Rocky Top Locks, Week 8 Recap

Apparently some people just needed the threat of falling under .500 to wake up properly. Chris clocks in with a perfect week to surge over .500 on the season, kidbourbon gets his slide on, and I_S had no idea what he was supposed to do once he made it over .500 for the first time in what felt like two years and promptly tanked. So: stand down, the order's back to normal again.

Well, kind of.

Chris: 6-0 this week, 26-21-1 overall

I_S: 1-5 this week, 24-24 overall

KidB: 2-4 this week, 22-24-2 overall

Chris's "2013 Was So Last Year" Picks

Syracuse (-6) @ Wake Forest - The Clawfense will get more time, but in the meantime they should be thankful there are worse offenses out there. You know, like Vanderbilt's and Florida's offense (he said, ignoring whatever happened in Oxford).

Michigan State @ Indiana OVER 59 - I remember the halcyon days when you could go under Sparty when the line was 41.5 and make it. Now they're winning 56-17 and nearly clearing the over on their own.

Cincinnati (-14) @ SMU - yeah, okay, this is the horrific flyover country team that might go 2-10 against the spread this year. Got it.

NC State (+17.5) @ Louisville - It feels weird to go against Louisville like this, but it worked.

Oregon (-21) v. Washington - This one, on the other hand, was way closer to normal.

Ole Miss (-16.5) v. Tennessee - So confession time. When I pulled this pick I wasn't really expecting it to lock in my perfect week, so I feel a little guilty about it. (Not guilty enough to vacate it, mind, but guilty anyway.)

KidB's "Free Money for Vegas" Picks

Virginia Tech+2 over PITTSBURGH - I re-read the kid's reason behind this pick; I think he got literally every single point wrong. I'm not even mad.

Baylor-7.5 over WEST VIRGINIA - I'm really starting to think a weakness in the kid's picking game is his inability to recognize offensive line play is kind of a big deal.

Cincinnati-14 over SMU - Big ups for the copy-paste win; guess you've got to do what you need to do to keep up.

UCLA-6.5 over CAL - Not only does Vegas exist, Vegas is pretty happy you insisted so hard. You know, hypothetically speaking.

Western Kentucky-5.5 over FLORIDA ATLANTIC - Okay, I don't even get how kid missed this one. WKU just got flat beat, though, and if you think I did anything for this game other than cursorily check the box score you woefully overestimate how much effort I need to put into cracking on kid's sub-.500 picks.

Notre Dame+11.5 over FREE SHOES UNIVERSITY - Florida State: likely playoff participant at this point. Does this mean we think they're a good team? I ....guess? Anyway, not the worst idea; liked the pick on Thursday, pretty clear cover.

I_S's "Milos Raonic Blowing Tiebreakers" Picks

Georgia Tech -2.5 over UNC - Always bet towards the 4-4 ACC Coastal. Always. (Note: also applies to the SEC East.)

Oklahoma State +8.5 over TCU - I 100% approve of the "hey, let's pick a dog and watch said dog's face get utterly pounded in" method. No sense in leaving things to chance, which is what happens when a team loses by 33. See? That's not even a three-possession cover! No sense worrying about it.

Oregon State +2.5 over Utah - So is Utah ....good? Or is this the kind of "welp, crap" that happens when your cover ends up in overtime and you're just kind of stuck along for the ride?

Air Force -10 over New Mexico - New Mexico: not good. Air Force: also not good, because if you're rating the win over Boise State highly you missed they're back in intramurals this year. Poor Boise State.

Northwestern +7 over Nebraska - Nebraska: once again a top-20 team even though you a) don't watch them, b) forget which B1G division they're in (good news: the B1G is actually geographically divided yet), and c) will wonder how they made the B1G Championship Game again. Anyway, they pounded Northwestern, which is what you'd expect. Well, most of you at least.

Marshall/FIU over 56 - Marshall scored over 42 points-barely-and FIU kind of got two touchdowns (ish). Snagging overs by the skin of your teeth to salvage a week: the I_S way.