Nerds Pick Some Traditional Games - 247Sports

Down the hall from my modest office is the sprawling Almost Perfect Picks Department. I could see the Nerds gathered around the Grand Geek, all atwitter over something. Before I could make my way down to investigate what was going on in the hallway between the War Room and the break room, I saw the group break up and the Grand Geek start towards me.

“A lot of excitement today,” I began.

GG had a big smile on his face. “That’s because it’s the traditional Fourth Saturday in October,” he said.

I mentioned that around here it was usually referred to as the Third Saturday.

“I’m pretty sure my boys could have figured out a way to keep the most traditional game in the Southeastern Conference on the Third Saturday,” he said, “but that obviously proved too great a logistical barrier for the brains at the SEC office.”

After a disgusted shake of his head, he continued.

“The excitement is our tradition of passing out cigars to the boys so they’ll have them for Saturday.”

It seems to me that would be tempting fate, but he said there was nothing to worry about. “The boys are confident,” he said. “Plus they don’t light them. Really, the cigars are symbolic…based on the wisest creature.”

He must have sensed that I couldn’t connect the dots.

“White Owls,” he said, handing over this week’s worksheet.

Going all out, I thought.

For the year, the Nerds are 51-18 selecting winners (straight up), 33-30 against the points spread, and 34-29 on the over-under (combined points by both teams).

There are a couple of traditional Southeastern Conference rivalries this week, LSU-Ole Miss and Alabama-Tennessee, and another couple contrived. But it’s a light week with only five games. Here are this week’s predictions.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-5) vs. Arkansas (4-3 overall, 1-3 SEC) at Little Rock, 11 a.m. CDT on SEC Network. The betting line on this game is the same as the difficulty of finding a ticket to it: None. The Razorbacks are using the traditional SEC football cure for a losing streak with a late season cupcake. Hogs will bounce back to those glory days a few weeks back. Arkansas 49, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0.

LSU (4-3, 2-2) at Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1), 2:30 p.m. CDT on CBS. Ole Miss favored by 9 ½ ooints (-9 ½), o-u 76 ½. The Rebels are in the safe environment of their home stadium, no chance of golf ball incident. While Coach Lane Kiffin’s team has a lot of weapons on offense (though QB Matt Corral may have an injury issue), the defense needs to be much more stout for the Tigers. Speaking of stout, this is the last shot the Rebels have at LSU Coach Ed Orgeron, now beginning his unexpected farewell season. The Rebs have another close call. Ole Miss 38, LSU 31.

Mississippi State (3-3, 1-2) at Vanderbilt (2-5, 0-3), 3 p.m. CDT on SEC Network. Mississippi State -20 1/2, o-u 51. When the SEC made this pairing the cross-divisional “rivalry,” the only tradition involved was it gives two traditional SEC weak sisters a chance at victory. You have to admire the grit shown by Vandy under new coach Clark Lea, and the Commodores have an outside chance at having more fans in the stands than the opponent. Although Mike Leach’s Bulldogs have been up-and-down, even State’s down is good enough. Mississippi State 35, Vanderbilt 10.

South Carolina (4-3, 1-3) at Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2), 6:30 p.m. CDT on SEC Network. Texas A&M -21, o-u 45. Another SEC contrived rivalry crossover game, this is A&M’s second easy game following its historic upset of Alabama and the last before the Aggies host Auburn. The atmosphere at Kyle Field won’t match what it was for Bama, but it won’t matter. Texas A&M 38, South Carolina 13.

Tennessee (4-3, 2-2) at Alabama (6-1, 3-1), 6 p.m. CDT on ESPN. Alabama -25, o-u 67. In building a 14-game winning streak against the Vols, Bama has had only one close call. We don’t know about the health of UT QB Hendon Hooker, who had given life to the Tennessee offense. With him the Vols have had some offensive spark (see 62 points at Missouri). The shame of last week’s Tennessee fans will be a brief topic of discussion, but it won’t affect the outcome of Alabama’s homecoming game. Alabama 45, Tennessee 17.

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Nerds Pick Some Traditional Games - 247Sports
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