Below are our picks for the weekend’s four biggest college football games. It's not just who you pick; it's how confident you are.
Every college football media outlet has its own version of a pick 'em. SB Nation’s will focus on only the biggest games of the week, as determined by us. Here are the games we’re picking this week, followed by our picks and our rules. This is a terrible week of games, if you only go by Playoff rankings, but we’re here to have fun.
No. 24 LSU at No. 25 Arkansas: Can LSU bounce back from its annual loss to Alabama? Can Arkansas maintain momentum? Can a bad run defense stop a good running game?
No. 20 USC at No. 4 Washington: Could USC be the toughest opponent left on Washington’s schedule? The Trojans have played much better since inserting QB Sam Darnold into the lineup.
Harvard at Penn: Harvard is undefeated in Ivy League play, while Penn is 4-1. A win by the Quakers could capture the conference crown. Penn lost to Princeton, 28-0, last weekend.
James Madison at Villanova: The top result when Googling this game as of Thursday afternoon? Parking information. Both are in the FCS top 10, though! JMU tends to play in high-scoring games, and the CAA title could be at stake.
| Name | Yr |  at  |  at  |  at UP |  at  | ||||
| Bud | 175 | | 6 | | 7 | | 2 | | 1 |
| Godfrey | 162 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 |
| Dan | 144 | | 8 | | 8 | | 9 | | 9 |
| Luke | 142 | | 7 | | 10 | | 3 | | 2 |
| Alex | 130 | | 10 | | 8 |  | 4 | | 4 |
| Jeanna | 125 | | 5 | | 7 | | 5 | | 5 |
| Sarah | 125 | | 5 | | 5 | | 5 | | 5 |
| Morgan | 99 | | 5 | | 10 | | 7 | | 8 |
| Jason | 96 | | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | | 1 |
| Brian | 94 | | 10 | | 3 | | 10 | | 10 |
| Bill C | 89 | | 7 | | 5 | | 7 | | 7 |
| Ryan | 87 | | 7 | | 2 | | 7 | | 7 |
| Matt | 79 | | 6 | | 6 | | 8 | | 7 |
| Spencer | 79 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 |
| Richard | 75 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 | | 10 |
| Wescott | 72 | | 2 | | 10 | | 1 | | 1 |
Here are our rules:
- We will pick the winner of all games between ranked (Playoff top 25) teams, but if there are not enough such games in a given week, we will throw in a game or two of note, so we are always picking four games per week.
- Players must assign a confidence rating from one to 10 points with each pick. If they win, they get the points added to their weekly and season total. If they lose, the points are subtracted. Yes, a player can choose the same confidence number for each game, and yes, this could result in some hilariously poor scores.
The average points wagered this week is 26, a conservative week.
Washington is by far the most popular choice this week, with 112 out of a possible 160 points wagered.
Our participants are Dan Rubenstein, Bill Connelly, Matt Brown, Morgan Moriarty, Alex Kirshner, Jason Kirk, Jeanna Thomas, Richard Johnson, Sarah Hardy, Luke Zimmermann, Spencer Hall, Bill Connelly, Brian Floyd, Ryan Nanni, Wescott Eberts, myself, and Steven Godfrey.
Your turn
Please post and track your picks in the comment section.
I'd said the highest-scoring verified commenter each week will get to pick with the staff the following week, but due to some commenters cracking the obvious flaw with week-to-week scoring, the highest-scoring commenter for the season will get to pick with us in 2017 (Week 1 is not included in this due to the initial wonky rules).
So, please post your season total each week. At the end of the season, I will verify anyone claiming to be the winner.