Football Picks Against the Spread

Sean Taylor died early Tuesday morning after being shot in the leg on Monday by a burglar. The gunshot damaged an artery and caused significant blood loss. Taylor was airlifted to a Miami hospital where he remained unconscious and in critical condition. There was hope Taylor would survive after Taylor responded to a nurse’s request to squeeze her hand, but unfortunately Taylor was unable to make it.

We are all saddened by this unfortunate event and send our condolences to the Taylor family. Sean, who was only 24, will always be remembered by his tough play and hard hits on the football field. Here is a video compilation honoring Sean Taylor’s career:

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Check out this referee explanation, I can’t believe he said that. [With Leather]

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I haven’t touched college football in about a month, but I’m certainly glad I did this week. Two spreads jumped out at me that I thought were pretty favorable: Georgia -3.5 over Georgia Tech and South Florida -9 over Pittsburgh, and they both worked out like a gem. Hopefully you were able to jump on those spreads. Tomorrow I like Tampa Bay -3 over the Redskins, but there’s a bunch of games to choose from, so look at the picks and make your best call.

In case you missed the LSU-Arkansas game, it is a game to revisit. What a thriller that one was. It took 3 OT’s before Arkansas could seal the 50-48 win. Darren McFadden rushed for 206 yards, had 3 rushing TD’s, and a passing TD to boot. This performance helped McFadden become a Heisman front-runner once again and probably solidified his spot as the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Here are the ESPN highlights of the game if you missed it.

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There are a few week 13 college football games that I like tomorrow. If you’re looking for the Week 12 NFL previews, you can get to those by following the link. Here are the NCAA football games that I like.

Georgia Bulldogs -3.5 @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The 9-2 Bulldogs have been great. They’ve won 3-straight games over ranked opponents by an average of 16 points. They beat Florida by 12, Auburn by 25, and Kentucky by 11. Their only losses are to Tennessee and South Carolina, two very solid teams. Georgia Tech is 7-4 (4-4 in the ACC) and don’t impress me too much. They were beat up by Virginia Tech at home 27-3 and are coming off a mere 2-point win over a weak North Carolina team.

Prediction – Georgia defeats Goergia Tech – 24-10

Georgia Moneyline – Confidence 4/5
Georgia -3.5 Spread – Confidence 4/5 (Bought line at -3)

South Florida Bulls -9 @ Pittsburgh Panthers

South Florida outmatches Pittsburgh in all offensive and defensive categories. After losing 3 straight (to UConn, Rutgers, and Cincinnati), the Bulls have gotten things back on track with big wins over Syracuse (41-10) and Louisville (55-17). Pittsburgh does nothing to impress me. They’ve lost to Connecticut by 20, Louisville by 7, and Virginia by 30, but they’ve kept it close at Rutgers, only losing by 4. They should struggle offensively against this Bulls defense and hopefully the Bulls offense can keep things going.

Prediction – South Florida defeats Pittsburgh – 27-13

South Florida Moneyline – Confidence 4/5
South Florida -9 Spread – Confidence 3/5…

Here is an absolutely hilarious article i came across at Pulled My Groin:

Athletes look that like animals

Check it out.…

Here is a Peyton Manning commercial I just saw that was absolutely hysterical. Need a pep talk about your gut? Listen to this.

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It’s usually a dumb idea to bet on a game just because it happens to be televised.  Usually ESPN’s Thursday Night College Football game is a game I always want to bet on to start off the betting weekend.  It’s so tempting to bet on, but unless you have a great feeling about the game, it’s in your best interest to not bet on the game and live to fight another day.

Last night’s game between No. 2 Boston College and No. 8 Virginia Tech is a prime example.  The line was set at Virginia Tech -3.  I was thinking it would be a low scoring game, that Virginia Tech’s defense would give Boston College trouble, and that taking VT at -3 would be a safe play because they were the home team and playing on Thursday night — it’s usually a great winning combination in college football.  If I would have taken Virginia Tech, I would have ended up in a very poor mood.  Instead, I used a little discipline and intuition and decided to pass on the game.  Great call.

If you took Boston College, you were sweating the game out until the final minutes of the game.  If you took Virginia Tech, you thought you were sitting pretty good for the first 58 minutes of the game.  Tech had a 10-point lead through the majority of the game, if BC happens to score, the worst that could happen is a push right?  Wrong!  BC recovers an improbable onside kick, marches down the field, and scores the game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds left to play.

This is a prime example of the rule that if you think the game will be close and could go either way, don’t …