Spartan Shadows staff Week 6 college football picks against the spread

Week 6 of the college football season is upon us and that means it’s time for the Spartan Shadows’ weekly staff pick ’em.

Well, Week 5 is in the books. College football season is flying by. As we get into the month of October, the marquee of conference play is among us. Things are getting tight in the rankings and with our pick ‘em game as well. A good October in both real football and our picks will set you up in a position to make a serious run.

There were some great games last week and some awesome ones on the docket for this week as well.

Let’s check out Week 5’s results before we get into the new games.

Week 5 results

• No. 10 Utah at No. 19 Oregon State — Line: Oregon State -3.5; Result: Oregon State cover
• No. 8 USC at Colorado — Line: USC -21.5; Result: Colorado cover
• No. 22 Florida at Kentucky — Line: Kentucky -1.5; Result: Kentucky cover
• No.1 Georgia at Auburn — Line: Georgia -14.5; Result: Auburn cover
• No. 2 Michigan at Nebraska — Line: Michigan -17.5; Result: Michigan cover
• No. 24 Kansas at No. 3 Texas — Line: Texas -16.5; Result: Texas cover
• No. 13 LSU at No. 20 Ole Miss — Line: LSU -2.5; Result: Ole Miss cover
• No. 11 Notre Dame at No. 17 Duke — Line: Notre Dame -5.5; Result: Notre Dame cover
• South Carolina at No. 21 Tennessee — Line: Tennessee -12.5; Result: Tennessee cover
• Michigan State at Iowa — Line: Iowa -12.5; Result: MSU cover

For the staff picks recap: Well there were no pushes this week. That’s a plus. Thankfully FanDuel kept all the spreads on half points so yay for that. I went against my cardinal rule in the LSU/Ole Miss game and I didn’t take the home underdog. It cost me a game here. MSU found another heartbreaking way to lose for us fans. Speaking of MSU, our old QB1 now turned Auburn running back, I mean quarterback, Payton Thorne kept things close with Georgia before an untimely pick sealed his fate. Notre Dame and Duke played a great game. Duke’s starting quarterback Riley Leonard was injured on the game-ending play. Will be interesting to see how future MSU head coach Mike Elko can rally his troops if their leader is out long term.

As for our picks, it seemed to be a week of “mid” performances as the kids would say. Connor, Daily, and Joey were tops this week at 6-4. Shout out to Joey for a good bounce back after last week. After that we had Emmett and Max coming in at 4-6. In a bad run of form, Hop, Anthony, MSU Recruits, and I all went 3-7 this week. Too many rookie mistakes are what did me in again. Hopefully a strong week is in the cards for us soon.

While everyone was within a few college football games again this week, the standings remain very tight.

Updated standings after Week 5

1. (Tie) Connor and Daily MSU: 28-20-2
2. Emmett: 27-21-2
3. Max: 26-22-2
4. (Tie) Chris and Hop: 24-24-2
5. MSU Recruits: 23-25-2
6. (Tie) Anthony and Joey: 21-27-2

Side Competition updates:

Daily’s ascent to the top of our leaderboard over Weeks 4 and 5 has put him four games clear of Hop-man in their tough battle. Look for Hop to get back to the drawing board and re-create that early season success this week.

In the battle for the Cane’s Box; I am leading still Anthony by 3 games. I appreciate Anthony for taking it easy on me when I had a rough week this past week and wanting to stay even. While I have a small lead, I will refuse to coast. This week, I need a good bounce back before Anthony strikes and leaps me in the standings.

Week 6 games

Disclaimer: All lines are as of 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 3, from FanDuel. All times listed are Eastern Standard Time.

• No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Texas — Saturday at 12 p.m. on ABC (Line: Texas -6.5)

Connor: Texas
Daily: Texas
Emmett: Texas
Max: Oklahoma (Horns down forever)
Chris: Texas
Hop: Texas
MSU Recruits: Texas
Anthony: Texas
Joey: Texas

• No. 23 LSU at No. 21 Missouri — Saturday at 12 p.m. on ESPN (Line: LSU -6.5)

Connor: LSU
Daily: LSU
Emmett: Mizzou
Max: Mizzou
Chris: Mizzou
Hop: LSU
MSU Recruits: LSU
Anthony: LSU
Joey: Mizzou

• Rutgers at Wisconsin — Saturday at 12 p.m. on Peacock (Line: Wisconsin -14)

Connor: Wisconsin
Daily: Rutgers
Emmett: Wisconsin
Max: Wisconsin
Chris: Rutgers
Hop: Rutgers
MSU Recruits: Wisconsin
Anthony: Rutgers
Joey: Rutgers

• No. 13 Washington State at UCLA — Saturday at 3 p.m. on Pac-12 Network (Line: UCLA -3.5) 

Connor: Washington State
Daily: Washington State
Emmett: Washington State
Max: Washington State
Chris: Washington State
Hop: Washington State
MSU Recruits: Washington State
Anthony: Washington State
Joey: UCLA

• Purdue at Iowa — Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on Peacock (Line: Iowa -1.5)

Connor: Iowa
Daily: Purdue
Emmett: Iowa
Max: Purdue
Chris: Iowa
Hop: Iowa
MSU Recruits: Iowa
Anthony: Iowa
Joey: Iowa 

• No. 11 Alabama at Texas A&M — Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on CBS (Line: Alabama -2.5)

Connor: Alabama
Daily: Alabama
Emmett: Alabama
Max: Alabama
Chris: Alabama
Hop: Alabama
MSU Recruits: Alabama
Anthony: Alabama
Joey: Alabama 

• Colorado at Arizona State — Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on Pac-12 Network (Line: Colorado -4.5)   

Connor: Colorado
Daily: Colorado
Emmett: Colorado
Max: Colorado
Chris: Colorado
Hop: Colorado
MSU Recruits: Colorado
Anthony: Colorado
Joey: Arizona State 

• No. 20 Kentucky at No. 1 Georgia — Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN (Line: UGA -14.5)

Connor: Georgia
Daily: Georgia
Emmett: Georgia
Max: Georgia
Chris: Kentucky
Hop: Georgia
MSU Recruits: Georgia
Anthony: Kentucky
Joey: Kentucky

• No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 25 Louisville — Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC (Line: ND -6.5)

Connor: Notre Dame
Daily: Notre Dame
Emmett: Notre Dame
Max: Notre Dame
Chris: Notre Dame
Hop: Notre Dame
MSU Recruits: Notre Dame
Anthony: Notre Dame
Joey: Notre Dame

• No. 2 Michigan at Minnesota — Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on NBC (Line: Michigan -19.5)

Connor: Minnesota
Daily: Michigan
Emmett: Michigan
Max: Michigan
Chris: Michigan
Hop: Michigan
MSU Recruits: Minnesota
Anthony: Michigan
Joey: Michigan

That should wrap up this week’s installment of the college football picks. No Michigan State game to pick this week as they are on a much-needed bye week. And 100 percent of us are picking Notre Dame and Alabama. That can’t go wrong, can it?

Happy football watching to all those partaking. If you are not since MSU is not, have a safe and fun weekend, and thanks as always for tuning in. Go Green.