Dumb Picks of the Week: Week 12

Colton Denning -

Remember when I thought Tennessee would keep it close with Georgia?

If you thought that was bad, welcome to this week's edition of Dumb Picks of the Week, where I not only pick against two top-five teams, but declare my outright disdain towards the team that the whole internet is rooting for. Quick moment of transparency: It's all starting to make sense why I only have 14 subscribers, including myself. ANYWAY.

I've got picks, you've got eyes and a brain, and I encourage you to place money on the exact opposite things I say here and laugh all the way to the bank at my expense. LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOO!

  • SMU (+10) at No. 5 Cincinnati - 3:30 PM ET, ESPN

I've avoided the Cincinnati discourse for as long as possible, but I can't hold it in any longer: I want these guys to lose. Not because I don't think they're worthy (They should make the playoff if they win out.) Not because I'm an Ohio State fan (I actually think Cincinnati should be ranked ahead of them.) Not even because I dislike them (Luke Fickell has my everlasting love for having to deal with the shitpile that was 2011, then having Urban Meyer actually question whether he should stay on his staff.) I want them to lose simply because I'm a hater. There's nothing more to it than that. I've accepted it, I've made peace with it, and now I'm embracing it. But does that mean I think they're losing to SMU?

Maybe. UC's slept-walked through their last four games, and they can't afford a repeat against the best team they've played since Notre Dame back in early October. SMU has one of the best offenses in the country, and I'm excited to watch how they match up with Cincinnati's defense. This is arguably the game of the week, and even I can't hate on that.

  • Nebraska at (-9.5) No. 15  Wisconsin - 3:30 PM ET, ABC

Speaking of things I hate: Let's discuss Nebraska. They haven't played since Scott Frost cleaned house on his offensive staff to get an extra 10 months of job security, and now they're facing the second best defense in the country. Nebraska had a bye to figure some things out, but given how shuffling staff mid-season worked out for Dan Mullen and the Florida defense, I'd be surprised to see Nebraska score 9.5 tomorrow, let alone cover -9.5.  

Real quick here because there's no reason I should be writing more than 100 words about this game: Wisconsin's slowly morphing into the team we (I) thought they might be before the season: A1 defense, bulldozer run game, and C+ level passing and game management from Graham Mertz. They're gonna be a pain in the ass in the B1G Title for whoever wins the East.

  • No. 21 Arkansas (+20.5) at No. 2 Alabama - 3:30 PM ET, CBS

Something about this game stinks, and it isn't just the scent of Captain Morgan wafting off the fratstars in the Alabama student section. Nick Saban spent his Wednesday media availability lighting into his team's effort and attitude at practice, and I'm not trying to galaxy brain here, but I don't think those are the ideal practice habits of the No. 2 team in the country in mid-November.

Every time Saban does this people laugh it off, or make some crack about Alabama's success never being enough for him, and that's the point. This Bama team looks like they're coasting off the success of last year's group, and he knows it. Could they go on and win the national championship despite that? Sure, they're Alabama and it's Nick Saban. But this group isn't ALABAMA mentally, and with one loss already, they have no margin for error going forward.

As for the actual game; I don't think they'll lose, but Arkansas is feisty. They've turned their season back around after that three-game losing streak, and Sam Pittman's gonna have some tricks up his sleeve that keep it an interesting game into the fourth quarter.

  • DPOTW 2021 record: 14-14
  • Last week: 1-1