The bye week is over for the Irish football team but we haven't taken a break in our assault against Las Vegas.
Congratulations to goodoldtk for leading the way in week 9 with a 13-4 record. You have now overtaken the overall lead by 3 games with a 100-61 record.
Big E: 95-66 (3rd place)
Now on to this week's games...
Air Force (-3) at Army
Pick: Air Force
The Falcons need this game to take the Commander-in-Chief Trophy for the first time since 2011. I expect them to be psyched and ready to roll.
No. 24 Duke (+3.5) at Pittsburgh
Pick: Duke
Why is Pitt getting this much respect? I have no explanation for this.
No. 21 East Carolina (-7.5) at Temple
Pick: East Carolina
Temple has quietly had a decent year and East Carolina's offense has been in a little bit of a slump recently. I don't think you can hold this Pirates offense down for too long, though.
No. 19 Oklahoma (-16.5) at Iowa State
Pick: Iowa State
If you look at the last half dozen or so of the times Oklahoma traveled to Ames there's only one real big blowout victory for the Sooners. A whole bunch of teams always go to Iowa State and get caught in a close game. I don't know if OU has the explosive offense anymore to dominate this by a whole lot.
No. 10 TCU (-4) at No. 20 West Virginia
Pick: West Virginia
I suppose scoring 82 points last week allows TCU to be a decently sized road favorite here. Boy, their offense is really humming lately. Still, too many are calling for an outright upset here so I'll take the points and see what happens.
Purdue (+23.5) at No. 17 Nebraska
Pick: Purdue
I don't know if it's being talked about enough but Purdue has been fairly competitive this year despite still losing a boat load of games. The playoff poll has us talking about the merits of Nebraska so I'm going to guess many will be going with me and betting the Corn don't cover this huge spread.
Florida (+11.5) at No. 9 Georgia
Pick: Georgia
The rivalry factor of this game is keeping this spread from getting out of hand. However, it's still low enough for me to pick the Dawgs to roll and add another nail in Muschamp's coffin.
BYU (-4) at Middle Tennessee State
Pick: BYU
Because why not?
Kansas (+35.5) at No. 12 Baylor
Pick: Baylor
Ahh, there's a Baylor line we've missed so much. It's tempting to pick the points and I probably would if this was a road game for the Bears.
No. 4 Auburn (+2) at No. 7 Ole Miss
Pick: Auburn
Ole Miss is coming off a tough physical game at LSU and suffered some key injuries. If there's an offense that can consistently move the ball against this Rebel defense it's Auburn and the smart move is to take them as the underdog.
Arkansas (+10.5) at No. 1 Mississippi State
Pick: Arkansas
The Hogs still haven't won a SEC game in forever but all of their losses this year have been pretty close. On the other side Miss State's defense hasn't exactly been something you'd expect from a No. 1 team. It might not cost them a win this weekend but I'll take the Hogs to cover.
Stanford (+8) at No. 5 Oregon
Pick: Oregon
Stanford is the well-known enemy for Oregon. A lot of talk around this game may surround Oregon's supposed weak defense. I really don't think the Cardinal have the offense to exploit it all that well. Unfortunately for Irish fans I am expecting a quality Oregon win here.
Oklahoma State (+12.5) at No. 11 Kansas State
Pick: Kansas State
Oklahoma State looked good to start the season but hasn't been the same team without their quarterback. Wildcats to cover.
Illinois (+28.5) at No. 13 Ohio State
Pick: Ohio State
Urban does a good job of beating up on the poor teams. I don't think we'll see two straight duds from the Buckeyes.
No. 6 Notre Dame (-14) at Navy
Pick: Notre Dame
The Irish have covered a lot of games this year. Will it continue this weekend?
No. 14 Arizona (+6.5) at No. 25 UCLA
Pick: Arizona
Lock of the week? Well, that didn't exactly work last week with Ohio State.
No. 18 Utah (+5) at No. 15 Arizona State
Pick: Arizona State
I'm a little concerned how ASU reacts to the physical play of Utah. However, the Utes lost their top receiver and are going to need to generate a lot of offense to keep pace with the Sun Devils. A small blowout here wouldn't surprise me.