The $ix Rack is officially heating up after Week 6. And with another winning week in Week 7, we are looking to be ON FIRE. After the week 4 hiccup, we are now 8-4 the past two weeks (8-2 excluding guest picks – damn you Mattress Matt and Chad!)
WEEK 6 RECAP
1. NC State -4.5 (vs. Duke) 
WINNER
Final Score: NC State 31 – Duke 20
I was hiking in the mountains without cell service for the first 3.5 quarters which ended up being a good thing. A 24-0 run and 17-0 second half scoring margin for Wolfpack was the difference here. Can only imagine this is the last time we pick NC State this year as quarterback Devin Leary was ruled out for the season with a busted leg.
2. Georgia vs. Alabama OVER 56.5 WINNER
Final Score: Alabama 41 – Georgia 24
I hated this pick so much. This game seemed like it was 7-0 for a year and a half before both offenses woke up (or maybe both defenses fell asleep). Every year it seems like Alabama has the best wide receivers I have ever seen in my life, but this year’s wide receivers might somehow be the best of the bunch. Watching Jaylen Waddle run around is almost comical. Their #3 wide receiver John Metchie III is the #1 wide receiver on probably every other team in America besides LSU and maybe OSU.
3. Kansas vs. West Virginia UNDER 51.5 
LOSER
Final Score: West Virginia 38 – Kansas 17
If you got this pick right, you suck.
Kansas RB Pooka Williams (such a great name) actually ran the kickoff back with 1:45 left to hit the over. Kansas had 23 plays for 17 yards in the second half. 17 yards! If someone on West Virginia just tackles Pooka, this was an easy W because I have no reason to believe in any stretch of the imagination that Kansas puts together a long TD drive at the end of the game.
Turns out this was the swan song for Pooka as he actually decided to opt out of the season after the game. You just can’t make this stuff up.
Kansas star Pooka Williams has opted out of the remainder of the college football season to return home and be closer to family in Louisiana pic.twitter.com/ZOJUByIIwN
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 19, 2020
4. Miami -9.5 (vs. Jets) WINNER
Final Score: Miami 24 – Jets 0
I don’t know what else to say other than this was free money and all 3 or 4 of you that read this article weekly better have taken this. The Jets have officially pencilled themselves in as the worst team in the NFL. Unfortunately, they play the Bills, Chiefs, and Pats next three weeks so the only thing to look forward to at this point is the 2021 NFL Draft. If I’m Trevor Lawerence, I am at least contemplating staying another year at Clemson to avoid this train wreck.
5. Chiefs -4 (vs. Bills) WINNER
Final Score: Chiefs 26 – Bills 17 🙁
This game was pretty ugly and although there was a 5-10 minute stretch in the fourth where I felt the Bills legitimately could get a stop and win with a TD, this game was pretty much over after the Bills went three-and-out on the first drive and settled for a field goal on their second drive. They always find a way to build me up just to knock me down.
6. Guest Pick: Boston College +12.5 (vs. Virginia Tech) LOSER
Final Score: VA Tech 40 – BC 14
I don’t know what to say about this game other than everything I predicted about this game was dead wrong.
LSMLW: Boston College +348 (vs. Virginia Tech) LOSER
Final Score: See above
See above.
What was I right about:
- NC State not getting enough respect
- Bama hanging 40 on Georgia
- Concerns about Bills D
- Dolphins are playoff contenders
What was I wrong about:
- As a fly in Nick Saban’s living room, I probably would have ended up watching The Crown with his wife instead of the game
- WVU and Kansas together not being able to score 7 TD’s
- BC having any chance against VA Tech
WEEK 7 WINNERS
It’s officially heat check time! Week 7’s winners are:
1. Northwestern vs. Maryland UNDER 55
We touched on the Big Ten returning this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited. Forget about my Nittany Lions for a second, who isn’t ready for Maryland vs Northwestern in primetime?
If a late fall matchup between mediocre Big Ten programs doesn’t scream UNDER, I don’t know what does. I just don’t see 8 touchdowns amongst these two teams happening. Let’s look at exactly how many times these teams scored 28 points last year:
Maryland: 3 (including exactly 28 once)
Northwestern: 3 (including 30 against UNLV and 29 against Illinois)
Both teams sporting new quarterbacks won’t help either. Maryland will start either Lance Legendre or (Tua’s Great Value edition brother) Taulia Tagovailoa – neither of whom has ever started a game or thrown more than 10 passes in their collegiate careers. Northwestern’s starting QB will be Peyton Ramsey who was formerly Indiana’s back up quarterback. Yes, you read that correctly.
What about all of this sounds promising for the over?
2. Ohio State -26.5 (vs. Nebraska)
Evidently, I am a little too excited to get back in on the Big Ten action.
Ohio State was 9-4 last year against the spread as favorites in 2019. This includes the Buckeyes beating the Cornhuskers 48-7 as only 17-point favorites. (BTW: Nebraska against the spread last year? 3-9.)
All you really need to know is Justin Fields is back and OSU averaged 49.6 PPG against Big Ten opponents last year. Assuming OSU scores 50, this gives us 23 points to wiggle with here for Nebraska to score. Their quarterback is junior Adrian Martinez who had to survive a QB controversy against one of the McCaffrey brothers (is there like 50 of them or is that just me?). What does this tell you if after two years in the offense you still have to win the starting job? Doesn’t sound promising to me.
Buckeyes have their eye on the prize this year. Expect OSU to win BIG (and prob B1G too).
3. Cowboys -1 (vs.Washington)
I honestly do not have any numbers to back this up other than the law of averages. Something has to give with the Cowboys. Their defense simply has to play better at some point. They can’t keep giving up as many points as it has. And as far as their offense, I think last week will likely be looked upon as an anomaly in hindsight given Zeke’s two early turnovers and having to play from behind (with Zeke on the bench). Yes, I had to google who is going to start for Washington this week and looks like it is going to be Kyle Allen again. Nothing about picking Andy Dalton to win a football game sounds like a good idea but picking Kyle Allen to win sounds worse.
4. Chiefs -7.5 (vs. Broncos)
I think the deciding factor here is Denver’s offense and whether they can control the ball. Basically there are two ways to hang with the Chiefs:
- Keep the Kermit the Frog-sounding guy off the effing field like the Chargers did in week 2 and the Bills in the first half last week
- Scoring 40 points, which the Raiders did the week prior
Unfortunately for Denver, they will not be able to do either of these. They are currently 20th in the league in time of possession and 29th in points scored (20 PPG). I do not see Denver keeping this within 1 TD.
5. Temple vs. Memphis OVER 70.5
I just need a game to root for the over and I think this is the one. The stat to know here: the only thing more impressive than Memphis being third in the country in yards per game (569 yards/game) is that they are actually dead last in yards given up per game (590 yards/game).
6. Titans -1.5 (vs Steelers)
I read on Twitter (so it must be true) that the winner of the last five games featuring undefeated teams Week 7 or later made it to the Super Bowl. So, basically what we’re doing here is separating the men from the boys.
And speaking of real men, I had to call in the big guns this week after three straight guest pick L’s. This week’s guest pick is courtesy of the wily old veteran, Pitt fan’s dad. Let’s just say he’s not afraid to drop a quick hunndo on a midweek baseball over/under runline. I would have to double check but I believe the last time he missed a pick of this magnitude was mid-2000’s when his son failed to cover the spread by missing 3 free throws in crunch time against Titusville HS.
I had the Titans pencilled in as one of my locks this week so needless to say I’m a fan. I’ll admit I’m a bit worried they are now the favorites at -1.5 since I’ve been burned twice with them at -2.5 this year but I’m willing to risk it all again.
Long Shot Moneyline of the Week:
Sweet Jesus this is getting personal at this point. I need to hit one of these like my life depends on it so we are going to take two this week.
Rutgers +370 (vs. Michigan State)
This is so stupid that it is going to happen.
Southern Miss +390 (vs. Liberty)
Hugh Freeze sucks.
There you have it for Week 7. Let’s plan on getting ready to bust out the fire extinguisher next week 🔥🔥🔥🔥