RADIO
Our Mike Marteny lays out the confidence points in ESPN College Pick Em for week 9 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!
It was a much better week for the group overall. 2pretty4orange! led the way with a nice 52-point week. CTX Surge finished second with 47 points this week. Kdstacks85 was third with 46 points. Four more people broke the 40-point barrier and I was not one of them! My 36-point week was one of the worst in our group. left handed freshman still leads the group with 306 points. The great week from 2pretty4orange! has her in second place now with 301 points. BKNoleGirl is in third with 295 points. I am tied with lbockenek to round out the top five, two points out of the top three.
keepingthelittlehumansalive is in sixth place, just one point behind us. Judith6074 is two points back of that. Kev Shep, Kdstacks85, and Bamarick round out the top ten this week with only 25 points separating 10th place from first.
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 moved myself back down the list with a bad week. I need a rebound here.
(1) Michigan State over Michigan
I said about a month into the season that Michigan State was the best team in Michigan and I'm sticking to it. This is going to be a really tough game though and I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan won. The Spartans are the kind of team that can beat Michigan, but they need to play a flawless game. They have been a little sloppy of late and that stout run defense is really going to be tested. This game should come down to quarterback play. Just because Cade McNamara doesn't make mistakes doesn't mean that he can throw to win. He doesn't make a lot of bad decisions, but the coaching staff does a good job of not putting him in those situations to begin with. They wont have a choice if they want to win this game.
(2) Kentucky over Mississippi State
Those damn cowbells are going to be heard all the way up in Lexington. It's going to be LOUD in StarkVegas. Still, the Kentucky speed is going to be a real problem for the Bulldogs. Kentucky's secondary is going to be tested and rubber-armed Will Rogers is going to throw it 60 times. I trust the Kentucky defense more than Mississippi State's ability to quash the big play. Wan'Dale Robinson is going to get loose at least once and change this game.
(3) Mississippi over Auburn
I might move this down. I might even flip to Auburn. I trust the Ole Miss run game more than Auburn's right now, especially if Jerrion Ealy is back at 100%. That's really the only thing keeping me on Ole Miss. Their receivers are better too, but that Auburn defense is undoubtedly better than Mississippi's this year.
(4) Virginia over BYU
I may end up moving this one up a bit. Those Virginia receivers are huge and they catch almost everything. Keytaon Thompson can do literally everything on a football field. I'm pretty sure he could play defense at this level if the Hoos asked him to. The size and athleticism are going to give the Cougars fits and their offense just isn't explosive enough to exploit the Virginia defense enough for BYU to win this.
(5) Baylor over Texas
Texas has real problems defensively trying to stop the run and Baylor's backfield looks like sprinters at a track meet. The Baylor defense is going to be tested more than usual in this one, but Bijan Robinson can't do it by himself. The Baylor backfield is going to wreak havoc and Gerry Bohanon is good enough to win this with his arm if he has to.
(6) Fresno State over San Diego State
The Aztecs have a better run defense than pass defense. That wont do them a lot of good here since Fresno throws the ball around a lot. Not that they can't run. Jordan Mims and Ronnie Rivers have both had nice games at times this year. We've yet to see SDSU really play a team with an explosive offense. We really don't know what to expect, but I expect Fresno to put up solid numbers and the Aztecs can't just put points up at will no matter how poorly the opposing defense plays.
(7) Iowa over Wisconsin
If I thought that Wisconsin could throw the ball at all I would flip this and move it down. I know they can't. The Iowa defense has been a better unit this year and they are rock stars against the run. This is going to be an ugly game, which favors Iowa even more.
(8) SMU over Houston
SMU's offense reloaded and their defense has been better this year. Houston still just can't seem to put things together. SMU is what Houston wishes they were, but Houston got to where SMU wanted to go. Strange how that works out. SMU will take the W here at least and perhaps show the Big 12(10) that they shouldn't be done expanding.
(9) Georgia over Florida
Crazy things can happen at the Cocktail Party, but imagine trying to take on a defense like this with two quarterbacks. Neither one of them are half the passer that Kyle Trask was. This is going to be a disaster for the Gators offensively. The defense will hold up and make it look respectable though.
(10) Ohio State over Penn State
Yes, the chasm is that large in the Big Ten(14). Penn State doesn't have enough balance on offense to rip off the chunks against Ohio State. The Buckeyes are superior and deeper at every offensive position than Penn State. The Penn State defense is going to be overworked in this one.
