Splash Inc. vs. The Pundits: NCAAF

Every week during the 2023 NCAA college football season, Spash is going to publish our user’s consensus picks for four games, and see how Splash Inc. users compared picking winners against some of the top pundits in college football. We're including users across RunYourPool, OfficeFootballPool, and Splash to go head-to-head against some of the industry's 'best'.

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This is how things turned out in Week 1 of 2023. Let’s go!

Utah (-4.5) over Florida

Utah made USA Today ‘a little bit nervous’ when they picked Florida +4.5 in this game. Yet, the Utes covered the spread and took this one going away, 24-11, exactly as 67.9% of Splash users predicted.

Utah’s defense did exactly enough to win this game, and Florida’s offense did not do nearly enough to challenge them. In picking the game, USA Today hedged its bets, writing:

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Umm, nope! This was a defensive battle (just 35 points scored) and Florida lost +13 ATS. Splash users were straight up smarter than USA Today’s pundit on this one. Splash 1 - Pundits 0. Onto the next one!

Rutgers (-6.5) over Northwestern

Fox Sports liked Northwestern +6 points in this game. Splash users were 67.4% convinced 6.5 points wouldn’t do it, and they were right.

Rutgers won this game 24-7 by defending the run and creating turnovers. Why did Fox Sports fail on this one? They predicted using 2022 data, which is baseless in 2023.

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Fox Sports hit the moneyline on this game, but lost out to Splash users ATS. Let’s split the points. Splash 1.5 - Pundits .5 -- Onto the next one!

Minnesota (-7.5) over Nebraska

FanNation and SI picked Minnesota to cover this spread in Week 1. Splash users thought otherwise to the tune of 57.5% -- we were right.

Minnesota never got close to covering the spread in this game. The truth is, Nebraska QB Jeff Sims is no passer, but he does not need to be in this offense. So, why do pundits miss legacy systems so often? Knucklehead-ery, my friends.

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Despite four turnovers, Nebraska easily covered the spread and broke the over/under. What does that mean for Coach Prime’s Colorado Buffaloes in Week 2? Dunno, but Week 1 is now Splash 2.5 - Pundits .5

Florida St. (2.5) over LSU

Deadspin picked LSU straight up and piled on, picking them ATS by six. Splash users were a whole bunch smarter, picking Florida State by +2.5, while the Seminoles went on to win by a score of 45-24.

LSU proved again and again that there is no ‘d’ in ‘Louisiana’ while offensive pivot Jayden Daniels put up a QBR of just 57.6 -- about what you’d expect from a DII walk-on with a decent arm.

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Splash users beat the pundits again on this bet, to go Splash 3.5 - Pundits .5 so far this season. Let’s get into it again next week!