Saturday fun, looking at our College Football picks in a big Week 5

It’s time for another installment of our Saturday fun college football picks. This past week we went 2-and-2, taking our Saturday fun record to 8-and-9. So it hasn’t gone as I hoped, but I’m still just one big week away from getting back to a winning record.

This is also a big week in the college season, with three games pairing top ten teams against one another, and another inner top-25 game. All that in addition to a slew of games that see ranked teams as underdogs against unranked opponents. It’s only the first Saturday in October and we already have monumental matchups that’ll impact the rest of the season.

Here are our bigs plus some notes on other big games.

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My Picks of the week

Oklahoma -3.5 at TCU

Few teams have disappointed in the early part of the season like the Sooners. This week they’re at a real crossroads with two losses on their record, though they still remain in contention for the Big 12. That all starts with the Sooners facing off with No. 21 TCU on the road.

Despite their spot in the rankings, the Horned Frogs haven’t been all that good this year, especially defensively where they’ve allowed a ton of points to questionable attacks. Bob Stoops and his star-studded attack have to turn it up sooner or later; I’m guessing this is the week.

Oklahoma St -2.5 vs. Texas

The Cowboys keep tempting me, there’s little I can do. This might be my favorite line of the entire week, as the Cowboys are favored by less than a field goal to a very suspect Texas team. Sure, the Longhorns seem to have righted the ship offensively but their defense is allowing points left and right, not what you’d expect from a Charlie Strong team. UTEP aside, Texas allowed a combined 97 points to Cal and Notre Dame, offenses that might not be as potent as Oklahoma State’s.

Defensively the Cowboys seem better and their offense seems primed to hurt the Longhorns. Give me both Oklahoma teams against ranked opponents.

Over/under alert:

Last year, offenses in the Big 12 conference were dominating defenses so thoroughly you couldn’t set an over/under high enough. As conference play is still getting going, these two games have interesting over/under’s at 69.5 and 70.5, respectively.

TCU’s defense was extra leaky the first couple weeks and though they’ve corrected things against lesser opponents the OU offense is a real test. Oklahoma, on the other hand, has not played great defense. I think the over on this one is pretty good.

Texas has only been in shootouts so they’re a guarantee to put up 40 points but is also likely to give up as many. Oklahoma State is a perfect candidate to run up the score with the Longhorns. I really like the over here. Heck, give me 80 and I might still take the over in this game.

Utah +2 at California

This is a really good game. The Utes have had to claw out a few wins and have managed to stay undefeated, climbing to No. 18 in the rankings in the process. Cal has been a dangerous opponent despite their 2-and-2 record due to their explosive offense.

This will be a great matchup of talented defense against a prolific offense. The Utes have lots of NFL talent on ‘D’, particularly on their line. I typically lean towards defense, especially for a unit like Utah’s, that’s used to stopping high-tempo spread attacks like the Bears.

Michigan State -6.5 at Indiana

Don’t bet against Mark D’Antonio’s team after a loss as the program hasn’t had back-to-back defeats since 2012. The Spartans did lose badly this past week vs Wisconsin but part of that was due to some rough turnovers. I’m sure the old ball coach will have those issues fixed. Give me the Spartans by a lot in a statement bounce-back win.

Oregon -1.5 at Washington State

The over/under in this one is 75 and that sounds about right. This game will be must-see TV for those of you who are fans of offensive football. Both teams are a bit desperate coming into this game, with the Ducks at 2-and-2 and WSU at a very disappointing 1-2. I don’t think either of these teams is as bad as their records suggest and expect both to make some noise as the season rolls along.

However, Oregon gets star running back Royce Freeman back and that changes everything, as his absence was huge in their back-to-back losses. All things equal, Oregon is more talented and can keep up with Mike Leach’s team in a shootout.

I’ll take the Ducks on the road in a must-win for two Pac-12 north foes.

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