GAME PICKS: WEEK 5
More "this feels like MACtion" than actual MACtion this week.
MY 2024 RECORD: 103-37 overall (22-9 last week)
33-8 MAC (7-2 LW)
62-16 Top 25 (13-5 LW)
17-15 in additional picks (5-3 LW)
MAC GAMES
EASTERN MICHIGAN OVER KENT STATE. EMU has what it takes to win by 3+ scores, but I have a feeling this will only be settled by 15 points on the scoreboard. EMU’s offensive line has to show massive improvements this week in the run game, and I think this is where the team will really learn how much it can trust its linemen to create big plays up-front.
OHIO OVER AKRON. Honestly, Akron isn’t very interesting, sadly enough. Ohio’s not exactly filled with All-Stars either, but I don’t see how Ohio loses this at home.
BUFFALO OVER UCONN. Pete Lembo should never be doubted in a game like this one. These are the kinds of wins this man lives for.
NC STATE OVER NORTHERN ILLINOIS. The ‘dropped from the Top 25 bowl’ will also show NIU going up against one of its former MAC Championship-winning coaches, Dave Doeren.
MIAMI OVER UMASS. If Miami doesn’t do much offensively here, then that definitely bodes well for EMU’s immediate future forecasting on the MAC schedule. I’m just saying.
JAMES MADISON OVER BALL STATE. Do you want to see a dead body?
SAN DIEGO STATE OVER CENTRAL MICHIGAN. Lewis’ Kent State team lost 54-30 at CMU in 2021. Kent State still made it to the MAC title game that year too, so that’s fun. Anyways, SDSU has looked really bad this year and even Bennett Walker, who got his first FBS opportunity with EMU last year and transferred to SDSU when his close-to-home chance opened up, is already in the transfer portal again.
MARSHALL OVER WESTERN MICHIGAN. Both of these teams have basically had the same season to this point. Admittedly, I haven’t watched any Marshall football this season, but I’m blindly going to pick the Herd anyway here. Between Buffalo-UConn, Miami-UMass, and this game, there’s a bunch of ‘MAC games that aren’t MAC games’ going on this weekend.
BOWLING GREEN OVER OLD DOMINION. Bowling Green’s one of the best mid-major programs in the land. Old Dominion simply isn’t that.
TOP 25
#25 BOISE STATE OVER WASHINGTON STATE. Well-rested off a bye week, a nation waits patiently for Ashton Jeanty to remind everybody why he should be leading our Heisman conversations.
#24 TEXAS A&M OVER ARKANSAS. The Aggies look fine. Arkansas refuses to use a fork and eat its food like a normal person. Somehow, somebody’s going home 4-1.
#22 BYU OVER BAYLOR. Dave Aranda might be a dead man walking with his job at Baylor, and BYU has looked very solid on defense (not that I expect Baylor to put up points anyway).
#20 OKLAHOMA STATE AT #23 KANSAS STATE. I think both teams have been playing well below their capabilities this season. Oklahoma State might be the least-dominant 3-1 team in all of Power 4 football, but I think the Cowboys might be able to find an edge if they make K-State’s quarterback one-dimensional and take away some of his running opportunities.
#18 IOWA STATE OVER HOUSTON.
#17 CLEMSON OVER STANFORD. Ever since Clemson’s whole ass got shown against Georgia, this team’s been playing pissed off. That’s all I really ask for honestly. I don’t need to know who’s good or who’s bad, I just need to know who the angriest football teams are and I’ll gravitate toward them during the season.
#15 LOUISVILLE OVER #16 NOTRE DAME. Easy. Louisville has the better quarterback.
#14 LSU OVER SOUTH ALABAMA.
#13 USC OVER WISCONSIN.
#12 MICHIGAN OVER MINNESOTA.
ARIZONA OVER #10 UTAH. There are undefeated Utahs worth watching out for. I don’t know if this year’s Utah is the novel Utah that everybody needs to budget into their seasonal fears this year.
ILLINOIS OVER #9 PENN STATE. Nastiest upset of my picks this week. It’s an impromptu White Out game for Penn State, and it’ll take some dysfunction by the Nittany Lions for this pick to go my way, but I won’t be surprised if Illinois pulls off a 19-17 thriller.
#8 OREGON OVER UCLA. Finally, we get our first former Pac-12 league game dressed-up as a Big Ten game of the new era. It’ll be an 11 p.m. start time, just as the TV gods ordered. We’re all so happy for the televisions.
#7 MIAMI OVER VIRGINIA TECH. Virginia Tech is not an interesting football team. That’s all I’ve got.
#6 OLE MISS OVER KENTUCKY.
#4 ALABAMA OVER #2 GEORGIA. Yes, I’m siding with the former EMU offensive coordinator in his first Bama-Georgia game as Nick Saban’s successor. I think his offensive play-calling can best Georgia’s defense this year and might have the upper-hand if this comes down to whoever has the ball last.
#3 OHIO STATE OVER MICHIGAN STATE. First real test for Ohio State, but only on one side of the ball. The offense is going to get tested by MSU’s defensive coordinator, but Ohio State might outscore MSU with defensive scores.
#1 TEXAS OVER MISSISSIPPI STATE.
EIGHT ADDITIONAL PICKS
My personal rule here: No boring picks. I’ll define that however I wish.
BOSTON COLLEGE OVER WESTERN KENTUCKY.
DUKE OVER NORTH CAROLINA.
UNLV OVER FRESNO STATE.
WYOMING OVER AIR FORCE.
RUTGERS OVER WASHINGTON.
INDIANA OVER MARYLAND.
SAM HOUSTON OVER TEXAS STATE.
SOUTH FLORIDA OVER TULANE.
Agreed with the Rutgers pick. One of the worst games on the schedule for the Huskies. First road game on a short week.