Tag Archives: Free College Picks

Free College Football Picks: NCAA Week 2

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After a tough week, I look to get back on track with my free college football picks. Everybody has their ups and downs, and while I’m not saying I’m the best capper in the world, I am saying that I consistently win more than I lose. That, at the very least, deserves a little credit. Hopefully I can turn it around and pull at least 7 wins this week. Here’s my set of wagers…

Clemson Tigers (+5.5) @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: Clemson’s offensive and defensive lines are so very much underrated. The D-line is straight up fitly, and ranked 5th in the nation last season against the run. The offensive line is also tough, probably a top 15 group in the country. They may have a freshman quarterback, but they also have a very talented run game to give him a helping hand. They are a nice dog going into Georgia Tech on Thursday. Tech can really run the ball, and Nesbitt has shown the ability to make the big play through the air, but I like Clemson keeping it close. C.J. Spiller is one of the most dynamic players in college football, and is a real true threat to score the ball every time he touches it. The underdog struggled on Thursday night last season, as home teams dominated the time slot. I think that changes in this one as Clemson gets close to pulling the upset.

Central Michigan Chippewas (+14.5) @ Michigan State Spartans: I know, I’m nuts, but I like the Chipps to get awfully close to pulling off this upset. I like a lot of what Central Michigan has. I love their QB, the kid is a winner. Central Michigan has either won, or lost by less than 14 points in 19 of their last 20 games. I know the Spartans are solid, but the only team that beat the Chipps by more than two touchdowns last season was Georgia. State isn’t that kind of good. Thunder Dan and his Chipps took a 19-6 loss on the chin against Arizona in Week 1, they’ll show up to play against their instate competition.

North Carolina (-4) @ Connecticut Huskies: UConn’s new starting QB, Zach Frazer, threw 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions against Ohio last week in UConn’s easy win. Last year he completed just over half his passes while throwing just 2 TDs and 6 interceptions in 83 attempts. That’s 8 interception in about 100 throws. Carolina’s defense is not softy, and they’ll put enough pressure on Zach to up those INT numbers into double digits. And UNC can take advantage of those picks. I know the Tar Heels are heavily favored with the public (72%) but every once in a while the public gets one right. This is one of those times.

Stanford Cardinal @ Wake Forrest Demon Deacons (-3): The Cardinal really struggled on the road last season, tallying their only road win at Washington (and the Huskies didn’t even win one single game). I think that trend continues. I also think the Deacons came out slow last week, and while a late push made that game a game, the couldn’t quite pull it out. One of the sharpest tossers in the game, Riley Skinner, threw three picks last week. He won’t throw one this Saturday, and that should be enough to get Wake Forrest in the win column.

Syracuse Orange @ Penn State Nittany Lions (-28.5): Greg Paulus was re-introduced to football last week, and he played well. But that was Minnesota, this is a whole different beast. The Nittany Lions didn’t lose at home last season. Not only did they not lose, but they absolutely throttled the competition. They have lots of talent on that team, stuff that will make Syracuse coaches cringe in the film room. Despite the poor value at 28.5, I still think this is a pretty good bet. With that extra half point, the books are really trying to get action on Syracuse – can’t trick me….

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-3) @ Michigan Wolverines: I don’t think ND is that good, I just think they are barely better than the Wolverines. I’m sure Michigan has loads of young talent on that team, they have a coach that knows how to recruit and a program that draws big names. However, they also have a group of players that don’t like how much time they are putting in, likely have 10 freshmen starting, and even more getting minutes, and all this against a pretty mature Irish squad. I think this one is close, but 7-10 points in ND’s favor.

East Carolina Pirates (+6.5) @ West Virginia Mountaineers: The public is loving the Mountaineers in this one. But I see a lot to like about ECU. Despite the big names and elite speed playing for West Virginia, they didn’t look that impressive to me last week. The Pirates barely got by sub-division opponent Appalachian State, but that is a tough team no matter what division they are in, and in reality the Pirates were up 29-7 going into the 4th quarter of that contest. West Virginia struggled against Liberty. Yep, Liberty. ECU got a lot out of their running game, and I’m willing to bet that continues. It would not surprise me if the Pirates pulled an upset here, thus I’ll be happy to take the 6.5 points.

BYU Cougars (-17.5) @ Tulane Green Wave: I don’t like that over 75% of the bets are taking BYU. I don’t like that BYU pulled a huge upset over #3 Oklahoma last weekend. I don’t like a lot of things about this. But one of the most important don’t likes just happens to be how I feel about the Tulane Green Wave football team. I’m not sure if BYU will have their stud RB Unga back, but they should find running the ball a lot easier this week. They win cover this game by 3 touchdowns or more. That’s a cover.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (-2) @ Washington State Cougars: Fade east of the mountains in Washington State. What can I say, after the passion the Huskies played with last week, I can’t say, fade Washington State teams anymore, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fade THE Washington State team. The Cougars just keep getting wore. After cutting more than a couple starters last season, because they were clowns off the field, a few new players are in trouble already. Hawaii has to come a long way, and from Paradise to Pullman has to be tough on the Rainbow Warriors, but as far as plane rides go, this one isn’t a bad one for Hawaii. They aren’t great, but better than Wazzu is all you have to be to cover here.

Oregon State Beavers (-7) @ UNLV Running Rebels: The Beavers are one of the better teams in the Pac 10. The Rodgers brothers are beasts. Jacquizz is one of the more special talents in all of college football. He runs big. He’s really fast, and he’s sneaky good at this game. He’ll cover this spread. The Rebels have talent, but I think that OSU rushing attack will be too much.
Get them winners! Good luck this weekend!

NCAA DirecTV ESPN GamePlan: Week 13

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Here are my picks from DirecTV’s college football schedule on Saturday, November 22, 2008. 

West Virginia Mountaineers @ Louisville Cardinals (+7): The Cardinals have lost 3 straight games, including a disturbing loss to the Syracuse Orange. But the played well most recently against Cincinnati, and this game is at home where they have played solid football historically. But really, why I’m taking the Cardinals, is because this is the Big East and I don’t think the Cards have a chance. That’s right. Since this is the Big East, you always go exactly opposite of what you expect to happen. Nothing would surprise me in this game. 

Army (+19) @ Rugters: Army has played better of late and though Rutgers has reeled off 4 straight wins against respectable competition (except Syracuse), I expect this game to be close. Army has played solid defense down the stretch, and come close to some solid teams, losing by just 3 at Buffalo and losing by 9 to Air Force. I’ll take the Knights. 

North Carolina State @ North Carolina (-10.5): The Tar Heels are very good at home, and the Wolfpack isn’t good on the road. I know this is an instate game, but I don’t see it being close. I’ll take the Heels. 

Clemson @ Virginia (+3): Clemson is still getting their preseason Top 10 lines and Virginia isn’t getting any respect for their turnaround. I know they’ve lost each of their last two games, but I have a feeling the Cavs come back and beat a Clemson team that has disappointed all season long. 

Tennessee @ Vanderbilt (-3): It’s true, the Commodores usually lose at home to good conference teams, but Tennessee isn’t that anymore. With the Vols having gained Bowl eligibility last week, I think they’ll play with a renewed sense of confidence. They got over the hump and don’t have that one thing to worry about anymore. Vandy should stomp the Vols. 

Florida Atlantic @ Arkansas State (-4): Arkansas State runs an efficient offense without many mistakes. For that, I like them over Florida Atlantic. The Indians have lost three straight while FAU has won 4 straight, but this is the game that turns the streak around. 

Stanford @ California (-9): Cal usually isn’t good toward the end of the season, but I can’t imagine them playing poorly at home against the Cardinal. They’ve lost two straight, but @ USC and @ Oregon State aren’t really games they should have won anyway, and both were closer than the final score. I expect the Bears to continue their undefeated home play, while the Cardinal continue to struggle on the road. 

Boston College @ Wake Forest (-2): I have to follow my rule here, take any unranked team favored over a ranked opponent. This is borderline because BC is ranked 25th, but the Demon Deacons have played really well at home (aside from a loss to Navy) and should right the Boston College ship. Ha. That’s right, the Eagles have been playing above themselves the last few weeks – that won’t continue at Wake. 

Louisiana Tech (-6) @ New Mexico State: Louisiana Tech is just that much better than New Mexico State… The Aggies haven’t been good at home, and L-Tech hasn’t been terrible on the road. This is the only play here. 

Idaho (+23.5) @ Hawaii: I hate betting on Idaho, but they are the play that makes sense here. This isn’t June Jones’ Hawaii team here, these Rainbow Warriors haven’t won a single game by 20 points or more. That’s an auto play on the Vandals in this one – as bad as they are.

NCAA Football Free Picks: Week 13

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After a huge week I’m back for one more shot at going deeper into the green – these are the games that have me going for gold in Week 13 of the college season. I’ve put together 8 games and there’s even a showdown amongst by two biggest money makers, the Washington schools (betting against of course). Here goes something…

Illinois Fighting Illini @ Northwestern Wildcats (+2.5): I wasn’t at all impressed with the Illini last week. They should have gotten beat by 20 – and they just don’t have much fight in them. Juice Williams got a hook late in that game, and I’m interested to see how that will effect that young quarterback. I’m not enamored with Northwestern, but a dog at home against this Illinois team seems like a bet too good to pass up.

Florida State Seminoles @ Maryland Terrapins (-1): I guess this pick is for the same exact reasoning as last week. FSU isn’t that great, Maryland is very equal to them at least, and the Terps are playing at home where they are probably the toughest out in the ACC – a 1 point favorite is basically a pick-em, so I have to like the Terps here.

BYU Cougars @ Utah Utes (-6.5): BYU hasn’t played well on the road this year, whether than was a 1 point win at Washington, a 3 point win at Colorado State, or a 14 point win at Airforce, even a 25 point loss at TCU for that matter – they just haven’t been at their best on the road. I know this game is huge for the Utes, and the Cougars really have nothing to lose, but Utah is just the better team. They’ve been better from the get go, and despite everyone’s expectations that BYU would be the undefeated team in this division at years’ end, the Utes are the team to beat. Brian Johnson may not have Max Hall’s numbers, but he does just as much for his team. The Utes have had their close wins, no doubt about that, but the better team should win by at least a touchdown on Saturday – and the better team is Utah.

Tennessee Vols @ Vanderbilt Commodores (-3): I think Vanderbilt’s big win last week, a win that assures them bowl eligibility, will be huge for their confidence going into this week’s tilt with Tennessee. They have that weight off their shoulders now, and I can only imagine they play better because of it. If that’s not enough, the Vols are absolutely brutal -that should do the trick.

Washington (-7.5) @ Washington State: What does a guy like me do in this situation? If you’ve read my picks more than once, you are well aware of my “Bet against Washington Sports” motto, and these two teams are the root of that motto. But there has to be value here, right? Sure, I think so – and I would feel so wrong, after all the money these two teams have made me, just letting this game fall to the wind. Alright, the Huskies should win this game. Believe it or not, they are the better squad. They are bad, just not as bad as the Cougars. The problem is, UW has to win by more than a touchdown to take this game. That’s a lot to ask from a team that hasn’t won yet this year. However, I’m taking the dogs. Winless doesn’t seem like a possibility, especially when it means losing to a terrible rival. I’m taking the Dogs in this one.

Texas Tech Red Raiders (+6) @ Oklahoma Sooners: It may not be the best bet because Oklahoma is dirty at home, and Tech is trying for the undefeated regular season here, and OK is really freaking good – but how can you not like Tech as a 6 point dog? Here it is folks, I would take Tech as a 6 point dog in the depths of hell against the Devils and all his demons. This isn’t a flukey gimmicky Tech team that relies solely on their crazy offense – they are good at everything. Realize that this one goes against my belief that you should always take a lower rated team favored against a higher rated team. Yep. This is the exception to the rule.

Iowa Hawkeyes (-6) @ Minnesota Golden Gophers: Too much of a run game from the Hawkeyes, and too much of a run defense as well. I see Iowa running away with this one.

Mississippi @ LSU (-5): This may be the last time in history that you’ll be able to get LSU at home anywhere close to good value. LSU has struggled this year, never was that more apparent than last week against Troy State – but they showed what they can do in a 4th quarter that got them a victory, and that 4th quarter is enough for me to take them here at home against Miss.

NCAA Football Free Picks: Week 12

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I have less games for you this week, just 7 solid bets that catch my eye – but don’t fret folks, I also will have a DirecTV ESPN GamePlan section again this week – so there will be plenty of college games to choose from. Lets hope I rock the push this week and dominate in the 70% column…. Here’s what I got.

Ohio State Buckeyes (-9.5) @ Illinois Fighting Illini: Here it goes folks, write this down… The Buckeyes are WAY better than the Illini. That’s right, on Juice’s best day he won’t crack this Ohio State offense for much more than 3 scores, and the Buckeyes will run all over a very shaky Illinois defense. Take the Buckeyes in an easy one.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (-6.5) @ Kansas State Wildcats: I’m not a fan of Bobby P – but he does some good things in College ball. The Cornhuskers have played pretty well down the stretch, and I expect them to continue to improve the more time they have to learn Bobby’s style. They should easily oust a K-State team that has looked overmatched in almost every single conference game they’ve played. What else? Well, the Cornhuskers have played solid football on the road – and that’s never a good thing for a bad home team.

Washington State Cougars (+36.5) @ Arizona State Wildcats: Here’s the deal. You know how I feel about Washington schools, and this is going straight against my credo, but the Wildcats will have a very hard time scoring 42 points against any single team in the Nation – and the Cougars will score at least once. That means the Cougars are a solid bet here. Who knows what happens, but the Cougars shouldn’t be getting this many points – or maybe they should, but not against the ASU boys – that team just isn’t very good at all. I hate doing it, I really do, but winning is winning and the Cougs should get me a win this week.

Arizona Wildcats (+4) @ Oregon Ducks: I know Oregon is a very tough place to play, and the Ducks have been solid this year – but Arizona is the better team. The only time the Wildcats struggle, or play below their talent level, is when they go up against an inferior opponent. They won’t feel that way as an underdog – and I’m always a fan of taking Arizona as an underdog in the Pac 10.

Tulsa Golden Hurricane @ Houston Cougars (+4.5): These teams are as close to even as an 8-1 versus a 5-4 can get. Houston is at home, they play well there. Tulsa is coming off a game that saw their perfect season end. Everyone thinks Tulsa is the much better team. There’s a lot of reasons I like Houston here, but the fact that they are just as good as Tulsa and playing at home makes them a solid bet for me – oh, and they are dogs.

San Jose State Spartans (+15.5) @ Nevada Wolfpack: Here’s another game with two very even teams. The Wolfpack are coming off a nice win over Fresno last week, but that doesn’t make them that much better than San Jose State. The Spartans are coming off a terrible game last week, losing 21-0 against Louisiana Tech – but they aren’t that bad folks. And if one thing is true about sports, it’s that things even out. Solid teams play great games followed by mediocre games, and bad games followed by good games – this one will even out – and at a 15.5 point dog, the Spartans are a great bet to give the Wolfpack hell, even in Nevada.

UCLA Bruins (-7) @ Washington Huskies: I’ll take anyone besides WSU as a 7 point favorite over the Huskies – even a pretty bad UCLA team. The Huskies played better than they are last week – so be excited to jump on this game here. Just look at the Huskies injury list – it’s just about as big as their healthy roster. UCLA should win this game easily.

NCAA Free Picks REVIEW: Week 8

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Here goes something… 6-4 with my Free NCAA Picks for Week 8, and how about my DirecTV ESPN GamePlan Package Picks? Well, just 6-5, but that moves me 3 games up on the season – and in a tough week I’ll take that for sure. 

LSU Tigers (-3) @ South Carolina: (WINNER) “You bet – free money.” Closer than I thought, but free money comes in with a winner – you have to like that. 

Missouri Tigers (+6) @ Texas Longhorns: (LOSS) “Maybe Texas is better and this game is at home for them, but” – next time no buts, the Longhorns are playing great football, good enough to make them the best team in the Nation. I wasn’t much of a believer, and some weird penalties kind of kept Missouri out of it early, but Texas is good everywhere.

Virginia Tech @ Boston College (-2.5): (WINNER) The fact that BC was unranked and a favorite in this one fit perfectly. I liked the Eagles before I realized that, and afterward it made me even happier. Still, this one was close and it came right down to it. BC was the better team, even with some big mistakes. 

Oregon State Beavers (-13.5) @ Washington Huskies: (WINNER) “Free money again. This fits so many of my “good bet” categories I’m not even going into detail.” Does 34-13 qualify as a win? Oh it does? Cool, I was really worried about this one. 

Mississippi State Bulldogs (+7.5) @ Tennessee Volunteers: (LOSS-but) I started out liking the Bulldogs, but after further review, and later in the week I did the best I could to let you guys know that I would “stay away from this one” and bought back my bet by taking Tennessee – I hope you recognized that, all it did for me was give me a push and lose me my vig. 

Utah State Aggies (+21) @ Nevada Wolfpack:  (LOSS) “I just don’t think Nevada should be favored by 3 touchdowns against anyone in their conference, and despite the Aggies attempt to crush my soul be getting pounded by San Jose State last week, I think they are a good bet here.” Okay, I was dead wrong. Utah State is that bad and there is ONE school Nevada should be favored by three touchdowns against – the Aggies. Blast!!!

Pittsburgh Panthers @ Navy Midshipmen (+3.5): (LOSS) “First of all, this game won’t come down to points – either the Midshipmen win or they’ll get beat pretty good.” I thought Navy’s option two looked good and I was wrong, Pittsburgh just grabbed on to LeSean McCoy’s saddle and watched the score go up and up. Bad loss for me here, but I did slightly warn you about this possible outcome. 

USC Trojans (+42) @ Washington State Cougars: (WINNER) “This spread is freaking huge – I’ll take it.” Hahaha – bet against Washington teams, what can I say, this motto is getting easier to believe in so watch out for it next week. Still, this game was 41-0 at half time and USC just ran out the clock instead of scoring again. USC’s backups could have covered this margin. This game was just as big a joke as I thought it would be. 

Kansas Jayhawks (+20) @ Oklahoma Sooners: (WINNER) “I just think Kansas is closer to Oklahoma’s level than this. OK will be up to play this game after having their #1 ranking plundered from them, and I think they win this game, just not by this much.” Well there, the Jayhawks were up for the battle and if a couple things go their way this is even closer – still, as is, the Jayhawks put up enough points to cover in Oklahoma. 

Ohio State Buckeyes (-3) @ Michigan State Spartans: (WINNER) “Really? Hmm… I don’t see it that close.” Well, I can’t wait to tell you that I saw this one coming. The Spartans aren’t a Top 10 football team – one loss to USC doesn’t make the Buckeyes garbage. Penn State – Ohio State should be interesting.

Game Plan

Wake Forest Demon Decons @ Maryland Terrapins (+2.5): (WINNER) The Terps win outright, by a huge margin, and continue to be one of the weirdest teams in college football. Wake, no problem, but Delaware? Oh, there was a tough contest they barely got away with a win in. Weird. 

Western Michigan (-1.5) @ Central Michigan: (LOSS) “I like CMU QB Dan Lefevour,” and I should have stuck with that. Dan was balls on Saturday, taking it to Western Michigan and getting a huge win for his CMU squad. Damn it. 

Miami (OHIO) Redhawks (+10) @ Bowling Green Falcons: (WINNER) “The Falcons have allowed as many points per game as they’ve scored, and that’s never a good thing. These two teams have a nice history, and that usually ends up with Miami taking the game against the Falcons.” What do you know, Redhawks win. Sometimes that history is a good thing to follow (see this game) sometimes it’s not (see Michigan and Penn State – ha). 

Syracuse Orange (+24.5) @ South Florida Bulls: (LOSS) Damn Syracuse, what was I doing going away from betting against them? Ah, this one was closer than the score indicated. In fact, if it weren’t for that late 2nd quarter score, this would have been a different ball game. South Florida took mo into halftime and multiplied that into a bunch of points and a loss for me. 

Vanderbilt Vandals (+15) @ Georgia Bulldogs: (WINNER) “This game was close in ‘06 and close in ‘07 and this Vanderbilt team is better than they’ve had in a long time. Georgia is a very good football team, but they aren’t a “blow you out” group by any means. They’ve had trouble playing close with their opponents, and a complete upset here wouldn’t surprise me. They only beat Tennessee by 12, Arizona State by 17 and South Carolina by 7 – Vandy is better than all three of those schools. Close game here, that’s my bet.” There you go – the Bulldogs were in control, but I was right on the button about them, not a blow you out football team, especially against a never give up Vandals group. This was a nice win. 

Army Black Knights @ Buffalo Bulls (-10.5): (LOSS) Buffalo needed a lot of action late and an overtime to beat the Black Knights as obviously this one got the better of Ole Lucky on Saturday. 

North Carolina Tar Heels (-4.5) @ Virginia Cavaliers: (LOSS) Carolina had my win wrapped up with almost no time left, but wrapped is a joke in college football because Virginia tied this one up with a touchdown at 47 seconds left in regulation. Boo me. Then Carolina kicks a field goal and now I’m at the weird position of rooting for the Cavs to score but not a touchdown. They scored… a touchdown… I lose. Damn it! 

Middle Tennessee State (+14.5) @ Louisville Cardinals: (LOSS) “This one seems easy.” And it seemed even easier after MTS went into halftime up 3. Ah, but games are not just one half, those tricky games, and Louisvilles three touchdown 4th quarter just got me out of the money – thanks fold. The Cards won by 19 – And while I’ll admit my loss, I still think I was on the right side of this game. 

Toledo Rockets @ Northern Illinois Huskies (-8.5): (WINNER) “Toledo beat Michigan at the Big House last week… So what? Michigan is terrible, I’d take Northern Illinois over the Wolverines any day of the week and this game is at home. The Huskies have been good all year. I don’t see it, but most “experts” on a pretty prolific site have Toledo in this one. I’ll take the Huskies and be a renegade… Follow who you please.” If you followed me on one of my better picks of the week, ignoring the “experts” on said site (lets call it Lovers because it may or may not rhyme) then you took home an easy win that showed how bad Michigan really is right now. Yhatzee. 

Mississippi State @ Tennessee Volunteers (-7.5): (WINNER-but) I won this side of the bet, but I didn’t like it after further review – still, all this win did was get me a push because I bought back my bet earlier in the week by taking Tennessee here. 

Idaho Vandals @ Lousiana Tech (-20): (WINNER) 32 point win for LT – that’s a cover folks.