I went 11-12 against the spread last week.
I’m glad to see more potential college football games on the schedule. It was tough gathering 25 games to pick when there were barely 25 games on the schedule.
Big Ten and Mountain West teams are making their season debuts this week. This will add a dozen games to the schedule with a few other conferences due to start in the coming weeks.
Can Ohio State start to receive first-place votes in the polls with a big win against Nebraska?
We at ‘America’s White Boy’ pick 25 college football games against the spread in Week 8 of the 2020-21 NCAA Football season (October 24th, 2020).
Illinois at Wisconsin (-19) – My pick is Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois is coming off back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in a long, long time. Illinois has some upperclassmen back on offense with all but one of their starting offensive linemen back. QB Brandon Peters hopes to lead them to another bowl game this year too (if those will even happen this year). Wisconsin is coming off a Rose Bowl appearance, but the team will look a lot different without RB Jonathan Taylor and a few other pieces. I’m not saying it’s a ‘rebuilding year’, but they will need to reload if they want to be at last year’s level. Wisconsin still has a lot talent and will most likely still win, but I think Illinois will keep this within two touchdowns.
Rutgers at Michigan State (-13) – My pick is Michigan State Spartans
Both of these teams are debuting a new head coach. Mel Tucker takes over at Michigan State and Greg Schiano starts his second tenure at Rutgers. These jobs are on the opposite ends of the spectrum as far as what is expected. Michigan State’s cupboard is about half-full of talent and is much stronger on the defensive side. Rutgers’s level of talent Schiano inherited is junior college-level. It’s currently unknown which quarterback will start for Rutgers as they are keeping that decision under wraps. I don’t think it will matter much as Michigan State’s defense should have a considerable edge over whomever is named the starter. I’m taking the Spartans to cover at home.
Nebraska at Ohio State (-26) – My pick is Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State lost a lot of talent to the NFL, especially on defense with Chase Young and Malik Harrison now playing on Sundays. They still have a jacked offense with QB Justin Fields returning for what will most likely be his final season at Ohio State. He is a potential Heisman candidate and hope to improve on his insane 2019 stats. Nebraska missed a bowl game bid by a single win last year. They started to play much better near the end of the season. They are in a rebuilding mode on defense after losing a lot of talent to the draft and graduation on that side of the ball. I think the Buckeyes will exploit their talent deficiency on defense and cover at The Shoe.
Iowa State at Oklahoma State (-3.5) – My pick is Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State is finally starting to get some respect back after getting upset in their opener by UL-Lafayette. Iowa State QB Brock Purdy can be the difference in this game. When he’s accurate, he’s one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 12. He struggled against Lafayette and was the reason the Cyclones have a blemish on their record. Oklahoma State hasn’t played any tough opponents yet. They are coming off an unexpected bye week after their came last week was cancelled due to Baylor’s positive COVID tests. Iowa State and OSU are fairly even teams and a good number of experienced talent, but Iowa State has a slight edge at quarterback. OSU QB Spender Sanders looks like he will suit up this week. If he can’t go, I’m not sold on OSU QB Shane Illingworth against better Big 12 talent. He’s going to be good, but he’s not there yet as a true freshman. Even if Sanders suits up, I think I’m still leaning towards Iowa State, so I’m taking the points.
Penn State at Indiana (+6.5) – My pick is Penn State Nittany Lions
Indiana returns QB Michael Penix, who they lost midseason last year to injury. They were pretty good with him under center, but they didn’t play anyone tough until November last year. The Hoosiers had a fairly easy schedule until Penn State and Michigan were on their schedule in mid-November. Penn State come into this season with a very similar starting lineup they did a year ago. I don’t know if they were able to replace WR KJ Hamler, but they are still loaded. Penn State is probably the second or third-best team in the Big Ten. They should cover this game at home.
Michigan at Minnesota (+3) – My pick is Minnesota Golden Gophers
There aren’t a lot of recognizable faces on Michigan this year. They lost a ton of talent on offense and only return four starters on that side of the ball. They haven’t announced a starting quarterback yet, but it appears that QB Joe Milton is the favorite. Minnesota might be a sneaky pick to win the Big Ten West this season. They return a lot of talent and Michigan could have trouble covering Minnesota WR Rashod Bateman. He’s a big play threat and could easily be the key to a Gopher win. I think Michigan is too inexperienced to compete with a team as talented as Minnesota right out of the gate. I’m taking the points.
Kentucky at Missouri (+5.5) – My pick is Kentucky Wildcats
Both teams are coming off impressive wins in their last game. Kentucky beat Tennessee 34-7 in Knoxville and Missouri upset LSU 45-41. Kentucky’s win is a little more impressive since we now know that LSU’s defense might be one of the worst in the SEC. They won’t have an easy time against Kentucky, who might have the fourth-best defense in the SEC. Kentucky isn’t going to wow you on offense, but their running game can cause teams a lot of frustration. The Wildcats will drain the clock and limit the opposing teams opportunities on offense. After watching all of the Kentucky/Tennessee game, I have to take the Wildcats to cover. Missouri just won’t be able to stop the run.
Alabama at Tennessee (+21) – My pick is Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama are coming off an impressive win over Georgia. They had a lot of distractions that week with head coach Nick Saban’s false positive COVID-19 test. Tennessee are coming off a blowout loss to Kentucky that saw Volunteers QB Jarrett Guarantano had a horrible game and only threw for 88 yards against the Wildcats. If he struggled against Kentucky, Alabama’s defense is a tick better than them…so Guarantano is in for another long game. I’m taking Alabama to cover in Knoxville.
Iowa at Purdue (+3) – My pick is Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa will have a new face at quarterback with QB Spencer Petras taking over, but they return a lot of talent to help him out. He has one of the better wide receiving corps in the Big Ten. Purdue’s quarterback situation is unknown as there is a three-way battle for the job. My bet is that either Jack Plummer or Aidan O’Connell will start the game. Purdue has other issues since their head coach Jeff Brohm tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the game. Purdue had a lot of issues on defense and I can’t imagine they fixed them all this offseason. The Boilermakers will have trouble covering Iowa’s receivers. I’m taking Iowa to cover in West Lafayette.
Baylor at Texas (-9) – My pick is Baylor Bears
This is Baylor’s first game since they had an awful COVID-19 outbreak. They haven’t played since losing to West Virginia in overtime on October 3rd. Texas is coming off a loss to Oklahoma in overtime two weeks ago. Texas needed fourteen unanswered points in the fourth quarter just to force the extra football. The Longhorns defense isn’t up to the task against Baylor. Baylor QB Charlie Brewer will have his best game of the year. Texas can score points in a hurry, so they could get the outright win, but their defense will fail to secure the cover, so I’ll take the points.
QUICK HITS
Syracuse at Clemson (-46.5) – My pick is Syracuse
Southern Miss at Liberty (-11) – My pick is Liberty
Florida Atlantic at Marshall (-17) – My pick is Marshall
Georgia Tech at Boston College (-3.5) – My pick is Boston College
Hawaii at Fresno State (-3.5) – My pick is Fresno State
Texas State at BYU (-28.5) – My pick is BYU
Utah State at Boise State (-16.5) – My pick is Utah State
NC State at North Carolina (-15.5) – My pick is NC State
UNLV at San Diego State (-14.5) – My pick is San Diego State
Louisiana Tech at Texas-San Antonio (+2.5) – My pick is UTSA
BONUS PICKS!
Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina (-5) – My pick is Coastal Carolina
Georgia State at Troy (-2.5) – My pick is Troy
Air Force at San Jose State (+7) – My pick is Air Force
Tulsa at South Florida (+10.5) – My pick is South Florida
UL-Lafayette at UAB (+1) – My pick is UAB
Sweetbob’s college football picks against the spread record in previous seasons:
2013: 134-79-8
2014: 148-118-4
2015: 149-118-3
2016: 196-145-6
2017: 183-159-13
2018: 177-157-6
2019: 187-141-8
2020: 62-61-1
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.