Mr. College Football's Pick Six: Championship Week
After a 1-4-1 mark two weeks ago, we got back on track last week with a record of 4-2 against the spread:
**--The pick that I was most proud of was taking South Carolina and the 14 ½ at Clemson. The Gamecocks won straight up, 31-30.
**--Here is the spooky one. I look Alabama and gave 21 ½ points against Auburn in Tuscaloosa. Alabama scored with only 1:48 left to win by 22, 49-27.
**--I was also proud to take Georgia Tech and the 35 ½ points against No. 1 Georgia. The Bulldogs won comfortably, but only by 23, 37-14.
Bottom line, with only one Saturday remaining we’re 39-32-1 against the spread.
Let’s see if we can finish strong with six picks from Championship Saturday:
1—Pac-12 championship: USC giving 3 vs. Utah (Friday in Las Vegas). Earlier this season Utah beat USC 43-42 with a successful two-point conversion in the closing moments. But I like USC in the rematch. I’ll take the Trojans and the points. A win puts USC into the College Football Playoffs.
2—SEC championship: Georgia giving 17 ½ vs. LSU in Atlanta. After getting upset by Texas A&M last week, LSU can still win the SEC championship but can’t get to the College Football Playoffs. I expect Georgia to win but 17 ½ is a big number. But I do think Georgia’s defense is going to make the LSU offense and QB Jayden Daniels uncomfortable. I’ll take the Bulldogs and give the points.
3—Big 12 championship: TCU giving 2 ½ vs. Kansas State in Arlington, Tex. First of all, I think TCU is in the CFP win or lose. But the Horned Frogs have shown a knack for finding a way to win close games this season and I believe they’ll do it again. The two teams met earlier this season with TCU winning 38-28 at home. I’ll take TCU and give the 2 ½ points.
4—ACC championship: Clemson giving 7 ½ vs. North Carolina in Charlotte. Clemson’s hopes of returning to the college playoff ended last week when the Tigers were upset 31-30 by South Carolina. Now their only hope is winning the school’s 21st ACC championship. North Carolina has not won an ACC championship in football since 1980. Part of me wants to take North Carolina but I’ll go with Clemson and give the 7 ½.
5—AAC championship: Tulane giving 3 vs. UCF: These two teams met on Nov. 12 with Tulane winning 38-31 at home. Now the American Athletic Conference championship is the line. The winner is all but guaranteed a spot in the Cotton Bowl. The X-factor in the game is UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, who is nursing a bad hamstring. He had 308 total yards and three touchdowns in the first meeting with Tulane. This game is aslo at Tulane and thus we give the Green Wave the edge. I’ll take Tulane and give the 3 points.
6—Big Ten championship: Michigan giving 16 ½ vs. Purdue in Indianapolis. No. 2 Michigan will be without its leading running back Blake Corum, who was lost for the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury against Illinois on Nov. 19. Corum tried to play against Ohio State last week but coaches took him out after a couple of series. He is now for the season and will have knee surgery soon. Still, Michigan rolls and advances to the playoffs.