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Our Mike Marteny lays out the confidence points in ESPN College Pick Em for week 7 of the 2021 season.
There are some big prizes on the line in the revamped ESPN College Pick Em game this season. $13,200 across their three entry modes. So we here at Rotoballer will try and help you win some money, because that's what we do. I have created a group for you Rotoballer readers out there. Once based on the confidence game mode, where you pick the winner of each of the ten games they pick and then assign a point value from 1-10 based on how confident you are on each pick. You can play along with me and other Rotoballer readers here. The other group has ten games that you have to pick the winner of against the spread. You can play along with that group here. They are free to enter, so come on and match wits with the rest of the readers of Rotoballer!
ESPN has been making the games a little tougher this year. Judith6074 and The Whitetale Deer tied for the group lead this week with 44 points. 2pretty4orange! finished with 42. Kev Shep and left handed freshman both broke the 40 point barrier as well. left handed freshman still leads the way with 231 points. keepingthelittlehumansalive is seven points back of first, so there is a little space at the top. There is a logjam at third place with Judith6074, 2pretty4orange!, lbockenek, and myself all tied with 222 points. BKNoleGirl sits in seventh place four points back. Kev Shep, Bamarick, and Kdstacks85 round out the top ten this week
This article will follow 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 at 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, and I hope one or more of us take home some of that free money from ESPN! I missed two high point games last week, so I'm left playing catch-up.
(1) Virginia Tech over Pittsburgh
Braxton Burmeister's arm worries me. He was clearly in pain at the end of the Notre Dame game. Maybe Virginia Tech wins it without him, but the Hokies pass defense was exposed a little bit last week. Kenny Pickett will throw it all over the place, but the lack of a run game will be Pitt's undoing. I'm just lowering the points in case Burmeister is out or limited with his ailing wing.
(2) Baylor over BYU
This is in Waco and the Cougars got pushed around by a maligned Boise defense is Provo last week. I may end up moving this higher. The growth and maturation of Gerry Bohanon has made Baylor a team to be reckoned with this year. We know Baylor has tons of talent at running back and receiver. With a quarterback to bring it all together, they are going to be tough to beat.
(3) Oklahoma State over Texas
I may have to rethink Oklahoma State being the best team in the Big 12(10) after the performance by Caleb Williams last week. The Cowboys defense has been better than anyone else in the conference so far this year. Now that they finally realize what they have with Jaylen Warren, this is a winnable game. The Texas defense gives up a lot of yards and a lot of points. The offense is explosive, but the Cowboys D is good enough to at least slow them down.
(4) North Carolina State over Boston College
The run game for the Wolfpack is going to be a problem for BC, but Dennis Grosel looks like he can still keep the team in games. I'm not completely sold on the Wolfpack defense, but Boston College has played four of the worst defenses on the planet so far. I don't think the offense is as good as it looks. The Wolfpack should be able to control this game.
(5) Arizona State over Utah
Beating USC, even in the manner in which the Utes did, doesn't mean what it used to. I was far more impressed with Arizona State's dismantling of Stanford. I may end up moving this down, but if the Sun Devils are as put together as they were against Stanford, this could be a convincing win. Gone was the sloppiness of the first month.
(6) Florida over LSU
LSU can hang around, especially in Death Valley, but I still don't see them winning this game. What little run game they do have will be shut down by Florida and I'm pretty sure that LSU can't throw to beat them. It takes a team with a strong line and run game to beat the Gators. That's something LSU just doesn't have right now.
(7) Iowa State over Kansas State
I really could see Iowa State losing this game, so I might move it down. Kansas State is a much different team with Skylar Thompson under center. I don't think K-State can stop Breece Hall though. They haven't been able to yet. Why would this year be any different? Hall ran for 135 and a pair of touchdowns last year in Iowa State's blowout win.
(8) Iowa over Purdue
Even if Iowa has some Penn State hangover, they aren't losing this game. Purdue doesn't have the ability to spread the field like they did last year and the revolving door at quarterback isn't helping matters either. They miss Zander Horvath. They miss Rondale Moore. King Doerue and David Bell are solid replacements, but this team is just missing something. Iowa is not. They finally feel put together.
(9) Georgia over Kentucky
I really like Kentucky and what Mark Stoops has done there. As good as that defense is and as impressive as the offense has been, they can't hang with Georgia's defense. Kentucky hasn't been on the road in almost a month. This is not a very welcome place to begin another road trip. Georgia has the best defense in the country and is one of the few teams that can contain the track stars on the Kentucky offense.
(10) Cincinnati over Central Florida
This is going to be a really tall order for UCF to even hang around without the services of Dillon Gabriel. The Bearcats got some style points last week. They will matter even more against a team with a name like UCF.
