites. Spoiler alert: every Super Bowl and CFP National Championship Game are played at neutral sites.

The regular season has been shortened in every sport minus the NFL…and they’ve had plenty of scheduling issues themselves as we’ve seen these last few weeks.

So complain all you want about the unbalanced scheduling in football in 2020…there’s merit to it. But don’t disregard their champions one bit in the winter of 2021.

On to the CFB picks where Adam’s lead in straight up picks is slightly threatened by Steve and I…but even though he’s last in SU picks, no one’s catching JB and his ridiculous picks against the spread. If only he was a gambler…$$$.

Week 13 CFB BOLD Predictions:

EC: I don’t know yet how this is going to happen…but after Arizona gets embarrassed twice at home over the next 10 days, a major donor steps up to help pay off the remaining part of Kevin Sumlin’s contract. After three miserable seasons, including a winless 2020, Sumlin’s head coaching career in college is officially finished.

AL: Ohio State finds a way to play Michigan State this week, getting their fifth game of the season. Of course, the team up north (Michigan) botches COVID and cancels next week’s game, saving themselves an embarrassment. The Big Ten makes it right and lines up either Maryland or Nebraska, who potentially aren’t playing to give OSU its sixth game of the season, qualifying them for the Big Ten title game. What an absolute mess!   

JB: Ohio State is a go just up until the last second again, when the plug is pulled and the Big 10 scrambles to change their rules allowing the Buckeyes to play for the Big Ten Championship and a spot in the playoffs, rather than embarrass themselves with a likely Indiana-Northwestern matchup due to the current rules prohibiting a team missing at least three games from playing. 

SM: I know some of you will believe my Arizona prediction is a homer pick but it isn’t. UA has looked very good on offense at times this year and very good on defense at times, unfortunately those just haven’t been at the same time. I believe UA puts it all together this week for a win against a team that is good but not as good as their record. Freshman QB Will Plummer and the running game are too much for Colorado defense and UA dominates the time of possession by ten minutes for the first victory in 14 months.

(NFL picks, Best Bets, & my Pick 5 selections on the next page)