College Football Week 7 Picks

A Florida State bye week is the perfect time to get off the couch and get out with the family. Many of you maybe even spending your Saturday taking care of those chores you’ve been putting off too. Or maybe you’re like me and will instead be parked on the couch trying to see the rest of college football that you might normally miss on an FSU game week.

Unfortunately, the games this weekend aren’t heavy on high-ranked matchups except for one from the SEC.

But what it lacks in top-end contests, it makes up for in important ACC games.

Last week, we had a couple bad beats (Arkansas TD on final play, Penn State’s QB injury, whatever Texas did in the second half) and still finished at 5-5 for the week. That has us 31-34 overall as we battle to get back over .500 on the year. No. 1 fan of this article Ukedadnole again paced the comment section at 5-5 as well.

Reminder all lines come from Tallysight.com.

• Clemson (-13.5) at Syracuse (Friday 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)

We get things started with a Friday night game that is pretty intriguing. Not sure I would’ve believed that before the season but here we are. As I’m sure you know by now, Clemson has been pretty bad — by their standards — to open the year and find themselves outside the top-25. Syracuse has come off back-to-back close losses to Florida State and Wake Forest. This feels like a chance for Syracuse to potentially get over the hump and pull off the upset, but I’m expecting a better version of Clemson coming out of the bye week.

Prediction: Clemson -13.5

• UCF (+21.5) at No. 3 Cincinnati (Saturday Noon ET, ABC)

UCF fans and players past — hello McKenzie Milton — have spent this week reminding everyone that they were the originally Group of 5 Cinderella that knocked on the door of the College Football Playoff. Unfortunately for them, no one answered their knock and they had to settle for the Peach Bowl. Thanks to the chaos of this season, this Cincinnati team seems destined to break that door down and I don’t expect the now scuffling UCF to slow them down.

Prediction: Cincinnati -21.5

• No. 12 Oklahoma State (+4.5) at No. 25 Texas (Saturday Noon ET, FOX)

Boy, I am not happy with Texas. What on earth happened in the second half last week against Oklahoma? The Longhorns were routing the Sooners and then collapsed so bad that they didn’t even cover. Regardless, I believe the Horns remain underrated in the big picture of college football and Bijan Robinson belongs in New York for the Heisman ceremony this December because he’s the running best back in the country. Part of making these picks is having a short memory and I’m willing to forgive them for their collapse.

Prediction: Texas -4.5

• No. 20 Florida (-12.5) at LSU (Saturday Noon ET, ESPN)

Could this be Ed Orgeron’s last game in Baton Rouge? At this point, there is no saving his tenure at LSU. It will come to an end this season. It’s just a question of when, not if. Kentucky handled them last week so easily that there is no doubt how the rest of this schedule will go. To add to it, the Tigers have had 3 more starters ruled out for the season with injuries this week. Florida may be struggling themselves, but not like LSU will be for the rest of this season.

Prediction: Florida -12.5

• No. 11 Kentucky (+21.5) at No. 1 Georgia (Saturday 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)

This is an ultimate test of my love for Kentucky. I’ve been singing the praises of the Wildcats for three or four weeks now and they haven’t let me down yet. The Will Levis-Chris Rodriguez combo has been fantastic this year, leading the Cats to this massive showdown to potentially decide the SEC East. Unfortunately, Georgia has been the best team in the college football and it might not be close. The Bulldogs have crushed just about everybody they’ve played and (I’m sorry Kentucky please look away) I think they’ll do it again here.

Prediction: Georgia -21.5

• Purdue (+11.5) at No. 2 Iowa (Saturday 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

No. 2 Iowa pains me. Penn State was well on its way to routing the Hawkeyes last week, but an injury to Sean Clifford saved them. Even then, this game was still far too close. If the Nittany Lions could’ve gotten any, and I mean any, production from their backup QB, this team isn’t No. 2. I’m probably overreacting here, but this team severely relies on their opponent to make mistakes to succeed. If Purdue can avoid that, I believe they’ll cover in a potential letdown game for Iowa.

Prediction: Purdue +11.5

• Miami (+7.5) at North Carolina (Saturday 3:30 p.m. ET, ACCN)

Am I allowed to pick North Carolina or will Mack Brown blame me for their loss? After Florida State’s win in Chapel Hill last week, Brown said the media overhyped his team in the preseason and that was part of their struggles this season. No matter what the media thinks, this team had one of the best quarterbacks in the country which should be enough to win most weeks. Florida State pulled the upset last week, but Miami seems headed in the wrong direction especially without their top quarterback D’Eriq King.

Prediction: North Carolina -7.5

• Pittsburgh (-4.5) at Virginia Tech (Saturday 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

First place in the Coastal is on the line in Blacksburg this weekend as Pitt and VT hit the field. The Hokies had their hearts ripped out with a close loss to Notre Dame while Pitt took the weekend off. Pat Narduzzi said his Panthers haven’t gotten the respect they deserve this year for their 4-1 start, which is kind of weird to say when the loss is to Western Michigan. That actually leads me to decide this team is overrated so let’s ride with VT.

Prediction: Virginia Tech +4.5

• TCU (+13.5) at No. 4 Oklahoma (Saturday 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

This seems like another spot that many people may overreact to last week’s result. The Sooners looked awful in the first half against Texas but the QB change to Caleb Williams totally flipped the script. As if there was any doubt, the Sooners student newspaper sleuths used binoculars to see Williams taking first-team reps at practice this week so this change will stick. The two times we’ve seen him, OU has looked like a different team so I’ll put my trust in the freshman to make it happen again.

Prediction: Oklahoma -13.5

• NC State (-2.5) at Boston College (Saturday 7:30 p.m. ET, ACCN)

As Wake Forest races ahead of the rest of the Atlantic division at 4-0 so far, NC State is actually tied with them in the loss column. They’ve got some wins to catch up on if they want to get back in this competition, but they can only take care of the schedule ahead of them. This week that’s Boston College who has a surprising win over Missouri and close loss to Clemson in its last two contests. I’m feeling they might be able to deliver another shocker this week to the Wolfpack.

Prediction: Boston College +2.5