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

Welcome back. It’s been a pretty melancholy week here at Gamble-Tron headquarters. So much so that we can’t even bring ourselves to listen to our favorite college football gambling podcasts, out of fear that they’ll surely bring up last week’s game. Heck, we couldn’t even avoid a recap when we watched the Sunday Today Show. If Willie Geist is talking about a game your team lost, you know it was bad.

But despite the fact that Saturday night/Sunday morning’s epic fail will stick in the minds of Cougar fans for a long while, we must forge ahead. After all, we’re not even halfway through the season, so there’s still a cornucopia of gambling delights to be had. So without further ado, let’s get to the task at hand. And no, we don’t think about that stupid game from last Saturday like 50 times per day. Nope. Not at all. (this despite the fact that we were all over UCLA and the over). Enough about that. Let’s go.

Why I love gambling: While winning with underdogs is always more satisfying - to me anyway - watching a favorite run and hide is also pretty great. You don’t have to sweat down the stretch, and you can sit back and enjoy the game. Such was the case in Madison last Saturday, where the hometown Badgers stomped on Coach Khaki from the get go and never let up. Oh, and Madison is one hell of a fun town.

Why I hate gambling: Did I mention that I sucked on Twitter this week? One of those picks was Air Force +8 at Boise State. For more than a half, Air Force was right there with the Broncos. Then their quarterback got hurt. The backup wasn’t great, but he was better than the one-legged starter. That didn’t stop Troy Calhoun from throwing QB1 back in the game, despite the fact that he couldn’t run. Like, at all. There went the offense, and there went my pick.

Last week: 8-6 (7-3 but for my Twitter lunacy, where I went 1-3)

Season Total: 34-28-4

Reader Results:

• BothwaysUphill: 4-4
• BRCoug99: 6-8 (did I miss your picks previously? Sincere apologies if I did)
• .:R: 7-4
• stewak: 4-2
• 425CougFan: 9-5 (Volume shooter, I like it!)
• 89Coug in FL: 4-5
• pf_flyer: 6-3

Arizona State Sun Devils at California Golden Bears (-5): Here’s what we said about ASU last week:

Wait, I thought every Herm Edwards game ended with a three point margin?

Colorado 34, ASU 31

The Pick: Devils!!!! Devils!!!!

Washington State Cougars at Utah Utes (-6): Already jumped on this one before it came down even further.

Per Vegas Insider, the line opened at Utah -8. 52% of the spread money is on the Cougs, yet the line moved way down to 5.5 in some places. Huh? Apparently Tyler Huntley is dinged up, and we all saw Zack Moss in a sling last Friday. Personally, given what we saw UCLA do last week, Utah could probably put up points even if Chad DeGrenier were at the helm.

The Pick: Goddammit, they’ve already pulled me back in. Cougs / Over 55.5

Stanford Cardinal at Oregon State Beavers (+4): If not now, Stanford, when? I could totally see the Beavers ambushing the Cardinal and winning by like 14, but I lack the cojones.

The Pick: Stanford

USC Trojans at Washington Huskies (-10): I am really really tempted to take USC now that it’s at double figures, but the Trojans are severely banged up in the secondary, and Matt Fink won’t have the luxury of a friendly environment this week.

The Pick: Washington

UCLA Bruins at Arizona Wildcats (-6.5): As my Twitter account will show, I loved this at 7.5. Now that it’s under seven? Gobble that right up.

The Pick: Arizona

Houston Cougars at North Texas Mean Green (-1.5): The D’Eriq King maybe possibly ok maybe not transfer special! I had to jump before the line moved (assuming it will).

UPDATE: It’s now North Texas -7.5! A daring person would middle the hell out of that line.

Northwestern Wildcats at Wisconsin Badgers (Total = 46.5): I should’ve nailed the Under in the Wisconsin game last week, but Michigan scored the garbagiest of garbage points at the end to ruin me. Once more unto the breach.

The Pick: Under

San Jose State Spartans at Air Force Falcons (-18.5): Think the Spartans are primed for a letdown after starting SEC play 1-0? We do.

The Pick: USAFA

I will not tweet out any more picks. I will not tweet out any more picks. I will not...ok I probably will.