FTRS Picks Week 8: What Sound Does the Bearcat Make?

It’s fair to say that the free pick helped out last week. The average on picks last week was 6.1 points on average with a 7 way tie at the top scorers for the week. Congrats to Bad Carma, Heej, sporeman, EducationalEngineer, GTalbatross, Yeller Bug, and Jahmyr Gibbs’ Hair with 8 correct picks last week. Philip Kaltman is still on top with 44 correct picks on the year (62.86%). The closest person to Philip is GTalbatross who currently has 40 correct picks on the season. Picks standings:

Pick Standings

THE COW GOES “MOO”, THE DOG GOES “HOW ARE WE GONNA SCREW THIS SEASON UP”, VEGAS GOES “REALLY KENTUCKY!?!?! WAY TO BEAT THE SPREAD IN THE LAST 7 SECONDS OF THE GAME YA JERKS!!!”!!! BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT SOUND A BEARCAT MAKES!!!

Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

THESE BEAR CAT HYBRIDS OUT HERE TRYING TO TAKE OVER AMERICA!!! WATCH OUT AT THE DMV Y’ALL!!! YOU CAN TELL THE BEARCATS ARE TAKING OVER YOUR MIND IF YOU START GETTING EXCITED ABOUT NON-POWER TEAMS GETTING INTO THE PLAYOFF AND LONG PASSES... OH NO I THINK THEY’RE IN MY BRAIN ALREADY!!!

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

WHAT EVEN IS A CAVALIER!?!?! IS IT LIKE SOME KIND OF GIANT TURKEY!?!?! ALSO ENTER SANDMAN ISN’T THAT GOOD OF A SONG!!!

Photo by Lee Coleman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

WHAT’S THAT!?!?! I HAVE BEEN TOLD I MIXED UP THE SCHOOLS!!! JUST IGNORE WHAT I TYPED PREVIOUSLY!!!

picks for this week:

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ Virginia Cavaliers (-7)

Logan: Good thing we had a bye week going into this one. of the remaining ACC opponents on the schedule Virginia may be the most difficult (although you could argue BC won’t be easy either). We always struggle in Charlottesville, Virginia has a QB who is leading the country in passing yards, and Virginia is coming off a game against Duke where they shut the Blue Devils down completely (not sure if fans remember how our game against Duke went). Really this is a game that looks like Virginia should have it all the way. But the experts in Vegas forgot to take one thing into account for this matchup... I’m feeling lucky this week. That luck rubs off on the Jackets and we end up keeping it close at least.

Ben: This game is going to be in Charlottesville, so it will certainly be tough for the Yellow Jackets, especially since Brennan Armstrong is probably the best QB Tech will have faced all season up to this point. However, Georgia Tech has a secret weapon this week: Homefield Magic. Roll Tech!

Logan’s pick: Jackets cover

Ben’s pick: Yellow! Jackets!

#16 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (-3.5) @ Army Black Knights

Logan: So this is where the season has led to. Wake Forest is arguably the best team remaining in the ACC. Wake Forest has struggled the past 2 weeks against Louisville and Syracuse but they have continued to find ways to win games. The defense is going to do better this week and shut down a heavy run game from Army. I’m ready to welcome our new Demon Deacon overlords. Wake Forest covers in this one.

Ben: My hopes for a rematch of the 2006 ACC Championship are all but dashed at this point with Georgia Tech struggling this season. This week, we’ll see why Wake Forest won’t be making the ACC Championship. Jeff Monken and Co. will option the Demon Deacons into oblivion.

Logan’s pick: Wake Forest

Ben’s pick: Army covers and wins outright

#8 Oklahoma State Cowboys @ Iowa State Cyclones (-7)

Logan: So confused by how Vegas decides to pick some of these spreads. If Oklahoma is a top ten team going against an unranked opponent then why aren’t they favored. Well partially because this is an away game, and partially because Iowa State has still put up good numbers on offense and defense. This is a game where you either pick based on the results against ranked teams or you picked based upon what you’ve seen on paper. The Cowboys have killed it the past few weeks against ranked opponents, and I say they have this one.

Ben: Logan, I’ll tell you why Iowa State is the favorite despite Oklahoma State being a Top 10 team. It’s because rankings are completely subjective! Now, let me use another ranking (The Bindex) to make my pick.

Logan’s pick: Oklahoma State

Ben’s pick: Iowa State

#3 Cincinnati Bearcats (-28) @ Navy Midshipmen

Logan: After all the hype I got to include the Bearcats on this list. I don’t think anyone is expecting Navy to win this matchup, coach Kenny has struggled since the start of the season to get his offense in motion. The Bearcats are going to win, so the question is do you think they will beat the large spread against Navy on the road. My answer is “absolutely yes”.

Ben: I really feel bad for Ken Niumatalolo, because I think he’s a good coach, but Navy is so bad. This one is going to get really ugly really quickly.

Logan’s pick: Cincy

Ben’s pick: Cincy

LSU Tigers @ #12 Ole Miss Rebels (-10.5)

Logan: I think this will be the week where we really start to see LSU turn around. Coach O is out at the end of the season, so he’s got nothing to lose. On the other side Ole Miss has struggled the past few weeks, I think it might be a downward spiral from here on for the Rebels. Tigers gonna win outright.

Ben: With the announcement that Ed Orgeron will not return as LSU’s head coach next season, it means we are officially getting Interim Head Coach Ed Orgeron which is markedly better than Head Coach Ed Orgeron. Matt Corral is also potentially out this week, so Coach O takes advantage.

Logan’s pick: Tigers

Ben’s pick: LSU covers, wins outright

Clemson Tigers @ #23 Pittsburgh Panthers (-3)

Logan: What am I supposed to do with this? Clemson has not proven that they are anywhere close to being a good program. Pitt has looked so good on offense that Kenny Pickett will soon be a top 10 QB in the NFL draft. Can Clemson’s defense find a way to stop Pitt? Nope, Pitt takes it.

Ben: ACC Championship preview? Yeah, it might just be. This will be the best defense that Pitt has faced all year, and while Clemson’s offense kinda sucks, the defense is legit, and I think it’ll be enough this week.

Logan’s pick: Pitt

Ben’s pick: Clemson covers, wins outright

USC Trojans @ #13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-7)

Logan: I don’t like Notre Dame... That’s it, that’s the basis for my pick. USC covers.

Ben: USC hasn’t hired Urban Meyer yet, so that’s a win. Unfortunately for them, that’s the only win for them at this point.

Logan’s pick: USC Covers

Ben’s pick: Irish cover

#18 North Carolina State Wolfpack (-3.5) @ Miami Hurricanes

Logan: NC State has been ranked for 4 weeks in a row. The Wolfpack’s bad luck has to catch up with them at some point. Luckily for them it won’t be this week because the Hurricanes have had even worse luck of late. NC State covers.

Ben: Miami played a really close game last week...against North Carolina which has been really bad. NC State wins handily.

Logan’s pick: NC State

Ben’s pick: Wolfpack

Utah Utes (-3) @ Oregon State Beavers

Logan: Oregon State looks good. Utah looks good. For those not staying up to watch games out west the Beavers are behind only Oregon in the PAC-12 North. Utah actually has the lead of the PAC-12 South. This one will be close, might come down to a turnover. Do the Beavers still have the turnover chainsaw? I’m gonna go with the Beavers to upset Utah at home.

Ben: I’m a big fan of Kyle Whittingham. I feel like he’s been successful at Utah, and I would love to see him get a chance at a bigger school. USC perhaps? Anyway, I don’t know much about Oregon State, so I’ll say the Utes win this one.

Logan’s pick: *Chainsaw Revving Noises*

Ben’s pick: Utah

#22 San Diego State Aztecs @ Air Force Falcons (-4)

Logan: I wasn’t sure what to put in this spot. usually I save the big matchup for this location, but there isn’t a big top 10 matchup like there has been the past few weeks. So instead of that I just picked an interesting matchup between two talented teams. San Diego State is undefeated and actually beat the Utah team we talked about earlier. Air Force hasn’t lost a game since their close defeat to Utah State in Week 1. This should be a shootout, and I’m all about that y’all. I think Air Force wins, but I expect the Aztecs to keep it close enough to cover in this matchup.

Ben: I passively root for San Diego State. They’re just a fun school that always has a chance to make some noise. In this game, I think they pull off the “upset” and win this one.

Logan’s pick: SDSU covers.

Ben’s pick: SDSU covers, wins outright