We didn’t strike out last week, but it wasn’t a great effort.
Week 1 of the college football season is a lot like the NFL season. It’s difficult to prognosticate based on preseason banter, with no real idea how the teams will adjust to game-time situations.
With a week under our belt, we’re ready to battle back to over .500. Here’s our five Lockness Monsters for college football’s week 2.
Last week: 1-4 ATS
Kentucky at South Carolina (-8)
Why do we love Kentucky so much? Not sure, but the Wildcats will sneak up on teams this season in the SEC, and it will all start at South Carolina.
The betting public isn’t quite conducting the Wildcat hype train yet, with the line actually moving from 7.5 to 8 points from the opening line, but we’re not concerned. We hate siding with the public anyway. We’re not only Against the Chalk; we’re Against Conformity, too.
Kentucky’s offense will move the ball against South Carolina. We know what the Gamecocks did against North Carolina, but we still can’t get last year’s defensive product out of our head.
The Wildcats jump out to an early lead and play a see-saw battle from there. — Go against the chalk with Kentucky
Memphis (-14) at Kansas
This isn’t your dad’s or even older brother’s Memphis squad. The Tigers are good and deserved to be favored.
Memphis will feature a dynamic offense and it’s riding an eight game winning streak dating back to last season.
With that being said, you’re telling me I get two touchdowns at home against a non-power five conference? Sign me up.
The Jayhawks are not good, but they should be able to score against the Tigers. We’re not thinking the Jayhawks will win this game, but even if Memphis gets ahead by three touchdowns, we’re going with Kansas to gobble up some garbage time touchdowns en route to a cover. — Go against the chalk with Kansas
Minnesota (-5) at Colorado State
We know what Minnesota did last week against TCU. That’s why we like the Rams in this one.
The overreaction brigade is out in full force after the Golden Gophers hung with the Horned Frogs. We knew the defense would still be solid, but where was the offense in week 1?
Going into the season, we predicted the offense would take a step back. And against TCU, it did just that.
The Gophers were pedestrian on offense, going for less than 200 yards passing. The rushing was better at 144 yards, but we don’t see much optimism in that offense, especially in its first road game.
The Rams have talent and the public is overvaluing Minnesota. — Go against the chalk with Colorado State
Oregon at Michigan State (-4)
It’s usually not wise to predict against Oregon, especially as an underdog. We haven’t seen the Ducks as an underdog since 2011, but they belong there in this game.
Michigan State is the more advanced team at this part of the season. We mentioned in the preseason that at some point the Ducks would have to take a step back from Chip Kelly’s years, because no matter how good Mark Helfirch was, he isn’t as good in the recruiting or tactician game.
We believe this year, the chinks in the Ducks armor will start to show, and this is the first game the public may take notice. The Spartans are more physical and we have more trust in Connor Cook than Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams.
Oregon’s defense was terrible last week. That’s not just a one-week blunder. Look for that to continue. — Go chalk with Michigan State
Boise State (-3) at BYU
We’d like to thank BYU for being the only team to cover for us last week. Even before the miracle Hail Mary, we had that in the bag, so this week we’re showing our appreciation by picking against them.
The Broncos didn’t look great against a Washington team that should struggle this season, but we’re expecting a letdown for the Cougars.
BYU won the game last week, but lost its starting quarterback. We’ve heard abbot how good the backup is, but we have a sneaking suspicion it won’t be as good of a situation as with Taysom Hill.
