Illuminati Picks, Week 10: A path emerges

THE COMMITTEE HAS CONVENED TO BEGIN CARRYING OUT THEIR INSTRUCTIONS

By Carter Templeton@MagnaCarterLive Nov 1, 2018, 8:00am EDT

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-6) @ North Carolina Tar Heels

The foolish, stupid dream of an ACC Coastal where all teams finish with the same conference record is mathematically dead, again, but Georgia Tech can drive a stake into its cold, dead heart if they can defeat the Tar Heels this weekend? Will they? It’s hard to say, because after running all over Virginia Tech last week with a third string QB, there is unsurprisingly a

QUARTERBAAAAAACK CONTROVERSYYYYYYYYYYYY

Ahem. Personally, I think Tech should run the dang ball.

Illuminati pick: UNC

#6 Georgia Bulldogs (-9) @ #9 Kentucky Wildcats

Welp, here we are. Kentucky is a top ten team. That’s a real sentence I’m typing here in the year 2018. And this matchup — y’all might want to sit down for this — this matchup decides the SEC East. Thankfully, Halloween has already happened, because otherwise we’d be skipping it and heading straight into the Upside-Down. But look, if the Wildcats beat Georgia, they’re headed to Atlanta for the first time in ages. As a football team, I mean. Pretty sure the basketball team has made quite a few visits in recent years.

Illuminati pick: Georgia

#13 West Virginia Mountaineers @ #17 Texas Longhorns (-2)

If getting punked by a bunch of Cowboys last week wasn’t bad enough for the Longhorns, they now have deal with the drunker and more lethally armed (and more opiate addicted) versions rolling into Austin. The Mountaineers have kept mostly off the grid this season, rising as high as #6 before unwisely emerging from their mountain hideouts and getting thrashed by Iowa State. Rather than retreat, though, WVU has decided their path to the Big 12 championship and beyond requires them to conquer the southwest. It started with the state of Texas last week and continues into Oklahoma next week. If they survive their tussle with the Horns, that is.

Illuminati pick: Texas

#14 Penn State Nittany Lions @ #5 Michigan Wolverines (-10.5)

In this, the tenth week of the season, we will finally know if Penn State is Actually Good. Their ranking feels lofty, but it’s hard to say their schedule bears that out. A loss means their B1G Championship game hopes are toast and leaves them squarely in the middle of the B1G East. If Weird Coach and Michigan can get past the Nittany Lions, that sets up their game in Columbus to be for the East. I mean, that’s assuming the Wolverines beat Rutgers and Indiana between then and now, so... yeah, what I just said. If you’re forced to watch one Big Ten game this weekend, make it this one.

Illuminati pick: Penn State

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide (-15) @ #3 LSU Tigers

Seven years ago, these two met as #1 and #2 in the so-called Game of the Century, and.... look, you know what’s happened since. It’s a nice long string of Ls for LSU. LLLLLLLSU, if I felt like making the easy joke. So hey, Alabama’s #1 this time.... again, and LSU is #3, which is close enough to #2, right? Sure, except Bama’s only gotten better and better. The Tide have tended to simply slowly crush the life out of their opponents in years past, but with Tua Tagovailoa behind center they’ve discovered the novel concept of offense and have happily switched settings to “obliterate”. They’re favored by two scores against the #3 team. Let the sun consume us before the Tide do.

Illuminati pick: Alabama

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