The nagging nabobs of naysaying who are continually on my case for not picking against the line, or picking games they feel are like shooting fish in barrel, have been eerily quiet of late.

Yoo hoo, dudes, you up or down at your new favorite sports book in town? Or, are you still bookin’ your bets with the barkeep at your country club?

No losing weeks, two weeks in a row of 4-1 pour moi.

And, allow me to pat myself on the back — as much as I can given a bum shoulder — I’ve taken some risks. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, to coin a phrase.

Last week, it bit me in the proverbial bum.

Thanks to some coaching gaffes of biblical proportion. The Irish lost with only ten men on the field. Not once but twice in the last minute. The Dabos lost because their mismanaging HC let the clock run out. (There are more details of these miscues and more in Monday’s Pigskin Pundit.

I picked both Notre Dame and Clemson to win. Sigh.

But the Cards won big. The Cats won. And Washington State beat Oregon State for the PAC2 championship.

3-2 for the weekend. 17-8 on the season.

This weekend’s winners:

Utah @ Oregon State. For whatever reason — time zones, the whole enmity against Mormons thing, ??? — the Utes are perennially underrated. That guy Whittingham can coach. Again this season, even though they are 4-0 without their star QB, with wins over formidable Florida and UCLA. The Beavers, who fell in the PAC2 title game last week, have a grudge against all those “brother” schools that left them and Wash State in their rearview mirrors. It’ll be close but the Beehivers keep their CFP hopes alive, even while playing in the soon to be RIP toughest league in the land.

Virginia @ Boston College. What we have here is a “battle” among a couple of truly woeful ACC bottom feeders. Against a pretty hard schedule the Cavaliers remain winless. The Eagles nudged Holy Cross, and, but for too too too many stupid penalties, might have felled Florida State. But . . . they . . . didn’t. In a game that only Bob Cousy and I might be paying attention to, home team eeks out the W. Their QB is a comer.

LSU @ Ole Miss. I like to predict the winners of games to be teams I can root for, even if they don’t happen to be among my faves. But c,mon, are there any coaches in the sport less likeable than Brian Kelley and Lane Kiffin? Allow me to answer. No, no, there are not. Yet, silly me, I’m venturing down to the Delta anyway. But this is a storied rivalry. The neighboring schools have battled 106 times since 1894. They played twice in ’59 season, with a rematch in the Sugar Bowl (Ole Miss 21-0) after Billy Cannon’s fabled Halloween night 89 yard punt return gave the Tigers a 7-3 W. So who do I hate less this Saturday? The Boys From the Bayou. Gumbo and soft shell crab and beignet and Mosca’s Chicken a la Grandé, c’est moi.

Florida @ Kentucky. To be honest — something I alway strive for except when I’m lying for grand effect — this the toughest game on the card. Florida has shown signs of finally beginning to commence to start meeting the promise of the Billy Napier Era. Maybe. UK, as the Cats have evolved under Mark Stoops, remains never really spectacular but ever steady. After years and years and years of failure against the Gators, the Wildcats have won 3 of last 5 in the series. Kentucky goes Krogering. Make it 4 of 6.

Louisville @ NC State. Remember this, which I say all the time when I’m scared of a Cardinal game. I Do Not Pick Against Louisville. (Except every once in a great while.) The Wolfpack, with their heralded Brennan Armstrong/ Robert Anae reunion, have been underperforming. So far. The worry wart inside tells me that offensive duo will start clicking Friday night in prime time on The World Wide Leader. But . . . I Believe . . . the Cards with trickerate their way to victory.

— c d kaplan