WEEK 8

“I am certain that every time a non-ranked team has played a ranked team and the non-ranked team has been favored to win, they win.”

This was the pearl of wisdom I shared with you all last week. The key to betting profitability. A path to early retirement. The best thing since sliced bread. 

One game fit the system this week. Unranked Duke (-3.5) home favorites against #12 ranked Georgia Tech. A lock for Duke…..I bet my kids’ college savings on it. Georgia Tech 27. Duke 18. If anybody has side hustle opportunities or Crypto tips, I’m all ears.

Let’s spend a hot second on what OTC was NOT this week. It was not a slate where we could have predicted #2 Miami (FL) getting beat by Louisville at home on Friday night (I called it, I swear). It was not a place that allowed us to pick on two massive Top 25 battles: #6 Alabama vs. #11 Tennessee and #20 USC vs. #13 Notre Dame (So glad we got Arizona and Houston instead).  It was NOT home to elusive perfection – for the first time in awhile, I am pleased (and envious) to report that 404PagesNotFound has claimed a PERFECT WEEK! 55 points. We bow down to you good sir. And hat tip to Tbailets7 and EK for 54s (Interestingly, LSU spoiled both of them in the one spot – collusion?). And it was not a place where we saw fireworks on the leaderboard. OTC was a beacon of stability in Week Eight – the top three spots remained untouched: Dallas2697 in first, RecordSetter 98 in second, and PSU1996 in third. I’m not calling the leaders spineless little (CENSORED BY LEAGUE RULES), but it’s probably no surprise that seven of the ten games this week were won by favorites. Look, if I was on the podium, I’d be playing it pretty safe right now too…..

On the field, we can all agree the biggest story of the week, and the best story of college football in 2025… the BYU Cougars. I don’t have the exact stats on this, but I think 98.75% of ESPN Pick ‘Em selections were for Utah. BYU gets NO RESPECT! And they thrive on it. The Brigham Boys win their third straight Holy war and move to 7-0 on the season. I for one am shocked they didn’t jump to #2 in the country, but let the haters keep hating on my guys – playoffs here we come!

The game that absolutely stunned me this week? Vanderbilt 31. LSU 24. I KNOW Vandy was a 1.5-point favorite. I KNOW Vegas always knows best. But nonetheless, I was stunned. If I hadn’t lost all my money on Duke, I’d have put it here second and still be planning to send my kids to community college now. Diego Pavia, and the three TDs he personally accounted for on Saturday, now moves his squad to 6-1, a #10 ranking, and with Missouri, Texas, Auburn, Kentucky, and Tennessee, an improbably, but possible shot at playoff contention. WILD.

Down in Athens, we had ourselves a genuinely entertaining football game. Ole Miss entered Q4 with a 35-26 lead. The Dawgs, however, pounded their way back to a lead with two quick TDs, and the Rebels couldn’t muster any fight. At one point, relatively late into the fourth, I recall seeing that they had one total yard in the quarter. One. I still think this Ole Miss team is dangerous, but they clearly need to do some more hot yoga if they want the stamina to last an entire Top 10 game.

Elsewhere, Missouri outlasted Auburn in 2OT to advance to 6-1. Houston, despite me shitting on this game earlier, moved to 6-1 with a game-winning walk-off FG. TCU staved off a late Baylor surge to keep the W. Sooners rebounded from their Longhorn branding last week to thump the USC game we did get to pick, dispatching the Gamecocks in Columbia. James Madison absolutely walloped ODU, winning by over 30 as 3-point favorites. Maybe there’s a new unbeatable system there. And Iowa overcame an 11-point second half deficit to push the Penn State misery spiral even deeper.

That’s it for this week. In Week Nine, we get #8 Ole Miss @ #13 Oklahoma, #15 Missouri @ #10 Vanderbilt, and #3 Texas A&M @ #20 LSU. Think you’re slick? Make that pick!

                VEGAS

#10 LSU @ #17 Vanderbilt (-1.5)

#12 Georgia Tech @ Duke (-3.5)

Arizona (-2) @ Houston

Baylor @ TCU (-3.5)

#14 Oklahoma (-4.5) @ South Carolina

#5 Ole Miss @ #9 Georgia (-7.5)

ODU @ James Madison (-3)

Penn State @ Iowa (-3.5)

#16 Missouri (-1.5) @ Auburn

#23 Utah (-4.5) @ #15 BYU