Walker-Sports College Football Pick'em Week 5

Here we are again, at the start of another great week of college football. That means it’s time for Walker-Sports College Football Pick’em. Now anyone who is a follower of this blog knows that last week was not our best performance, but we are looking to put that behind use and move ahead with some solid picks this weekend. The biggest rule learned, never bet on West Virginia.

Nonetheless we are calling this the week of the underdog. That’s right I am riding the underdogs back to the top of the College Football Pick’em poll.

There is no question that the game of the week this weekend is a SEC battle with the Georgia Bulldogs taking on Alabama. Both teams are ranked inside the top 10 in the country, and Saturday’s game will give the winner a leg up on making the trip to Atlanta for the SEC championship as well as keeping them in the national title hunt.

For Georgia this will be their second big test in as many weeks. Last week they put up an impressive performance on the road in Tempe Arizona, this week they will return home between the hedges, and will look to use their 12^th man advantage. The Bulldogs have the best running back in the country in Knowshon Moreno and you can expect to see a very healthy dose of him Saturday night. He is quick explosive in the hole, and has great feet. Even Alabama’s talented defense will have trouble keeping pace with this speedy back. However, while Moreno is an obvious threat, the key to Georgia’s success may actually come from a wideout. A.J. Green is emerging as an extremely talented player with great hands and deep threat ability. If he can force his hand on Saturday, get open, create space and stretch the defense it will do a world of good for the Bulldogs. Green’s emergence as a threat means teams cannot stack the box and take away running lanes for Moreno.

This may be Nick Saban’s most impressive turnaround job to date. Alabama is in the top 10 once again and they are a serious threat in the SEC. The key to Alabama’s success has been a smothering defense. The frontline on defense has played at an out of this world caliber all season long. The front four are getting pressure on the QB; this allows the LB’s to stay back in coverage. This also explains why the Tide was able to take two interceptions to the house last weekend. The Bama front four will have their hands full on Saturday clogging up the running lanes. However, if they can put some pressure and toss in a couple blitzs and cause some confusion with that young OLine at Georgia, then the Bama defense can do some damage.

The spread has Georgia as a 7 point favorite on Saturday. That feels a bit hefty to me. I like Georgia to win, but watch Bama to cover.

Other Big games on the weekend:

Illinois vs. Penn St: There is a massive 10 point spread on this game. And that is problem driven by the fact that Illinois did not look good at all in their last outing against Louisiana Lafayette two weeks ago. Not to mention Penn State has been running the score up on every St. Mary’s of the poor they have played in the past month. This is a very good Penn State team, but a 15 point win even at home during a night game could be a bit much to ask. Take Illinois to cover, and maybe look at betting the over to secure your self just in case.

North Carolina vs. Miami (fl): Butch Davis is taking his UNC boys to challenge his old team and a program that he helps to build and feed the legacy of. One problem, Butch is missing his stud QB who is out 6 weeks with an injury. That means, the Tar Heels are back to being a mediocre team in a mediocre conference. Expect the Baby Canes to beat UNC and handle the 8 point spread easily.

Oklahoma Sooners vs. TCU: The Sooners are arguably the best team in the country (yes I’ve heard of USC). They are just playing amazing football right now, and that is in large part due to the efforts of Sam Bradford who may be the best QB you still have not seen throw a pass. Nonetheless there is a massive 19 point spread on this game, and I just have a sneak feeling about it. Oklahoma wins the game, but in typical OU fashion they won’t make it easy on themselves. So I like TCU to cover the 19 point spread.

Wisconsin vs. Michigan: The Wisconsin Badgers are playing the best football I’ve seen them play in years. On the other side of the field, the Michigan Wolverines are playing some of the worst football I’ve ever seen them play (hang in there Big Blue help is on the way). There is a six point spread on this game, and with the way Wisconsin is focused right now, I believe they will cover the spread and take home another victory.

Virginia vs. Duke: I know this is a bottom feeder game, that all of 12 people will watch. Nonetheless, I’m a UVA boy, there’s a reason Walker-Sports has the color scheme they have, so I’m going to talk about the game. The Cavaliers are in the midst of the worst season in school history. Saturday Scott Deke will take the reigns of the Hoos and try to salvage anything out of this season (yeah it’s that bad this early). A noon game at Duke means a quiet stadium unlike the night game two weeks ago at UConn. Duke also doesn’t have a Heisman Trophy sleeper candidate on their team. If the UVA defense can hold, I like the Hoos to make the upset, cover the +7 point spread and win out right. Damn, a 7 point dog to Duke? Al Groh what have you done to us?