RADIO
Our Mike Marteny lays out the confidence points in ESPN College Pick Em for week 3 of the 2021 season.
There are some big prizes on the line in the revamped ESPN College Pick Em game this season. $13,200 across their three entry modes. So we here at Rotoballer will try and help you win some money, because that's what we do. I have created a group for you Rotoballer readers out there. Once based on the confidence game mode, where you pick the winner of each of the ten games they pick and then assign a point value from 1-10 based on how confident you are on each pick. You can play along with me and other Rotoballer readers here. The other group has ten games that you have to pick the winner of against the spread. You can play along with that group here. They are free to enter, so come on and match wits with the rest of the readers of Rotoballer!
It was a rough week for the group as a whole. miamidolphins567 led the way with 30 points. It only went downhill from there for the rest of us. The winning week from dolphins lands him in first place with 71 points. 2pretty4orange! and Bamarick are tied for second just one point behind. I am tied for fourth with left handed freshman with 67 points. Rounding out the top ten are Kev Shep, BKNoleGirl, keepingthelittlehumansalive, lbockenek, and Kdstacks85. Only 14 points separate tenth place from first, so there will be a lot of changes again this week!
This article will follow be for the confidence game mode. You can also read my against the spread picks here every week for every game so you know how I'm leaning for that version of the game. Each week, I will recap who's dominating the group before I get into the picks. If you're going to beat everyone, all of the readers will know about it!
Let's get to the countdown! I will count them up from least confident (1) to most (10). You know, for dramatic effect. If I do change my pick or points at sometime during the week, I will try to update the article or post it on Twitter. Otherwise, you know all of my picks each week. Good luck out there, and I hope one or more of us take home some of that free money from ESPN!
(1) Auburn over Penn State:
What do we really know about Auburn besides the fact that this is their first Big Ten(14) road game since 1931 and they opened the season with back-to-back 60+ point games for the first time ever. Hey, it's Akron and Alcorn State. Nothing to see there. I do know that Tank Bigsby is good enough to get some tough yards on that Penn State defense. I'm back and forth on this one because of the White Out conditions in Happy Valley. I feel Auburn is the better team, but it's a learning curve for teams to play in front of hostile fans again.
(2) Arizona State over BYU:
I might move this one down. The Sun Devils look sloppy overall despite the wealth of talent. I think Herm Edwards can rein them in, but facing a disciplined team like BYU is going to be a test. Just ask Utah. Arizona State is more explosive than Utah, but I need to see a good game from Jayden Daniels after last year and a lackluster beginning to this year. I may move this one down and flip it. This is another tough one.
(3) Utah over San Diego State:
You know, If San Diego State could throw the ball well enough to keep Utah honest, I would pick them to win this game. Greg Bell is going to have tough sledding here. Having four backs that batter a defense into submission works in the Mountain West, but it's not going to work against Utah. Jordon Brookshire looked really good last week. If he can do that again, this is a winnable game for the Aztecs. I'm just not sure he can.
(4) Virginia Tech over West Virginia:
Vegas is giving home teams a ton of love this year. The Hokies took care of the Tarheels in Blacksburg. It's going to be a little different going up to Morgantown. Still, this Virginia Tech defense is already better than it was at any point last year. Jarrett Doege still makes back-breaking mistakes. One of those will decide this game.
(5) Michigan State over Miami:
I'm impressed with Wake Forest transfer Kenneth Walker III. He seems to be the missing link for the Spartans. The defense played well even when the offense put them in precarious situations last season. The lack of a running game ruined the Spartans. Now that that little issue is resolved, the Spartans look closer to the top than the bottom of the Big Ten(14). I can't say the same for Miami in the ACC. Getting throttled by Miami is one thing, but they should have lost to Appalachian State at home. The Mountaineers are a good team, but Miami isn't "back" if they struggle against good teams. We'll see where they stand after this one.
(6) Boise State over Oklahoma State:
Well this is interesting. The only Cowboys we ever see on the Smurf Turf are of the Wyoming variety. This is a marquee game for Boise. They are far more tested than Oklahoma State, who scuffled with both Tulsa and Missouri.......State. The lack of a workhorse back has made the Oklahoma State offense a mess. It's like a transmission that's missing a gear. This offense is predicated on a guy like Chuba Hubbard carrying a load and the speed back and big receivers punishing the defense for shifting to stop the back. Until that happens again, the Cowboys are in trouble.
(7) Cincinnati over Indiana:
The Iowa defense made Indiana look like a Pop Warner team. Cincinnati's defense isn't quite that strong, but their offense is better than what Iowa has to offer. We may see a few more points here, but Indiana is going to have problems. Michael Penix isn't at his best when he's being harassed. The Bearcats are going to get after him and fluster him into a mistake or two. That will be enough for the road team.
(8) Coastal Carolina over Buffalo:
The mullets are just too powerful, man. Pass the surfboard and the blunt!
(9) Alabama over Florida:
I've heard some say that Alabama is ripe for an upset. Based on what? Florida can't throw the ball and Alabama will stop the run for much of the game. This could be a lower scoring game and slower moving than the Tide would like, but they have had such success under Nick Saban because they can adapt. They can play a slow or a fast game and get the same result far more often than not. If it were Florida last year with these backs, then maybe. Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson don't make enough plays in the passing game to pull this upset, even in the Swamp.
(10) Oklahoma over Nebraska:
First Nebraska tries to back out of this game, then Fox slaps the 11am Central kickoff time on it. Oklahoma was none too happy about either one. They are going to show up here and show Nebraska why they tried to get out of this. This game is almost as important as Texas to the team right now. Almost.
