Black Shoe Degenerates: Week 5

Welcome to Week 5 of Black Shoe Degenerates, your weekly gambling column written by the smartest gambling expert you know.

This week has some good games! Stanford-Notre Dame will be a good one, and West Virginia goes on the road against a tough Texas Tech team that looked really good on defense last week. But, does anyone really care? It’s all about the Whiteout this week.

But despite our focus being elsewhere, I still need to give you your expert picks. Let’s get into last week’s review.

Last week’s picks:

ARob’s week 4: 5-2 (15-15 this season)

• Penn State -28 (win)
• Buffalo -5 (win)
• Boston College -6.5 (loss)
• West Virginia -16 (win)
• Ohio State -37 (win)
• Alabama/Texas A&M over 61 (win)
• Indiana +4.5 (loss)

Pat’s pick: Stanford -2 (win, 2-2 this season)

We’re back to .500! That Boston College game... wow, I didn’t see that one coming. And I again was too optimistic Indiana wouldn’t pull an Indiana. But you have to love three double-digit favorites covering.

This week’s picks:

Indiana at Rutgers, noon

My pick: Indiana -15

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We’re 3-0 betting against Rutgers this year and I can guarantee this column will pick against Rutgers every week until Rutgers covers.

Army at Buffalo, noon

My pick: over 55

This total just seems really low. Buffalo is putting up 40.3 points per game through four games, and has earned a perfect 4-0 start. Army took Oklahoma to overtime last week in Norman, and the triple option is always hard to defend. 55 points seems like a no-brainer.

Tennessee at Georgia, 3:30 p.m.

My pick: over 52

Between this pick and the next one, we’re just going to root for as much scoring as possible. Georgia can hit this total on its own, and Tennessee might be able to put up 10 points or so I guess?

South Alabama at Appalachian State, 3:30 p.m.

My pick: over 56

Both of these teams have really high-powered offenses. South Alabama is averaging 29.3 points per game, and the Mountaineers are scoring 51.6 — good for sixth nationally. If App State can put up 38 against a top-10 team like Penn State, it can put up a lot more than that against South Alabama at home.

Ohio State at Penn State, 7:30 p.m.

My pick: Penn State +4

I don’t know, I’m a homer. My mind changes on this every five minutes. Don’t bet on this game.

South Carolina at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m.

My pick: Kentucky -2

I think Kentucky is really good. It dominated Joe Moorhead’s Mississippi State team last week, as running back Benny Snell Jr. scored four touchdowns. I don’t anticipate an average South Carolina team going into Lexington and keeping it within 2 against a crowd that will be fired up. Fun fact I learned from ESPN Stats & Info:

This is the first time Duke and Kentucky have been ranked in the same football AP poll since the Sept. 14, 1957 poll. They have been ranked in the same basketball AP poll 547 teams in that span.

Pat’s Lock of the Week: West Virginia at Texas Tech, noon

My pick: West Virginia -3.5

I am 2-0 this year when I pick road favorites so let’s keep it going. West Virginia is...a complete team? The Mountaineers can score, but they can also play pretty good defense. While I am continually told not to ride with road favorites, I am riding with road favorites because gambling makes no sense.