Tom is joined by guest host Ryan Spillett for week 7 lines and predictions. They begin with a look back at an exciting week 6, then break down this Saturday’s marquee games, including Auburn-Mississippi State, Ole Miss-Texas A&M, Oregon-UCLA, Penn State-Michigan, Florida-LSU, Baylor-TCU and a lot more.
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Congrats America, this is one of the best weeks of college football games I can ever remember. Six games feature ranked-vs.-ranked match-ups, and yes, I’ve included picks for all of them below, along with a few others. Enjoy Saturday. After a month filled with concussions, coaching troubles, injuries, and domestic abuse charges, it’ll be nice to focus on the game for once.
Mississippi State -1.5 over Texas A&M
It’s been a nice start for Kenny Hill and the Aggies, but they’re beginning to show signs of wear. It took overtime to beat Arkansas and their lack of a run defense was exposed by the Razorbacks. Mississippi State, on the other hand, has a powerful running game, led by veteran senior quarterback Dakota Prescott. That’s right, his real name is Dakota*. I don’t know if Dak is upset at being overlooked in preseason rankings, or if he’s trying to make an impression for NFL scouts, but he’s been outstanding in the first month of the year. Dak’s going to pass for 250 and run for another 120 in this game. I’ll lay the 1.5 on the home team, but more importantly, this game will serve as a scouting mission to determine how I feel about these teams and the entire SEC West going forward. (more…)
Dan and Tom begin this week’s podcast with a discussion on Michigan. After a disastrous loss to Minnesota and the endangerment of a young quarterback, both of the guys argue why Brady Hoke and the athletic director must go. They also discuss other problems at Michigan and what, if any, solutions exist for the university. Then, they break down the week 6 lines, which include a ton of big games. Texas A&M-Mississippi State, LSU-Auburn, Alabama-Ole Miss, Nebraska-Michigan State and many more are covered. The podcast ends with a handful of new segments.
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I’m officially declaring this “take the points week” here on… umm… Take the Points. A lot of teams have huge games coming up next week. Others are matched up against teams that always play them tough. Whatever the reasons, I like many of the underdogs to cover. Here are my week 5 picks.
North Carolina State +19 over Florida State
Florida State showed resolved winning over Clemson without Jameis Winston. Watching Sean Maguire take the reigns was rough; it was like seeing a kid take drivers’ ed for the first time, except in football you don’t have a 65-year old chain smoker who can hit the brake pedal from the passenger side. Let’s not kid ourselves, though: this team has issues that reach beyond a nervous backup QB. The offense isn’t nearly as dynamic as in 2013. I think the loss of Kelvin Benjamin to the NFL has played a much bigger role than we could’ve imagined. Although the Noles have a couple decent receivers, Benjamin was always Winston’s go-to guy last year, as evidenced by the final drive of the National Championship Game. The O-line has also struggled somewhat, and the defense appears to have taken a slight step backward this season. If this was a night game, I’d say look out for an upset — NC State always causes trouble for FSU at night — but since it’s a 3:30 game, I’ll only go as far as to say take the points. And no, NC State is not good, but that’s never stopped them from surprising FSU before. (more…)
Tom and Dan take a look back at some of the most exciting games from last weekend. Then they preview the biggest games of week 5, including Stanford vs. Washington, Florida State vs. North Carolina State, Notre Dame vs. Syracuse, USC vs. Oregon State, Baylor vs. Iowa State, Penn State vs. Northwestern and more. Plus, Tom discusses his upcoming Fantasy Felon League draft.
Listen using the player below, or subscribe to the Take the Points College Football Podcast on iTunes or the iPhone Podcast app.
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