FTRS Picks Week 12: To Bowl Or Not To Bowl

I’m not a fan of bowling, but I’d really like for GT to go bowling this year.

By Logan Sandor Nov 14, 2023, 8:00am EST

Week 11 and we’re into the home stretch with the only 3 remaining weeks left for picking (of course one of those is rivalry week with plenty of picks and one is Army v Navy with only one pick). Time for people to get serious. results from the week.

twhit had the top score last week with 8 out of 11 correct picks. Way to go twhit.

The top 5 on the season are kjjrb who is still barely hanging on to the top spot with 77 correct picks, Coin Flip with 75 (still not sure what coin this is), GTbadCarma with 74, Ched C. with 72, and EducationalEngineer with 71. Things are coming down to the finish, let’s see if anyone else can take the top spot from kjjrb before the season ends.

Despite plenty of struggles, the Washington Huskies keep winning. That’s about all you can ask for. I’m getting more pumped each week for the PAC-12 championships between (we assume) Oregon and Washington. If this is how the PAC-12 ends, then at least it is going out with a bang.

Alabama won again, and nothing else worth mentioning happened in the SEC this weekend. Looks like Alabama will be playing in the SEC Championship against... ugh, yeah it’ll be against uga. I kind of hate saying that, but hopefully Bama can ruin the dwags run because I doubt Tennessee will be the ones doing it.

Speaking of things I don’t want to think about...

Yeah, despite the record Clemson is still a talented team and they proved it on Saturday. While we looked good in our previous 2 wins we do still have areas that need improvement. Clemson had the talent necessary to take advantage of our weaknesses, while there is certainly more to the story that played out on the field, I think this is a good summary of the game.

This is it guys. Depending on your attitude we either have 1 or 2 chances left to make a bowl game in our games against Syracuse and uga. I always pick GT on these articles, but if I was a betting man I wouldn’t put much money on us winning opportunity number 2. That makes this week against the Orange a must win if we want to bowl this year.

I’ll be honest, I’m pretty happy our season has gone this well (although I am surprised at how we have gotten here) but going bowling after such a long drought would really help the fan base. I hope our players want it as bad as I want it. Say what you want, Syracuse is playing for a bowl too and they will not be pushovers. We need to win this game. If you are in the Atlanta area, please show up and show how much you want this team to win. Say what you will about all the other games, this is now the most important one of the season so lets do what we can to help our boys win.

picks:

Syracuse Orange @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-6.0)

Logan: We gotta win it... I mean that’s what it is. Sorry if you’re expecting more analysis, I got a one track mind right now. We gotta win this game, so I’m taking the Yellow Jackets and using up any good karma I had in praying our boys find a way to get the W. I don’t really care if we win big or if we win small and I miss on this pick, I just need GT to win this game.

Logan’s pick: Yellow Jackets

SMU Mustangs (-7.5) @ Memphis Tigers

Logan: A battle at the top of the American conference. SMU is going to be in the ACC next year, but before they go they are going to try and win their first American Conference Championship. Both of these teams are talented and have looked fantastic on offense in particular. This will certainly be a shootout and possibly come down to OT. I think Memphis will cover but SMU should win this one.

Logan’s pick: Memphis

#24 UNC Tar Heels @ Clemson Tigers (-7.0)

Logan: Well... Dabo isn’t wrong, Clemson stock is on the rise. I expected UNC to struggle against Duke last week, but not to the point where it came down to 2OT to win that game. Other than the game against Campbell, UNC has struggled following the loss to Viginia. UNC hasn’t been impressive, but they are still a talented team and they have put up good numbers even in their losses. This is another case where I think UNC covers, but I expect Clemson to win.

Logan’s pick: UNC

Victory Bell: UCLA Bruins @ USC Trojans (-5.5)

Logan: I am always careful in rivalry games, like we saw last week with Duke, teams just play different when a rivalry is on the line. USC is more talented, and even though they have had a brutal 5 game stretch I don’t see them losing this game at home against UCLA. The question then is can USC’s defense be good enough to let Caleb Williams lead the team to victory by more than 5.5 points. USC has been a bad bet to take the past few weeks, but in this case I think I’ll take the Trojans to bounce back in what may be their last game of the year.

Logan’s pick: USC

UNLV Rebels @ Air Force Falcons (-3.5)

Logan: Air Force followed up a loss to Army by losing to Hawaii, so much for their undefeated season. The winner of this one is in the driver’s seat to win the Mountain West with one last game in the season. I know things have not gone well the past few games but this will be where Air Force needs to step up to salvage their season. I expect Air Force to win this game at home.

Logan’s pick: Air Force

Sunflower Showdown:
#25 Kansas State Wildcats (-7.5) @ #16 Kansas Jayhawks

Logan: I knew this game was a rivalry, but I didn’t know it had a name. Kansas did not look good last week against Texas Tech. Was the loss because the Jayhawks were looking ahead to this game? Who knows. I don’t think it surprises anyone that Kansas State is the better team on paper, so is this another game where I expect the spread to be to high. Other than the black eye against Texas, Kansas has kept all their losses within a touchdown... I guess I’ll take Kansas to cover.

Logan’s pick: Kansas

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (-5.0) @ Army Black Knights

Logan: Army decided to make the Commander and Chief Trophy situation more interesting by beating Air Force. Army has two games left this year, this one and Navy, and the Black Knights need to win both to make a bowl game. While I like the storyline, I don’t see Army winning this one. The Chanticleers are more talented on offense and Army has struggled to keep up with teams once the score goes above 20 points. I’m going with Coastal Carolina here.

Logan’s pick: Coastal Carolina

athens school for corrective driving (-10.0) @ #13 Tennessee Volunteers

Logan: I have no faith in Tennessee, but I can’t go against my moral code and pick uga... ugh this will be a loss but I’ll take the Volunteers.

Logan’s pick: Tennessee

#18 Utah Utes @ #21 Arizona Wildcats (-0.5)

Logan: The spread makes this one “Who is going to win”. While I love what Arizona has done and I am glad they are making a bowl game Utah is a better team. Utah has looked like the better team this year so I’m making the easy pick to go with the Utes.

Logan’s pick: Utah

Boise State Broncos (-4.5) @ Utah State Aggies

Logan: Do you know which team has the second longest bowl streak behind uga? Apparently it is Boise State, and currently Boise State needs 1 more win to keep that streak going. Utah State also wants to make a bowl game so this is important for both teams. Boise and Utah State do have one more opportunity to make a bowl, Boise State has a game against Air Force on the horizon and Utah State has a game against New Mexico. I think Boise State knows this is their best chance to get to 6 wins, so I expect the Broncos to put an emphasis on winning this game. I’ll take Boise State.

Logan’s pick: Boise State

#5 Washington Huskies @ #12 Oregon State Beavers (-0.5)

Logan: Another “Who do you think will win” Game. Washington is under some criticism for not winning big enough, but they continue to win week in and week out. I like Oregon State, and while part of me hopes they pull the upset I still think the Huskies will win and continue their road to the last PAC-12 championship game.

Logan’s pick: Washington