8 games over .500. Would you take a 12-4 football season for your favorite team? I sure would. So the 18-10 start we are on is putting $$$ into peoples and smiles on their faces. With many contests cancelled, rescheduled or adjusted because of Hurricane Florence, our pickings are slimmer this week.
Before I reveal my Week 3 picks, here were the Week 2 picks, in which I finished 8-6:
TCU -22.5 @ SMU (Win)
Army -9.5 vs. Liberty (Win)
Purdue -16 vs. Eastern Michigan (Loss)
Northwestern -3 vs. Duke (Loss)
Mississippi State -9 vs. Kansas State (Win)
Arizona/Houston over 65.5 (Win-67)
Memphis -6.5 @ Navy (Loss)
Buffalo +5 @ Temple (Win and outright win)
Iowa State +3.5 @ Iowa (Loss)
Michigan State -6 @ Arizona State (Loss)
Hawaii vs. Rice over 68 (Win)
Oklahoma State -18 vs. South Alabama (Win)
Clemson -12 @ Texas A&M (Loss)
Stanford -4.5 vs. USC (Win)
Week 2 Record: 8-6
Overall Record: 18-10
Now lets dive into Week 3:
Hawaii +7 @ Army
Until the Rainbow Warriors do not score 40+, give me them every week and twice on Saturdays. They are scoring in bunches and despite the fact that they travel all the way to the east coast, a touchdown is a lot of points to give a team that has looked unstoppable.
Syracuse +3 vs. Florida State
Homer pick! But in all seriousness, Florida State was lucky to outlast Samford..not Stanford, last weekend at home. The Carrier Dome faithful will be in full throat following a red-hot start. I expect this game to be close down the stretch, with the Orange taking a step forward here. I like Syracuse to win outright, after almost pulling this off in Tallahassee last season.
LSU +9 @ Auburn
LSU has been awfully impressive in crushing Miami and shutting out SE Louisiana. Auburn has been solid as well, including their opening week win against Washington. In a game that is always close, including LSU winning outright last season, 9 points seems awfully high. In what should be a field goal game, gimme the purple and yellow Tigers.
Northern Illinois -14 vs. Central Michigan
This pick is more about history than recent results. The Huskies have been one of the more consistent conference teams in the last decade, consistently playing well within the MAC conference. Central Michigan on the other hand just let Kansas, who had not won a road game since the Nixon administration, walk into their building and win. The Huskies win in a romp and 14 is not a huge spread.
Buffalo -5 vs. Eastern Michigan
Yes Eastern Michigan just went on the road and beat Purdue on the road. Yet Buffalo, who possesses a solid offensive unit, is a better opponent than EMU has seen in 2018. Consider that Buffalo just went on the road and won at Temple. I love the Tyree Jackson-Anthony Johnson combo and expect a double-digit win against EMU.
Ole Miss +20.5 vs. Alabama
Ole Miss has started the season off in grand fashion. They routed Texas Tech by 20 and put up a 76 spot on Southern Illinois. The three-headed monster of Jordan Ta’amu at quarterback (448 yards and 5 touchdowns last week), Scottie Phillips (107 yards and 2 touchdowns) and A.J. Brown (8 catches, 158 yards and 2 touchdowns) is rock solid, yet remember, Alabama is Alabama. While I do not expect the Rebels to win this game outright, I do not think this will be a rout. Even a back-door cover down 27 gets us this game. Give me Ole Miss with the points.
Missouri -7 @ Purdue
Purdue has dropped back to back home games to Northwestern and Eastern Michigan. Missouri on the other hand has won their first two games by a combined 64 points. Purdue will have no answer for Drew Lock and the Tigers offense, while the Purdue offense looks out of sorts, out of sync and a hot mess. I like Mizzou to go on the road and crush the Boilermakers.
Oregon -41 vs. San Jose State
Yes 41 points is a ton of points. Yet Oregon has won their first two games by 34 points (against Bowling Green) and 48 points against Portland State. San Jose State on the other hand is coming off two opening season losses, one to UC Davis and another to Washington State, in which they lost 31-0. The Ducks have a true leader at quarterback in Justin Herbert and this has a 57-3 final score written all over it.
Wisconsin -22 vs. BYU
The Wisconsin offense is in mid-season form, with Jonathan Taylor leading the nation in rushing yards and touchdowns and averaging over 7 yards per carry. After seeing BYU struggle to defeat Arizona (who looked terrible against Houston) and give up 172 yards rushing in a home loss to Cal, I expect Wisconsin to run at will. Give me the Badgers big.
Maryland -15.5 vs. Temple
Temple is 0-2. Their losses? At home to Villanova and Buffalo. Now they travel to Maryland, who is coming off an upset win against Texas and a throttling of Bowling Green on the road. The Terps offense appears to be potent, while the Owls cant stop a cold. The Terps win this one easily.
Oklahoma State -2.5 vs. Boise State
One of the games of the week, the Broncos travel to Stillwater in what should be a close contest down to the wire. I am only picking this game because yah gotta pick the games of the week. Both offenses look imposing and while I like the leadership of veteran quarterback Brett Rypien of Boise, give me the best player on the field, which is Justice Hill of Oklahoma State. A field goal gives us the win, so I will take that with the homefield advantage.
Arkansas State -1 @ Tulsa
You may ask yourself, why is Adam taking an Arkansas State team that just lost by 50 to Alabama? Well, I am here to tell you why. Ark. State has one of the most under-appreciated quarterbacks in the country in Justice Hansen, who in the Red Wolves opener threw for over 400 yards and 6 touchdowns. And the last time I checked, Tulsa is no Alabama. Tulsa did win their opener, but that was against Central Arkansas. They lost last week to Texas and expect that trend to continue. Hansen for the win, on the road, by double digits.
TCU +13 vs. Ohio State
Another game of the week. Despite their sluggish start against SMU, TCU is the pick here. My thinking says they were taking the Mustangs lightly in anticipation of the showdown with the Buckeyes. Now that the Buckeyes are the opponent, I expect the focus to be unwavering. While OSU has looked dominant with new quarterback Dwayne Haskins, they have not left the Horseshoe to play, nor have they played an opponent that comes close to TCU. Give me the Horned Frogs not to win outright, but cover the almost 2 touchdown spread.
Any picks I missed? Thoughts?
