Editor’s Note: Guest post by Hayden King
Well, I think every single week of this season I’ve lost 5 games on my picks. Last week’s total was 11-5, which brings my overall record to 69-35. The percentage on picks is still at about 66%, but I’m looking for a 100% this week (fingers crossed).
Wins for the week: Duke, Yale, Georgetown, UNC (which I had flipped from Brown as of the Senior announcement), Colgate, Rutgers, Boston, Air Force, Notre Dame, Hopkins, Virginia.
Losses were a little bit surprising this week, but I have one note I think everyone needs to hear.
The Ivy League is down. Cornell, Harvard, and Penn all lost this week despite being higher ranked than all of the teams they faced. Princeton lost too, but Rutgers was higher ranked than them and proved to be the better team coming out with a win in overtime.
Do the Ivy’s actually suck? Probably not, but having any of them in the top 7 is a mistake. I’m not falling for their fraudulence anymore, and unless you want to lose money on games they’re supposed to win: I’d recommend you all do the same.
Week 5 Games of the Week Recap
I’ve been running this section for three weeks now, and the record is at 7-2 with three games picks per week. Week one brought a 3-0 finish, week two and three were 2-1 .
Who lost? Well, Cornell proved they’re definitely an Ivy league team losing to Penn State 10-6. Mind you: Penn State is an incredible team and deserves a Top 5 spot in the collegiate ranking with 3 Top 20 wins and their only loss coming from Villanova. Coach Tambroni might have his best team yet in the 2023 squad.
The big takeaway from this game is the Ivy’s have no place in the top 5 rankings. They’re going to start beating each other over the next few weeks as conference play starts, and you might convince yourself an Ivy team is representative of a top 5 team. Set a reminder for May. The Ivy’s are dead as a powerhouse in 2023.
I’ll stop ragging on the Ivy’s a little bit here, and give some much deserved recognition to Princeton for the game they put on against Rutgers on Saturday. I said Rutgers would wipe the floor with Princeton, which I was wrong about as Rutgers pulled out the win in overtime.
They showed they can compete with more aggressive teams, and I think they bounced back from their loss last week. However, Rutgers showed their dominance in this matchup and were able to pull out the win to jump to #6 in the Polls.
Finally, the Irish freight train kept rolling. Notre Dame smoked Ohio State 16-3, and boy was it a bad day to play in the scarlet and grey. I don’t have much to say, besides Notre Dame should be ranked #1. They’ve beaten Maryland, Ohio State, and Georgetown and I think they’ll beat Virginia in two weeks.
Week 6 Games of the Week
First up, I’m picking Duke over UNC on Friday. I think Duke has a fantastic team this year, and they’ve earned their #4 ranking. UNC has been looking hot the last few weeks, but Duke will be too much for the Tar Heels at Home. Doubting there will be good odds on this game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Duke wins by 5+.
My second pick of the week will be Harvard over Brown. Harvard’s hurting from their loss to Michigan, and I think they’re going to come out with a vengeance against Brown. The rivalry of the Ivy’s is starting this week, and I think this will be the biggest spread of the week as Harvard takes advantage of Brown’s suspended seniors.
Finally, I think Maryland can beat Virginia on Saturday. I don’t think Maryland has changed much from 2022 besides losing some offensive weapons. They crushed Virginia last year because of their defense, and even though the Wahoos added weapons, I don’t know if it’s enough to compete with the defensive prowess of the Terps.
I expect this to be a close game, and I could be wrong on this pick. Virginia has everything to prove in this game, and I don’t like betting against emotions. However, this is Maryland’s chance to knock off the #1 team in the country, and I think their emotions will be just as high. File me as a Terp fan come Saturday.
Picks for the Week:
- Duke vs. UNC (Friday)–Duke
- Navy vs. Hopkins (Friday)–Hopkins
- Queens vs. Air Force (Saturday)–Air Force
- Lafayette vs. Colgate (Saturday)–Colgate
- Yale vs. Cornell (Saturday)–Yale
- Georgetown vs. High Point (Saturday)–Georgetown
- Penn State vs. Marquette (Saturday)–Penn State
- Lehigh vs. Army (Saturday)–Army
- Brown vs. Harvard (Saturday)–Harvard
- Michigan vs. Notre Dame (Saturday)–Notre Dame
- UMass vs. Rutgers (Saturday)–Rutgers
- Robert Morris vs. Jacksonville (Saturday)–Jacksonville
- Virginia vs. Maryland (Saturday)–Maryland
- Bucknell vs. Loyola (Saturday)–Loyola
- Penn vs. Princeton (Saturday)–Princeton
- Denver vs. Ohio State (Sunday)–Ohio State
- Hopkins vs. Delaware (Sunday)–Hopkins
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