This is the wedding weekend. Notre Dame finally has an afternoon kickoff as a heavy favorite, the national lineup is quite weak, and you’re free to go do other things with your life. If you must. However, if you’re a true Sicko there’s always something fun to find amongst the cupcakes and bye weeks.
Actually, after going over the slate this is actually an underrated weekend with some really fun games. I was wrong!
2025 Betting Record
Against the Spread: 11-16
Straight Up: 14-13
A nice week at the 18S Sportsbook with a .500 record against the spread but I went 6-2 straight up with the perfect winning margins in the LSU and Georgia Tech victories.
Week 4 Games to Watch
All times are Eastern. Rankings are from the AP Poll.
Iowa [-2.5] at Rutgers
Friday, September 19, 8:00 PM, Fox
Before Saturday arrives, why not check out this B1G barn burner? Rutgers is undefeated and you may be surprised to see Iowa (34th) and the Scarlet Knights (46th) just 12 spots away from each other in the latest SP+ rankings. This is the 5th meeting between the schools and it’s always been an offensive challenge for Rutgers with a combined 17 points scored with a pair of shutouts. I think that streak continues.
Iowa 23
Rutgers 9
#17 Texas Tech [+3.5] at #16 Utah
Saturday, September 20, 12:00 PM, Fox
Ahh, the teams who have watched others lose so far and get to move up in the rankings based on a whole lot of nothing from their resumes. And yet, both of these teams have snuck up into the top 15 of SP+ right now. That’s amazing for Utah who was so terrible last year. I’m not sure I trust the Utes as home favorites.
This rebuild in Utah has gone well so far.
Texas Tech 35
Utah 30
Arkansas [-7.5] at Memphis
Saturday, September 20, 12:00 PM, ABC
Notre Dame travels to Fayetteville next weekend so this is the last look at the Hogs. They are coming off a disappointing loss at Ole Miss and now face a Memphis program that could move to 4-0 and squarely in the playoff conversation with a victory. Can they hang with a decent SEC team?
Arkansas 48
Memphis 32
Syracuse [+17.5] at Clemson
Saturday, September 20, 12:00 PM, ESPN
Syracuse has a top 10-ish worst defense among power programs and this smells like a get right game for Clemson coming off a really poor first 3 games. However, the thought of Steve Angeli throwing some dimes and winning in Death Valley has me so damn excited. I wish this could happen so bad. Dabo Swinney has started 2-3 on a pair of occasions but never 1-3. Can it happen??
Clemson 44
Syracuse 35
SMU [+6.5] at TCU
Saturday, September 20, 12:00 PM, ESPN2
Our 4th Noon game of the day and the 104th edition of the Iron Skillet Trophy. This rivalry is not shy about points most years. Last season, they combined for 108 points with SMU running away with with 66 of those points. It was definitely the Mustangs year in 2024 but TCU rebounded nicely from a dismal 2023 and have looked pretty good so far this season. I’ll go with the home team but with plenty of fireworks as per tradition.
TCU 58
SMU 52
#22 Auburn [+6.5] at #11 Oklahoma
Saturday, September 20, 3:30 PM, ABC
This is a big game to test how deep the SEC might be this year. So far, both the Tigers and Sooners have looked a lot better than last year and in some areas incredibly better. This is the 4th of 5 straight home games for Oklahoma and then they’re in Dallas for the Texas game. I’m going to bet on the Sooners’ defense (top 5 in the country right now by most metrics) in a close victory.
Oklahoma 24
Auburn 21
Tulane [+11.5] at #13 Ole Miss
Saturday, September 20, 3:30 PM, ESPN
Will the G4 playoff team come from the AAC and is Tulane in the mix? They will be if they can win on the road at Ole Miss. It’s been a weird year for the Green Wave. They’ve beaten Northwestern and Duke pretty solidly but narrowly escaped from South Alabama. I think this will be the game where the country finds out quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is going to be a major problem for opponents.
Elite name.
Ole Miss 38
Tulane 14
South Carolina [+10.5] at #23 Missouri
Saturday, September 20, 7:00 PM, ESPN
I’m guessing ESPN was hoping this was going to be a big ranked vs. ranked matchup in primetime. Then, South Carolina goes and gets blown out by Vanderbilt last week. Whoops. Looking back, that win over a dismal Virginia Tech team in the opener isn’t looking so hot either. By most metrics, Missouri is the far better team right now. Here’s another home win, but Missouri doesn’t cover.
Missouri 29
South Carolina 22
Florida [+7.5] at #4 Miami
Saturday, September 20, 7:30 PM, ABC
The modern Miami program would be in deep trouble with a penchant of dropping this game after they finally built some national recognition. That the spread is this close should be giving any Hurricanes fan the night sweats. From what we’ve seen with the Gators’ offense they can’t put it together and are having a hard time opening up things in the passing game. If this Miami defense is who we think they are, it’ll be more pain for Florida.
A great modern rivalry kicks off again in primetime.
Miami 30
Florida 18
#9 Illinois [+5.5] at #19 Indiana
Saturday, September 20, 7:30 PM, NBC
I’m curious to see how good this Indiana team is this year. Their schedule to date has been an abomination and here comes top 10 ranked Illinois to town. How much can someone believe in either of these teams? This has a “remember when both of these teams were ranked” history to it. Someone has to win on Saturday night, though. From what I’ve seen of Illinois they are better–although the spread has moved a lot towards Indiana this week.
Illinois 37
Indiana 31
