“Oh baby, things are heating up now.”- Brent Musburger

If there was a week to take your eyes off the Saturday game, it would be this one. The matchups are intriguing, and the games have the potential to be exciting, but this weekend lacks heavy-hitter matchups. The heavy-hitter matchups will feature in Week 5. Don’t get me wrong, Auburn/ Oklahoma, Illinois/ Indiana, Tulane/ Ole Miss, Texas Tech/ Utah, Michigan/ Nebraska, and Arkansas/ Memphis are destined to be great games. I just don’t see many games with playoff implications. Again, the heavy hitters are next week: Penn St/ Oregon, Ohio St/ Washington, and Alabama/ Georgia along with a slate that looks similar to this one.

Point is that there is a time for everything. This Saturday could be for something else other than football, and I don’t think much would be missed.

Before getting to the fresh picks for this week, here are last week’s results.

Ten Fresh Picks Week 3 Results:

• Arkansas +9.5 W
  • vs Mississippi at 5:00 on ESPN
  • Weather: 88 Clear in Oxford
• Stanford +11 W
  • vs Boston College at 8:30 on ACC Net
  • Weather: 74 Partly Cloudy in Palo Alto
• Tennessee +4.5 W
  • vs Georgia at 1:30 on ABC
  • Weather: 84 Sunny in Knoxville
• Texas A&M +6.5 W
  • at Notre Dame at 5:30 on Peacock
  • Weather: 80 Clear in South Bend
• Purdue +21.5 W
  • vs USC at 1:30 on CBS/Paramount+
  • Weather: 86 Partly Cloudy in West LaFayette
• Coastal +6.5 L
  • vs East Carolina at 5:30 on Espn+
  • Weather: 80 Partly Cloudy in Conway
• Tulane -1.5 W
  • vs Duke at 6:00 on Espn2
  • Weather: 85 Clear in New Orleans
• Tulsa +14.5 L
  • vs Navy at 6:00 on Espn+
  • Weather: 90 Clear in Tulsa
• Akron +11.5 W
  • @UAB at 6:30 on Espn+
  • Weather: 85 Clear in Birmingham
• Southern Miss +1.5 W

WEEK: 8-2

YEAR: 16-14

Well, there is a bump of improvement over the previous two weeks. We’ll take it. Whether a good or bad week, there is not time to linger as Week 4 is just around the corner.

Truth be told, this is a good week to take a break as there are some tricky lines that make zero sense to me. “It’s like two plus two equals–fish.”- “Big Short”

In the spirit of picking ten games every week, I have done so, but I do not have much conviction behind them. Simply, it’s how I would play this weekend if my life depended upon it.

Ten Fresh Picks Week 4:

• Rutgers +2.5
  • vs Iowa Friday Night at 6:00 on Fox
  • Weather: 78 and clear in Piscataway
• ASU +2.5
  • @Baylor at 5:30 on Fox
  • Weather: 88 partly cloudy in Waco
• Texas Tech +3.5
  • @Utah at 10am local on Fox
  • Weather: 78 and partly cloudy in Salt Lake City
• North Texas +2.5
  • @Army at Noon on CBSSN
  • Weather: 83 and partly cloudy in West Point
• ECU +6.5
  • vs BYU at 5:30 on Espn2
  • Weather: low 80’at kickoff with clear skies in Greenville
• Miami (OH) +3.5
  • vs UNLV at Noon on EspnU
  • Weather: Low 80’s and partly cloudy in Oxford
• Illinois +4.5
  • @Indiana at 5:30 on NBC
  • Weather: High 70’s with a chance of showers in Bloomington
• Colorado St +3.5
  • vs UTSA at 7:30 on Fs1
  • Weather: Low 70’s and clear by kickoff in Fort Collins
• Air Force +10.5
  • vs Boise St at 5:00 on CBSSN
  • Weather: 75 and clear in Colorado Springs
• Fresno St -3.5
  • @Hawaii at Midnight on Spectrum Sports
  • Weather: Low 80’s and partly cloudy in Honolulu

“It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize how much you love them.”- Agatha Christie

Happy Birthday to the “Queen of Crime.” 9/15/1890-1/12/76

Ridiculous. That’s what these lines this week look like to me–ridiculous. Seeing such ridiculousness might make one realize that they love another, but it certainly does not make me love the picks more. Quite the opposite. In fact, I’m saying it now–this is a weekend to serve your neighbors with your dollars. Money finds it’s true purpose when it’s used to help others. I see losses in the future for anyone who picks games this weekend frivolously. Picking ten is far too many on a weekend such as this. Don’t do it.

Of the picks on this list–Rutgers, East Carolina, Miami (OH), and Arizona St are the ones I like the most, but again keep in mind, I’m not risking any nickels on any of these picks. The picks are just for fun. With that said, 0-10 or 10-0, I’m in the same boat either way.

• A fun fact about Agatha Christie–she sold more than 300 million books in her lifetime and have now surpassed two billion copies sold making her the best-selling fiction author of all time. J.K. Rowling is well on her way at 600 million so far.

Keep reading, keep smiling, keep your dollars away from gambling sites, be kind to your neighbors, and most importantly–

Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’

Whit W.