The Coastal Courier’s weekly college football pick’em contest is easy, fun and free. Play at www.coastalcourier.com

Welcome to the latest installment of the Coastal Courier’s weekly college football pick-em contest, where pickers are competing to win a $2,500 vacation card and bragging rights.

Among the Coastal Courier’s VIP’s participating are general manager Kathryn Fox, sponsor Tyler Arnold, advertising operations manager Lori McCampbell and the absented-minded editor himself, Jeff Whitten.

McCampbell (LM) and Whitten (JW) provide the incisive expert commentary again this week.

LM: It seems as if Magic 8 Ball was not the best approach for week eight since I gave up eight of those 15 games! There was something wrong with my eight ball and I will be sending it back due to that manufacturer’s defect. Who in their right mind would have thought Penn State could do that much damage to Harbaugh’s Wolverines? Where did my Kentucky Wildcats go?

That bye week really set them back, I mean they struggled to even get that one TD on the board… Jeff, you almost had a better week than me for once in this competition. Even with my lazy approach last week we were equals as far as accuracy for week eight. Looks like Kbell and a few others have stretched their lead amongst the Courier players. Moving on….

Week nine will be just as interesting as week nine. I should probably actually look at some stats this week but somehow my strategy has failed me the past couple of weeks so I’m going to take yet another approach to this week’s picks for the top 15 matchups. The good ole’ fashion coin toss!

JW: Good choice. I think that’s how Jimmy the Greek did it. Oh, and for the unenlightened, I missed a couple weeks of picks. Otherwise, I’d be No. 1.

Let’s rock and roll.

Miami vs. North Carolina
LM: Heads Miami wins, tails Miami loses… Tails! North Carolina wins.
JW: You’re so going down. Miami is too good this year to be buffaloed by a mere coin flip. I hope. Hurricanes win.

Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia
LM: Heads OK State wins, tails OK State loses… Heads! OK state wins.
JW: Mike Gundy’s hair style is the real winner. If I had hair, it would be Gundy-ized. Cowboys win.

California vs. Colorado
LM: Heads CAL wins, tails Cal loses… Tails! CAL loses.
JW: I’ll go with the Beefalos from Boulder.

Michigan State vs. Northwestern
LM: Heads Spartans win, tails they lose…Tails! Northwestern wins.
JW: You need to rub that quarter in the dirt or something. Spartans win.

North Carolina State vs. Notre Dame
LM: Heads for Wolfpack victory, tails for Irish… Heads! NC State wins.
JW: You are on to something there. I’m taking the Wolfpack.

UCLA vs. Washington
LM: Heads UCLA wins, tails they lose…Tails! Washington wins.
JW: That seems likely.

UGA vs Florida
LM: Heads Georgia wins, Tails Georgia wins! Double sided coin. BULLDOGS WIN!
JW: The only two teams I dislike more than the Bulldogs are Clemson and Ohio State. Gonna pick the upset here and go with Florida.

Utah vs. Oregon
LM: Heads or Duck tails! Utah wins.
JW: What? Yeah, Utah wins.

Mississippi State vs. Texas A&M
LM: Tails! Texas A&M wins.
JW: Aggies win. I’ll buy that.

Tennessee vs. Kentucky
LM: Heads or Tails? Doesn’t matter, I’m a Wildcat! Go BIG BLUE! Kentucky wins!
JW: Big whoop. Long County could probably beat Tennessee right about now. Wildcats win.

Georgia Tech vs. Clemson
LM: Heads Tech defeats Clemson, Tails they return to their hive…Tails! Clemson wins!
JW: Dear Lord, In the name of all that’s good and proper and decent, please let Georgia Tech beat Clemson 53-0. Thank you, amen.

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma
LM: Heads Texas Tech will win, tails they lose miserably to those Sooners…Tails! Oklahoma wins. BOOMER!
JW: SOONER!

Washington State vs. Arizona
LM: Cougars are the second largest cat in North America and cannot roar! Though the wildcat is an ancestor and robust version of the domestic cat, they can eat their prey in its entirety and are not on the list of endangered species… Will the cougar population continue to decrease this week? Heads says no, tails says yes…Tails! Arizona wins.
JW: I don’t know what you just wrote, but I’m picking Washington State.

USC vs. Arizona State
LM: Heads USC wins, tails they lose… Heads! USC wins.
JW: I’ve always thought the Sun Devil is a cool mascot. I’ll go with Arizona State.

Penn State vs. Ohio State
LM: No coin toss necessary. I only cheer for two teams: My Kentucky Wildcats and whoever plays the Buckeyes… Penn State wins!
JW: Subtract Kentucky from that equation and I know what you’re saying. Ever since half of Ohio moved to Georgia I’ve been anti-Buckeye in just about everything. So, go Panthers, go Gamecocks, THWG and thanks for playing folks.

Coastal Courier leaderboard 

User        Score
KBell (GA) 88
slab (GA) 88
tisaeb14 (GA) 88
kenbran102 (GA) 88
calebb (GA) 87
Ericaanne (GA) 85
LM2017 (GA) 84
eaglechick (GA) 83
shannalat (GA) 82
wdover (GA) 82
poke36 (GA) 81
Kaypwells (GA) 81
widow622 (GA) 72
johnny171 (AR) 68
lchs1996 (GA) 66
wolves (CO) 66
collene (WV) 64
floridasuc (FL) 57
Georgeann7 (GA) 53
POPS1278 (GA) 46
5star (GA) 29
amarii (GA) 23
maudsquad (GA) 21

Courier VIP picks
Lori McCampbell 84
Kathryn Fox 72
Tyler Arnold 66
Jeff Whitten 58

You can play every week. Find the links at coastalcourier.com