College Football Pick 'Em Pool Picks (Week 7) - Targets, Avoids, Predictions for ESPN Pick 'Em Contests

Our Mike Marteny lays out the confidence points in ESPN College Pick Em for Week 7 of the 2023 NCAA college football season. Which upsets have the best chance of happening?

Somewhere in my bliss of writing last week's piece, my dumb ass forgot to save my picks. I only ended up with 16 points anyway, only hitting my eight-point pick in the top five. That will go down as my worst week in history, so that's fun. Chiefsfan9586 led the way with 50 points this week. Only two more broke 45 though, with only one more hitting 35 and three more over 30. I guess it was a bad week all around.

50Centi managed to extend the lead over second place to four points over Madcity Guru and kingrah23. mr_richard is only one point behind them with ertlt one point behind Richard with 239 points. Only seven points separate the top five entries. HoneyBadgers, Brian681757, Munch MaGash, dherman8, and Kahn round out the top ten.

Conference play is almost universal now, which usually makes Pick Em a lot more interesting. Only the USC-Notre Dame game is out of conference this week. Talk about tough!

College Football Pick Em Overview

This article will be for the confidence game mode. You can also read my against-the-spread picks here every week for every game so you know how I'm leaning toward that version of the game. Each week, I will recap who's dominating the group before I get into the picks. If you're going to beat everyone, all of the readers will know about it!

Let's get to the countdown! I will count them up from least confident (1) to most (10). You know, for dramatic effect. If I do change my pick or points sometime during the week, I will try to update the article or post it on Twitter. Otherwise, you know all of my picks each week. Good luck out there. There are fewer gimmes in the conference season.

(1) Missouri over Kentucky

I know that Mizzou just blew a tough one against LSU. This game was so bad that even Brady Cook threw an interception. The reason I'm picking Missouri is simple: Kentucky has only played one good team and they were dominated in that contest. Devin Leary doesn't look like a good fit in this offense and the receivers aren't doing him any favors. As good as Re'Mahn Davis is, he can't carry the Cats all by himself. Missouri has enough offensive weapons to give the Kentucky defense some problems.

(2) Notre Dame over USC

That defense is going to get USC poached one of these games. This feels like that game.

Think this will help with the weather in South Bend? Yeah, me either. The weather and the Notre Dame defense should help slow down that USC offense just enough.

(3) Oklahoma State over Kansas

I have no delusions about Jalon Daniels playing. I would be more than a little surprised if he plays another game with Kansas. Daniels has only played three games this season and could still redshirt. He's from California and NIL money is bigger out there. He's the kind of talent someone will pay for in the amount that Kansas just can't afford...or would rather spend on basketball players.

That said, Jason Bean isn't some second-class quarterback. He is very good in this system and can still lead the Jayhawks to wins. The Cowboys finally have a starting quarterback and starting running back. The defense is just like you remember. Kansas is going to put up a fight, but I don't see them taking this in Stillwater.

(4) Washington over Oregon

Everything says that this will be a close game, which I don't doubt. I give Washington the edge because the game is in Seattle and I trust Michael Penix and those receivers a lot more than I trust Bo Nix.

(5) Georgia State over Marshall

Marshall gave N.C. State everything they wanted, but that isn't your normal N.C. State team. Brennan Armstrong was benched in favor of MJ Morris. The offense did look better, but that defense is another story. The dirty little secret here is that Darren Grainger is better than anything the Pack has on offense. The public isn't as heavy on Marshall as they were early in the week, but this is still a chance to gain some points with 68% picking the Herd.

(6) James Madison over Georgia Southern

This would be a place where I normally try to steal points on the field. The Dukes are overwhelming favorites (92%) on Pick Em, but ESPN analytics suggests a close game. I get why. If Davis Brin hadn't thrown a season's worth of interceptions at Camp Randall, the Eagles would have beaten Wisconsin. That just proves my point though. James Madison doesn't make those mistakes.

(7) Texas A&M over Tennessee

I don't think the Aggies played a bad game against Alabama. People think that since the Tide lost to Texas that they're done. Dynasty over. I don't think so. That team is still talented and Jalen Milroe gets better by the game. The Tennessee defense is still a problem. Regardless of what you think of Max Johnson, I think we all know what we're getting out of him. We don't know with Joe Milton. If he plays like he's capable of, Tennessee rolls. As you can see by my ranking of this, I just don't see a Milton ceiling game coming this weekend.

(8) North Carolina over Miami

It was fun having Miami relevant again for a month. I hope they enjoyed it while it lasted. There was no swagger against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets were the first team to really punch them in the mouth and keep after them the entire game. Even if the Carolina defense isn't an elite unit, we'll still see them get after the Hurricanes. And Drake Maye won't turn into a pumpkin until November. Tarheels roll!

(9) Oregon State over UCLA

The venue is going to make a huge difference and Oregon State can actually run the ball. Washington State's lack of a good run game was bound to hurt them at some point. Nakia Watson disappeared in that game. Damien Martinez will lead the Beavers to victory. We'll see if D.J. Uiagalelei is better at taking care of the ball than he was at Clemson. So far, it appears that he is.

(10) Duke over North Carolina State

The Brennan Armstrong experiment went so horribly wrong that he got benched. I definitely didn't have that on my bingo card. There is a chance that Riley Leonard plays in this game. Even if he doesn't, Henry Belin looks good enough to lead this team. It will be the Duke defense that the team leans on, which is more than enough for me to put them at the top.

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