Spartans Shadows staff college football pick ‘em: Week 10 edition

Week 10 of the college football season is here and that means it’s time for our weekly Spartan Shadows staff pick ’em.

Welcome back, everyone. Week 9 of the college football season is in the books. The month of October is ending and as the schedule turns the page into November, the competition is heating up. Many conference races are neck and neck. Our picks race is also coming right down to the end. With a month left of games before bowl season, some positioning is up for grabs.

On the field, we had some crazy close games this week. USC beat Cal by a point. Tennessee beat a tough Kentucky team by six. James Madison barely snuck out a win against Old Dominion. We also had some upsets with Arizona beating No. 11 Oregon State and Georgia Tech upsetting No. 17 North Carolina.

The picks also had some insanely close outcomes. This was headlined by Wisconsin barely covering against Ohio State by half a point.

Let’s take a look at the results of last week’s college football games.

Week 9 results 

• No. 6 Oklahoma at Kansas — Line: Oklahoma -10; Result: Kansas cover
• No. 8 Oregon at No. 13 Utah — Line: Oregon -6.5; Result: Oregon cover
• No. 1 Georgia vs. Florida — Line: Georgia -15.5; Result: Georgia cover
• No. 20 Duke at No. 18 Louisville — Line: Louisville -4.5; Result: Louisville cover
• No. 24 USC at California — Line: USC -10.5; Result: California cover
• No. 21 Tennessee at Kentucky — Line: Tennessee -3.5; Result: Tennessee cover
• No. 3 Ohio State at Wisconsin — Line: Ohio State -14.5; Result: Wisconsin cover
• Old Dominion at No. 25 James Madison — Line: JMU -17.5; Result: Old Dominion cover
• No. 11 Oregon State at Arizona — Line: Oregon State -3.5; Result: Arizona cover
• Michigan State at Minnesota — Line: Minnesota -7; Result: Minnesota cover

As for game takeaways, the Spartan offense continued to struggle against a middling Minnesota team. USC had a heck of a time with Cal and continued their average play of late. James Madison’s first ranked test resulted in a win but they were almost tripped up by Old Dominion. Kansas pulled off a very impressive home victory over Oklahoma, giving possible future MSU head coach Lance Leipold a nice resume builder. Also, the Buckeyes took care of business in a hostile environment against a good Wisconsin team.

For our picks, we were really average this week, to put it nicely anyway. This week’s top dogs for the picks this week are Anthony and me, sitting at 5-5. Yes, a .500 record was good for the top spot this week. It was rough pickings this week. Coming up next with 4-6 records were Emmett, Daily, Hop, and Joey. The last of the group went 3-7 and they are Connor, Max, and MSU Recruits. Hopefully next week’s picks are going to have better results.

Updated standings after Week 9

1. Emmett: 48-40-2
2. Daily: 47-41-2
3. Connor: 46-42-2
4. (Tie) Hop and Chris: 45-43-2
5. (Tie) Max and Joey: 44-44-2
6. MSU Recruits: 39-49-2
7. Anthony: 38-50-2

Side Competition updates:

The leads for both Daily and I in our side competitions will remain the same for another week. Both Daily and Hop went 4-6 last week. Anthony and I were sitting tops of the pack at 5-5.

Daily will keep his two-game lead for another week. In the ‘Battle for the Cane’s Box”, I will keep my seven-game lead.

Still lots of picks left to go. As you can see with the performances this week, one off week can happen and that could be the difference for sure.

Now let’s get into this week’s college football games.

Week 10 college football games

Disclaimer: All lines are as of 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 31, from FanDuel. All times listed are Eastern Standard Time.

• No. 25 Kansas State at No. 7 Texas — Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on FOX (Line: Texas -4.5)

Emmett: Texas
Daily: Texas
Connor: Texas
Hop: Texas
Chris: Texas
Max: Texas
Joey: Kansas State
MSU Recruits: Texas
Anthony: Kansas State 

• Texas A&M at No. 11 Ole Miss — Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN (Line: Ole Miss -3)

Emmett: Ole Miss
Daily: Ole Miss
Connor: Ole Miss
Hop: Ole Miss
Chris: Ole Miss
Max: Ole Miss
Joey: Ole Miss
MSU Recruits: Ole Miss
Anthony: Ole Miss

• No. 12 Notre Dame at Clemson — Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on ABC (Line: Notre Dame -3) 

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

• No. 14 Missouri at No. 1 Georgia — Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS (Line: Georgia -15.5)

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

• No. 10 Oklahoma at Oklahoma State — Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC (Line: Oklahoma -5.5)

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

• No. 22 Kansas at Iowa State — Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN (Line: Iowa State -2.5)

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

• No. 5 Washington at No. 24 USC — Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC (Line: Washington -3.5)

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

• No. 13 LSU at No. 8 Alabama — Saturday at 7:45 p.m. ET on CBS (Line: Bama -3) 

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

• Purdue at No. 2 Michigan — Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC (Line: Michigan -32.5)

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

• Nebraska at Michigan State — Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on FS1 (Line: Nebraska -3) 

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

As you can see, the fellas are pretty confident in Ole Miss and the points. We are rarely all aligned on picks but seem to be here. Picks that are also tilted heavily in one direction are Washington over USC and Notre Dame over Clemson. If you’re a fan of Joey, he’s the one standing solo in the Pac-12 matchup. Hop is the only one thinking Clemson will cover against the Irish.

For my college football picks, I feel overly confident in all but two so that means it’s probably safe to fade all of them. The toughest ones for me were in the Purdue-Michigan game and the Missouri-Georgia game. Both spreads just felt really big for me. I do feel Michigan is 32.5 points better than Purdue but that’s just a lot to cover. In the Georgia game, I think the Bulldogs are the vastly superior team; they just have had issues covering big numbers this year. I think Mizzou has the talent to keep it closer than 16.

This weekend also marks the last home game of the season in East Lansing for the Spartans. The Spartans do have one more home game against Penn State this year. That, as we all know, is at Ford Field instead. Anyone in town should show up and support the kids one last time while you can. While the record on the field has not been what they’ve wanted, these kids have played their hearts out this year. They have been trying to make the best out of a bad situation and need to be supported for it.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone. As always, Go Green.