FTRS Picks, Week 9: Let’s all go to Jacksonville, right now!

With Halloween having come and gone and daylight savings time over, there’s just one thing left to look forward to, other than seasonal depression: THE RETURN OF WEEKNIGHT MACTION! Yes, if you look at the schedule, Wednesday has a full slate of MAC games. I’m just now realizing I’m writing this on Tuesday, when it won’t publish until Thursday. So, uh, I hope it was as MACtacular as we were all expecting! This week has already ruined my brain. Let’s move on.

Last week’s picks ended up being pretty tight; two were huge blowouts, sure, but the remaining three were all within two points of the spread. Am I mad that I was on the wrong end of all three, leading me to finish T-last with a 1 on the week? Yes, yes I am. Congrats to James McGregor and Clavin Cliff for being on the right side and notching perfect 5s. Trystan Snipes holds onto the overall lead, but this week he is joined by THE MACHINE. Which is pretty cool, I didn’t realize Bert Kreischer was playing too.

#9 BYU Cougars (-3) @ #21 Boise State Broncos

Whatever plans you have for Friday evening, cancel them. You’re watching BYU vs. the beautiful boys in blue. Okay, technically, BYU will also be wearing blue, but work with me here. The Cougs have cruised to a 7-0 start, but feasting on the Troys and the Texas States of the world does not exactly prepare you for the Boise State Broncos. But, I mean, the Broncos just started playing two weeks ago, and the games between the two the past several years have been.... *checks Winsipedia* pretty close. So just curl up on the couch with a warm beverage — cold weather’s rolling in, after all — and watch this to begin your weekend.

Pick: Boise

#1 Clemson Tigers (-5.5) @ #4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

If “#1 Clemson facing #4 Notre Dame” feels like it happened extremely recently, well, it did! And it didn’t go well at all for the Irish. The good news for Notre Dame is Trevor Lawrence will be held out of this game after contracting Covid. The bad news is, well, pretty much everything else, because Clemson’s defense is still Clemson’s defense, and it turns out D.J. Uiagalelei is not a big step down from Lawrence, if at all. But hey, if they can pull this out..... they’ll probably just play Clemson again in the ACC championship, likely at full power!

Pick: Clemson

#23 Michigan Wolverines (-3.5) @ #13 Indiana Hoosiers

No, no, that’s not a typo, that’s undefeated Indiana ranked a whole ten spots higher than Michigan, who just lost to Michigan State, who in turn had just lost to Rutgers. Greg Schiano has been back in Piscataway for just a few months and he’s already making dividends with a transitive win over Michigan. Oh, and to make this weird, Rutgers just lost to Indiana, so a Michigan loss here would mean..... uh, I’m not sure, really, but not great things for the Wolverines. I don’t think it will happen, but if it does, and Indiana goes to the top of the B1G East while Michigan slips to the bottom, ohhh, the possibilities.

Pick: Michigan

#8 Florida Gators vs. #5 Georgia Bulldogs (-3.5)

Honestly, I can not think of a better thing to do during a global pandemic than to go to an event called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville. It sounds like a great idea! Pretty much every other neutral site game this year other than Texas-OU got cancelled or moved to an on campus site, but Saint Simon’s Island needs those frat party dollars, y’all. And when Florida and Georgia arrive at the field formerly known as Everbank, they’ll be missing a few pieces on defense: the Bulldogs have multiple starters banged up, while the Gators will have a couple of their own sitting out after taking exception to Mizzou being a bit extra aggressive at the end of the first half of their game last weekend. This might be 5 vs. 8, but it has Jacksonville trash written all over it.

Pick: Florida

Washington State Cougars @ Oregon State Beavers (-1.5)

*inhales deeply through the nose*

Oh yeah. You smell that? That’s the smell of sweet, sweet, #Pac12afterdark action returning to our airwaves. Did you forget about the Pac-12? Honestly, they’re just now starting football two months into the season, so if the thought of USC on your television again doesn’t exactly move the needle for you, well, that should be your normal reaction anyway. Could I tell you anything about about States Washington and Oregon? Absolutely not, because preview season is way too far in the rearview mirror at this point. Are you going to watch it because it means you’ll have football to watch after midnight? Yes, yes you are.

Pick: Wazzu

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