St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital – “The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay.”

Shriners Children’s Hospitals – “Shriners Children’s has been providing hope and healing to children for more than 100 years. Our compassionate, prestigious doctors and care teams are committed to excellence in pediatric care.”

Potomac Highlands Wounded Warrior Outreach – “Our group works directly with various veteran’s hospitals in West Virginia. We design, organize and fund outdoor events (hunting, fishing, golfing, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, etc.) to aid these returning combat wounded soldiers in their rehabilitation. We serve all types of wounded warriors and recognize that some wounds are not visible.  We are committed to helping all wounded warriors enjoy life and experience recovery and support through well-planned adventures in the beautiful outdoors of West Virginia.”

Mountaineer Food Bank – “Mountaineer Food Bank (MFB), a member of Feeding America, believes in a West Virginia where no one goes to bed hungry…today or tomorrow.  The Food Bank is the largest emergency food provider in the state of West Virginia serving families, children, seniors, veterans, and individuals at risk of hunger.”

A couple other ‘rules’ before I get started with my picks…

• I’ll use a parlay calculator to determine any parlay or teaser bets that I make. For those who don’t know, parlays are multi-bet selections as part of one bet. All parts must hit for me to win. Teasers are similar, except they use the money line (or over/under) and the more teams you add, the more you can adjust the line. I’ll stick with the standard 6-point, 7-point, and 10-point teaser lines for two (6 and 7, but with varying “juice”) and three-team (10-point) teasers.
• All lines are from the Caesar’s Sportsbook, if available.
• Please do not follow my bets on your own. This is for fun and I don’t want anyone claiming I cost them their rent money, nor do I want to hunt you down for my cut of your winnings.

Last week’s recap

For the first time in a long time, it was a slow start that was saved by a strong finish for the Charity Bets.

My spite pick of Notre Dame -2.5 was apparently so popular, that it was the most bet line in college football. Vegas barely budged, though, only moving the line to three points. That’s always a bad sign because Vegas always knows. Naturally, Dabo Swinney finally allowed his five-star QB to throw to his five-star WRs behind his five-star OL with his five-star RB carrying a load, too. It’s amazing how you can do things on offense when the coaches don’t screw it up.

Then, I watched as Navy allowed Temple to jump out to a huge lead. I honestly couldn’t believe it. Outside of the other 2pm game, this was the one I felt most confident about. Temple is a really bad football team. Instead, Navy fell behind 17-0. They cut it back to 17-15, but couldn’t complete the comeback. I’m 0-for-2 now.

The other 2pm game, though, was my lock of the week – Georgia Tech (who was an underdog?!) over UVA. The Yellow Jackets were up 24-7 just before halftime, and then 38-10 early in the fourth. No sweat.

Auburn gave me a little bit of a sweat. Not that there was ever any concern of losing to Vanderbilt, but I had them at -12.5. They were up by 24 and had the ball in the fourth quarter, but I somehow still needed a late interception to hold on to that win.

Finally, there was Kansas, who was doing much of the same thing. The Jayhawks held a 21-3 lead, but needed to keep scoring late to hold on for the win. Still, got it, and that secured a winning weekend.

End result: +$136

Bet #2

Early jump on this other Big 12 game

Houston -2.5

Bet $100 to win $193

This is a night game in Houston. That may not be much of a factor, as I expect there will be a half empty stadium, much like it has been all season. However, the Cougars have at least shown some spark every once in a while this season. It’s been inconsistent, but there have been signs of life. Cincinnati? Not even a pulse in two months. I can’t imagine they’re going on the road and going to do much of anything.

Bet #3

If you’re going to kick like Pac12 After Dark, I’m going to bet like Pac12 After Dark

BYU to win

Bet $100 to win $335

The Cougars looked horrendous against WVU. I’ve been down on them for most of the year, pointing out that their record was fraudulent. I have also said that Iowa State is not as good as people seem to think they are. Maybe I’m being too harsh on them. However, this game is in Provo, Utah. It’s kicking off at 10:15pm ET like it’s a Pac 12 After Dark game. Weird stuff is going to happen. Give me the home crowd and the great odds.

Bet #4

The Maryland Freefall Continues

Nebraska to win

Bet $100 to win $225

The Cornhuskers are home dogs against a Maryland team that has lost four straight games. Two were to Ohio State and Penn State, but the other two were to Illinois and Northwestern. The Terrapins might be a legitimately bad team whose best win was…. Indiana at home? Meanwhile, Nebraska is 4-1 at home this season, with their lone loss to No. 2 Michigan. Give me the home crowd and the good odds again.

Bet #5

I can’t, in good conscious, let this go unwagered

Iowa-Rutgers over 28.5 points

Bet $100 to win $193

Iowa-Minnesota set the record for the lowest over/under line in college football history two games ago at 30.5 The game went under. The record was broken in Iowa’s next game, when Iowa-Northwestern had the line set at 29.5. The game went under. For the third game in a row, it’s a new record, with the line coming in at 28.5 points. I see the trends. I know what we’re dealing with here. But I can’t allow this to go by without betting the over here. I don’t care if I lose.