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We are on the last week of ESPN College Pick Em this week! This one locks on Friday, so make sure to get the picks in early! We still have several entries with a shot at taking down the prize, which is RotoBaller's premium college football content for free during the 2023 season!
It was another rough week in Week 13. 2pretty4orange led the way with 42 points. BKNoleGirl had 38 points. There was a tie for third between myself and lbockenek with 30 points. Only seven more entries hit 25 points. jphowell09 is back in the lead with 459 points. Fred Smoot Boat Rentals and ertlt are tied for second with 457 points. ryan_peoples2 is just one point behind in fourth place. That's right...only three points separate the top four entries. lbockenek moved into the top five with 451 points.
HumbleBee jumped to sixth with 444 points. Kev Shep is only one point behind that. The Syndicate sits in eighth with 432 points. I moved up to ninth this week with 431 points. San Diego's Finest rounds out the top ten with 424 points. RickH219 is just one point out of the top ten. Bret8821 is only two points behind that. First and 12th place are only separated by 38 points. Anything can happen!
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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. This looks like a tough week. There are some close ones on there, but that's what makes this fun!
(1) North Carolina over Clemson
Will Dabo really bench D.J.? He says no, but if things go sideways again, he may make the change. At any rate, 99 passing yards isn't going to get it done. North Carolina doesn't have the defense that the Carolina to the south has, and they are dealing with issues of their own. Has the ACC finally caught up to Drake Maye or is he just in a funk? I trust Maye more than D.J. and Josh Downs is capable of getting behind the beleaguered Clemson secondary. I'm going to try to snipe a point here.
(2) Tulane over Central Florida
Tulane lost to UCF in New Orleans about three weeks ago. What has changed since then? Not much, but there were anomalies in that game. For starters, Tyjae Spears had just eight carries for 130 yards in that game. There's no way he only carries eight times again unless he gets hurt...again. John Rhys Plumlee ran for 176 yards in that game, but he hasn't completed a game since because UCF has switched to Mikey Keene when Plumlee was ineffective and they fell behind. Maybe that happens again, maybe not. However, I don't see Tulane losing to UCF in NOLA again.
(3) TCU over Kansas State
It's another battle of the purple, but this time it's on the other side of the metroplex. TCU won by ten points the first time around, but that was also the first time that Adrian Martinez went down. Will Howard performed admirably as he has in every game since. Max Duggan and Kendre Miller were problems for the Wildcats and I expect that to be the case again. However, the presence of Adrian Martinez could change this game. Word out of Manhattan is that he is playing. I still think TCU wins, but I'm moving it down just in case. Martinez could make K-State ten points better.
(4) USC over Utah
So, what has changed in this one? A lot. First, the venue. They head to Sin City instead of Mormon city. Next, Cam Rising isn't running for three touchdowns again. Travis Dye is out for USC, but Austin Jones isn't your typical backup. It took a perfect storm for the Utes to win at home. The storm won't be anywhere near as perfect on the road.
(5) Fresno State at Boise State
This is probably the largest contrast to the first meeting. Boise doubled up Fresno on the Smurf Turf on October 8, but Logan Fife threw two picks in that game and Jake Haener was unavailable. That changes everything. Does it change a 20-point loss? It could if Haener doesn't turn the ball over. Haener has only thrown three interceptions in 287 pass attempts this year. Fresno's run defense needs to step it up a bit to get this win, but this is a winnable game. I'm putting it higher up the list because I need to take risks and 90% of the public is on Boise thanks to that October win. This will be much closer.
(6) UTSA over North Texas
Yes, I love my Roadrunners. They are probably my second-favorite team and not just because Vegas constantly underestimates them. They are just fun to watch. They will be a little less fun with De'Corian Clark out of this game and they might have a true freshman starting at running back, but UNT is a bit beaten up too. They could be without two of their top three backs once again as well. UTSA needed a touchdown with 20 seconds left to win the first meeting. They should be able to pull it off again, hopefully in a fashion that doesn't have me sweating bullets and ripping up my betting slip.
(7) Ohio over Toledo
The Rockets should have Dequan Finn back for this one, but he was ineffective against Western Michigan, throwing two interceptions in 11 pass attempts. It seemed like he wasn't lifted because he re-injured anything, but it still casts doubt on just how healthy he will be for this game. Tucker Gleason was respectable in relief of Finn again, but I don't think they beat Ohio anyway. The lack of a consistent run game has ruined Toledo. I might move this down if Kurtis Rourke can't go for Ohio, but I think the Bobcats have enough to win this regardless of the status of Rourke.
(8) Troy over Coastal Carolina
The Troy defense is legit and Coastal Carolina is not nearly the same team without Grayson McCall. The program isn't quite strong enough yet to survive the loss of their top receivers from last year and the quarterback who is the heart of the team. Coastal probably hangs around, but I don't see them winning this.
(9) Georgia over LSU
How much stock should we put into LSU losing to the top recruiting class on the road? I might end up moving this down because Georgia is a playoff team whether they win this game or not. They are the one team that can say that right now. LSU doesn't have the talent to beat a team like Georgia, and definitely not in what is essentially a road game.
(10) Michigan over Purdue
No Blake Corum, no problem! Donovan Edwards is still good enough start for around 90 other schools right now. This feels like it might be the kind of game that Aidan O'Connell can come up with a win in, but I really don't think so. What else was Jim Harbaugh holding back? If this game stays close enough for him to have to pull something out, Michigan will pull away in this one as well. They might anyway...
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