FTRS Picks, Week 12: Winter is coming

Now that the Hate Week that Never Was is over, it’s time for........ more regular season football. This is weird! Have we ever had games in December that weren’t conference championships, bowl games, or Army-Navy? Someone should go look that up. Not me. Maybe I’ll make Jake do it.

Everyone came crashing down to earth last week, with no one getting a perfect score and poor lrw getting the golden goose egg. Congrats, I suppose, to Blazer74, RamblerGambler, and Kjjrb555 for getting this week’s top honors with a 4. I’m not surprised Michigan losing to previously winless Penn State tripped a lot of people up. I am surprised most of y’all picked Auburn to cover. I know Nick Saban was out of commission, but come on, y’all. THE MACHINE was conspicuously absent for last week’s picks — maybe they were down for scheduled maintenance — allowing Trystan Snipes to retake the lead. We’re in the home stretch now, so if you’re looking to improve your standing, you’re quickly running out of time. Good luck!

#25 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns @ Appalachian State Mountaineers (-2.5)

I’m pretty sure this is the third set of picks in a row that have featured the Rage of the Caj’, and they will continue to be included until you love them, Billy Napier, and everything they do and stand for. Remember when they beat Iowa State at the beginning of the season? You know, top ten Iowa State, who’ve already booked their ticket to the Big 12 Championship? Couldn’t take that Cajun spice, baby. Louisiana’s already set for their own conference championship game — and a chance to avenge their only loss this season — but first they have a visit to Boone to see just how ready they are.

Pick: Louisiana

Liberty Flames @ #18 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (-11)

— OR —

#13 BYU Cougars @ #18 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (who knows???)

[Ed. note: Liberty was officially dropped and replaced with BYU shortly before publish.]

The Chants are 9-0 and boy, has it been a long long way to get here. Remember all the way back to the beginning of the season? Coastal were seven point dogs headed into Lawrence and came away with the decisive victory. Now the spotlight is focused on them, as GameDay is headed to Conway, and they look to stake their claim as this year’s top G5 team with a decisive win over....... someone. We’re not really sure who right now! The schedule says Liberty, but they might have some issues, and we cannot confirm nor deny rumors of them being replaced by BYU. So, uh, we’re just gonna put both up here and see what happens. Just pick ‘em both and I’ll get rid of the one that doesn’t get played. The Illuminati know what they’re doing with this one, I’m sure.

UPDATE! Liberty was officially switched with BYU at 9 this morning, which means I don’t have to write anything about the Flames, and thank god for that. Suddenly I’m starting to wonder why scheduling games like this a whole decade in advance is necessary when they’re doing it now on just a few days’ notice. Oh well! This change comes too late to get an actual spread on it, so make up your own!

Pick: Coastal Carolina

#12 Indiana Hoosiers @ #16 Wisconsin Badgers (-14)

Ugh, fine, we’ll talk about the one actual game between ranked teams this Saturday. The dream of #9windiana took a big hit with the Hoosiers’ hard fight against Ohio State that was ultimately for naught, but it might be well and truly dead following their win against Maryland. But you know what? That’s okay. Because #9windiana isn’t a place, it’s a people. Well, it’s not a people either, it’s a state of mind. Alright, it’s really just a hashtag, but it’s a fun one, and you can still get shirts of it, and that’s fun too.

Pick: Indiana

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide (-29.5) @ LSU Tigers

LSU thought they had it made — after eight losses in a row, they finally beat Alabama last year, in Tuscaloosa, on the way to a national championship. Then, they had to postpone their scheduled game this year dude to COVID issues. They were in the clear. So they thought. But dread it, run from it — Bama still arrives. Nick Saban is over his own bout with COVID (or he probably is, at this point) and is no doubt angry about not being able to personally deliver Auburn another year of misery. He’s not going to discriminate at this point.

Pick: Alabama

Washington State Cougars @ #20 USC Trojans (-13)

There’s no surer sign of how weird this season has been than games being played on Sunday, but here we are, with the Trojans kicking off against the Cougs at 7:30 on the sixth. Sunday night football! What a concept! Anyway, I was thinking about how Clay Helton has quietly had a good enough season to remain employed in LA for another year, and technically, he has — the Trojans are about to clinch a winning season.... at 3-0, because they’re only playing five games before any postseason play. But, like I said, that’ll be enough to keep Helton where he is. I know Trojan faithful are just thrilled about that.

Pick: USC

(if you’re having trouble viewing the form on mobile, click here to view it directly)