Week 7 saw a lot more success with picks. As the season goes on people seem to have a better idea of how teams will perform. Our top pickers this week were Anuj Bhyravabhotla and peachstatealpha who both got 10 correct picks. Fantastic job guys! Our overall picks race hasn’t changed much. mrbuzz1885 is still in the top spot with 48 correct picks. Following closely behind is YankeeJacket, EducationalEngineer, and Anuj Bhyravabhotla who all have 47 correct picks on the year. wsecor and BearJacket are tied for 3rd with 46 correct picks. This is a tight race, lets see how things go for everyone this week.
I guess I need to give more credit to the depth in the BIG 10. I didn’t think Oregon had a chance against Ohio State based on how they played earlier in the season. The Ducks sure proved me wrong, they edged out the win against Ohio State in what turned out to be a fantastic game. USC lost a close one against Penn State. While I expected Penn State to win, USC gave the Nittany Lions a lot more trouble than they expected. It’s possible we’ll finally get a BIG 10 winner who isn’t Ohio State or Michigan, and I am all about that.
Well I guess we can finally relax. The game wasn’t as pretty as most hoped, partially due to Haynes King having to sit out the 4th quarter, but Geoff Collins’ defense got us the win just like GT fans knew it would. I never thought I would say this but thank you Geoff, that brought me some closure.
I’ve heard from a few podcast and YouTube talking heads about how lucky we’ve been to win some of our games. They aren’t wrong. It’s unreasonable to count on miraculous stops or game winning drives in the last few minutes to win every game, but it hasn’t been abnormal for GT during the Brent Key era.
Obviously, the Miami win last year stands out, but I also feel like the UNC homecoming game that required a last-minute fumble by one of UNC’s top receivers helped. Big performances by backups in Key’s first year, surprising come from behind wins last year, strangely timed turnovers, it just seems like the winds of victory blow our way in important games. It doesn’t always happen, and maybe you can say it’s bad coaching to have to rely on luck at all, but it is fun to look back on the season and have these crazy victories to highlight the season.
This week we go into a matchup where we are definitely an underdog. I don’t think the game is unwinnable, but with a lot of questions surrounding an offense that is likely without Haynes King we will definitely need some luck (and defensive execution) to win the game. I don’t think we need to win next week given the team’s current state, but I would like to see a competitive game. Still, I’m hoping the luck of the jackets tops the luck of the Irish and we see another crazy ending on Saturday to help us come out on top.
picks:
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets v
#11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-11.0)
Played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
Logan: Without knowing the health of Haynes King, picking this game becomes a challenge. I do think our defense is suited to working against a Notre Dame offense that uses their run game slightly more than their pass game. I don’t really have much to go on other than the fact that GT has a good tendency to beat spreads, and our running game has looked really good, so I will take GT.
Logan’s pick: Georgia Tech
Florida State Seminoles @ Duke Blue Devils (-3.5)
Logan: I feel like I kind of picked this game as a joke. Do we see FSU get back on track against Duke on the road. FSU cannot afford to lose 2 more games, if they do the ‘Noles will be missing a bowl game after going undefeated in the regular season last year. After the Blue Devil’s game against us, I feel like Duke is a pretty good team who is surprisingly resilient. I’ll take Duke over FSU as weird as that sounds.
Logan’s pick: Duke
ECU Pirates @ #23 Army Black Knights (-16.0)
Logan: #23 ARMY! What a world we live in right now. Just wanted to point that out. Army is putting up some ridiculous rushing numbers. ECU has been… fine but not great. I don’t need to overthink this one.
Logan’s pick: Army
Charlotte 49ers @ #25 Navy Midshipmen (-17.0)
Logan: #25 NAVY! What a time to be alive. Both these teams are undefeated in the American conference, so this game is a big deal for both teams. Navy just looks so good though. getting this game at home, I expect Navy to man handle Charlotte. I’m looking forward to the Army v Navy American Conference Championship game.
Logan’s pick: Navy
#6 Miami Hurricanes (-4.5) @ Louisville Cardinals
Logan: Miami comes off a bye week to go on the road against Louisville. Miami has been winning by the skin of its teeth the past few games. I think Louisville is good enough to keep this to an FG at home as long as they avoid turnovers.
Logan’s pick: Louisville
Virginia Cavaliers @ #10 Clemson Tigers (-20.5)
Logan: Virginia lost a close one last week to Louisville and now they have a big challenge in a road game against Clemson. 21 points is a big point spread, but if you look at how Clemson has played it’s not unreasonable. Something in my gut is telling me to pick UVA, I’m feeling some ACC chaos in this one so I’ll take UVA to cover.
Logan’s pick: UVA
#8 LSU Tigers (-3.5) @ Arkansas Razorbacks
Logan: There have been a lot of upsets in the SEC this season. LSU pulled off a big one at home against Ole Miss and now the Tigers go on the road against an Arkansas team that beat Tennessee before the bye week. It makes for a good story, but to me I think this is a case of one team just owning the other. LSU has won 7 of the last 8 matchups against Arkansas and just seems to have the Razorbacks’ number. Much like we did against UNC, I expect LSU to cover in what will be a messy game.
Logan’s pick: LSU
Nebraska Cornhuskers @ #16 Indiana Hoosiers (-4.5)
Logan: This could be a really fun game, or it could be complete domination by Indiana. Weird thing to say, but I think Indiana is the much more complete team. Indiana runs away with this game. If Raiola goes off and tears up this tough Indiana defense then I will accept being wrong.
Logan’s pick: Indiana
#24 Michigan Wolverines (-2.5) @ #23 Illinois Fighting Illini
Logan: Is Michigan a joke now? Their offense almost looks worse than Iowa’s last year. Another weird statement game for the BIG 10. Illinois has shown a real fire, and the Illini deserve this top 25 ranking. I can’t say the same for Michigan. The Illini should win this one pretty easily.
Logan’s pick: Illini
Third Saturday in October:
#7 Alabama Crimson Tide (-1.5) @ #8 Tennessee Volunteers
Logan: These teams look like they are falling apart at the seams. At least they both won last week so they are still in the SEC Championship race. This week is a very important one; aside from being a rivalry game, whoever loses this game may lose their chance at the SEC championship but that doesn’t mean they will be out of the playoff race. I have a rule that some of you are familiar with, don’t pick against Bama. I could do some deeper analysis, but I’ll just stick to the golden rule for simplicity.
Logan’s pick: Alabama
#5 uga juvenile delinquents @ #1 Texas Longhorns (-3.5)
Logan: If you couldn’t tell I’ve been keeping things simpler this week. This is a game where, despite the numbers by the names, one team has looked good, and one team looks like they don’t belong where they’re ranked. I know I’m biased, but I genuinely feel like uga looks like they shouldn’t be in the top 10 with how they are playing right now. The dwags are still good, but definitely not as good as Texas right now.
Logan’s pick: Longhorns