The marquee matchup of this weekend sees the surprising Miami Hurricanes face their first true test of the season when they travel to Clemson Saturday night to take on the perennial title contender Tigers, and the No. 1 team in the country led by Heisman Trophy favourite Trevor Lawrence.

Also, The Red River Showdown takes place at noon ET on Saturday between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners, who are both looking to get back on track after tough losses last weekend.

As always, I give you the picks for what I think are the best bet against the spread and that does not always reflect the “top” games of the weekend. Here are my picks for Week 6 in Simmons vs The Spread.

 

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS @ GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS

SPREAD: Louisville -4.5
TOTAL: 64

Georgia Tech had high hopes after their opening week upset of Florida State, but that win does not hold up very well now based on the Seminoles play. The Yellow Jackets are still in a transition period from the triple option offence they used to run and are in for a tough test here in Louisville. The Cardinals have an explosive offence led by playmaker Tutu Atwell and I don’t think Georgia Tech can go score for score with them in this game. As well, Louisville is 5-1 ATS as a favourite since 2019. Let’s start the weekend right with a Friday Night cover.

THE PICK: Louisville -4.5

 

FLORIDA GATORS (4) @ TEXAS A&M AGGIES (21)

SPREAD: Florida -6.5
TOTAL: 57

When Kyle Trask took over at QB for the Gators last season the offence improved dramatically. We knew about Kadarius Toney, but TE Kyle Pitts has emerged as one of the most dangerous weapons in the NCAA and that is no hyperbole. Dan Mullen is a top-5 coach and has really turned this program into a playoff contender again. The Aggies are coming off a blowout loss to Alabama and the schedulers did them no favours in having this Gator team come to town a week later.

THE PICK: Florida -6.5

 

FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES @ NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (5)

SPREAD: Notre Dame -20.5
TOTAL: 52

The Seminoles were down at halftime last week to 1-AA Jacksonville State, and they are dealing with a whole new animal here in The Fighting Irish. Florida State is 0-6 ATS against top 10 opponents since 2017 and Notre Dame’s defence is one of the best in the country. FSU will struggle to score on them in this game. Florida State is making the change at quarterback this week to Jordan Travis who can run a bit, but the Irish defence is big step up from Jacksonville State and this has the makings of a one-sided blowout.

THE PICK: Notre Dame -20.5

 

PITTSBURGH PANTHERS @ BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES

SPREAD: Pittsburgh -6
TOTAL: 44

Pittsburgh is coming off a bad loss last week to NC State and will be out for blood this week against the Eagles. BC, on the other hand, has surprised this year and were a failed two-point conversion away from sending the ranked Tar Heels to overtime last week. Jeff Hafley has had an instant impact there, for sure, but this Pittsburgh defence is better than any team they have seen so far. This game could be a grind, but I think the Panthers defensive line is the difference.

THE PICK: Pittsburgh -6

 

MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD @ WESTERN KENTUCKY HILLTOPPERS

SPREAD: Marshall -6.5
TOTAL: 44.5

Marshall was surprised when veteran QB Isaiah Green entered the transfer portal in July, but it might have been a blessing in disguise as freshman Grant Wells has emerged.  The Marshall defence also impressed in their upset win over Appalachian State holding them to only seven points. Western Kentucky, on the other hand, had a tough battle last week and struggled to move the ball against a bad Middle Tennessee defence. Hopefully Wells can avoid Freshman mistakes as this week, WE ARE MARSHALL.

THE PICK: Marshall -6.5

 

AUBURN TIGERS (13) @ ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

SPREAD: Auburn -13.5
TOTAL: 48

Arkansas’ over/under win total going into the season was one, so they have already reached that with the upset win over Mississippi State last week. However, this is a big letdown spot for the Razorbacks and Auburn will come motivated to play after being embarrassed at home by Georgia last week. Coach Gus Malzahn has a good track record of beating up on his former team, winning by an average of 33 points and another wrinkle in this is game is that Arkansas fired head coach Chad Morris last season and he is now running the offence for Auburn. Morris and Malzahn will look to use Arkansas as a punching bag here and pour it on them.

THE PICK: Auburn -14

 

BEST OF THE REST

DUKE BLUE DEVILS @ SYRACUSE ORANGE

THE PICK: Syracuse +2.5

Let’s be honest, neither of these teams are the cream of the crop in the ACC this year. However, Syracuse played a tough Pittsburgh team well and put up 37 in their upset win over Georgia Tech. I’m going to stick with the home dogs here as Duke has struggled so far this season.  

 

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL PANTHERS @ MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS

THE PICK: FIU -4

A backdoor cover by the Blue Raiders last week does not alter my opinion that they are simply a bad team. I do not see them competing with a solid program two weeks in a row. Butch Davis is a quality coach for the Panthers – the evidence is his upset win over his old team and cross-town rival, the Miami Hurricanes, last season.

Just remember: good teams win, but great teams COVER!

WEEK 5 RECORD: 3-4-1

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