Lots of favorites played tighter than expected games. Which is the real Nebraska? The team that played Oklahoma deep into the game or the one that fumbled through the Illinois game? Better question: what is the real Oklahoma? My preseason pick to take it all has not looked elite. But, what team has? The best win of the season so far may be the Oregon win at Ohio St. Or is it the Alabama victory at the Swamp against a better than anticipated Florida? Clemson’s defense has yet to allow a TD, but their offense has not really scored many themselves. Better goal line execution would have seen GT take the Tigers out of national contention. Tulsa played Ohio St closer than the final score. So, should we approach this as moving closer to parity or that the “elite” teams are not as elite as advertise? The answer is that we have no idea who is truly separating themselves three weeks into the season. This is why polls should not exist before the first week of October.

This week has Notre Dame playing Wisconsin in Chicago. Both teams are unknown in my opinion. Short of one team dominating the other, I think they jury will still be out on them. Arkansas meets aTm in Dallas for their annual Jerry World game. This should be a game to watch. While those are the only rank on rank games, several ranked teams need to be wary of the upset. That leads right into the picks for the week.

Last week I went 4-1 and move to 11-6 on the season on Straight bets. Unfortunately, and combination of missed FGs and head scratching offense led to the Under in the Neb @ OK game. Winning the games was nice, hitting the Parlay would have been the icing. I feel less confident about the games coming up but have hope for success. I am going with the Over (+64) in the Battle for the Iron Skillet between SMU and TCU. I like the Under (-44.5) when Colorado St visits Iowa. I’m laying the points with Michigan St (-5) against Nebraska. I am taking the points with both Mississippi St (+2.5) when they host LSU and NC State (+10) when they welcome Clemson. I also took these with a Parlay and a Teaser.

I missed an NFL Parlay when KC fumbled, but otherwise had a good weekend.