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Our Mike Marteny lays out the confidence points in ESPN College Pick Em for week 5 of the 2022 NCAA college football season.
The ESPN College Pick Em game goes into Week 5 this weekend! There will be ten games to pick every Saturday. Each week you assign a confidence total for each game from 1-10 points. If you win, you get that many points. Simple, right? Now that you've got the hang of it, this year we are going to offer a little prize. The winner of the group this season will win FREE access to RotoBaller's college football DFS premium tools for the 2023 season. We have a pretty good turnout of 33 entries. You have a one-in-33 chance of winning, so set your lineups every week!
Fred Smoot Boat Rentals took the top spot this week with 48 points. lbockenek was second with 45. The Syndicate tied me for third this week with 44. We had six more entries break the 40 point barrier. Smoot's good week earns him the top spot with 184 points. ryan_peoples2 is in second with 177 points. Humble Bee is in third with 174 points. jphowell09 and lbockenek round out the top five with 172 and 171 points.
randybthesly1 is in sixth with 168 points. ertlt sits in seventh with 165. XLVIII is one point behind that. The Syndicate's strong week vaults them into the top ten with 162 points. Bret8821, Kev Shep, and San Diego's Finest are all tied for tenth with 159 points. You can actually see me in 13th place now with 157 points. There's a little more separation this week, but we have some more big games that can tighten things up in a hurry this week.
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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 for 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.
(1) Kentucky over Mississippi
I may end up flipping on this one. I believe in the Kentucky defense even though they didn't play all that well last week. The team-imposed suspension for Chris Rodriguez ends before this game, meaning the Kentucky run game should get a whole lot better. Kavosiey Smoke is a good back, but Rodriguez gives the team a lot more. The Wildcats are better with both of them splitting carries. The return of Rodriguez, who has been practicing with the team all year, pushes this is Kentucky's favor for me.
(2) Oklahoma State over Baylor
I may end up moving this one up. Oklahoma State has looked like the better team, but wild things happen in that palace on the banks of the Brazos. I'm more of a believer in Spencer Sanders than anyone Baylor has, so I'm still leaning Cowboys for now. The Oklahoma State d-line is the best in the conference and one of the best in the country.
(3) SMU over Central Florida
This is another one that I might flip. SMU has not looked good, particularly against Maryland and TCU. The TCU defense might be better than advertised right now and I know that UCF's isn't. I expect a high-scoring game here, but I'm going for the value. UCF is currently being picked at 94%. That feels really high to me. The Mustangs have a puncher's chance at winning this game but isn't being picked like it so far.
(4) North Carolina State over Clemson
The main difference that I see between NC State and Wake is that the Wolfpack has a defense...a good one. Wake doesn't. Sam Hartman just shredded the Tigers' secondary. NC State is a little more balanced than Wake is on offense. Devin Leary doesn't have quite the arm that Hartman does, but he likely has better receivers and can hit all of them. The Tigers have struggled with the Wolfpack a few times in the last decade. This will be another one of them.
(5) Kansas over Iowa State
This game is in Lawrence and the Kansas fans are showing up for their team. I'm a little nervous about the shaky fourth quarter last week against Duke, but I still need to see Hunter Dekkers play a good game on the road. He is establishing himself as a good quarterback, but this is going to be a tough one. The Kansas offense is tough with all of the motion they run and will be a problem for this defense. I might move it down, but I'm not moving off the Jayhawks.
(6) Florida State over Wake Forest
Jordan Travis looked no worse for the wear last week. Right now I think we could make a strong case for the Florida State defense being better than Clemson's, especially on the back end with all of the injuries in the Clemson secondary. Sam Hartman is going to have a rougher go of it here and the Wake defense still leaks yardage and points.
(7) Texas A&M over Mississippi State
The Aggies offense still didn't look all that good against Arkansas, but that defense is showing why they were considered among the best in the conference before the season started. This roster is littered with 5-star recruits. I know that Mike Leach is 8-5 in his career against Texas A&M and I know that Will Rogers is smart and disciplined and perfect for this system. This just feels like a really tough spot for the Bulldogs.
(8) Washington State over California
How is that Oregon loss going to affect the Cougars? If not for a three-minute stretch late in the fourth, they outplayed the Ducks. I like the young talent on this Cal team, but I don't quite think they are there yet. If Wazzu isn't suffering from Duck hangover, they should take this one.
(9) Oklahoma over TCU
Yes, the Sooners defense was horrible against Kansas State. The fact remains that the Sooners haven't lost back-to-back games since Notre Dame and Texas in 1999. That's the only thing they have to play for this year after the inexcusable loss to Kansas State.
(10) Michigan over Iowa
Blake Corum is going to find the going tough against this stout Iowa defense, but I fully expect the Hawkeyes to be shut out and for Spencer Petras to make a debilitating mistake or three. This Iowa offense would be a comedy of errors if I could find any humor in it.
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