Gary “The Gut” Goombah – Week 15, 2024
Week 14 Recap
Thanksgiving weekend went very, very well for Gary. He got back on track with his life, his happiness, and his bankroll.
NCAA Selections last week
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-7.5) over USC Trojans – Final Score: Notre Dame won 49-35. Result: WON!
Baylor Bears (+1.5) over Kansas Jayhawks – As predicted, Baylor destroyed Kansas 45-17. Why was Kansas favored? The world may never know. Result: WON!
IRON BOWL: Alabama Crimson Tide (-11.5) over Auburn Tigers – Final Score: Alabama 28-14. Result: WON!
THE GAME: Ohio St. Buckeyes (-20.5) over Michigan Wolverines – We were very, very wrong about “The Game”. How could Ohio State lose on their home field against an average Michigan team? Sad performance by Ryan Day’s crew. Final Score: Michigan 13-10. Result: Lost
TCU Horned Frogs (-2.5) over Cincinnati Bearcats – Final Score: TCU won 20-13. Result: WON!
LOCK of the WEEK : OLD OAKEN BUCKET – Indiana Hoosiers (-28.5) over Purdue Boilermakers – Last week we wrote: “Gary sees the Hoosiers destroying their Indiana rivals, the Boilermakers.” – Final Score: Indiana 66-0! Result: WON!
Gary’s “Pick 6” NFL Selections
Indianapolis Colts (-2.5) over New England Patriots – The Colts won, but only by one point, 25-24. Result: Lost
Minnesota Vikings (-3.5) over Arizona Cardinals – The Vikings won, but only by one point, 23-22. Result: Lost
Washington Redskins (-5.5) over Tennessee Titans – Final Score: Washington won 42-19. Result: WON!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-6.5) over Carolina Panthers – Final Score: Tampa Bay won by three points in overtime, 26-23. Result: Lost
Buffalo Bills (-6.5) over San Francisco 49ers – Final Score: Buffalo destoyed San Fran in the snow on Sunday Night Football, 35-10. Result: WON!
Denver Broncos (-5.5) over Cleveland Browns – Final Score: Denver won by nine points, 41-32. Result: WON!
Week 14 Results: 8-4 (66.7%) Overall; (5-1 NCAA, 3-3 NFL)
Season Results: 78-82-2 (48.8%) Overall; ((40-43 (48.2%) NCAA, 38-38-2 (50%) NFL, 0-1 CFL))
Gary’s Week 15 Selections
NCAA Selections – Conference Championship Saturday
Big 12 Championship (Dallas, TX) – Arizona State Sun Devils (-1.5) over Iowa St. Cyclones
MAC Championship (Detroit, MI) – Miami (OH) Redhawks (-1.5) over Ohio Bobcats – Gary put in his pick long before I wrote this Preview. Believe me, we have not checked on the score, even though the game started at 11am central, so it’s probably halftime right now. PICK: Miami of Ohio
SEC Championship (Atlanta, GA) – Texas Longhorns (-2.5) over Georgia Bulldogs – Back in October, these teams played in Austin, TX. UGA dominated on the road, winning 30-15 with a scary-good defensive performance. In many ways, Georgia hasn’t been the same since then. Gary doesn’t care that Dutch Lion is a fan of UGA. Gary is picking Texas and Coach Sarkisian to make the proper adjustments. PICK: Texas
Sun Belt Championship (Cajun Field, Lafayette, LA) – Marshall Thundering Herd (+5.5) over Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns – This is the rare conference championship game played one a home field. Boise State played at home last night on the Blue in the Mountain West Championship, and Louisiana will play at home tonight vs Marshall. However, Marshall is a fantastic team on the road. Marshall is 8-1-1 ATS this year. Marshall is 5-0-1 on the road this year! Marshall has won six straight overall, including three on the road. Louisiana is 4-2 at home, but only 2-4 ATS. “We Are Marshall”! PICK: Marshall Thundering Herd
ACC Championship (Charlotte, NC) – SMU Mustangs (-2.5) over Clemson Tigers – SMU is the real deal. Even though they need to travel from Dallas all the way out to the Eastern time zone for their conference championship, the Atlantic Coast Conference, we think they are simply better than Clemson. The Tigers are really good, at times, but inconsistent. SMU is 11-1, with their only loss way back in Week 3 vs BYU. Since then, the Mustangs have reeled off nine straight wins. Clemson is 9-3, with losses to Georgia in the opener (34-3), Louisville on November 2 (33-21), and South Carolina last week (17-14). Obviously anything could happen. Gary is going with SMU. PICK: SMU
B1G Championship (Indianapolis, IN) – Oregon Ducks (-3.5) over Penn St. Nittany Lions – This feels like a Rose Bowl. Remember the 1994/’95 Rose Bowl? Oregon was at the beginning of their run as a successful program on the West Coast back then. PSU won 38-20 behind KiJana Carter, Kerry Collins, and Bobby Engram. So this feels like a Rose Bowl matchup, only this is in the B1G Championship. Kinda weird. Oregon is undefeated and #1 (12-0). Penn St. (11-1) has only lost once, to Ohio St. back on November 2 (20-13). PICK: Oregon
Gary’s “Pick 6” NFL Selections
Atlanta Falcons (+5.5) over Minnesota Vikings – You think Kirk Cousins wants to destroy his old mates? Gary does. So does Marc Lawrence. In his preseason “Playbook” Preview Guide, Marc advised to “PLAY ON: Atlanta at Minnesota”. Gary agrees with this selection. PICK: Atlanta
Carolina Panthers (+13) over Philadelphia Eagles – This is a huge point spread. We’re not advising upset, but “The Gut” thinks this is a strong ATS play because the Panthers have been playing pretty good lately, while this is a classic “trap” game for Philly as they may overlook this one because they host Pittsburgh next week. PICK: Carolina
Miami Dolphins (-6.5) over New York Jets – Earlier this season, Gary kept picking the Jets, since they seemingly had a good roster. Well, that didn’t work out, for many reasons. Meanwhile, Miami has been quietly good since QB Tua Tagovailoa returned from his most recent concussion (3-3 in their last six, including 3-1 over their last four). PICK: Miami
Arizona Cardinals (-2.5) over Seattle Seahawks
Buffalo Bills (-4.5) over Los Angeles Rams – Might as well keep riding the hot hand. Buffalo (10-2) is en fuego, winning seven in a row. The Rams are mediocre (6-6). PICK: Buffalo
Los Angeles Chargers (+3.5) over Kansas City Chiefs – How many times can we say it… the Chiefs are overrated. They’ve won an NFL record 9? straight one-possession games? It’s something like that. Kansas City is 11-1 S/U but only 5-7 ATS. L.A. is 8-4 S/U AND 8-4 ATS. PICK: Los Angeles Chargers
That’s it for Week 15. Let’s keep going with our hot streak. Good luck with your wagers! Thank you once again to Marc Lawrence’s Playbook Magazine for his expert advice. Great Preview…. poor cover choice.
“Whether rich or poor, thou shalt gamble more” – Gary “The Gut” Goombah’s mantra
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