The Gamble-Tron vs. The Edmund Fitzgerald

Tis November. Let’s go.

Welcome to Week TEN of our annual gambling experiment. While we’ve done better of late, the Cougs definitely have not, as we mused about last week. But now the calendar has turned, and while WSU had the most forgettable of Octobers, hopefully November is one to remember.

That makes think of the dearly departed Gordon Lightfoot, and his hit The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. In our case, the song could be called The Wreck of the Good Ship Wazzu, after what we’ve endured the last five weeks.

That good ship Wazzu blocked and tackled so true
When the Ls of November came early

And the Air Raid doth go as Ben Arbuckle knows
With the gales of November remembered

The Pac-12 they’ve all said is now practically dead
And its killers are called George and Larry

Gordon, you will always be one of the greatest. LFG

Last Week: 6-8

Season Total: 75-63-1

Best Call of the Week

We waffled a fair bit on that Oregon-Utah game, and who wouldn’t? Oregon’s only loss this season came to a highly-ranked team, on the road, in a rather difficult environment. This game was taking place against a highly-ranked team, on the road, in a rather difficult environment. But instead of being underdogs, Oregon was laying almost a full touchdown. In the end, we sniffed out the “Vegas knows something” odor and stuck with our gut. This one was in the cooler by halftime.

Worst Call of the Week

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

“WTF was that?!” Call of the Week

Army opened as a six-point favorite over UMass. By the time the game arrived, that line had swollen to nearly 10. The home would surely dispatch a team that had lost seven straight, right? So naturally UMass jumped out to a 13-0 lead and never looked back, enroute to a 21-7 win. Army, WTF WAS THAT??!!

Oh well. Let’s all try and do better.

Early Twitter Calls

Pac-12 Picks

Stanford at WSU (-14)

Back to Twitter!

Took fewer than 24 hours for this to get down to 13. For real though, anyone who has watched these teams play over the last month can not honestly come away with the thought that WSU is two full touchdowns better. Hell, WSU shouldn’t be favored to beat any Power Five team by 14 at this point.

We’re also on Under 60.5

Arizona State at Utah (-10.5)

No doubt the Utes are licking their wounds after a hype-filled week which ended when Oregon came into their house and pantsed them. Meanwhile, Arizona State finally beat an FBS team for the first team all season! Unfortunately I can’t recall who the Devils played. While ASU seems to be getting better by the week, this seems like a good rebound week for Utah.

The Pick: Utah

Cal at Oregon (-23.5)

Cal isn’t playing USC this week, which means it will almost certainly have to do something more creative than run off tackle to score. Oregon, meanwhile, is the best team in the conference.

The Pick: Oregon

Washington at USC (+3)

Never again with USC. Never. I don’t care if it win this game by 75 points. I’m picking against it again next week. Also, Alex Grinch against Washington? Pretty sure I’ve seen this movie!

The Pick: Washington

Oregon State at Colorado (+13)

The Beavs have to go back out on the road after a humbling loss in the desert, and back-to-back road tilts are often rough on the players. Although at least OSU’s players still have their jewelry? That’s enough for us!

The Pick: OSU

UCLA at Arizona (+2)

Man, I reeeeeaaaallly wish I could get this at +3. UCLA should have covered last week, but apparently Chuck Kelly likes Deion Sanders, so he called off the dogs? What a guy. The Wildcats are red hot, and while UCLA is probably the better team, I just don’t trust the quarterbacks.

The Pick: Arizona / Under 51

Other Games of Note

Kansas State at Texas Over 49

Air Force -17.5 – I have to forego my service academy Unders principle here. That’s just too low.

Northwestern +5.5

Georgia -14.5 – The Dawgs love putting good teams in their place.

Michigan team total Over 37.5 – BALLS OUT FOR STALIONS

Happy Gambling!