Welcome to the weekly picks column! Calling it a column when it’s really just a regular blog makes it sound official, which is a good bit since this is decidedly NOT official.

In year’s past I’ve done picks by selecting every game in a week based on the point spread. That is nigh impossible to do with any real success, so I changed it up a bit this season.

This year I’ll pick every game straight up, then just give the ATS picks I like, along with some over/under selections, a “lock” of the week (there’s no such thing as a lock, but again, platitudes), an “upset” of the week and a parlay of varying length because those are a fun way to make regrettable decisions.

I’ll keep a running total for each throughout the year.

Odds are provided by Tipico. To the picks!