Conference Championship week is upon as the wacky and wild 2020 season heads to its climax. The College Football Playoff will be all sorted outcome Sunday, headlined by a massive matchup in the ACC title game that could wind up deciding two of the four playoff participants if Clemson can exact revenge on Notre Dame. In the SEC, the Bama train should continue to chug along against an overmatched Florida squad while #5 Texas A&M will wait patiently to see if the dominoes fall their way to sneak into the top four. Below are my picks for the weekends biggest matchups:
Last Week’s Picks: 5-0
5 Texas A&M (-14) at Tennessee
No real offense to Tennessee, but this spread is surprisingly low for a Texas A&M squad that has one last chance to make a statement to the playoff committee that they deserve that coveted fourth and final spot. The Volunteers have frankly been awful for about eight weeks now, showing a complete lack of competitiveness in every game except last week’s walk in the park against an always overmatched Vanderbilt team. Expect Kellen Mond and the Aggies to come out firing and make a statement while the underrated A&M defense smothers a lifeless Tennessee offense en route to an easy win.
The Pick: Texas A&M -14
10 Oklahoma (-5.5) vs. #6 Iowa State
Iowa State has done a tremendous job to turn their season around after losing a shocker in their season opener against Louisiana. Iowa State also has beaten Oklahoma once already this season. Iowa State is also completely undeserving of being ranked #6 at this current juncture. All of these things are true, as is the fact that Oklahoma is a much-improved team since these two met back on October 3rd. The Sooners have rattled off six straight wins since then, and the only reason I can think of for the committee putting Iowa State at #6 is so that when Oklahoma trounces them on Saturday, it will look like a massive resume booster heading into a potentially chaotic selection Sunday. Don’t overthink this one, Oklahoma is the much better team.
The Pick: Oklahoma -5.5
3 Clemson (-10.5) vs. #2 Notre Dame
The game of the season will take place in Charlotte, NC, with the ACC Championship on the line. Clemson’s streak of reaching the college football playoff requires a win in this rematch of the double OT classic in early November, and the addition of Trevor Lawrence in this one should be enough to push things back in their favor. This line, however, is completely disrespectful to an undefeated Notre Dame squad that has done nothing but look impressive all season. Is Lawrence really worth a 17.5 point swing like Vegas thinks? Probably not. Couple that with Clemson’s defense struggling more often than not this season, and it is difficult to trust the Tigers to cover a spread of that magnitude. I do think Clemson wins the game, and both teams should make the playoff as a result. However, the best bet here is for points, especially with the line set at a generous 60.
The Pick: Over 60
1 Alabama (-17.5) vs. #7 Florida
Florida has no right to still be ranked as high as #7 after last week’s pathetic loss to LSU. Enter the Alabama express, and things are going to get ugly fast for the Gators and their terrible defense. Florida probably never had a real shot in this one anyway, but they stand absolutely no chance after last week’s deflating and season-ruining loss. Alabama will be able to score at will on this swiss cheese of a defense, while the Tide’s defense has quietly made unbelievable strides over the course of the season. Even with Kyle Pitts back, the Gators won’t be able to score enough to keep this game within the spread. Roll tide, as usual.
The Pick: Alabama -17.5
