My picks for the season are now .500 at 12-12 for the year, I am looking to get back in the black and help you do the same. My card is going to be little lighter as I do not see a lot of great opportunities not covered on the podcast and I am holding out for bowl season. Here a my picks for this coming weekend.
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-12.5) @ Pittsburgh Panthers (12:00 PM/EST): Is Pittsburgh a much better team with Mason Heintschel at Quarterback? Sure they are but, they have also benefited from a pretty easy schedule beating up on the bottom feeders of the ACC. This is by far his toughest test to date and in case you did not hear Pitt’s coach earlier this week, this is not even the most important game left on their schedule in his eyes. For Notre Dame on the other hand this is the toughest game left on their schedule and an impressive win by margin will leave no doubt that they deserve a spot in the college football playoffs. Heintschel has been great but, he does put the ball in harms way and has not played a team that can take advantage of his mistakes. Notre Dame is the first team he has played who can capitalize on turnovers. I love the Pitt story and will look at them in the next few weeks but, I see the Irish looking to make a statement here.
- Illinois Fighting Illini (-15) vs Maryland Terrapins (3:30 PM/EST): I think you can put a fork in the Terrapins as they might be done. Tough spot for the Terps as they have to play the second of back to back road games and the Illini are coming off a bye. Unlike their game last week where they lost by 15 on the road the Illini actually have a half way competent defense so they should be able to hold down the Terps offense enough to cover the spread. The Illini still have something to play for and you never know a couple extra wins by margin could keep them in the mix for the playoff.
- North Carolina Tar Heels (+5.5) @ Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4:30 PM/EST): Wake Forest is coming off a huge upset win and now host the Tar Heels. Last time Wake got a big win they got absolutely destroyed by Florida State. I don’t believe we will have a blow out here but, Wake Forest has problems on offense and I do not think they should be laying more than a field goal to any team in the ACC not named Boston College much less in-state rival. This game has the potential to be a very low scoring game as the over/under is only 38 so touchdowns will come at a premium. Wake probably wins by a filed goal but, I would not count out Chapel Bill from leading the Tar Heels to a bowl game in his first year in college and they sure need this one to get there.
