Golden Blogs Pick-Em Week 3: So Many Exciting Games!

The big day is coming! Cal welcomes Texas to Memorial Stadium for the somewhat belated home opener. A lot of us will be trekking over to Strawberry Canyon for the game, but it can hardly be ignored that many other exciting games will be going on. At least a few of them will be during the daytime. Who do we think will win? Let’s find out!

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

The controversial win by Central Michigan benefited some of our staff! The depressing “Cal lost but at least covered” not-at-all-a silver lining gave two points to a lot of us as well. A bit of separation between Ruey and Perry over the rest of the pack, but there’s still a lot of season to go!

5 Pac-12 games to choose from, including our first conference matchup! I skipped the other games that were against “lower” opponents (or in Colorado’s case, WAS the “lower” opponent), but all of them are choices in the Upset of the Week section.

VegasInsider.com is the source for the lines and the over/under, but sometimes I changed the over/under to add .5 .

#22 OREGON @ NEBRASKA

SATURDAY 12:30PM ON ABC

Oregon (road team) 3 point underdog. Over/Under is 72.5

Everyone is backing the Pac with the exception of yours truly. Am I going to pick up points on everyone or is this the start of my descend to the bottom of the standings?

Nik Jam: This is going to be the time where the new look Oregon team's flaws get exposed.

Ruey Yen: Backing the Pac on this one.

Piotr T Le: Oregon is the better team per S&P+

boomtho: #BackthePac. Also I'm not convinced Mike Riley is still anywhere near a good football coach.

Berkelium97: I'm sure the Ducks won't miss an opportunity to deliver a loss to Mike Riley.

USC @ #7 STANFORD

SATURDAY 5PM ON ABC

Stanford (home team) is a 8.5 point favorite. Over/Under is 53.5

An almost even split. The Trojans have the benefit of the doubt against the Cardinal, but we have a few who think the Cardinal can win by 9 or more.

Nik Jam: A low scoring game should be close.

Ruey Yen: I think Stanford will prevail but just won't cover.

Piotr T Le: I think $C will drag this win out in a bloodbath with a Adoree Jackson pick-6

boomtho: Taking the points because Furd has a way of letting teams hang around, and USC does have some explosive playmakers

Berkelium97: No one is a winner here.

PerryScope: They're (USC) gonna be ready to play and Stanford Home field advantage is not meaningful.

UCLA @ BYU

SATURDAY 7:15PM ON ESPN2

UCLA (road team) is a 3 point favorite. Over/Under is 49.5

Just like with Oregon/Nebraska we have a near unanimous decision here. Berkelium is the lone guy going with BYU.

Nik Jam: I think UCLA needs a good showing and will prove themselves Saturday.

Ruey Yen: Wow, another BYU vs. the Pac matchup? UCLA is a better team than either Arizona or Utah.

boomtho: I still believe in UCLA's talent. I'm probably an idiot.

UTAH @ SAN JOSE STATE

SATURDAY 7:30 ON CBS SPORTS NETWORK

Utah (road team) is a 13 point favorite. Over/Under is 47

Stanford, Cal AND San Jose State at home??? The Giants are playing too. And all 4 games are big and all around the same time. What a day for sports in the Bay!

Yet another Pac-12 school takes on a Mountain West team on the road. Usually I avoid games with high spreads, but I decided to see what our staff thinks about this game. Everyone but Nam thinks Utah will be able to win handily over the Spartans.

Nik Jam: Not much reason to think San Jose State keeps it close, they haven't looked good this year.

Ruey Yen: Utes win in a rout.

boomtho: Feels like one of those random Utah games where they get an offensive outburst and everyone gets excited

And now for the big one...

CAL VS. #11 TEXAS

SATURDAY 7:30PM ON ESPN

Cal (home team) is an 8 point underdog. Over/Under is 80.

A complete 50/50 split on whether Texas will rout the Bears and whether the Bears can keep it close or even with. Only one person sees less than 80 total points scored. Who do you agree with?

Nik Jam: It'll be a shootout for a while but I can't see Texas not pulling away late.

Ruey Yen: I am hoping for a Cal win, of course...or at least a close loss.

Piotr T Le: Shootout for the ages. Either Webb's arm will fall-off or Texas RBs will lose feeling in their legs, either way ALWAYS bet over on Cal games.

boomtho: Expect Texas to run wild. Line was much easier to pick at its opening of -4.5 though...

KWBears: Cal wins a shoot out!

Berkelium97: We'll probably have to re-renovate the Memorial Stadium scoreboard after this.

PerryScope: Cal will score a lot early and Texas will come back in 2nd half. Not sure about outcome but early scoring will be enough to cover.

But wait, there’s more!

SO MANY GREAT GAMES are also going on around the nation. Let’s take a look at some of them.

WILD CARD: LOCK OF THE WEEK

#6 Houston -7.5 @ Cincinnati

#2 Florida State -2 @ #10 Louisville

#25 Miami -3.5 @ Appalachian State

#1 Alabama -10 @ #19 Ole Miss

#17 Texas A&M +3.5 @ Auburn

#12 Michigan State +7.5 @ #18 Notre Dame

#16 Georgia -6.5 (@ Missouri)

#3 Ohio State -2 (@ #14 Oklahoma)

OTHER

Now the Houston/Cincinnati game was on Thursday and we already know Houston did win and cover, so already we have a few correct picks. We shall see how Appalachian State, Notre Dame and the others do. Not a huge fan of super late Cal games, but one upside is getting to watch some of these games before I head to the tailgate(s).

Ruey Yen: (Houston) Going with a top 10 team vs. an unranked team with a reasonable spread feels like a good decision.

boomtho: (Houston) Felt like the safest pick out of all of these. Man there are some good games, though!

WILD CARD: UPSET OF THE WEEK

Texas-San Antonio (19 point underdog vs. Arizona State) [3]

Colorado (20 point underdog @ #4 Michigan) [3]

Mississippi State (13.5 point underdog @ #20 LSU) [3]

Ohio (27.5 point underdog @ #15 Tennessee) [4]

North Dakota State (FCS opponent @ #13 Iowa) [4]

Idaho State (FCS opponent @ Oregon State) [4]

Idaho (25 point underdog @ Washington State) [4]

Hawai'i (24.5 point underdog @ Arizona) [4]

South Carolina State (FCS opponent @ #5 Clemson) [5]

Georgia State (34 point underdog @ #9 Wisconsin) [5]

Portland State (FCS opponent @ #8 Washington) [5]

OTHER

All of the above and any others lose [1]

We have a lot of people going for it with upset picks! Only Nam goes with the safe choice. Mississippi State, one of the victims of an upset in Week 1, gets the most love here but Hawai’i and two FCS opponents get picked too. Do you believe any of these teams have a chance?

Nik Jam: (North Dakota State) I just think it would be cool since they dominate the FCS.

Ruey Yen: (Idaho State) Don't think the Beavers are that bad...but you never know.

Piotr T Le: (Mississippi State) LSU has been under-performing and Miss St. has the better QB in Chad Kelly.

Berkelium97: (Hawai'i) I'm tempted to pick the Cougs, but Arizona looked atrocious against a bad FCS team last week. A bad Hawaii team is a big upgrade over Grambling State.

CLOSING

Give us your picks for Cal, Stanford, Oregon, etc. in the comments and do you agree with our picks. Are there any takes here you want to completely rip apart (or sing the praises of)? Let us know! Hope to see you at the Cal game, or if you decide to watch these great matchups on TV instead have a great Saturday!

GO BEARS!