College Football

Week 9 shapes up with a lot of interesting plays. Making my first lock of the year bet and several other solid plays.

SMART BET LOCK: BYU vs GEORGIA TECH UNDER 50.5. Several reasons to love this play. First, BYU travels cross country for the second time in as many weeks, which should hurt their overall level of play. Second, BYU’s offensive line is really beat up after several key injuries continue to mount against them, Including the key loss of their center. Thridly, BYU’s strongest asset, their Defense I believe ranked 6th in country against the run, will square off against the one dimensional rushing attack of GT. Finally, this is a meaningless game for both teams, so a good reason they could come out completely flat. This is also GT’s break from the ACC schedule so there really isn’t a lot for them to get excited about here. I love the under here for a strong 2 unit play.

Ohio State (PK) over Penn State: Admittedly, PSU has played better than anyone really expected. You have to respect the effort and coaching of this team. To me though, there are way to many flaws in the PSU line-up when compared straight-up against OSU. OSU cannot be happy with the way they played the last couple of weeks. I expect a really focused squad here on the road. I still believe OSU has one goal and that is to go undefeated the rest of the way. Honestly, I don’t see anyone on the rest of their schedule that can beat them. I am calling for a blowout by early thrid quarter. PLAY ON OHIO STATE for 2 units.

Florida at GEORGIA (+6.5): Admittedly, Florida has looked progressively better with …

Here are the games that I LOVE this weekend:

Friday Night Weeknight Guarantee (1-0-0):

Utah State (+7.5) vs. BYU W

Saturday Locks (2-2-0):

Northwestern (+10) vs. Illinois W

Air Force (+3.5) vs. Navy W

Kent State vs. Ohio (-16) L

Auburn vs. South Carolina over 59.5 L

Saturday Normal Plays (1-3-0):

North Carolina vs. East Carolina (+7) L

Nebraska (+10) vs. Wisconsin L

Notre Dame (-12) vs. Purdue W

Baylor (-3.5) vs. Kansas State L

 …

Glad to be back on the football scene, definitely the best time of the year for sports in my opinion.

Brock Osweiler threw for 262 yards with a 71.8 completion percentage in week one.

I am typing this article up at 5:04 pm ET and currently the line we have for this game is Arizona State giving 10 to Missouri. The line opened up at seven and has now bounced to ten. When it was at seven I loved the Arizona State pick, but now that it’s ten, ehhh I think I’m going to lay off betting on the spread. Instead, I see a lock in the under. The obvious reason behind this pick is due to the fact that yes, Missouri did only put up ten points against the MAC Miami Redhawks. Missouri just outgained the Redhawks getting 291 yards of offense compared to Miami’s 270.

Then there are the number of injuries for Arizona State. Cornerback Omar Bolden, linebacker Brandon Magee, and wide receiver T.J. Simpsons are just a few of the key injuries racked up on their sideline. Missouri also has Jacquies Smith and Will Ebner out for them who are two key players.

The under has hit in six of Missouri’s last seven games. The under has hit in four of Missouri’s last five road games. The under has hit in nine of Arizona State’s last eleven non-conference games.

I like the under in this one, seems a lock.

Prediction: Missouri 17 – Arizona State 24

Play: Under 52.5…

Florida International Golden Panthers vs. Toledo Rockets
Both of these teams are very happy to be playing in a bowl game this year. Florida International started playing their best football toward the end of the season. They finished their season with a very impressive 4-1 SU

Page won't be enough for the Rockets tonight.

record. On the other hand, Toledo lost their starting quarterback Austin Dantin during their match-up with Eastern Michigan, a game in which they came out victorious.

Toledo just isn’t that good on defense. They allowed 130 yards per game this year along with 25 touchdowns on the ground. The only thing they have going for them is their pass rush (irony), with 27 sacks on the year. So they do oppose at least a threat on defense. FIU made a very large improvement on its run defense cleaning up about 75 yards from what they allowed in 2009.

These two teams have split their two games from the past two seasons. I see Florida International still coming out on top tonight though. I see a lot of people on Toledo tonight, yes Page is very good and explosive, but just him will not win the game tonight for the Rockets.

Prediction: Golden Panthers 34 – Rockets 24

Pick Against the Spread: Florida International (-1.5)…

Utah Utes vs. Boise State Broncos (-16.5)

Here is some information about tonight’s game. Boise State’s defense is ranked fourth in the nation, that includes both scoring defense and overall defense. Utah will be in trouble if they look to run the ball tonight as Boise

Finishing fourth in the Heisman race, Kellen Moore looks to end the Utes' nine-game bowl win streak.

State is ranked sixth against the run. Kellen Moore finished fourth in the Heisman voting. Although he may not have the strongest arm, he makes great decisions and is very accurate throwing the ball. He finished with 3,506 passing yards, 33 touchdowns, and with those 33 touchdowns he only threw five interceptions. Utah was once ranked 6th in the AP Poll after opening up to an 8-0 start, saw their BCS Bowl dreams crushed with back-to-back losses to TCU and The Fighting Irish. They have won nine straight bowl games, with the first two actually being won in Las Vegas, where tonight’s game is being played.

Utah can play some stellar defense. It really just depends what team shows up. They allow under 20.0 points per game. As stated earlier, Boise State has a very good defense as well. The last time these two teams met, Boise won handily 36-3, and I see another similar score, low. Out of Boise’s last five games, four of them have gone under the total. Defenses will step up tonight.

Prediction: Broncos 35 – Utes 17

Pick: Under (58)

…

Buffalo Bulls @ Ohio Bobcats (-15.5)

Tonight features a game where the Buffalo Bulls, coming off a three game losing streak, will travel to a very good team in the Ohio Bobcats. Buffalo hasn’t faced much competition, and will be challenged tonight. The Bills won’t know just

Bobcats' offense has been hot.

how bad they are until they face Akron and Eastern Michigan in their last two games of the season, another two very bad teams, Akron being at about as low as it gets.

No team has a serious edge over the other in the head to head matchup. Last year the Bobcats won by a field goal. Since the end of September though, Ohio is 5-0 SU and is tied for first in the MAC East. The Bobcats average 341 yards per game and about 30 PPG. They have scored at least 30 points in each of their last five games.

I think Ohio should win easily. The Bobcats are 5-0 ATS in their last five November games, as well as 5-1 ATS in their last six overall.

Prediction: Bobcats 34 – Bulls 13

Pick Against the Spread: Bobcats -15.5…

I apologize to my FF, Faithful Followers, for the split in the NC State FSU game. There should have been multiple extra scores in the game, but hey that’s the game of football. Today I have done a lot of researching and a few things have caught my eye. Saturday will be the day of the OVER.

1.) Tennessee Over 49

- I like the over in this game. That is all to be said for this one.

2.)Florida Over 47.5

-I like the over in this game because of a few different statistics: Florida’s games have gone over 10 out of the last 11 times after allowing 200 yards rushing their past game, they are 4-1 after allowing 20 points or less in their previous game, 4-1 after an ATS loss, and the Gators games go over in 8 of their last 10 games at neutral sites. Georgia’s games have gone over in 5 or their last 6 games as favorites, and the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games while playing in October. (courtesy of covers.com).

3.) Iowa Over 50.5

-Iowa’s defense is built for more interior play. They are still, for the most part, a traditional smash mouth football type of team that the Big 10 has lost sight of. Iowa did hold Michigan’s spread attack to minimal points, but with Denard and the Wolverines being inside the red zone of the Hawkeyes  while turning the ball over proves to me that a more open type of offensive attack could do the Iowa defense in. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that either of these teams aren’t strong defensive teams, but I’m just going by stats and trends. Michigan State’s games have gone …