Week 8 our pickers had more success than GT did on the field. Our top pickers this week were GTalbatross and Coin Flip who both got 9 correct picks. mrbuzz1885 continues to sit atop the picking mountain with 56 correct picks on the year. EducationalEngineer is trailing behind by one correct pick at 55, and Anuj Bhyravabhotla sits in 3rd with 54 correct picks on the year.
NOTE: we have a Thursday game on our picks this week so be sure to get your picks in before Thursday night.
Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In one of the worst played games you may see all year, Tennessee was able to pull a big upset over Alabama. Alabama left the game looking for answers on both offense and defense, while on the other side Tennessee is still in the race for the ACC championship game. In other SEC news there were some strange referee decisions made in the Texas game last week. It didn’t help Texas much, but it may have made the loss either more embarrassing or less embarrassing depending on your perspective.
Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images
It’s looking more and more like Clemson and Miami will be facing off in the ACC championship. Miami had an impressive win against Louisville last week, and Clemson dominated UVA (despite not covering the spread). SMU still has an outside shot at making the championship game, but barring some coastal chaos (which is always in play) It’s hard to find a loss on Clemson or Miami’s schedule.
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
It was good until it wasn’t last week. I think most fans didn’t have high hopes going into the matchup against Notre Dame without 2 of our star players in Efford and King sitting out the game. Things looked pretty good early on. Pyron was accurate and doing a good job driving down the field and the defense was limiting Notre Dame on the ground…
Then the flood gates opened. Riley Leonard made full use of his scrambling ability and tore us apart on the ground. The defense struggled to tackle and gave up a bunch of chunk plays through the air. As we fell behind on the score board it felt as though Pyron was trying to force passes to try and score. Honestly, Pyron did really well and might’ve had success if he was not up against a ND defense which is one of the best at defending the pass in the country.
Ultimately it was a disappointing game. At the end of the day a more talented team ended up beating us, despite our best efforts. Notre Dame wore us down as the game went on, and we were not in a position to turn things around.
Moving forward we have 2 very tough games left, and 2 winnable ones. We need at least 1 more win to make a bowl game, so winning the easier games would be important. We are still uncertain about the health of King and Efford going into next week, but I hope they are healthy because I consider this game at VT to be a must win if we expect to end the season on a high note. Brent Key has not had two losses in a row since he became GT’s head coach. Regardless of who his starters are next Saturday Key had better keep that trend alive if he wants to keep the fanbase happy.
picks:
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ Virginia Tech Hokies (-9.0)
Logan: The rush defense didn’t look great last week without Efford. A big focus of VT’s offense is running the ball and using Drone’s ability to scramble to break plays open. VT has shown weaknesses against teams who can control the clock and get into a scoring battle with the Hokies. I can see why the spread is so high depending on how our injury report looks going into the game. VT isn’t as talented as Notre Dame though, and I think GT can do just enough on defense to allow our offense to outscore the Hokies.
Logan’s pick: Georgia Tech
Syracuse Orange @ #19 Pittsburgh Panthers (-5.5)
Logan: Other than an inexplicable loss to Stanford, Syracuse has looked like a top team in the ACC this year. It’s helpful that Pitt gets this game at home. Pitt will need to lean heavily on their defense to win this game. I’m not sure Pitt is ready for the type of QB that McCord is. I will take Syracuse to cover, in a game that will likely come down to the last drive.
Logan’s pick: Syracuse
#5 Texas Longhorns (-17.5) @ #25 Vanderbilt Commodores
Logan: Vanderbilt finally got ranked! Good for the Commodores. After last week I don’t know what to make of this game. Texas got their butts kicked and were made to look sill on their home turf. Granted Vandy and uga are different teams, but the Longhorns seemed lost on offense in a way I truly didn’t expect. I expect we’ll see whether the Longhorns are frauds in this game. Vandy has consistently proven the talking heads wrong this year, so I will pick the Commodores to cover.
Logan’s pick: Vandy
Nebraska Cornhuskers @ #4 Ohio State Buckeyes (-25.5)
Logan: Nebraska got crushed last week by Indiana. I do think Indiana is a legit team, but I don’t think the Hoosiers are on the same level as Ohio State. This is a weird one with the massive spread, but I still think Ohio State covers.
Logan’s pick: Ohio State
The Sunflower Showdown
Kansas Jayhawks @ #16 Kansas State Wildcats (-10.0)
Logan: Kansas’ record doesn’t necessarily reflect how close their losses have been. Despite being 2-5 the Jayhawks have the talent to make this a game. Rivalry games have plenty of weird stuff happen in them. I will take Kansas to at least keep things close in this one.
Logan’s pick: Kansas
#22 SMU Mustangs (-11.5) @ Duke Blue Devils
Logan: Is Duke better than people think? The Blue Devils have already qualified for a bowl game and have had some decent wins. SMU is on another level compared to the other teams Duke has played, so the real question is if can Duke cover against the Mustangs? Unfortunately, I think the high of beating FSU and making a bowl game won’t carry into this game. SMU should win by a bunch.
Logan’s pick: SMU
The Battle for Paul Bunyan Trophy:
Michigan State Spartans @ Michigan Wolverines (-5.0)
Logan: Weird things in rivalry games, yada yada. Michigan can’t figure out their offense and despite the record Michigan State has done a good job on defense. I don’t like picking against the reigning national champs, but that’s what I’m doing.
Logan’s pick: Michigan State
#12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-12.5) v #24 Navy Midshipmen
Played at Metlife Stadium in Rutheford, NJ
Logan: Navy has been on a heck of a run this season, but Notre Dame is a different level of competition. It is possible that Navy can keep up with Notre Dame on the offensive side of the ball, but as we saw last week Notre Dame seems to have adapted to playing against the run as well. I think Notre Dame runs away with this one. Sorry Navy fans.
Logan’s pick: Notre Dame
#21 Mizzou Tigers @ #15 Alabama Crimson Tide (-13.5)
Logan: I believe this is homecoming for Alabama. I expect the crowd and the players to be revved up for this one. I will stick with my policy of “don’t pick against Bama” for one more week since Mizzou has not looked great in their past few games. I may have to change that policy depending on the result of this game though.
Logan’s pick: Bama
#20 Illinois Fighting Illini @ #1 Oregon Ducks (-25.0)
Logan: Illinois is good this year and they deserve recognition. Also, I thought their uniforms against Michigan were pretty cool. We’ll see what uniforms both of these teams wear this Saturday. I think Oregon will win this one, but Illinois should cover with a spread of 25 points.
Logan’s pick: Illinois
#8 LSU Tigers @ #14 Texas A&M Aggies (-2.5)
Logan: Low key, this is one of the best rivalries in the SEC. Both of these teams are undefeated in the SEC, with one embarrassing loss outside the conference. Texas A&M has an easy road to the SEC Championship if they can pull of this win, and opponents have a hard time at Kyle field. I will take Texas A&M to win and pave their way to the SEC championship.
Logan’s pick: Texas A&M