#HLSBets CFB Week 13 Recap, Rundown, Top 25 and More!
Welcome back to #HLSBets on HLS Entertainment! This is our final regular season weekly recap as we move on to Conference Championship week and then bowl season! We will be doing #HLSBets College Football Awards and they are going to be deadly serious yet ridiculous. A few of the categories we will see in the #HLSBets CFA's are, "Worst Team to Bet On", "Best Player That Nobody Knows", and the "I Texted All of My Friends and Asked Who is the Most Overrated Player in the Country". Amazing categories I know, tune in (read on your phone) on December 12th when we unveil the awards. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @HaroldLStokes and there is still time to join the Bowl Bonus Sheet that will break down EVERY bowl game for this season including the playoffs. On to the rundown!
This incredible weekend of football kicked off with the Egg Bowl in Starkville as #9 Ole Miss just dominated Mississippi State and held off a late comeback to win 31-21. I think I have counted out SDSU about five times this season so props to them for proving me wrong once again, this time beating Boise State 27-16 on Friday. Iowa did their part to help themselves win the Big 10 West by barely beating Nebraska, just like everyone else who plays them as they've lost seven games by one score, 28-21. Arkansas finished off the season beating Missouri 34-17 in a game where Mizzou RB Tyler Badie carried the ball FORTY-ONE times. Good job Cincy you beat ECU 35-13, I don't think you realize how anti I am them making the playoffs.
Congrats to those Utah fans who kept sending me their score comparing it to Texas A&M's for some reason you beat Colorado 28-13. Have fun this weekend. In one of my favorite games of the weekend NC State scored two TDs in the last 2 minutes of the game to win 34-30. Just mechanical execution for Georgia as they steamrolled Georgia Tech with ease 45-0. I will talk about it more later but wow Michigan just proving all of us wrong and just man handling Ohio State in the second half led to a 42-27 win at home. Baylor feels like a team distracted these past few weeks as they squeak past Texas Tech 27-24.
Wake Forest you and NC State broke my little heart I just thought we would get Clemson rising from the grave to still win the ACC, but no you went out there and proved you are a legit team finishing the regular season with a 41-10 win over Boston College. Houston great tune up game before the big one, beat down on UConn 45-17. UTSA I feel like everyone but Cincy fans were rooting for you, because it hurts their argument, but you fell short at the finish line. But you didn't just fall short, UTSA fell off a bridge losing to North Texas 23-45 finishing 11-1. In an incredible game of defense the Iron Bowl did not disappoint, it took 2 overtimes and 2 dumb as dirt shoot outs but Alabama escaped the plains with a 24-22 victory. Oregon just could not stop causing penalties (10) and that and an EXPLOSIVE fourth quarter (34 points combined) kept this game tight but Oregon State could not pull the upset losing to Oregon 29-38.
I feel for Penn State fans, before last year I was indifferent if not negative towards them and after seeing this distracted two years from James Franklin this has been just pitiful performances for a team that should be competing for championships, Michigan State wins 30-27 in a beautiful snow game. We just all assumed Wisconsin was going to get to the Big Ten championship but they went out there and just had nothing for Minnesota's defense losing 13-23. Coach O going out on a high is just beautiful, heading to Destin with that 27-24 win over Texas A&M under his belt, you'll be missed coach.
In arguably the game of the weekend Bedlam was intense from start to finish, both teams trading scores all game until finally Oklahoma State put two together in the fourth to beat Oklahoma 37-33. I feel like every win for Pitt is "yay another good Pickett game and the defense didn't collapse" and the same exact thing can be said here, Pitt 31-14 over Syracuse. Clemson did not disappoint, we already knew they were not going to make the ACC Championship because of other outcomes but they went out there and drubbed South Carolina 30-0, I feel bad for whoever draws them in a bowl. Ending the season with a 45-14 win over Stanford now has Notre Dame at 11-1 and they really really have to be regretting that Cincy game. Back to back games in the middle of October were the only weak spot for the now 10-2 BYU as they won 35-31 against USC.
#HLSBets Week 13 Top 25
1. Georgia 12-0 (LW1) W 45-0 Georgia Tech
2. Alabama 11-1 (LW3) W 24-22 Auburn
3. Oklahoma State 11-1 (LW4) W 37-33 Oklahoma
4. Michigan 11-1 (LW7) W 42-27 Ohio State
5. Cincy 12-0 (LW5) W 35-13 ECU
6. Notre Dame 11-1 (LW6) W 45-14 Stanford
7. Ohio State 10-2 (LW2) L 27-42 Michigan
8. Ole Miss 10-2 (LW8) W 31-21 Mississippi State
9. Baylor 10-2 (LW9) W 27-24 Texas Tech
10. Michigan State 10-2 (LW14) W 30-27 Penn State
11. Oregon 10-2 (LW11) W 38-29 Oregon State
12. BYU 10-2 (LW18) W 35-31 USC
13. Clemson 9-3 (LW15) W 30-0 South Carolina
14. Oklahoma 10-2 (LW10) L 33-37 Oklahoma State
15. Pitt 10-2 (LW17) W 31-14 Syracuse
16. Wake Forest 10-2 (LW23) W 41-10 Boston College
17. Utah 8-4 (LW19) W 28-13 Colorado
18. Houston 11-1 (LW22) W 45-17 UConn
19. App State 10-2 (LW21) W 27-3 Georgia Southern
20. NC State 9-3 (LW24) W 34-30 North Carolina
21. Kentucky 9-3 (LWNR) W 52-21 Louisville
22. Iowa 10-2 (LWNR) W 28-21 Nebraska
23. Texas A&M 8-4 (LW12) L 24-27 LSU
24. Louisiana 11-1 (LW25) W 21-16 UL Monroe
25. Arkansas 8-4 (LWNR) W 34-17 Missouri
Bets I Should Have Won
I am using this section to talk about Ohio State. I was all set on CJ Stroud winning this game, having his Heisman moment and strolling to the College Football Playoffs. Myself and many others just assumed we were getting Georgia v Ohio State National Championship, we were all wrong. I have seen some people try to walk it back now saying they of course thought Michigan winning was a possibility but nobody was saying that last week. Michigan did not just beat Ohio State, they hung with them in the first half and then came out of halftime and just dominated them. It was like the monkey was off their back, they realized the Buckeyes are not some unstoppable force and that they deserved to be there. Aidan Hutchinson was just a one man cannon ball blowing through OSU's OL, that man just shows up in big games. Jim Harbaugh had the most savage comment of the season post game:
"Some people were born on third and think they hit a triple"
That's how you drop a quote Brian Kelly, but I guess you were just practicing for Baton Rouge.
Heisman Frontrunners
Bryce Young -200
CJ Stroud +400
Kenny Pickett +1100
Hassan Haskins +10,000
Sorry CJ you stumbled on the last lap, this is Bryce's race now. Bryce Young had his "Heisman Moment" getting the ball on the three and driving 97 yards for a TD with only a minute left in the game. Right now all Bryce has to do is survive Georgia. I do not think he has to win the game to win the Heisman, but he cannot go out there and crap the bed. He can perform average and still come out on top, but if you saw the Iron Bowl that offensive line might not be good enough to allow him to play even average. Run Bryce Run.
Is the Kenny Pickett dream alive? Everyone seems bent on not giving the Heisman to Bryce Young, and CJ Stroud just about removed himself from the conversation entirely this past weekend. If Pickett dominates Wake Forest throwing for 400 4+ TDs do not be surprised to hear his name called, especially if Alabama gets skunked.
I am not really sure what is going on with the sportsbooks. I have looked at multiple places and most have Haskins either unlisted or at +10,000. This man is now tied with everyone's single week Heisman favorite Kenneth Walker III for 5th in rushing touchdowns, and everyone else ahead of him will be sitting on the couch this Saturday. All I am saying is I am desperately trying to find somewhere to throw down a few dollars on these odds because he could go OFF against Iowa and end up in the top end of most rushing categories. Try to tell me every Heisman voter right now isn't scrambling to find someone besides Bryce to vote for.
Sell Your Stock In
Cincy
Well here it is, Cincy haters unite. This is the last opportunity for the Bearcats to prove who they really are. Yes there was a time this season when Cincy just could not beat bad teams like they should
Minor conspiracy? I (kinda) think ESPN has given marching orders to all their analysts to pump up Cincy because they essentially own the CFP and want to combat the "Power Five Bias". Teams are just better on average in the Power Five versus the Group of Five. The biggest evidence for this? ESPN choosing to have Gameday at Cincy for their matchup with 3-5 Tulsa instead of the obvious game of the weekend #12 Auburn @ #13 Texas A&M. Both games were ugly affairs that is not the point, but Auburn had just upset #10 Ole Miss and the Aggies were on a three game win streak that started with upsetting #1 Alabama. Gameday should have been in College Station.
Buy Stock In
Georgia
Oklahoma State making the CFP
Feels like I should whisper this but the Georgia sports curse has been broken this year already by the Atlanta Braves, breathe easy Bulldog fans you have to lose two. It legitimately does not matter to Georgia what happens in the SEC Championship outside of having fun, pride and a trophy, but that is why we play the game. It is time to have fun for the Georgia Bulldogs, you are the best team in the country by far. Go play loose, have fun and get ready for three more dominating Saturday's.
Fun fact I just learned according to reading the names of the games off the ESPN App, the Big 12 is the only conference championship game to have a named sponsorship. It is the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship game that Oklahoma State is going to win and slide into the College Football Playoffs, like they rightfully should after their incredible season.
Thank you so much for reading! Please be sure to click here and follow me on Twitter @HaroldLStokes, CFB regular season may be over but the NFL season is still rolling along and #HLSBets has been killing it. Starting next week this weekly blog will have a partner blog for the NFL. Be sure to hit my DM for the Bonus Bets sheet, and if you dm me the word "Cowboys" you can still get the FULL Bowl Bonus Sheet for the $10 off Black Friday price.
