FTRS Picks Week 8: Changing the Landscape

College football has some new teams at the top

By Logan Sandor Oct 18, 2022, 10:05am EDT

Week 7 matched what many of us expected, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of excitement to be had. 6 way tie at the top with each person getting 9 picks correct. One of those picks was AHolt’s second submission, which unfortunately I cannot count because it did not match his first submission which had 8 correct points. Sorry but I can’t reward submitting answers twice.

The other 5 pickers were Viney, monorail_yellowjacket, Fatbear74 (I understood that reference), gtbadcarma, and chilidogringsfo. Good job guys. Also want to shootout to “100% speedrun” Who was true to his name by only picking the GT v Bye week game, which if you remember was a freebie. So despite only picking 1 game he now has 100% pick percentage. That’s the kind of abuse of the system that I like to see.

AHolt and aknartrebna are still battling at the top as both have 48 correct picks on the year. There is a 6 way tie in 2nd place with 44 correct picks and a 3 way tie for 3rd with 42 correct picks. The season is not over yet, but AHolt and aknartrebna have been on fire so they may be hard to catch.

Syndication: The Knoxville News-Sentinel

Depending on your fanbase you are either as excited to see all the upsets last week or feeling down now that your favorite program has a tick in the L column. Congrats to Tennessee for doing what many considered to be impossible after losing 15 straight to Alabama. Hopefully the Volunteers can do the same to another top team in the SEC East who shall remain unnamed. If Tennessee continues their winning ways its going to have serious impacts on who will be in the playoffs this year.

Meanwhile in the ACC, Duke did their best but was unable to take down UNC. GT is not on top of the ACC coastal, but we are still better off than we expected to be at this point in the season. If the Jackets manage to keep winning then the game @ UNC in November will loom large over our season. Also of note, Syracuse is undefeated and is now looking to take down Clemson this weekend... orange on orange violence is not the way guys.

NCAA Football: Oklahoma State at Texas Christian

In less well advertised games, TCU somehow made a ridiculous comeback to keep their goal of a potential playoff spot alive. The Horned Frogs are far from done with the season, but things are looking up for them coming off of last week.

BIG 10 didn’t have much to say this week. Illinois made a bowl game and Michigan looked good. There is news, but nothing definitive as there are clearly things that need to be worked out before we get a full picture of how things are going to end up in the BIG 10.

Finally, congrats to Utah for winning last weekend. With USC taking the L that means the only real hope for the conference to make the playoff this year is in the hands of UCLA (or maybe one of the 1 loss teams, but that isn’t traditionally true for the PAC-12). Things are getting exciting as we get closer to the end of the season. You gotta love college football.

picks for this week:

Virginia Cavaliers @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-3.0)

Logan: Does anyone else feel concerned that we are favored in this game. It just feels too good to be true. A week off to go into this game and hopefully win our 3rd game in a row and have a season that goes above 3 wins... I don’t trust it. This might be me continuing the anti-jinx, or it might me be really believing things are too good to be true... give me Virginia I guess.

Logan’s pick: Cavaliers (I bet you won’t prove me wrong a 3rd time GT!)

#20 Texas Longhorns (-6.0) @ #11 Oklahoma State Cowboys

Logan: This game is an interesting one. Texas is heating up as the season goes on and has one of the best defenses in the BIG 12 (which isn’t saying much, but still good). Oklahoma State is a great team on offense, but just collapsed last week in an emotional game against TCU. This game could go either way, but I do expect it to be close. I’ll take Oklahoma State and hope they can keep it within a field goal.

Logan’s pick: Oklahoma State

#17 Kansas State Wildcats @ #8 TCU Horned Frogs (-3.5)

Logan: We mentioned TCU in the intro to this article. How they survived last weekend I’m not entirely sure (I was too busy watching the Bama game so I didn’t see much of the TCU game), but they won that match and showed the world they are to be taken seriously. Kansas State is having a good year, but getting TCU at home will not work in the wildcats favor this weekend. I think TCU wins this one and its not that close.

Logan’s pick: TCU

#7 Ole Miss Rebels @ LSU Tigers (EVEN)

Logan: With fresh blood in the water from Bama’s loss to Tennessee both these teams have a chance to walk away with the SEC west if they can find a way to keep winning until they face Alabama. Despite not being ranked due to an early loss to FSU and a bad loss to Tennessee, LSU has the homefield advantage. Other than having homefield though, Ole Miss has the advantage in every other aspect of the game... I’m going to take Ole Miss in this case.

Logan’s pick: Ole Miss

#14 Syracuse Orange @ #5 Clemson Tigers (-13.0)

Logan: I feel bad for Syracuse. They are undefeated and have a legit good team, but the Orange only seem to be discussed when they are playing other good teams. I think we are all familiar with Clemson. Clemson has a strong defense and a talented team. If you are going to beat Clemson you need to have a good defense that can keep the Tiger’s struggling offense in Check. Syracuse has a great defense statistically but their best opponent on offense was an NC State team that was missing their QB (and maybe Purdue). I’ll go with my gut and say Syracuse covers, but I do not expect them to win on the road.

Logan’s pick: Syracuse covers

#24 Mississippi State Bulldogs @ #6 Alabama Crimson Tide (-21.0)

Logan: I gave up on picking Alabama last week given that Tennessee just looked so good and got the Tide at home. This week though Alabama is back at home and gets a Mississippi State team which is not as strong on defense as the Volunteers. Does that mean I go back to my ways of always picking Alabama? NO, I’m not playing that game anymore given how Alabama has looked this year. Until the Tide prove they are worth trusting again I’m going to be picking against them in these big spread games. Mississippi State loses but keeps it close.

Logan’s pick: Mississippi State

Purdue Boilermakers @ Wisconsin Badgers (-2.0)

Logan: Purdue is currently tied with Illinois for the lead of in the BIG 10 West. What year is it again? These two teams have similar stats with the standard twists for Purdue and Wisconsin. Wisconsin is all about the run game, Purdue is all about the pass game. This one could go either way but I’ll go with Purdue in this one as I feel they have played more consistently that Wisconsin has the past few weeks.

Logan’s pick: Purdue

Kansas Jayhawks @ Baylor Bears (-8.0)

Logan: Baylor is 3-3 and Kansas is 5-2 but Baylor is favored by 8 points in this game. Shows what people think of Kansas as a football team. I don’t think Kansas deserves to be underestimated this much. I think Kansas can keep it within 8 points if not outright win this matchup. I’ll take Kansas.

Logan’s pick: Kansas

Boise State Broncos @ Air Force Falcons (-3.0)

Logan: I don’t think this is the first Mountain West matchup we’ve covered this year but it’s probably the first relevant one. Boise State is currently 3-0 in the MWC and Air Force is 2-2. Air Force would still need some help but they have a chance if they win this game and knock out the top opponent in their division. Air Force does have a more effective offense with their veer option currently averaging 440 yds per game. With the Falcons getting this game at home I think they should be the better choice here.

Logan’s pick: Falcons

Minnesota Golden Gophers @ #16 Penn State Nittany Lions (-4.5)

Logan: Penn State had their faces punched in last week against Michigan. That was a tough go of things for the Nittany Lions given how well they have done to this point in the season. Minnesota has had more challenges this year but has come out on top against everyone except the top 2 teams in the west of the BIG 10. I’m trying hard to sell Minnesota, but I do not really believe in them going on the road to play against Penn State. I think Penn State should win this one pretty easily.

Logan’s pick: Penn State

#9 UCLA Bruins @ #10 Oregon Ducks (-6.0)

Logan: Gameday picked this matchup and I can’t really argue with it. These are two great teams and the winner will likely win the PAC 12. Frankly I don’t get why Oregon is getting 6 in this matchup. I do think Oregon has the advantage at home, but the Bruins have looked fantastic this year and it is hard to believe that UCLA would lose by a touchdown. I expect this one to be a shoot out similar to the Tennessee and Alabama game last week. I don’t know if UCLA wins, but they should certainly cover.

Logan’s pick: UCLA