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Our Mike Marteny lays out the confidence points in ESPN College Pick Em for week 8 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. Week 7 was tough thanks to Florida and Iowa, but it was tough on everyone. I tied with BKNoleGirl for the group lead last week with just 35 points. Only six others hit 30. left handed freshman still leads the way with 262 points on the season. A solid week moved me into second five points behind him. lbockenek and keepingthelittlehumansalive are tied for third three points behind me. BKNoleGirl moves into fifth place, just one point out of the top three. Judith6074 in only one point behind that. 2pretty4orange!, Kev Shep, Bamarick, and Kdstacks85 round out the top ten.
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 made a move into second place last week, so we'll see if I can get back to that top slot.
(1) UCLA over Oregon
Both teams win and win ugly. Teams that win ugly are usually driven by the run game, which UCLA is. The Oregon run defense has been pretty solid this year and Travis Dye is clearly good enough to operate as the Oregon lead back. I just don't have a lot of confidence that Anthony Brown can lead them to a win in the Rose Bowl. UCLA has played better the Oregon lately, so I'm sticking with them.
(2) Nevada over Fresno State
Fresno does have a couple of big wins and a near-miss against Oregon this year, but they have just not played well lately. Jalen Cropper's sudden case of the dropsies really limits this offense. I'm afraid it may be in his head by now. If I knew that Cropper had his confidence back this might be different. Then again, maybe not. Carson Strong might be the best quarterback Fresno has faced this year. Nevada isn't afraid to get involved in a high-scoring affair here, which really favors the Wolf Pack.
(3) Pittsburgh over Clemson
I may end up moving this one up. Pitt has an experienced quarterback that has slashed the mistakes drastically this year. Pitt has good receivers and they have finally found a lead back in Israel Abanikanda. Clemson can stop all of that. I'm just not sure they can do much to score of their own accord. Pitt wins this war of attrition.
(4) North Carolina State over Miami
Miami's problems aren't all on Tyler Van Dyke. His turnovers really hurt last game, but this defense has had problems stopping anyone this season. The North Carolina State rushing attack, which added veteran Jordan Houston back into the backfield rotation, is going to be more than Miami can handle.
(5) Oklahoma State over Iowa State
Brock Purdy has settled down and it has a lot to do with him remembering that Charlie Kolar is still on the team. On paper, the Cyclones look better than the team that nearly won the Big 12(10) last year. On the field.....not so much. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State might be the most improved team in the conference despite losing Chuba Hubbard to the NFL. After a rocky start, Jaylen Warren, the Utah State transfer, is finally being the workhorse back that he was in Logan. The real difference for the Pokes has been on defense. That's what will carry them here.
(6) Wake Forest over Army
I would be worried about this if it weren't for Ball State beating Army this year. This wake team is much like Ball State's offensive attack except they can run the ball a little better. Sam Hartman is sneaky good, and A.T. Perry and Jaquarii Roberson are seriously good receivers. I'm still worried enough about this that I'm not putting it higher. I don't fully trust the Wake defense.
(7) Air Force over San Diego State
If the Spartans can shut down this Aztecs running game, I'm pretty sure Air Force can. The Falcons defense is a solid until and their rushing attack is enough to make you give up on football. It's defensive hell to face those guys. Is SDSU prepared for that? I don't see it in them right now. They haven't played a good game in about a month now. That overtime loss to Utah really took the wind out of their sails.
(8) Notre Dame over USC
I know that this is a rivalry, but USC is a team lost because the administration brought it upon them. Donte Williams doesn't really have the team because they don't belong to anyone. The Trojans are in disarray right now and it's not his fault. There's a QB controversy because of the struggles of Kedon Slovis. Many high-profile transfers has resulted in too many mouths to feed. Then you have Drake London catching anything in a two county radius. It's really quite bizarre, and there's no end in sight.
If the Bearcats were to trip up, this would be the place to do it. However, Cincinnati's balance on offense wont allow that to happen. There are a lot of good players and none of them are too full of themselves to feed the guy playing well. The selflessness makes this team special and the defense is rounding into form. Enjoy the ride. I don't think it ends here.
(10) Ohio State over Indiana
Indiana gave a spirited effort last week, but their absolutely brutal schedule continues. Think about this: Indiana has played Iowa, Cincinnati, Penn State, and Michigan State already, not to mention a dangerous Western Kentucky team. They're beaten up and now they get the Buckeyes. I don't know what the Hoosiers did to deserve this, but I sure hope they learned from whatever it was.
