Sometimes, you have a good week.
Week 12, was a good week.
In a typical season, the week before Thanksgiving would be full of low-level Power 5 games and the so-called "cupcake" matchups. The light appetizers for the main course that is rivalry week.
Because this season is so unpredictable, we ended up with a lot of good matchups this week. Let's take a look at the games that were included in my "good week."
SPREADS
Result: Ohio State 42 Indiana 35
This spread looked like it was in danger in the 1st half. Indiana was down 28-7 at the half and could not run the ball to save their lives. Fortunately, that didn't matter in the 2nd half. The Hoosiers took advantage of Ohio State QB Justin Fields' 3 INTs and Michael Penix Jr. threw for 491 yards and 5 TDs. They may not have beaten the presumptive playoff contender, but head coach Tom Allen reminded his team that they still have plenty to play for.
LSU vs Arkansas (+1.5)
Result: LSU 27 Arkansas 24
When this line came out, Arkansas was a 3 point favorite. For perspective, this game last year, a rivalry game, had LSU as a 42 point favorite. The 45 point swing is the largest swing of points from one year to another in CFB history. That didn't seem to matter, as this game came down to the two most important words in college football: college kickers. If I was responsible and placed this bet when it came out, I would have pushed. But alas, the CFB gods made me pay for my mistake by having the game end with a missed 44-yard field goal.
Result: Northwestern 17 Wisconsin 7
There is no greater feeling in the world than having the team you picked as an underdog win outright. It truly is a thrill. Was this matchup for first place in the Big Ten West pretty? No. Was it exactly what you would expect from a matchup for first place in the Big Ten West? Abso-freaking-lutly. It was hard-nosed, run the ball, good-old-fashioned Big Ten football. Oh, and apparently Northwestern is a team full of "Fighting Reece Davis'" So there's that.
Michigan vs Rutgers (+12)
Result: Michigan 48 Rutgers 42 (3 OT)
Everything I said about "there's no greater feeling in the world than having the team you picked as an underdog win outright" is a lie. There is no greater feeling than picking Rutgers as a JOKE and having them cover and take Michigan to triple overtime. Now, Michigan is bad. Tyler and I had the Jim Harbaugh conversation on this week's review pod. But still, it's RUTGERS. The team even Kansas makes fun of. I tip my hat to you Greg Schiano: King of New Jersey.
OVER/UNDER
Mississippi State vs #13 Georgia - Under 44
Result: Georgia 31 Mississippi State 24
This game introduced multiple questions.
1) Why did Kirby Smart wait until Georgia's 7th game of the year to unleash JT Daniels after being adamant all year that he was completely healthy?
2) What happened to the defense that was supposed to be the best in the country?
3) Is this offense here to stay?
I'm interested to see if we ever get some answers, but given how the Dawgs need the Gators to lose multiple games to win the SEC East, I don't think we'll get them anytime soon.
PARLEY OF THE WEEK
#7 Cincinnati vs UCF - Over 65.5
Result: Cincinnati 36 UCF 33
Tennessee vs #23 Auburn (ML, -400)
Result: Auburn 30 Tennessee 17
1) The combined score for Cincy-UCF was 69 points. Nice. What's also nice is Cincy's defense. They were able to hold a dynamic UCF offense to only 33 points in their final audition for the CFB Playoff committee.
2) Tennessee has only scored a combined 14 points in the second half of their last 5 games. They weren't able to take advantage of a bad Bo Nix outing, either. I wonder if they're second-guessing Jeremy Pruitt's preseason extension.
TEASER OF THE WEEK
UCLA vs #11 Oregon (-12)
Result: Oregon 38 UCLA 35
Cal vs Oregon State (+8)
Result: Oregon State 31 Cal 27
Missouri vs South Carolina (+12)
Result: Missouri 17 South Carolina 10
1) The result of this game was a surprise. UCLA was down to their 2nd string QB after Dorian Thompson-Robinson was ruled out before the game. So it came as a big shock that UCLA shocked Oregon by taking the lead in the first half. If it wasn't for a momentum-shifting pick-6 at the end of the first half by UCLA backup QB Chase Griffin, UCLA may have ridden that momentum to a victory. It also didn't help that UCLA chose to go for it instead of trying to send the game to OT.
2) I took this bet because I liked what I saw out of Oregon State despite their 0-2 start to the season. Cal also looked horrendous in last week's weird COVID-forced Sunday morning kickoff last week against UCLA. Please refer to my love of watching an underdog that I bet on win outright.
3) I was hoping South Carolina would win this game. They just fired Will Muschamp, and because CFB is weird, I was hoping for the "interim coach bump." That's when a team plays better immediately after firing their head coach and the interim coach is given more credit than he deserves. What I didn't account for was the Gamecocks' 3 best defensive players opting out of the season after Muschamp's departure. Glad I teased this from +6 to +12 because that would have been a bad way to lose that bet.
"THE NAPKIN"
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