Simulated Gambling Week Nine

Last week didn’t work out for me too well as I only mustered a 9-8 record. I thought I might have more success if I took the home team in favorable lines. Now I’m back to my “bread and butter” with 15 road teams. This is the largest collection of games that I’ve picked in any week thus far as I attempt to make up for all of my disappointment in just one day. My summary for each pick will be shorter due to time constraints.

Season record to date: 54-46-3



(Home team in CAPS; My picks in Bold)

Clemson -4 VIRGINIA TECH

Va. Tech is terrible. I made a rule to never pick another Thursday night game again but I had to come out of retirement for this one game. Clemson should roll.


TULSA -15 Utep

UTEP isn’t that bad.


Notre Dame -13 NAVY

I expect Notre Dame to dominate the line of scrimmage which means Navy won’t be able to run. That spells doom for the Midshipmen and so does their weak secondary.


Brigham Young University -8 AIR FORCE

BYU has been killing teams but I don’t foresee Air Force going down without a fight.


TULANE -5.5 Army

I’ve been on a roll picking against Army. Only Temple, Utah State and Texas A&M (see below) couldn’t cover at -5.5 against Army.


Texas A&M -4.5 BAYLOR

Texas A&M scares me because they barely beat Army. But, they are the better team. Odds are the better team will win by at least five points.


WASHINGTON PK Arizona State

I could get burned by taking ASU this late in the season but I expect a letdown from Washington after barely losing to Cal last week.


KENT -7 Ohio

Kent is a very good MAC team but so is Ohio. This one should be close.


NEVADA -18 New Mexico State

New Mexico State can put points on the board. I expect many points from both sides which should keep this baby close.


Kentucky -1 MISSISSIPPI STATE

This just comes down to my feeling that Kentucky is better than MSU.


SAN JOSE STATE -9 Louisiana Tech

San Jose State has a good record but they’ve had close wins over bad teams.


GEORGIA TECH -6 Miami (FL)

This is a vote for Miami’s pride. They’ll play hard.


MISSOURI -2.5 Oklahoma

I might live to regret this pick but I think OU’s defense will be too tough for a good Missouri team.


UCLA -1 Washington State

Home teams in the Pac-10 usually play well. This will be the last game UCLA game that I pick if I don’t get it right.


Vanderbilt -9 DUKE

Vandy isn’t bad. Duke is. I’m hoping that comes out to a ten point win for Vandy.


Auburn -18.5 MISSISSIPPI

In recent years, Auburn has crushed weaker SEC teams.


FLORIDA -14 Georgia

Georgia played Tennessee extremely tough for two quarters. They still have a good defense. I think they’ll keep it close (or get killed early).


Southern Cal -11.5 OREGON STATE

I decided not to pick any USC games this year because they’ve been so inconsistent. But, I saw Oregon State earlier in the year at Boise State and they looked atrocious. If they can’t whoop Oregon State, then USC is nowhere close to the second best team in the nation.