College Football Pick 'Em Pool Picks (Week 8) - Targets, Avoids, Predictions for ESPN Pick 'Em Contests

Our Mike Marteny lays out the confidence points in ESPN College Pick Em for Week 8 of the 2023 NCAA college football season. Which upsets have the best chance of happening?

The last great college football season is already half over. We are through Week 7 in ESPN College Pick Em. Brian681757 was the only one to hit 50 this week. keepingthelittlehumansalive finished with 49 points. I finally had a good week and finished third with 48 points. Kev Shep was one behind me. Momirka13 and JPH40 both had 46 points to tie for fifth this week.

50Centi hits the halfway point still in first place with 287 points, but Brian681757's big week leaves him just one point out of first place. ertlt sits in third with 282 points. Munch MaGash and mr-richard round out the top five with 280 points. Ten points separate fifth from 10th and four more points separate 10th from 14th. It's still far from over!

For the first time this season, all 10 games in ESPN College Pick Em are conference games. At first glance, this week looks pretty 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. I'm against a lot of the public this week. Wish me luck!

(1) UAB over Memphis

I actually think that Memphis is going to win this game. The reason that I'm picking UAB is quite simple. They have a decent chance at winning this game and the public is overwhelmingly (97%) on Memphis. If the likely outcome happens, I'm only out one point. If UAB pulls the upset at home, I gain a point on nearly everyone. It's an acceptable risk.

(2) Penn State over Ohio State

Everything about this screams Ohio State and the public is leaning the same way. One of these times, James Franklin is going to get over the hump. This feels like his best chance to do so, so I'm okay with laying a couple of points on it just in case.

(3) Utah over USC

At this point, we have to quit hoping for Cameron Rising to ride over that ridge and lead Utah to the promised land. It's entirely possible that he doesn't even play this year. Utah beat the Trojans without Rising last year and it was all because of that front seven, which is exactly the same as last year's. There is a chance that I move this down, but for now, it's staying here. I trust Utah's offense to get enough on USC's defense for the Utah defense to win another one.

(4) Oklahoma State over West Virginia

The Mountaineers have one of the better defenses in the Big 12(14) this year. That said, this is not the Oklahoma State train wreck that we saw for the first couple weeks of the season. Ollie Gordon is the next in a long line of great running backs to come out of Stillwater. I'm not sure West Virginia can hold him down all game. As much as I like CJ Donaldson, that Cowboys defense is better than advertised against the run.

(5) UTSA over Florida Atlantic

Last week was the first time since the opening drive of the season that Frank Harris looked healthy. As good as Zakhari Franklin and the other receivers were for UTSA last year, Harris is the guy that made the team go. If he's as healthy as he appears to be, I'm backing UTSA.

(6) Miami (FL) over Clemson

This is really close to a toss-up based on analytics, but 73% of the public are on Clemson here. Vegas has Miami at +118 on an outright win at home. Based on the analytics and Vegas odds, this is much closer to a toss-up than the field thinks. I'm trying to steal the points with Miami at home. Quite honestly, they have been more impressive than Clemson. Blowing the game against Georgia Tech was bad coaching, not bad play.

(7) Miami (OH) over Toledo

The Rockets keep winning, but they aren't winning pretty. They escaped Northern Illinois. They beat UMass but allowed 24 points. I feel a lot more confident in the stout Redhawks defense that blanked Bowling Green and held Cincinnati to 24 points in an overtime game. Brett Gabbert is finally getting comfortable on the football field again. 66% of the public is on Miami, who is a home dog in this one. My response is to rank it higher than most will to try and get a few extra points.

(8) Georgia State over Louisiana

I know that this game is in Lafayette, but other than that, I see no reason for the Cajuns to be favored. The Georgia State offense is a force with Darren Grainger and Marcus Carroll. Few gave the Panthers a chance against Marshall last week or at Coastal on September 21. They lost to Troy, but most teams do.

Louisiana's best win is escaping a Texas State team that beat Baylor. The other wins over 2-5 UAB and 2-5 Buffalo don't do anything for me. The public is once again under on the Panthers, so I'm upping the wager since I think they're the better team anyway.

(9) Iowa over Minnesota

Floyd of Rosedale is getting quite comfortable in Iowa City. He has resided there since 2015. That's not changing this year. First team to 10 points wins!

(10) Mississippi over Auburn

Simple logic implies that this game won't be all that close. LSU stomped Auburn and Mississippi beat LSU. The game is on the Plains, but Auburn's offense is basically Iowa with two subpar quarterbacks (which is still better than Iowa has at this point). The Auburn defense is good, but not good enough to keep Ole Miss under 10 points. That's what Auburn would need to win with that offense.

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