Easy Pick’ems – Weekend Of October 6

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE

Last week I picked four out of four wins, but only called two correctly against the spread. This weekend I impress by going 4-0, 4-0. Once again, only four games slated because that’s the reality we (begrudgingly) accepted with when the Big XII teams became X.

Kansas at #7 Kansas State (-24) Charlie Weis has done everything short of nominate Snyder for Pope in the run up to this game in his praise of the old ball coach. This may be due in part to not wanting to provide K-State any motivational fodder, but he also may be encouraging Snyder to refrain from running up the score too bad. Snyder, after all, isn’t known for showing restraint against rivals KU and Nebraska. Wildcat fans get the opportunity to glimpse the future in Daniel Sams as Colin Klein gets to enjoy the fourth quarter from the sidelines. K-State 55, Kansas 13

 #17 Oklahoma (-6) at Texas Tech This game has become everyone’s upset special, as Texas Tech is undefeated, 4-3 against Oklahoma since 2005, and hasn’t lost at home against OU in three straight games. It’s also suddenly in vogue to criticize Landry Jones and his porous offensive line. However, anyone predicting an upset needs to be reminded that Landry Jones is still probably going to be drafted in the NFL, his receiving corps is among the best in the conference, and the Sooner defense has held K-State to under 20 points in two straight years. Plus, they had a bye week to do nothing but stew and prepare for Tech. Bob Stoops unleashes the hounds to demonstrate he wants to remain in the Fiesta Bowl picture. Oklahoma 55, Texas Tech 13

 Iowa State at #15 Texas Christian (-10) If you’re desperate to call an upset special, this is it. TCU is still awful in the red zone, where excellent linebackers are vital to forcing field goals. You know who has linebackers? Iowa State does. In fact, it boasts the best duo in the conference (best duo in the midwest? country?) in AJ Klein and Jake Knott. Unfortunately, neither one starts under center, where Iowa State is still searching for a quarterback capable of leading the Cyclones to a bowl bid. TCU has now lost 20 players from its summer roster, and is more likely to fall from #15 than climb the rankings further by the end of the season. It has enough kids remaining to record a home win, but not to cover the spread in the lowest scoring game of the week. TCU 20, Iowa State 16

 And now, for this week’s easy pick’em:

#8 West Virginia at #11 Texas (-7) Normally, the idea of #8 at #11 gets us salivating. This goes double given the names attached to those rankings. Triple if you consider this is a match up that is supposed to pair a top five defense against a top five offense. The problem is, that top five defense of Texas gave up 30+ points to both Oklahoma State and Ole Miss, and took a long time to show up against Wyoming (and please don’t get it twisted – Ole Miss may be in the SEC, but it’s in the bottom of a bad basement for the SEC this year). West Virginia has been all offense and no defense to this point, but when you have Geno Smith throwing to Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey, you really don’t need defense. In words of Michael Beasley, West Virginia would beat Texas in Morgantown, beat them in Austin, and beat them in Africa. Plus, UT running back Malcolm Brown is out with a sprained ankle. The idea that the Longhorns are picked to win this game is seriously baffling – easy call on the “upset.” West Virginia ∞, Texas 28