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Thursday, October 1, 2015

2015 Rambling Sports Week 5 CFB Picks

Record
Week
Straight Up
Against the Spread
1
92.3% (12-1)
42.3% (5-7-1)
2
78.6% (12-3)
53.3% (8-7)
3
72.7% (8-3)
72.7% (8-3)
4
70.6% (12-5)
50% (8-8-1)
Season
78.6% (44-12)
54.5% (29-25-2)

Thursday, October 1st, 2015
Miami (FL) (-6.5) at Cincinnati, 6:30 pm ESPN
A game being overlooked by some, this matchup between the Bearcats and Hurricanes should at the very worst be an entertaining back and forth game, with high stakes for the coach in the overly baggy shirt. Cincinnati is down Gunner Kiel its multi-transfer QB, but redshirt freshmen Hayden Moore was great in fill-in duty against Memphis last week and should be to move the ball against a secondary that had troubles in the second half against Tommy Armstrong III. Miami for their part has Kaaya, a struggling running game, and a defense that needs to break a little less and stick bending a little more. I think Cincy wins a shootout, 48-38, and the Tubberville to Miami rumors start immediately (h/t to the Shutdown Fullcast for calling this this summer.).

Friday, October 2nd, 2015
Memphis (-8) at USF, 6:00 pm ESPN2
Memphis is coming off the exciting finish against Cincinnati last week in which they pulled out a shootout win, making it back to back high scoring affairs. This week should be a return to normalcy a bit against the Bulls of USF. I don’t think this is particularly close I think Memphis keeps the Bulls offense in check and the offense puts up enough not to worry, 31-13.

Saturday, October 3rd, 2015
Purdue at #2 Michigan State (-21.5), 11:00 am ESPN2
Iowa at #19 Wisconsin (-6.5), 11:00 ESPN
#23 West Virginia at #15 Oklahoma (-7), 11:00 FS1
Texas at #4 TCU (-14.5), 11:00 ABC
The morning slate is a combination of well that’s interesting, and they’re in the top five I should totally watch them. Yes, that means I’m grouping Texas in with Purdue. Michigan State wins without much worry, but at some point they’re going to have to perform like a top five team against weaker competition at some point this season, 31-13. TCU welcomes Texas this week and I expect a sluggish start for both teams after emotional finishes. TCU had the last second tipped touchdown and Texas suffered the wrath of bad Big XII refereeing for the first time since the Great Khan ruled. I think TCU runs away late, but it’ll be ugly early, 38-20. That leaves two conference match-ups that will give us a clearer picture of where the B1G and Big XII sit. Iowa visits Madison for the first Triangle of Hate game of the year. Wisconsin has struggled at times on the ground and has had to rely on Stave much more than expected. Iowa, for their part, has played well and has also had more success than expected through the air. This one puts the winner at an early advantage in the Big Ten West, Wisconsin 27-24. Lastly, one of the better games of the week and a game with major shootout implications WVU-Oklahoma. West Virginia has looked surprisingly potent on defense and on the ground, while still working the passing game into form. Oklahoma has been inconsistent at times but Baker Mayfield has shown strides and the Sooners are looking to build off the road win at Rocky Top. Oklahoma in a squeaker, 31-30.

#13 Alabama at #8 Georgia (-2), 2:30 pm CBS
Texas Tech at #5 Baylor (-17), 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN2
#1 Ohio State at Indiana (-21), 2:30 pm ABC/ESPN2
East Carolina (-5.5) at SMU, 3:00 pm ESPNNEWS
The afternoon slate involves the most anticipated game of the year, two top five teams with stiff conference tests, and a fun group of five game. Let’s tackle the two top five games first, Ohio State heads to Bloomington where they’ve struggled in recent seasons. Combine that with the Buckeyes inability to put away their recent MAC opponents and you have a recipe for one of two things. 1) an Ohio State blowout 2) an Indiana win. I will continue to bet on an extremely talented team, Ohio State 48-17. Baylor welcomes Texas Tech after a thrilling loss to TCU and I think Tech will carry that loss with them to Waco, 45-27. Bama-Georgia is a game that I’m not sure what will happen. I think Bama is more talented, I think Georgia (Gasp!) is the better coached team, and I’m not sure about the Bama pass or Georgia run defense. I’m leaning Bama on nothing but gut, 30-28. The last game of the afternoon slate is pure #ShootoutAlert as SMU straight off a loss to James Madison faces off against East Carolina straight off a victory over Virginia Tech and I’m taking the points, 48-45 ECU.

#3 Ole Miss (-7) at #25 Florida, 6:00 pm ESPN
Arkansas at Tennessee (-6.5), 6:00 pm ESPN2
Eastern Michigan at #9 LSU (-44.5), 6:00 pm ESPNU
Arizona State at #7 UCLA (-14), 6:30 pm FOX
#21 Mississippi State at #14 Texas A&M (-6.5), 6:30 pm SEC Network
#6 Notre Dame at #12 Clemson (-1.5), 7:00 pm ABC
The night time, is the right time, for SEC football. This week. Let’s start with the cake walks, LSU over Eastern Michigan and UCLA over Arizona State. I don’t think either is close and both coast to victories, 31-13 LSU and 38-17 UCLA. Arkansas-Tennessee is that moment in a horror movie when you think everything is over for the wounded character you really like then the villain shows up and you can’t look away. Both teams are a mess in the fourth quarter and have seasons that will assuredly be disappointments so now it’s time to find out who can salvage something and say they weren’t they weren’t the most disappointing. I want to go with the home team, but give me the Fighting Berts, 24-23. Now to the big three, we’ll start in The Swamp where Florida gets an Ole Miss team off of a flat performance against Vanderbilt. This game is a match-up of strengths Chad Kelly and the passing game against VH3 and the Florida back 7. Look for a slow start as they feel each other out, and Ole Miss to pull away late, 31-20. Mississippi State-Texas A&M, I don’t think this is going to be close. I think Miss State is fine but, A&M has more talent, and I think the Miss State defense is the worst uint on the field. Give me A&M 41-27. Lastly, is a very faithful game between two teams lead by the lord, Clemson-Notre Dame. I think Notre Dame is too talented. Much like the Georgia Tech game, I think the Clemson offense is its strength, but the Notre Dame defense is going to be too much for an offense that is still just Deshaun Watson, Notre Dame 34-28.

Arizona at #18 Stanford (-14.5), 9:30 pm Pac-12 Network
Adding to a disappointing year for Arizona Pac-12 teams this week is Arizona minus Anu Solomon. I don’t trust Stanford completely yet, but Arizona is down Scooby as well and this just doesn’t strike me as the fall game. Arizona makes it interesting at half on pure adrenaline then falls off, 30-17.

There we are, enjoy week five, tell me where I’m wrong and don’t take the crazy of college football for granted.

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