Idea Transcript
Hugh Kellenberger's Week 6 college football picks Hugh Kellenberger (http://www.clarionledger.com/staff/12603/hugh-kellenberger/), The Clarion-Ledger Published 1:44 p.m. CT Oct. 8, 2015 | Updated 5:57 p.m. CT Oct. 8, 2015
There are college football Saturdays in which there is no better place to be in the world than inside a stadium. There are college football Saturdays that are best appreciated on a couch, taking in 12 hours of games on at least one television and multiple tablet/mobile devices. Then there’s this Saturday, when there are exactly two games between Top 25 teams (No. 23 Cal at No. 5 Utah, and No. 13 Northwestern at No. 18 Michigan). Locally it gets even worse. There’s New Mexico State at Ole Miss, where the Rebels are a 42.5-point favorite. Mississippi State plays host to Troy, where the line is much more reasonable — only 30.5 points! Jackson State is off, so we don’t even get to see what the Harold Jackson-less Tigers look like. The best game in Mississippi this weekend is actually in West Virginia, where Southern Miss can announce itself as a Conference-USA contender at Marshall. Only that game is on Friday night. There are those of you who would never skip a game. If Davis-Wade and VaughtHemingway are open, then by God you’ll be there. Good for you. And there are people like me, whose job it is to be there (and thankful the game in Starkville will kick off at 3 p.m.). The rest of you? I’ve prepared a list of suggestions of alternate activities: The Mississippi State Fair opened up this week, so why not take the family out for an afternoon of carnival food, rides and blowing $45 trying to win a giant stuffed animal for your little girl? Everyone has a great time and bonus — the kids will wear themselves out and be in bed early, allowing you to settle in for the night games without distraction. Did you know Lucky Town Brewing here in Jackson opens up its brewery every Saturday? If you did, then you know it’s awesome. Try some of their beers (Spoiler: In my experience they’re all tasty), hang out with good people and listen to live music from 11-3 p.m. And, again, you’re back home in time to check out the night games. Sometimes you need to put in an investment, and we’re not talking finances. An investment of your time. There are going to be a lot of Saturdays coming up when you’re going to not be the greatest spouse/partner/parent. Do something that allows you in a month — when you haven’t gotten off the couch in nine hours and are getting a side-eye as you finish up that bucket of fried chicken — to say, “Hey, remember that Saturday we went to brunch at your favorite place and then I came home and did all those chores, went to a birthday party and didn’t look at the game once? I’m actually a hero. I deserve this.” Go to a wedding. I don’t care if you’re invited to one. Just crash it, if only to be able to say in the Grove or Junction from that point forward that you once attended a wedding in the fall. Just imagine the looks you’ll get. It’ll be worth it. Wrap yourself in red, white and blue and announce to everyone that the actual big futbol game of the day is USA vs. Mexico at 8:30 p.m. (Fox Sports 1). Because it is. If USA wins, it goes to the Confederations Cup and if you do not know why that is a big deal, just know this: Losing to Mexico, USA’s most obvious rival, would stink. It would be the end of a depressing summer for the USMNT. But a win? Nothing better than Dos a Cero. Just laugh over and over again while looking at my picks from last week. I went 1-5, and that’s both straight-up and against the spread. Picking Ole Miss and Mississippi State did not work out, but I’ll own that. Georgia over Alabama? Tennessee? Notre Dame. Ugly. Awful. The only evidence you need that these are for entertainment purposes only. Last week: 1-5 straight-up, 1-5 against the spread For the season: 18-11 straight-up, 9-16 against the spread The Big Game Southern Miss at Marshall (-5), 6 p.m. Friday (CBSSN): Huge game for the Golden Eagles, probably the biggest of the season to date. I really like USM’s offense, which is averaging 7.2 yards per play with a balanced look led by QB Nick Mullens (66 percent completion rate, 1,691 yards, 14 TDs). Marshall, though, has maybe the best defense in CUSA and has lost one home game since 2013. My pick: Marshall 35, Southern Miss 31. In the State New Mexico State at Ole Miss (-42.5), 11 a.m. Saturday (SEC Network): New Mexico State is bad. Real bad. But the Rebels’ injury list took up a whole page in Hugh Freeze’s notes, so is he really going to try to do anything more than get in and get out? No, but I don’t think he did that the first two weeks and you see what happened then. My pick: Ole Miss 56, New Mexico State 7. Troy at Mississippi State (-30.5), 3 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network): Same thing here. What does Dan Mullen want to do? We’ll see a lot of his young guys, and they played hard against Northwestern State. My pick: Mississippi State 42, Troy 7. Around the Nation Arkansas at No. 8 Alabama (-17), 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN): I messed up last week thinking Alabama was done. That’s on me. Never again. My pick: Alabama 35, Arkansas 14. No. 19 Georgia (-3) at Tennessee, 2:30 p.m. Saturday (CBS): Avert your eyes. It’s getting ugly in Knoxville. My pick: Georgia 21, Tennessee 14. No. 13 Northwestern at No. 18 Michigan (-7.5), 2:30 p.m. Saturday (BTN): I have a weird feeling we’re headed toward a situation where Michigan ends up mattering in November. But with the Nos. 1 and No. 2 scoring defenses in the country, respectively, that line is too big. My pick: Michigan 17, Northwestern 10. Read or Share this story: http://on.thec-l.com/1RwoN8s