A year ago I wrote “my initial reaction to Penn St. QB Drew Allar suffering a season ending leg injury was ‘Great…now his draft stock will fall and the Steelers will pat themselves on the back, expecting fans to be in awe of their genius for picking him in the 3rd or 4th round’”. The Steelers did indeed choose Allar in the third round, and right now he sits on the bench, allegedly learning at the feet of Aaron Rodgers, who is expected to retire following the season. So I’m not always wrong, although you’d wouldn’t know that judging by the atrocious picks I’ve made thus far. Last weekend was a bloodbath. At this point a year ago I was five games above .500 and had a ten game lead, while I now find myself 21 games below mediocrity. Zach was fifteen games below .500, but emerged from that October deficit to capture the championship, so I suppose there’s still hope for me.

My Season: 14-35

Zach’s Season: 22-27

Indiana at Ohio State (-3.5)

We’re comin’ in hot with one of the most anticipated rematches of the year. A season ago the Hoosiers defeated Ohio St. in the Big Ten title game en route to winning the national championship. Fair or not, I still feel like people have questions about Indiana. They’re undefeated, but have only been challenged a couple of times thus far. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes have already tasted defeat once, yet still find themselves ranked in the Top 5. It is undeniable that their roster is loaded with NFL talent. While Indiana’s starting eleven on both sides of the ball might match up with Ohio St.’s top guys, it’s the home team that has a deeper pool of talent. That being said, I think Curt Cignetti is a better coach than Ryan Day, and that can’t be overlooked. In my preseason rankings I had Indiana 12th and felt like it’d be difficult for them to repeat, while Ohio St. was 5th and I opined that rebuilding a defense that lost so much production to the NFL was the key to success. The Buckeyes have the 19th best defense in the country, while the Hoosiers are fifth. I am hopeful this will be a tremendous game that lives up to expectations. My vibe is that the favorites defend the home field, but will lose one…possibly two…of their remaining games, not appear in the conference title game, yet earn a playoff bid. Zach’s disdain for Ohio St. is well documented, but he’s also practical. He thinks Indiana is well coached, while the team itself is overrated and not that great. As painful as it is, he is picking the Buckeyes and doesn’t believe it’ll be all that close.

My Pick: Ohio St.

Zach’s Pick: Ohio St.

Virginia at SMU (-9.5)

The Cavs find themselves 4-2 but still in the ACC title conversation. The 4-1 Mustangs are in the mix as well. The winner stays in the hunt, while the loser will be on the outside looking in. I’ll agree with the oddsmakers that SMU should be favored, but the points seem a bit much. Whoever comes out on top won’t win by more than a touchdown. Conversely, while Zach thought Virginia would be a very good team, he thinks we were all duped. He foresees SMU winning big.

My Pick: Virginia

Zach’s Pick: SMU

Missouri at Ole Miss (-6)

The 5-1 Tigers seemed to have scored a huge upset over Florida a couple weeks ago, until the Gators lost again the following weekend, effectively making Missouri’s win look less impressive. The 4-1 Rebels got hammered by those same Gators, which is even more confusing. Could Ole Miss be looking ahead to games against Texas and #1 Georgia (one of whom I think they’ll upset)?? Might they be on the losing end of a stunner at home?? I believe it’s possible. Zach has questions about Ole Miss’ defense and is also predicting an upset.

My Pick: Missouri

Zach’s Pick: Missouri

Notre Dame (-10) at BYU 

I need to apologize to Zach. When I sent him info on this week’s slate I inadvertently had BYU as ten point favorites, which, upon further review, made absolutely no sense. I usually catch errors like that. Anyway, credit where it is due…the Cougars are unbeaten and QB Bear Bachmeier should be a legit Heisman candidate. However, the Irish are also unbeaten and ranked #2 in the nation. I think The Bear can make things really interesting and further solidify his Heisman profile, but at the end of the night the visitors just have too many athletes. Having said that, I think Notre Dame only wins by 7-9 points. Zach thinks Notre Dame is on a revenge tour of sorts, after being iced out of the playoff last season. He points out that they’ve spanked every opponent thus far, and doesn’t expect anything different now.

My Pick: BYU

Zach’s Pick: Notre Dame 

Seattle (-3) at Denver

Neither team has looked as impressive as expected. Both are 3-2 and trail by a couple of games in their divisions. I have Denver QB Bo Nix on some of my fantasy rosters, and he definitely needs to kick it up a notch. This is the Thursday night contest on Prime Video, and unlike many old school curmudgeons, I rather enjoy those games. At some point these two teams have to wake up and remember who the hell they are. If both do it this week it could be a fantastic game, but what are the odds of that occurring?? If only one team figures things out, which will it be?? Y’all should know by now, in toss up situations I tend to lean toward the home team, even when they’re underdogs. Zach hasn’t lost faith in the Broncos and thinks they’ll be fine. However, he doesn’t believe Seattle will lose two in a row, and predicts their top rated defense will make the difference.

My Pick: Denver

Zach’s Pick: Seattle