I'm gonna keep this short and sweet.
QB1 is good to go. And that's all the confidence I need.
Smoothie this time.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 18, 2020
Indy#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/Xrjy9C8fds
Word of the Day: Aplomb.
SATURDAY SLATE.
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TV/Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| #14 Northwestern vs. #4 Ohio State (in Indianapolis, IN) | 12:00pm | FOX |
| #10 Oklahoma vs. #6 Iowa State (in Arlington, TX) | 12:00pm | ABC |
| #5 Texas A&M at Tennessee | 12:00pm | ESPN |
| Washington State at Utah | 1:30pm | FS1 |
| Air Force at Army | 3:00pm | CBSSN |
| Missouri at Mississippi State | 3:30pm | SECN Alt. |
| Ole Miss at LSU | 3:30pm | SECN |
| Minnesota at Wisconsin | 4:00pm | BTN |
| #3 Clemson vs. #2 Notre Dame (in Charlotte, NC) | 4:00pm | ABC |
| Boise State vs. #24 San Jose State (in Las Vegas, NV) | 4:30pm | FOX |
| Illinois at Penn State | 5:30pm | FS1 |
| Stanford at UCLA | 7:00pm | ESPN |
| #23 Tulsa at #9 Cincinnati | 8:00pm | ABC |
| #1 Alabama vs. #7 Florida (in Atlanta, GA) | 8:00pm | CBS |
| Arizona State at Oregon State | 10:30pm | ESPN |
TIP THE CAP. Credit where credit is due: Northwestern kicked the shit out of the pandemic this year. As of last night, they officially went the entire season without one single positive COVID-19 test.
#Northwestern cleared Big Ten COVID testing tonight, 100% clean. https://t.co/zDfzTNPX1W
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 19, 2020
The amount of discipline this takes from everyone involved is legitimately very impressive, especially considering all the precautions Ohio State took only to *still* have to cancel a game due to an outbreak.
LET'S DO SOME PICKS! These are all going to win. Parlay them and pay for Christmas. You're welcome.
- Ohio State -19.5 against Northwestern. This is strength on strength with Ohio State's offense against Northwestern's defense, but at the end of the day, Ohio State has played a comparable defense against Indiana (and put up 35 points) while Northwestern hasn't seen anything like this Buckeye offense – regardless of who's out.
- Notre Dame +10.5 against Clemson. Notre Dame outplayed Clemson last game and that game frankly shouldn't have even gone to overtime. The only difference is Clemson has Trevor Lawrence back this time, but quarterback play was not at all the problem last time, so I'll gladly take Notre Dame and double-digit points in a rematch of a game they were more impressive in last time.
- Alabama vs. Florida Over 74. Both of these teams have gas offenses and have been a little shaky defensively. Statistically, Bama's defense is good, but the one time they played a competent offense (against Ole Miss, mind you) they gave up 48 points and 650 total yards. Meanwhile, Florida's defense hasn't even pretended to be good. There will be many, many points.
- Iowa State vs. Oklahoma Under 58.5. Last time, these two teams put up a combined 67 points, but a lot of that was because Oklahoma's defense couldn't stop giving up big plays. The Sooners' defense has gotten a little less terrible lately and the truth is, Iowa State's offense is run-heavy and isn't nearly as explosive as it looked in that matchup. I think the under cruises here.
- Air Force vs. Army Under 38.5. Just bet the under, man. This total could not possibly be low enough. I'd take it at like, 15.
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