Published Sep 5, 2019
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Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
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We have returned! After a 2018 that would have seen us make more money than we lost, we're looking to sweep the picks and shock the world in 2019. Or something like that. Anyway, let's get started. 

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Five from the SEC:

LSU (-6.5) at Texas: This is the big game of the week not named A&M at Clemson. The fans in Austin are all fired up for a confrontation Aggie fans call...late November.

Both teams come in 1-0 after easy opening wins. But LSU's was far more impressive, even if against a lesser opponent. Louisiana Tech had more than 410 yards of total offense against Texas, including 330 through the air. LSU, predictably, ground Georgia Southern into the dirt, holding them to 98 total yards of offense.

Georgia Southern couldn't run at all, and that should be of concern to Texas. They're down to Keontay Ingram and not much else at running back after Jordan Whittington got hurt last week. That means Ingram and Sam Ehlinger will have to run the ball, and that may no be such a good idea against LSU. Ehlinger is also going to see a brutally tough secondary, and if he's running a lot, the associated pounding could hurt him when it comes to throwing the ball.

Another problem for Texas: Joe Burrow ("Crazy Joe" after all of his running against A&M last year) was 23-27 against Georgia Southern for 278 yards and 5 TD. LSU is loaded at receiver and finally have an offense that is friendly to them. If LSU has any semblance of a running game, they could do a lot of damage.

I like LSU in this game. I'm not even sure it'll be very close. The pick: LSU wins and covers.

Southern Miss (+16.5) at Mississippi State: Mississippi State did not impress me in their win over Louisiana-Lafayette. Well, defensively, at least. Offensively, they looked pretty good. USM smashed Alcorn State 38-10, but there's a big red flag for the Golden Eagles: they couldn't run. I think they'll score some on MSU, but the Bulldogs have too much offense for a team still in a big rebuild. The pick: Mississippi State wins and covers.

West Virginia (+14) at Missouri: This game went from intriguing matchup to dumpster fire in one day. WVU scraped by FCS power James Madison at home, while Mizzou went out to Wyoming and lost. West Virginia's in a bit of a rebuild; Mizzou has no such excuse. I think 14 points is too much here, even if Missouri gets back up and wins. The pick: Missouri wins, WVU covers.

Vanderbilt (+7) at Purdue: Both teams lost last week. Purdue's was a gut-wrenching, lead-blowing affair where they lost on a 56-yard field goal at the gun to Nevada. Vandy got rolled by Georgia. I don't see this being a high-scoring affair and Vandy can stick around. But I don't think they win. Purdue in an ugly one. The pick: Purdue wins, Vandy covers.

Arkansas (+6) at Ole Miss: One of the worst games in the SEC is out of the way early on, and it looks like a truly vomit-inducing affair. Arkansas won, but struggled to get past Portland State. Ole Miss looked lost against Memphis. But if you can be less impressed with a win than with a loss, here it is. Arkansas really struggled throwing the football against Portland State, but ran fairly well. If Ole Miss can slow the run down just a bit, they should take this one. The pick: Ole Miss wins and covers


Five from around the country

Cincinnati (+16) at Ohio State: Ohio State looked quite good against Florida Atlantic last weekend while Cincy handled UCLA at home. The Bearcats have shut down the run, which could mean trouble for J.K. Dobbins. I think Ohio State will win, but the over is 54 points. I'm not buying into that. The pick: Ohio State wins, but take the under.

BYU (+3.5) at Tennessee: Ok, it may be SEC, but whatever. Both teams stunk it up last weekend, but BYU lost to a good Utah team while...GEORGIA STATE?!? Really? UT needs this game badly. But two players quit the team this week and their performance last weekend was an embarrassment. I may be overreacting to it all this, but I see a minor upset here. The pick: BYU wins outright.

Miami (-4.5) at North Carolina: This is an interesting line. Miami really didn't impress me much in the loss to Florida; UNC showed a lot of guts coming back against South Carolina. Confidence-wise, that's a boost. Miami was inept offensively, giving up sacks left and right to Florida. UNC isn't the Gators defense, but I think UNC is going to take this one. The pick: UNC wins and covers

Cal (+13.5) at Washington: I see some folks saying this is a possible upset. I don't see it. UW has plenty of offense and Cal struggled against UC-Davis. I'll bet UW points up some points in this one. The pick: Washington wins, covers.

Stanford (+1) at USC: This is a line I'm scoffing at. USC was lousy last week against Fresno State, lost their QB and are favored? I don't think so. Give me Stanford all day. The pick: Stanford wins outright.