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

Welcome back. You know what stinks? Ok, you know what stinks besides WSU’s defense? Not taking bets you are confident in. One other thing that truly sucks - waffling. Regarding the former, we spotted several lines last week that seemed like a good bet, such as TCU (undervalued after the SMU loss), Oklahoma State (at least a touchdown better at home than Kansas State) and Toledo (BYU was out of gas).

Did we play any of those games? Of course not. Why? We were figured it was ok to keep the amount of picks low. There is no excuse for this. So instead we took a flyer on North Texas, thinking we were taking advantage of a Vegas inefficiency. We got shivved.

Then there’s WSU. As soon as we saw the line at Utah -6.5, we tweeted that we’d take Utah for the legal limit. Well, the anger and disappointment subsided - along with the common sense - and we got back on the Cougar bandwagon. So of course WSU predictably got its ass kicked, and killed my over because they couldn’t score more than 13 damn points. Sigh. Sometimes the gut feeling is the right one.

Onward and upward (Inshallah).

Why I love gambling: Crickets. Crickets. Crickets. I don’t know. I guess I should be happy about nailing ASU-Cal.

Why I hate gambling: How much time have you got? Ok, I’ll pick one I guess. Dear Air Force, I’ve given you nearly 21 years of abject laziness. The least you could do in return is prevent a goddamn backdoor cover every now and again, but I guess that’s asking too much. With five minutes left, Air Force led 41-10. With two minutes left, it was 41-17 and SJSU was clearly content to let the clock roll. So what did Air Force do? Oh, they only decided to go for it on 4th and 1...FROM THEIR OWN 22 YARD LINE BECAUSE WELL I WILL NEVER KNOW WHY. They didn’t make it, San Jose tacked on a second garbage time touchdown and once again we checked in to our hotel in Bad Beat City. I knew there was a reason I never liked academy guys.

Last Week: 3-6

Season Total: 37-34-3

Reader Results:

• 425CougFan: 1-5
• BRCoug99: 6-4
• BothwaysUphill: 3-6
• .:R: 3-2
• 89Coug in FL: 5-4 (no need to explain, I assumed your picks were ATS all along)
• stewak: 1-4

Arizona Wildcats at Colorado Buffaloes (-3): One other thing that stinks - not being aware of injury situations, especially when that situation revolves around a guy like Khalil Tate. Tate probably won’t play this week, but neither will Laviska Shenault. I know Colorado is a different team without Shenault, but Arizona is way way way worse without Tate.

The Pick: Buffs

Oregon State Beavers at UCLA Bruins (-6.5): Captivating matchup of the worst teams in the North and South. The Rose Bowl is sure to be rocking! Since I have no idea who is healthy, I have to believe that UCLA can muster enough offense to beat the Beavers by a touchdown. Or not.

The Pick: Beavs

California Golden Bears at Oregon Ducks (-17): Man, this is a tough one. The line opened at 14 and went northward quickly. On the one hand, Cal has a nasty defense and Oregon still hasn’t found its offensive groove. On the other hand, Oregon was idle last week and Cal lost Chase Garbers to some sort of shoulder injury. WHAT TO DO

The Pick: Oregon

Washington Huskies at Stanford Cardinal (+15): So Washington is really good. So Stanford is really bad. Even this knuckle-dragging History major knows that math.

The Pick: Huskies

Auburn Tigers (-2.5) at Florida Gators: Just call me Johnny Squareplay.

The Pick: Plainsmen

Air Force Falcons at Navy Midshipmen (Total = 46): Death, taxes, and service academy unders. This opened at 52, which means I’m almost certainly late to need, but I’ll take it anyway.

The Pick: Under

Tulane Green Wave at Army Black Knights (+3): Getting a field goal with Army at home? Sold!

The Pick: Ground Pounders

Michigan State Spartans at Ohio State Buckeyes (-20): I am almost certainly late to the Ohio State minus anything train, and I know Sparty always seems to have something up his sleeve in the stadium that used to look like a horseshoe, but Ohio State has been the most dominant team in the nation this year, and I’m on board.

The Pick: Brutus

Pittsburgh Panthers at Duke Blue Devils (-5): Classic matchup here. Pitt barely beats an FCS team at home, then goes on the road and plays a better team to the wire.

The Pick: Pitt

First Half Picks Sure To Go Wrong: (WE’RE BACK!)

Maryland Terrapins (-7) at Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Chris Ash, we barely knew ye.

The Pick: Testudo

Oklahoma Sooners at Kansas Jayhawks (-20): Boomer Sooner should run and hide.

The Pick: Hurts so good

Bowling Green Falcons at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-29.5): Here’s hoping the possessions are limited and ND isn’t focused.

The Pick: The school that’s in Ohio even though the city is in Kentucky

TCU Horned Frogs at Iowa State Cyclones (-2.5): The Cyclones are overrated (who ever thought that would be possible!) but they’re at least a first half field goal better than TCU.

The Pick: ISU

Go Cougs even though you’re idle also thank you for not playing this weekend.