Pac-12 Football Odds and Picks: The Gamble-Tron, Week Eight

Welcome back. Let’s cut the crap. Officiating is hard, but is it so hard that those who do it at a high level are incapable of competence? It’s bad enough that the referees in the WSU game last week were absolute garbage, and even worse when their mistakes cost me pretend money.

My Under 60 bet was looking good as gold the entire way (IT WAS 6-3 AT HALFTIME). As soon as the game went to overtime, I was certain my easy win was gonna become a loss. During the first overtime, Baylor’s center snapped the ball early, the ball fell to the ground, and Texas Tech got it. They would only need a score to win. Except...the idiot officials blew the play dead and called it an illegal snap. Baylor went on to score, Texas Tech answered and my bet was toast. The Big 12 reached out to Texas Tech to say the call was wrong, and I’m sure that made everyone in the Red Raider program feel way better.

Like I said, I know officiating football games is really hard. But damned if so many of those guys do it so poorly as to make it seem impossible.

Why I love gambling: Gambling can sometimes result in happy accidents, such as when I took Tennessee +4 in the first half in these picks, but forgot about it by the time Saturday rolled around. I ended up taking them +6.5 there, and won both!

Why I hate gambling: You mean other than when the officials screw me out of money? Well, if I’m going to go on an anti-officiating diatribe, fairness would dictate that I also self-identify as a complete moron. When I was doing last week’s writeup, I wrote out why I was picking Oregon, explaining how this was their last chance to impress me. I even wrote “Ducks” in the pick. At the last second, I decided to change the verbiage and pick Colorado. And whereas I hadn’t made a call on the total, I threw that in for kicks. I lost them both. As I wrote just a week ago, sometimes it helps to go with one’s gut and not overthink things.

Last Week: 11-9

Season Total: 55-52-3

Reader Results:

• NWFlyfishing (Welcome!): 1-8 (I think?) That Minshew bet took a hit this weekend.
• stewak: 3-2
• BothwaysUphill: 3-4
• 89Coug in FL: 7-7
• .:R: 4-3
• 425CougFan: 7-2-2
• pf_flyer: 4-6
• BRCoug99: 3-4

UCLA Bruins at Stanford Cardinal (-3.5): So yeah, this line has changed just a tad as a result of Stanford’s perilous quarterback situation. They’re still better than UCLA.

The Pick: Stanford / Under 49.5

Arizona State Sun Devils at Utah Utes (-14): Zack Moss is back, and the Utes should roll coming off an idle week. But has nobody figured out that ASU plays every game close? Now you’re giving me two touchdowns? I’ll take them.

The Pick: ASU

Oregon State Beavers at California Golden Bears (-11): Good god, I have no idea what to expect here. If the Beavers can move the ball on Cal, that’s a very bad sign for WSU’s penultimate game. If Cal can move the ball with their disastrous offense, well, that’s a good sign for WSU!

The Pick: Plugging my nose and taking OSU

Oregon Ducks at Washington Huskies (+3): So I can get a field goal on Washington? At home? Easy day.

The Pick: Washington

Arizona Wildcats at USC Trojans (-10): Who are the real Wildcats, the guys who led Washington at halftime, or the guys who puked all over themselves in the second half? I have no idea, but I think they will acquit themselves better in LA.

The Pick: Arizona

Colorado Buffaloes at Washington State Cougars (-13.5): Uh, has anyone seen WSU play lately? “No” is the only explanation for this line. Seriously, would you lay two touchdowns with this team over anyone in the Power Five outside Kansas, Rutgers, maybe Vanderbilt and maybe Georgia Tech? I sure as hell wouldn’t give this many points to any other team in the conference.

The Pick: Colorado

Michigan Wolverines at Penn State Nittany Lions (-7.5): The Michigan Madoffs are about to be exposed for the frauds they are.

The Pick: Penn State

TCU Horned Frogs at Kansas State Wildcats (+3.5): TCU hasn’t been nearly impressive enough to be favored in this game.

The Pick: ‘Cats

Baylor Bears at Oklahoma State Cowboys (-3.5): Let’s see...a ranked team is an underdog to an unranked team? And that unranked team was off last week? And that unranked team is better?

The Pick: Pokes

First Half Picks Sure to Go Wrong:

Auburn Tigers at Arkansas Razorbacks (+10): Ain’t nothing ol’ Gus loves better than putting one on his home state team.

The Pick: Aubie

South Florida Bulls at Navy Midshipmen (-7.5): South Florida is starting to feel itself, but they don’t want any part of this.

The Pick: Seamen

West Virginia Mountaineers at Oklahoma Sooners (-20.5): No mercy

The Pick: Sooners

Until we see eachother on social media...