FTRS Picks, Week 13: We’re still here

Welcome back to the picks, everyone! We’re now well into December, and that’s weird. But hey, some way, somehow, we’ve almost made it through the entire football season. And, you know, we made it through mostly okay, if you ignore the hundred (and counting!) games that ended up not happening. But we needed football, and the schools with those football teams needed to make money, so here we are, in the final week before the championships. And the random mess of makeup games that will also get played next weekend, but we’re not going to talk about those. Moving on!

Last week was a good bounce back after a rough outing two weeks ago. All of the games had a majority picking them correctly, with the exception of BYU-Coastal Carolina. Never should have doubted the ‘Cleers. Special shout out to WaywardJacket, who wrote in BYU -50 on their entry and still picked the Cougs. It was a bold move, and a wrong one, but I respect it. A season-high three people notched perfect scores: JStew_GT, Seajacket, and.... me! Yes, after twelve weeks, the person putting all these together finally got everything correct. You can congratulate and thank me at the same time. Sad trombone sounds only for Grog and David Hogan, who notched 0s for the week. Trystan Snipes has maintained their lead into their home stretch, but only by the thinnest of margins. A lot of people are still in this, but with only two weeks left, a lot of people are out. Good luck!

Navy Midshipmen @ Army Black Knights (-6.5)

You all are witnessing history: for the first (and likely last) time, the From the Rumble Seat weekend selections features the freaking Army-Navy game. 120 years, dope uniforms, triple option on triple option goodness, American imperialism — this game has it all. And, because this season is weird, this year’s edition isn’t being played at an NFL stadium, but at Army’s own Michie Stadium. The last time that happened, the country was at war! Wait, the country’s at war now. But, you know, that was the real big war. Anyway, I’m watching this for the dope uniforms and triple option on triple option goodness, and you should too.

Pick: Army

#17 North Carolina Tar Heels @ #10 Miami Hurricanes (-3.5)

Wait, is this an actual ranked matchup? Between ACC Coastal schools?? The real media won’t tell you about this game, but that’s why you all keep it tuned in to FTRS News Network. Some say UNC lost to FSU and shouldn’t be ranked at all as a result, but that’s a bunch of fake news. Miami being back? Even more faker news. I’m even hearing people in Big Media saying this game doesn’t matter because the ACC championship game has already been set, and I’m here to tell you that’s all the work of the deep state. Don’t listen to them. Keep it right here at FNN. We’re the only ones brave enough to tell you the truth.

Pick: UNC

Appalachian State Mountaineers (-9.5) @ Georgia Southern Eagles

Long before Georgia State entered the picture, Appalachian State was — and plenty would say still is — Georgia Southern’s biggest rival, and they hated each other. When the Mountaineers moved up to FBS and joined the Sun Belt, the Eagles quickly followed — they weren’t about to get off that easy. Southern won a conference championship, App has won a couple conference championships — they’ve both been very successful, even if it’s not to the level of their respective glory years in Division I-AA. None of that matters this year, and that’s fine, because at the very least these two still have a chance to beat the [Franz Ferdinand] out of each other to end the season.

Pick: App State

#15 USC Trojans (-3) @ UCLA Bruins

I wasn’t really going to include the Battle of Los Angeles in this week’s picks after just featuring USC last week, but, well, college football 2020 happened, so here we are. Clay Helton, embattled coach he is, remains undefeated this season, needing really just one quarter to put away Wazzu on Sunday. Seriously, someone convince me why USC won’t be the Pac-12 representative in the Rose Bowl? The big Trojan boosters have to be absolutely seething over the possibility the guy they’ve wanted to fire since he was hired is going to take them exactly where they want to be taken!

Pick: USC

Virginia Cavaliers @ Virginia Tech Hokies (-2)

In the past 33 years, only two Virginia Tech coaches have lost to Virginia. They’re actually the only two coaches Virginia Tech has had in that span, but still, ending a 15 game winning streak over the Hoos is probably the biggest thing on the large pile of things Justin Fuente has done to not endear himself to Hokie faithful. (Other things include losing to every other team in Virginia, except for VMI.) They would definitely like to take the Commonwealth Cup back, but.... it’s been a short, bumpy road for Fuente and Virginia Tech, and even that will likely not keep this from ending in divorce.

Pick: UVA

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