Every college football media outlet has its own version of a pick ‘em. SB Nation’s will focus on only the biggest games of the week, as determined by us. Here are the games we’re picking this week, followed by our picks and our rules.
College football picks, Rivalry Week: Not much faith in Michigan or Florida
Below are our picks for the weekend’s four biggest college football games. It’s not just who you pick; it’s how confident you are.
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No. 15 Florida at No. 14 Florida State: Do any of our pickers have the guts to select the SEC East champion over the No. 3 team in the ACC Atlantic? Florida is off a road win at LSU, while FSU has been beating up on cupcakes for the last month or so.
No. 5 Washington at No. 23 Washington State: For Washington State, it would mean a chance to go to the Pac-12 Championship. For the Huskies, it would mean that, plus maybe a chance to go to the College Football Playoff. The Apple Cup is always a great rivalry, but rarely such a meaningful game as this.
No. 3 Michigan at No. 2 Ohio State: The biggest game in this series in a decade. The loser is definitely out of the race for the Playoff. The winner will have a good chance to get in. Can Jim Harbaugh win a big game with a backup quarterback? Can Urban Meyer’s young Buckeyes pull off an improbable season?
No. 22 Utah at No. 9 Colorado: This one has lost a bit of luster after Oregon beat Utah last week. With a win, Colorado will go to the Pac-12 Championship. With a Utah win, USC — perhaps the best team in the league down the stretch — will get in.
Here are our rules:
- We will pick the winner of all games between ranked (AP top 25, until the Playoff committee begins its rankings) teams, but if there are not enough such games in a given week, we will throw in a game or two of note, so we are always picking four games per week.
- Players must assign a confidence rating from one to 10 points with each pick. If they win, they get the points added to their weekly and season total. If they lose, the points are subtracted. Yes, a player can choose the same confidence number for each game, and yes, this could result in some hilariously poor scores.
The average points wagered this week is 29. With only the bowl season left, things are picking up.
Colorado is by far the most popular choice this week, with 12-of-12 picks and an average wager of 8.6.
Our participants are Dan Rubenstein, Bill Connelly, Matt Brown, Morgan Moriarty, Alex Kirshner, Jason Kirk, Jeanna Thomas, Richard Johnson, Sarah Hardy, Luke Zimmermann, Spencer Hall, Bill Connelly, Brian Floyd, Ryan Nanni, Wescott Eberts, myself, and Steven Godfrey. Spencer, Dan, and Matt will be along with picks later, as they are traveling at the time of publish.
Your turn
Please post and track your picks in the comment section.
I’d said the highest-scoring verified commenter each week will get to pick with the staff the following week, but due to some commenters cracking the obvious flaw with week-to-week scoring, the highest-scoring commenter for the season will get to pick with us in 2017 (Week 1 is not included in this due to the initial wonky rules).
So, please post your season total each week. At the end of the season, I will verify anyone claiming to be the winner.
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