Outkick's Gambling Picks For Week 8 2016

About the time Missouri scored a touchdown with just over a minute to play and then proceeded to give up a kickoff return for a touchdown on an onside kick, I knew that the picks were in for a rough day. 

It was awful. 

So bad that by the end of the day I was throwing up all over myself. Literally. 

The Outkick picks posted their worst week of the year, going 3-7 to send our season record plummeting to 40-36. Yep, the week after our best week of the season we followed it up with our worst week. 

But as we enter week eight this is when all the gambling hard work pays off. This is when we get hot and take advantage of all the lessons we've learned and make Steve Wynn cry. 

This is when we break Vegas.

Yep, we're going 11-0. 

Onward!

Miami at Virginia Tech, the under 51

So far this year we have failed in every Thursday night pick I've made. 

Other men might consider that a bad sign, but I'm nothing if not persistent.

The wheels have come off the Miami offense the past two weeks and I think that trend will continue against Virginia Tech's stout defense. Meanwhile, I don't think the Hokie offense will have a tremendous amount of success against Miami's defense.  

Toss in the short week and both teams coming off tough losses and I just think this one is ugly. 

The under is the play. 

TCU at West Virginia, the over 65

Coming off a bye week TCU's offense is going to be humming and you know that West Virginia will score points at home.

Remember back when Gary Patterson was a defensive wizard?

Boy, those days seem like a long time ago. 

The Mountaineers score 42 and TCU scores 35. 

Cha ching, that's an easy over.  

Wisconsin at Iowa, the under 42.5

This is the easiest under play of the year. 

In fact, I don't even need to watch this game to tell you that Wisconsin is going to win 14-10. 

Both teams will run the ball, it will be incredibly boring, and even Wisconsin and Iowa fans will be changing the channel to see how other games are going. 

Go spend the money you're going to win on this game before it even starts. 

Illinois at Michigan -36.5

The transitive property doesn't always work in sports, but sometimes it does. Two weeks ago Michigan beat Rutgers 78-0 and last week Illinois beat Rutgers 24-7. 

This means Michigan is going to beat Illinois by 50. 

And here's the deal, I'm betting on Jim Harbaugh to cover against every bad Big Ten team he plays. And, make no mistake about it, Illinois is a bad Big Ten team. 

In fact, most of the teams Michigan is playing this year are bad. 

Do you realize that Michigan is going to play one more top 25 team all year? And it's going to be Ohio State at the end of the season?

Come on, this schedule is total crap.

But at least we can make money off it.   

Mississippi State at Kentucky +3

You know the life of a Kentucky football team is sad when Mississippi State has beaten you eight straight years. (Seriously, has Mississippi State ever beaten any other SEC school eight straight years before?)

But you don't come in to Lexington and win for a ninth straight year with a 2-4 football team, Dan Mullen!

Seriously, I know Kentucky is bad, but how in the world is Mississippi State a road favorite against anyone right now?

The wrong team is favored in this game and the Cats win outright.

That's why, say it with me, the C-A-T-S are our blood bank guarantee!

In football! 

MTSU at Mizzou, the over 71

Two things are at play here: 1. MTSU's offense is pretty damn good 2. Mizzou has proven they can score a ton of points on non Big 5 schools. So get ready for big numbers to roll in on both sides of the scoreboard. 

Mizzou wins 45-35 and the over is easily covered. 

Arkansas +9.5 at Auburn, and the over 55.5

I'm going to be honest with y'all, this line terrifies me. 

Primarily because I keep staring at it thinking, what in the world is Vegas seeing here that I'm missing? I don't think Arkansas is a world beating team by any stretch of the imagination, but a nearly double digit road underdog at Auburn? Prior to the Tigers playing Mississippi State Auburn wasn't able to score on any big five opponent.

So why do we suddenly expect them to totally dominate Arkansas? 

Especially when Arkansas's offense has proven to be fairly adept in conference games. Austin Allen can fling the ball all over the field. 

So I'm taking the Razorbacks here and the over and I see Auburn winning something like 31-28. 

Texas A&M at Alabama -18 and the over 58.5

I'm picking Alabama to beat everyone by three touchdowns for the rest of the season except for at LSU in two weeks. I know this line is huge, but I watched the Aggie defense give up nearly 700 yards to Tennessee. And Alabama shut down the Vols on defense. It's not that I think the Tide will completely shut down the Aggies -- I'm taking the over, after all -- it's just that this Alabama offense is a juggernaut right now. 

The Tide will score 45 on A&M and the Aggies will score 24 on the Tide.

Bang, the over hits with ease and so does the Alabama cover.

Ole Miss at LSU -6

I've stopped fighting it. 

LSU is unstoppable under Ed Orgeron. 

They're going to win by double digits. 

...

That's it, boys and girls, we're going 11-0!