Oregon State Beavers vs California Golden Bears Pick

no banners

Oregon State Beavers (+7) @ California Golden Bears Pick: This one is a little weird to me, because when you break down these two teams, I think it’s overwhelming that the best team between the two is Oregon State. I know the Beavers are on the road in this one, but they’ve played well away from Beaver-town this season, losing by a score to USC and beating up ASU outright. They’ve only lost to pretty good teams like USC, Cincinnati, and Arizona. They are impressive, and the Rodgers brothers are special, while running back Jacquizz gets most of the publicity, both are great college players. I’d say James is very underrated. Quizz had over 200 yards rushing and receiving last week, but James also tallied 120 yards of total offense against UCLA. The two are key players in the Beavers’ success.

Cal’s wins are unimpressive, that’s the bottom line. The best team they’ve beaten is either Arizona State or Minnesota – maybe UCLA? And they’ve been obliterated by good competition as Oregon and USC combined to smoke the Bears 72-6 in back to back weeks.

The Beavers have been playing their best football of the season over the last two weeks, winning 3 of their last 4 including a 10 point W over Stanford. Sean Canfield has been awesome as the team’s quarterback, already throwing for over 2000 yards with 11 touchdowns while completing 69% of his passes. His ability to stretch the field with his arm has opened up a lot for the Beavers rushing attack, the strongest aspect of their offense. The Beavers have beaten Cal 8 of the last 10 games, winning at Cal in each of the last 4 visits to California.

Nevada Wolf Pack vs San Jose State Spartans NCAA Pick

no banners

Nevada Wolf Pack (-12.5) @ San Jose State Spartans NCAA Pick: This has gone the other way since I made the pick and sent the newsletter out on Tuesday morning, on Tuesday I got the Wolf Pack at -12.5 and it’s 14 points here on Thursday Night. I think it’s pretty clear whom the better team is, and it’s not like San Jose State is a juggernaut at home.

The Wolfpack have one of the more dynamic offensive players in the conference with quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick has scored 10 touchdowns (9 rushing, 1 receiving), rushed for 805 yards, and passed for 1471 yards with 13 more touchdowns through the air. He truly does it all for the Wolf Pack. But this team can run the ball, with Colin, 2 other players have rushed for at least 600 yards. Running backs Via Taua and Luke Lippincott have rushed 198 times for 1341 yards and 7 touchdowns.

As a team, the Wolf Pack lead the conference in rushing and have 26 rushing touchdowns already this season. Nevada has won 5 straight after starting the season in a disappointing 3 straight loss fashion. As favorites, Nevada is 5-1 so far this season, 3-3 ATS.

San Jose State has just one win, and that’s against sub division opponent Cal. Poly. 5 of their 6 losses were by double digits. They’ve had a tough schedule, no doubt about it, losses to Boise State, Fresno State, Stanford, USC, and Utah are no joke – those are tough teams in College Football – but the rushing attack in Nevada looks like too much for San Jose State to handle. I’ll take the Wolf Pack to win by at least two touchdowns.

Missouri Tigers vs Colorado Buffaloes Free NCAA Pick

no banners

Missouri Tigers @ Colorado Buffaloes (+4) Free NCAA Pick: These teams are closer in ability that anybody thinks. They both struggle against good teams, but both can bring a good attack on any given day. The Buffaloes are always good at home, something that makes them a nice value bet here. Colorado hasn’t beaten Missouri since 2005, but five out of the last 6 match-ups between these two teams have gone the way of the home team. Missouri’s getting a spread as if they’re the much better team, 3.5 points on the road, come on. You add the fact that their starting quarterback is questionable with a bum wheel, and the spread looks even more ridiculous. Colorado has played very well at times this year, and I think they have a good shot to beat the Tigers.

Oklahoma Sooners vs Kansas Jayhawks Free NCAA Pick

no banners

Oklahoma Sooners (-7.5) @ Kansas Jayhawks Fre Pick: This is one of those fantastic situations that shows you how much Top 25 rankings really mean. The Sooners are missing at least 2 First Round NFL Draft picks, one of which won the Heisman Trophy last season, Sam Bradford, and was pretty universally listed as the Top NFL Prospect in all the land heading into the season. They are heading into 6-1, 21st ranked Kansas to play the Jayhawks, and who’s favored? The Sooners, by a touchdown, and get ready for this, they are a good bet. Rankings are a joke, it’s too bad they mean anything at all. I’ll take the unranked road favorites here. Believe it.

Oregon Ducks vs Washington Huskies Free NCAA Pick

no banners

Oregon Ducks (-8.5) @ Washington Huskies: I’d love to think the Huskies were a good bet at +8-10 at home, wait, who am I kidding, they passed on recruiting me, still a little bitter, I love betting against the Dogs. But they’ve been tough to go against, definitely. They play close with everyone and possess one of the best players in the Nation, quarterback Jake Locker. But they struggle stopping the run, and Oregon thrives running the ball. I don’t think the Huskies are strong enough up from to stop the Ducks from doing anything. While UW will surely put up a few big plays, and score some points, if they can’t stop the Ducks, no amount of big plays will be enough to cover this one.Like Stanford, the Ducks won’t be tricked into throwing the ball. They will pound it on the ground, thus dominating the Huskies up front. I like the road favorites here, there D has improved a ton over the last 4-5 weeks.

Iowa Hawkeyes vs Michigan State Spartans Free Pick

no banners

Iowa Hawkeyes (+2) @ Michigan State Spartans: I can’t just pick against the Hawkeyes because they are ranked 6th in the Nation and an underdog against 4-3 Michigan State. I know the Spartans have played better of late, but wins over Michigan (in overtime), Illinois, and Northwestern don’t really blow me away. The Hawkeyes have gotten by in ugly fashion, sure, and they are probably due for a loss, but their fights have shown me how resilient they are, and that alone is worth a small bet to me, especially against a Spartan team that is also due to have a tough go of it after three straight wins. Against my normal system play (unrated favorite over ranked dog is almost always a bet on the favorite) but I like Iowa’s chances on the road.

Penn State Nittany Lions vs Michigan Wolverines Pick

no banners

Penn State Nittany Lions (-4) @ Michigan Wolverines: In two games against decent teams this season (Iowa and Michigan State) the Wolverines were out-gained in total yardage. They lost both of those games. Penn State has out-gained every single opponent they’ve played so far this season. I’m just saying. Both teams have played pretty easy schedules, but at least the Lions have looked good in all games but one. Defensively they’ve been strong, never giving up more than 3 scores, holding opponents to a touchdown or less in 5 of their 7 games. Michigan doesn’t have that kind of ability defensively, they’ll need to win in a shoot-out against the Lions, and I don’t think Penn State will allow that to happen. Four is one point more than I’d like, but I’ll take the Lions over Michigan, making it back to back wins for the first time in a long time.

Boston College Golden Eagles V Notre Dame Fighting Irish Pick

no banners

Boston College Golden Eagles (+8) @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish Free Pick: The Eagles struggle when teams have the ability to run the ball with speed and power. That’s not the Irish. Sure, they have some talent, and some big boys up front, but when it comes right down to it, they are a foo-foo offense that likes to throw the ball when going gets tough, or right off the bat for that matter. That should allow the discipline Golden Eagles to stay in this game, and cover that 8 point spread against a Irish team with a defense that just can’t get stops. ND might win, with the luck of the Irish and all, but I like the Eagles to cover.

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns Free Pick

no banners

Oklahoma Sooners (+3.5) @ Texas Longhorns: Now I seriously doubt the 3.5 will matter much when all is said and done, but the fact that I can win even if the Sooners lose by a field goal makes me feel just that much better about my selection. I like the Sooners here for a couple reasons. Coming into the season, I thought Oklahoma was the better team. Now they have already lost twice, and haven’t looked brilliant so far this season, but at least they’re battle tested. They’ve had a tough start to the year, but that’s because of injuries and some very good opponents. BYU is a very good veteran team, Miami has loads of talent and has played very well in some big games, and even Tulsa can play with most anyone in the country. That’s 3 games against better opponents than Texas has seen all season, and to be honest, I haven’t been that impressed with the Longhorns when I’ve seen them play. Colt hasn’t been nearly as sharp as he was last season, and the running game has some questions with injuries coming into this game. I also like that the winner of this game has been the road team 3 straight seasons. Now Texas has covered 4 straight, and ousted Oklahoma in 3 of the last 4, but this one has a little different feel. National Title hopes are basically out of the question for Oklahoma, while a win for the Longhorns would give them a leg up in the race for the Championship. Oklahoma has nothing to lose, and can only relish in the chance to upset the Texans and do their part in destroying their rival’s chance at glory. The underdog Sooners out to ruin it all, I kind of like them in that role. This should be a great one, but I’ll take the road dog and the points!

Boise State Broncos vs Tulsa Golden Hurricane Free Pick

This week there’s a great Wednesday match-up in College Football. 5th Ranked Boise State plays a talented and fast Tulsa team looking to deliver a crushing upset to the Broncos. As many have seen, anything can happen mid-week in NCAA Football and this is my free pick.

no banners

Boise State Broncos @ Tulsa Golden Hurricane (+9): I like the Golden Hurricane to put up enough of a fight to keep this one close. Each of the last two meetings between these two programs have been close games. While Boise has won both, Tulsa has covered easily. Both defenses have a lot of speed and come second to their own offenses when people talk about these teams. It’s a Wednesday Night game, which makes me think it will be close. Tulsa can put up points, and they’ve done so in every single game besides their blowout at the hands of Oklahoma. I’m not sure they were ready for that game, but they will be for this one. Tulsa is 12-2 at home over the last couple seasons, and they always play well on their home turf. Both offenses are relatively mistake free, and I think that benefits the big home dog in this one. The Broncos haven’t really been tested yet this year, as even in their closest contest (an 11 point win over Oregon), they were in control all game long. Anything can happen mid-week on the road, and I expect this one to be a lot closer than Boise fans are expecting. That being what it is, I’ll take the home team and the points.