Golden Blogs Pick-Em Week 6: Is Oregon’s Win Streak Against Washington Doomed?

Week 6 is upon us! We are almost at the halfway point in the regular season and some great storylines have emerged! We have an idea of which Pac-12 teams are bad (Oregon State, maybe Oregon?) and which ones are the teams to beat (Washington, maybe Stanford?), and some hard fighting underdogs (Colorado, maybe us?) but there’s still a lot of ways to go before we know who’s fighting in Santa Clara in December. Nationally, the powerhouses like Alabama and Ohio State are rolling as expected... with teams like Michigan, Clemson and Louisville looking to snag some playoff spots. Is there hope for Washington to get in? We shall see.

Let’s look at Week 5’s results in our Staff Pick-Em league.

What we are learning: Don’t. Doubt. Vegas. How dare they make UW and USC favorites? Heck, they even made US a favorite (though... we were okay picking Cal that time) and guess what? They were right every time! Nam had the North Carolina victory, we’ve still had an upset every week so far!

There’s a lot of separation between first and last place. Fortunately, this isn’t for money and our staff seems to still be on board despite a lot of wrong picks. At least as far as I know.

Let’s get to Week 6. All 12 teams are playing conference games. We have some solid out-of-conference games as well.

#21 COLORADO @ USC

SATURDAY 1PM on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 LA, Pac-12 Mountain

USC (home team) is a 4.5 point favorite. Over/Under is 63.5

While it is true that Colorado is ranked, undefeated in conference play, and USC has struggled... USC has been tough to beat at home. Plus we were wrong about the Trojans last week, so unsurprisingly the Golden Blogs staff predicts a Trojan victory by a 6-2 margin.

Nik Jam: I'm really hyped about Colorado, but I think USC will keep up the home success.

Piotr T Le: Pac-12 is weird.

Ruey Yen: I expect a tight game here, so I am going with the points.

boomtho: I think Colorado is going to finally struggle a bit more than they've showed, and USC can effectively slow the game down

Berkelium97: USC is the most unpredictable team in the conference. They should lose this, but they'll end up winning because they're ridiculous.

Nam Le: Prove it, Buffs.

#5 WASHINGTON @ OREGON

SATURDAY 4:30PM on FOX

Washington (home team) is an 8.5 point favorite. Over/Under is 70

Another 6-2 vote sees Washington ending a 13 year losing streak to Oregon (same number Cal’s losing streak to USC is at), likely in emphatic fashion.

Nik Jam: I have a feeling this game will come down to the last possession. It's really hard to shake off a long losing streak to one team.

Ruey Yen: Washington is the better team but this is on the road. Nevertheless, Huskies take this one and cover.

boomtho: Damn, how can I bet against UW after last week's beatdown?

Berkelium97: The streak ends in Autzen.

Nam Le: Easy.

CAL @ OREGON STATE

SATURDAY 6PM on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Bay Area, Pac-12 Oregon

Cal (road team) is a 12.5 point favorite. Over/Under is 71.

For the third week in a row, no one doubts the Bears. Can Cal afford a loss, or even a close win to the Beavers if they want a bowl bid?

Nik Jam: I believe in the Bears. They won't overlook the Beavers.

Piotr T Le: In #Drop50 with Chase Forrest.

Ruey Yen: Bears don't pull away until the 2nd half.

boomtho: I don't think OSU can stop us at all...can they score 20 points to get it to 70 though? I'm a bit skeptical.

Berkelium97: Cal should win handily, but a garbage time TD or two will put this one past the over/under.

ARIZONA @ #24 UTAH

SATURDAY 7PM on Fox Sports 1 (or 2)

Utah (home team) is a 9.5 point favorite. Over/Under is 53.

A bit closer than the other picks as 5 out of 8 choose Utah to win big over Arizona and get back to their winning ways after falling short in Berkeley.

Nik Jam: Utah will bounce back from the rough Cal loss with a dominant win.

Piotr T Le: Utah wins on a last second goalline touchdown.

Ruey Yen: Utes takes care of Zona (who are not very good) at home.

boomtho: Utah's 3 games against decent teams have all been less than 9... I think Utah wins but doubt they pull away too far.

Berkelium97: Utah will win, but they're not the type of team to blow out opponents. Arizona can keep this within single digits.

WASHINGTON STATE @ #15 STANFORD

SATURDAY 7:30PM on ESPN

Furd (home team) is a 7.5 point favorite. Over/Under is 58.

Our first 50/50 split of the week is with this one. After getting their butts handed to them last week, the Cardinal look to rebound against a Washington State team they do well against... but the Cougars have played well lately. How do you see this playing out?

Nik Jam: I just don't see the Cougs pulling it off. I was wrong about Stanford last week though and I'd like to be wrong again.

Piotr T Le: Mike Leach for the sake of balance will rush exactly 0 times and throw 99 times. In other news Luke Falk breaks the NCAA passing yards record and is the first QB to be benched for losing his throwing arm due to overuse.

Ruey Yen: I'm taking the points rather than a flat out Wazzu victory.

boomtho: Think David Shaw's boys are going to respond in a major way and just beat down the Cougs.

Berkelium97: I always pick Wazzu to upset the Lobsterbacks and I'm always wrong. I might as well take another tilt at the windmill.

UCLA @ ARIZONA STATE

SATURDAY 7:30PM on ESPN2

Arizona State (home team) is a 9.5 point UNDERDOG. Over/Under is 59.5

Another 50/50 split as the Pac-12 South favorites look to prove that they are the team to beat in the Pac-12 with a road win at Arizona State. Cal fans know that Arizona State is not an easy place to play, and we have some believers in the Sun Devils here.

Nik Jam: My upset pick of the week (conference wise).

Piotr T Le: ASU is gonna give us hope of beating UCLA this year.

Ruey Yen: ASU is playing at home, but UCLA is the superior team. I see UCLA winning the game but they don't cover.

boomtho: I'm (probably mistakenly) back on the UCLA bandwagon after their big win last week.

Berkelium97: UCLA should win this pretty comfortably if Manny Wilkins doesn't play (which is looking likely).

WILD CARD: LOCK OF THE WEEK

Notre Dame +1 (@ NC State)

Iowa -2 (@ Minnesota)

#20 Oklahoma -10.5 (@ Texas)

#25 Virginia Tech +2.5 (@ #17 North Carolina)

BYU +6 (@ Michigan State)

#23 Florida State +3 (@ #10 Miami FL)

OTHER

After upsetting Florida State, North Carolina gets the plurality. Second is Oklahoma with two picks over former Cal opponent Texas.

Nik Jam (Michigan State): No way Michigan State loses 3 in a row right?

Piotr T Le (Oklahoma): One of my close friends is from OU so I gotta pick'em.

Ruey Yen (originally had Florida over LSU, but with the game being cancelled switched to North Carolina): The big win over FSU should give the Tar Heels some well deserved confidence to put away the Hokies.

boomtho (Iowa): Minnesota only beat OSU by 3. I think they're a crap team.

Nam Le (North Carolina): MITCH TRUBISKY

WILD CARD: UPSET OF THE WEEK

Boston College (16.5 point underdog vs. #3 Clemson) [3]

SMU (17 point underdog @ Tulsa) [3]

New Mexico (17 point underdog vs. Boise State) [3]

Navy (17 point underdog vs. #6 Houston) [3]

#16 Arkansas (14 point underdog vs. #1 Alabama) [3]

UTSA (16.5 point underdog vs. Southern Miss) [3]

UNLV (14 point underdog @ San Diego State) [3]

Kansas (29 point underdog vs. TCU) [4]

Rutgers (27.5 point underdog vs. #4 Michigan) [4]

OTHER

All 9 above teams, and "OTHERS" selected, lose [1]

UTSA and UNLV get two picks each and even Alabama gets picked to be taken down.

Nik Jam (Arkansas): playing with house money right now, leading the CGB Pick-em column league, why not pick Alabama to go down?

Ruey Yen: UTSA played ASU close earlier this year.

boomtho: UTSA played tough against AZ? IDK.

CLOSING

I’m past my deadline, so this is it.

Eat Beavers. Go Bears!