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.
College football championship weekend picks, with Penn State-Wisconsin the toughest call
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.
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Every college football 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.
No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 7 Penn State: Can either team drive the football on the other? If not, who can create more explosive plays? How healthy is Penn State running back Saquon Barkley? Is it possible the two best teams in the Big Ten are not even playing in its championship game?
No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 23 Virginia Tech: Clemson has been clicking over the last several weeks. Virginia Tech has lost as 14- and 22-point favorites this year, but has played up against some of its better competition.
No. 10 Oklahoma State at No. 9 Oklahoma: Oklahoma has one of the best offenses in the country, but its defense remains suspect. The favorite almost always win in the game they call “Bedlam.”
No. 8 Colorado vs. No. 4 Washington: This will be played in an awkward location: the 49ers’ stadium. If Washington wins, it is probably in the Playoff. If Colorado wins, it would need a lot of help to get to the dance.
| Name | Yr |  / |
 / |
 / |  / | ||||
| Bud | 192 | | 8 | | 7 | | 9 | | 1 |
| Alex | 187 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 | | 5 |
| Luke | 162 | | 8 | | 10 | | 10 | | 3 |
| Bill C. | 133 | | 7 | | 8 | | 9 | | 6 |
| Jeanna | 127 | | 5 | | 5 | | 10 | | 5 |
| Sarah | 120 | | 7 | | 8 | | 9 | | 6 |
| Jason | 109 | | 1 | | 10 | | 1 | | 1 |
| Brian | 107 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 |
| Morgan | 103 | | 9 | | 8 | | 10 | | 10 |
| Richard | 100 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 |
| Dan | 96 | | 6 | | 9 | | 8 | | 4 |
| Ryan | 86 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 |
| Spencer | 79 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 |
| Wescott | 77 | | 10 | | 4 | | 5 | | 1 |
| Matt | 68 | | 9 | | 7 | | 6 | | 4 |
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. If there are more than four, we’ll still only pick four.
- 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.
Our most popular pick this week is Clemson, with an average wager of 8.2 points.
The race at the top is very interesting. I lead Alex by just five points, but if Wisconsin wins, he could pull into the lead. The race for the bottom might be even more interesting.
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. A few will be adding their picks in the comment section before kickoff, as they are traveling for work.
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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