NCAA Free Football Picks Review: Week 14 2009

And it was a very nice week to end my free NCAA football picks on. It started nice and finished even better. I wish both Alabama and Florida would have lost, but since that was impossible, I guess I’ll settle for the Gators getting upset in their bid for a repeat of the National Championship. Lots of good teams barely got by this week, but some nice underdogs made looking for the upset bid very profitable. Here’s how 7-3-1 looked…

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Arkansas State Indians @ Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (+7) (WINNER) The Indians needed fourteen 4th quarter points just to win, but it wasn’t by enough to make me a loser – the Hilltoppers looked like the better team throughout, and I was definitely right about these two teams being more equal than the records suggested.

Oregon State Beavers (+10) @ Oregon Ducks (WINNER) The Beavers gave it a shot, and they had some chances. But the normally accurate Canfield couldn’t get some key completions late, and the Ducks offense ended up being just too tough to stop. Oregon completed two 4th downs on their final drive to seal the victory. But OSU covered in a game that was very close.

Ohio Bobcats (+12) @ Central Michigan Chippewas (WINNER) The Bobcats continued to do what they’ve done all year, keep it close against good teams. They were underrated coming in, and while Dan LeFevour was too much for them to pull the upset, a solid defensive performance got me a close cover.

West Virginia Mountaineers @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights (+2.5) (Loss) Just by the hair on my chubby chin chin. The Mountaineers pulled out a 3-point victory over a Scarlet Knights team that was their own worst enemy early. A late comeback fell just short, and Rutgers go me a rare loss in the last week of the season.

Cincinnati Bearcats (-1) @ Pittsburgh Panthers (Push) Well, this was one hell of a game. I can’t believe the small mishaps went the way the did, the unbelievable performances the Bearcats got from key players to stay undefeated, and the overall amazingness from this game. I thought the Panthers had it all wrapped up, but apparently they had it “all but wrapped up” as the Bearcats did what they needed to do, just like thy had all year. The 1 point win wasn’t enough for me, though, as Cinci’s win just got me a push. Amazing.

Fresno State Bulldogs (+1) @ Illinois Fighting Illini (Winner) This was another great game, and while it didn’t have an undefeated or a National Championship on the line, it had two teams playing solid football at the end of the year. As close as Rutgers loss was, this win was equal. The Bulldogs went for two to win it, and a tipped pass ended up in a lineman’s hands, and he took it in for the game winning conversion. Amazing.

Arizona Wildcats (+7.5) @ USC Trojans (Winner) The Wildcats beat the Trojans. Yeah, just like I predicted. Just like I said, the better team won this game.

Florida Gators (-5.5) @ Alabama Crimson Tide (Loss) The Gators got stomped, rolled, beaten, battered, destroyed, embarrassed, and Tim Tebow cried, and I’m okay with that. But I must say, it was fun to be a part of, even if I had picked the Gators.

California Golden Bears (-6) @ Washington Huskies (Loss) Well, it’s rare when I miss a Huskies cover, but I sure did exactly that this Saturday. The Huskies straight stomped the Bears, even though Cal had two weeks to prepare for the Dawgs. I stand surprised and impressed, and I’m back to being disgusted with Cal.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-2.5) @ Clemson Tigers (Winner) The Yellow Jackets needed a last minute touchdown to get the win over a game-Clemson team. C.J. Spiller showed the Nation why he’s labeled “one of the most dynamic football players in the country” and he almost single handily won the ACC Crown. But Jonathan Dwyer made a case for why he might be the best pro-style running back in college football, using his strength and speed to get the game winning score. What a week in college football.

Texas Longhorns @ Nebraska Cornhuskers (+13.5) (Winner) The Longhorns were out-played by the Cornhuskers, and again didn’t look like a National Championship level team -but they managed a win out of the situation, and that’s good enough to get them there. A 46 yard field goal won them their Big 12 crown and a spot in the BCS Title game. But I still easily covered.

College Football Betting: NCAA Week 11 2009 Review

I put together another winning Week in NCAA football, and it’s all starting to come together. This week I took games from Tuesday to Sunday, and I found a lot of winners in big conference match-ups, finishing 9-6 overall. What will a crazy Week 12 bring? Lets check out the review for Week 11 first. Here goes!

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Ohio Bobcats (+3) @ Buffalo Bulls: (WINNER) The Bobcats may have needed a late field goal to get the win, but they outplayed the Bulls – and that’s why they got the win. It’s always good to start out with a victory.

Toledo Rockets (+16) @ Central Michigan Chippewas: (Loss) This is what I get for picking against the Chipps. CMU put up 28 points in the 2nd quarter alone, tying the Rockets totals for the entire game. Toledo just couldn’t get it going, got some tough breaks, had a couple dropped balls, and just flat out couldn’t stop Dan LeFevour. The Chipps won by 28. That was 13 too many for me!

Bowling Green Falcons @ Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (+3) (Loss) This was tied at halftime, 14-14. That didn’t last too long into the second half as Bowling Green came out throwing, and defensively shutting down the Redhawks. 21 unanswered points later, the Falcons took me down, ousting Miami-Ohio 35-14. Sorry about this one.

South Florida Bulls @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights (+1): (WINNER) The Scarlet Knights dominated this game. Face it, with Tom Savage at quarterback, these Knights are very efficient, look how they’ve played since he became the starter. They are 7-1 with just a loss to Pittsburgh. They deserve more credit, until they get that, they have nice value.

West Virginia Mountaineers (+10) @ Cincinnati Bearcats: (WINNER) West Virginia battled all night with the Bearcats. Some will say that WVU had a late and seemingly meaningless score, ha, they played the Bearcats tough all game long, and were in it from start to finish, just like I said, 10 was too much.

Clemson Tigers (-7) @ NC State Wolf Pack: (WINNER) C.J. Spiller: best college football player I’ve seen this year. He almost outscored the Wolf Pack all by himself, throwing, rushing for, and catching a touchdown, Spiller was responsible for 3 TDs – the Pack scored just 23. If it was just C.J. versus the Pack, it would have been close, but Spiller got to use his teammates to help on Saturday, proving to be too much for N.C. State.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-10) @ Duke Blue Devils: (WINNER) The Yellow Jackets annihilated the Blue Devils, showing that while the Duke program is improving, they have a long way to go. GT just had too much power and swag, dominating this contest all the way through.

Michigan Wolverines (+10) @ Wisconsin Badgers: (Loss)The Wolverines weren’t looking so bad going into half, down just 21-17, but the Badgers did work in the second half, scoring 24 points to the Wolverines’ 7. One has to wonder how long Coach Rodriguez will have that job in Michigan. Maybe Notre Dame will hire him?

Kentucky Wildcats @ Vanderbilt Commodores (+3): (Loss) After being up 13-10 going into the half, the Commodores remembered how they collected those first 8 losses on the season, and sure enough, the managed to duplicate the feat and give up 14 points in the 2nd half while scoring none. When you pick teams that lose, sometimes they manage to show you exactly why they do so.

Arizona Wildcats (pk) @ California Golden Bears: (Loss) The Cats really ruined a chance for a big match-up further down the line, and a chance to really take their program up a notch when they just flat out didn’t make big plays against the Bears. Cal played like they wanted it more, if was definitely a tough one to stomach, despite the competitiveness of the game and the close score, I think this Arizona team should beat the Bears 8 of 10 times they play. This was one of those two…

Washington Huskies @ Oregon State Beavers (-11): (WINNER) I said the line wouldn’t matter here, and I was dead on, just like I wrote, the Beavers were the Huskies worst nightmare, further proving that while the Huskies can hang around against throwing teams, these running powerhouse’s just dominate the Dawgs.

UCLA Bruins (+18) @ Washington State Cougars: (WINNER) The Bruins did everything I thought they’d do, dominate the Cougars from snap to end game, and they did it a lot of ways. In my write up I said, “just because teh Bruins only average about 20 points a game doesn’t mean they won’t put up 30+” and I couldn’t have called it better. I also mentioned that if the game was “any closer than 35-10 I would be absolutely stunned”. Not stunned.

Miami Hurricanes @ North Carolina Tar Heels (+3.5): (WINNER) I really liked the Tar Heels chances with capitalizing on Miami mistakes, and just like I predicted, that became a huge part of this game. The Heels didn’t keep it as low scoring as I imagined, but that’s because they put up tons of points against the Canes. A nice upset on the road for a growing Tar Heel program.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+7.5) @ Pittsburgh Panthers: (WINNER) The Irish were outmatched and out-manned in this one, but they fought back late to get me the cover. An Irish loss, a cover for me – it couldn’t get much better. What did I learn from this game? If Charlie Weis has a job in football next season, he has Golden Tate to thank, because without that guy’s turbo button, I think the Irish wouldn’t have made a bowl game this year.

East Carolina Pirates @ Tulsa Hurricane (-5.5): (Loss)Tulsa not only lost, they got smacked around. Favored by 5 against an East Carolina team that couldn’t seem to muster an ounce of offense last week was too much for them. ECU’s defense scored more than Tulsa’s offense – never a good sign. Sunday NCAA loss for me.

NCAA Football Picks Review: Week 6

Just like the NFL, .500 rears it’s ugly head! A bounce off the foot for a last minute pick 6 did me good in a game that shouldn’t have been close to begin with. I didn’t get a lot of luck going my way, that’s for sure, but such is the way it goes, and at least a couple times the scores landed in the right slot. Here’s my Week 6 review…

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Nebraska Cornhuskers (-3) @ Missouri Tigers: (WINNER) Speaking of a little luck actually going my way, how about this one? A tough beat for Tiger-backers, that’s for sure. Up 12 nil going into the 4th quarter, the Tigers get the brunt of four 4th quarter Cornhusker touchdowns while not scoring once. Nebraska finally pulled their collective heads out and easily covered despite going scoreless for 3 quarters and being down 12 with just 15 minutes to play on the road. Thursday’s are crazy!

Auburn Tigers @ Arkansas Razorbacks (+3): (WINNER) “There’s a certain time where hype hits down week and down week hits reality. That might be this time around for the Tigers. After finally smashing into the Top 25 after a 5-0 start to the season, a solid Razorbacks team hosts Auburn in an early Saturday Morning showdown. Now the road team has won 6 of the last 7 between these two programs, but I’m taking the home dog here. I think Arkansas puts up enough points, and sooner or later the luck runs out on the Tigers.” The luck ran way out on the Tigers, Arkansas walked over Auburn from the beginning, got three 3rd quarter touchdowns to get to within 11, only to see Arkansas fight back to open up the margin yet again. Got this one right on the button.

Michigan State Spartans (-4) @ Illinois Illini: (WINNER) “I don’t think the Spartans are good, or even worthy of being favored on the road, this line doesn’t have great value or anything, but the Illini are bad. Even after a big win over their “in state big brother” program, I still think the Spartans have enough in the tank to get a double digit win in Illinois.” You know it’s bad when you really don’t like a team, don’t think they are worth much, and still take them as a favorite on the road in a Big 10 match-up. I was onto something, the Spartans easily took this one.

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Oregon Ducks @ UCLA Bruins (+6.5): (LOSS) The Ducks were down 3-0 at the half, but needed just 13 seconds to get a lead after the 3rd quarter started. That 100 yard TD return set the table for a second half that would go all Oregon’s way. Injuries and question marks led me to believe Oregon wouldn’t produce much offense. They didn’t need to, a couple non-offensive touchdowns made it 14-3 and Oregon never looked back.

Alabama Crimson Tide @ Mississippi Rebels (+6.5): (LOSS) I expected Jevan Snead to come out and play good football after laying an egg last time he saw a decent defense come to play. I mean, this guy has been rated as a Top 3 QB in the upcoming NFL draft by some scouts that I respect. But after watching this game all the way through, he makes bad reads, doesn’t use his feet well, lacks accuracy, has no big-game push, and basically looks like an MLB closer not named Mariano Rivera, scared for his life when it matters most. My fault on this one.

Indiana Hoosiers (+7) @ Virginia Cavaliers: (LOSS)  I couldn’t have been more wrong about a game. Took a huge loss here.

Duke Blue Devils (+15) @ North Carolina State Wolfpack: (WINNER) “I think Duke has one of their best teams ever, now that being said, they are still not all that good. That being said, neither is NC State. Duke’s coming off a pretty good game against Va Tech last week, and I think they’re a nice value getting more than two touchdowns. The last three games in this match-up have been very close contests, and 6 of the last 7 have been NC State wins, but by a touchdown or less. I think that trend continues, if Duke doesn’t upset outright.” Yeehaw! It’s rare that you call a Duke football upset could be brewing, and it actually happens. Craziness! Gotta love it!

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Arizona State Sun Devils (-20) @ Washington State Cougars: (LOSS) This game was a bad beat. The Sun Devils score 3 touchdowns but miss one PAT and get another blocked to be up only 19 in the third quarter, and I knew that would come back to haunt me. The Cougars get a lucky 99 yard touchdown late in the 4th after the Sun Devils go for 2 to at least get the push. I get a loss here. Tough one. The Cougars had -54 yards rushing in this one. WSU is still a joke, I’ll get them soon enough!

Florida Gators (-9) @ Louisiana State Tigers: (WINNER) This one was just by the hair on my chin. The Gators dominated defensively, allowing nothing more than an LSU field goal. LSU did fine work on the defensive end as well, but Florida’s TD and two field goals were just enough. That late 4th quarter field goal to ice it was huge!

Arizona Wildcats (-3) @ Washington Huskies: (LOSS) Screwed. The Huskies played well against the Wildcats running game, but gave up tons of passing yardage, and really got outplayed all night long. But they just hung around, then a ball gets kicked into the air, lands right in the husky’s paws and they return it for a game winning touchdown. Ridiculousness. But hey, the Huskies deserved some good ju-ju after getting Irished last week at Notre Dame. Now I need some good ju-ju, for goodness sakes!

NCAA Free Picks Review: Week 5

BIG WINNER!!! Finally, a nice week in the college football ranks. Some big wins by some big teams, and I reaped some of the benefits. I tore it up during the week, going 3 for 3 on back to back to back Wednesday, Thursday, Friday games – and then the weekend. Here’s how the cookie crumbled. My baker’s dozen turned into 10 wins; 10-3 gets me right back in the game!!!

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Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at Lousiana Tech Bulldogs (-3.5): (WINNER) On the road for the Warriors isn’t that bad this week as they haven’t played since the 19th. However, I’m still on Tech here. They’ve played pretty well against equal competition, which I think the Rainbows are. Giving up a little over a field goal at home on Wednesday Night seems like a good value pick to me. The favored team has won this battle in all but one occasion in 7 meetings since 2000. The home team has covered in 6 of the last 7.

Colorado Buffaloes (+17) @ West Virginia Mountaineers: (WINNER) Luck. Then some terrible un-luck. And what do you know, some really good luck with two seconds left the Buffaloes throw a hurry-up touchdown in the corner of the end-zone for the cover. There it is. Sometimes you need some luck to counteract the un-luck.

Pittsburgh Panthers (-6.5) @ Louisville Cardinals: (WINNER)  The Panthers finally got over the Louisville hump last season when they rocked the Cardinals 41-7. That marked the first time in the last 20 years (8 total meetings) that Pitt won this match-up. I think they make it a steak against a Louisville team that just doesn’t do the program much justice. Pittsburgh can really run the ball, and they’re making fewer mistakes than in recent years. That helps in a short week.

Michigan Wolverines (pk) @ Michigan State Spartans: (LOSS) What do you know, the Spartans were sick of all that “little brother” talk, and they came out to dice up the Wolverines. But Michigan fought and battled and took this to overtime. A stupid, stupid interception put the Spartans in a good place to win OT with a field goal (which would have meant a push for many of the Wolvering bettors that got on later in the week), but a broken tackle or two meant a TD win for the Spartans. My first loss.

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Florida State Seminoles (-4.5) @ Boston College Eagles: (LOSS)  I expected FSU to come out to win after playing like dump in Week 4. But they just kept the poo-cycle on full blast, and let the Eagles win by a touchdown.

Alabama Crimson Tide (-17) @ Kentucky Wildcats: (WINNER) I barely covered this game. The Tide won by 18. However, the Tide crushed the Cats. They were up 31-6 and then 38-13, but Kentucky really wanted to cover, so they gave it their all. Lucky for me, I had that one point.

LSU Tigers (-2.5) @ Georgia Bulldogs: (WINNER) I’m still not sure LSU belongs in the Top 5, but they earned it this week, and they’ll spend at least one more week in that group. This was quite a battle, down to the wire, but LSU had just enough to make me, and them, a couple winners.

Washington Huskies (+17) @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish: (WINNER) “I think they have a good chance to not only cover, but pull the upset, so I’ll take all those points.” The Huskies got proper screwed, like the hare. Now, any team that gets inside the 1 twice and comes away with just three points probably doesn’t deserve to win, but the Huskies got a TD taken away that never went back on the board. They also watched as ND failed a 2-pt conversion only get two points anyway. The Huskies went all the way to OT with the Irish, but couldn’t get the right bounces. Easy cover for me though.

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Oklahoma Sooners @ Miami Hurricanes (+7): (WINNER)  “I think Miami has the kids to play with a team like Oklahoma. They are playing at home, in front of a crowd that will be nuts, getting hyped for a huge chance to prove themselves once again after they really tumbled in last week’s game against Virginia Tech. A little slap in the face to show you that you may not be everything you think you are usually does a team good, and I think last week’s loss will have that effect on the Hurricanes. Since their loss to BYU, the Sooners haven’t had a tough game to show me what they are really made of, as Idaho State and Tulsa don’t really do it for me. I’ll take the home dog here,” I think the ‘Canes had a nice win here. Both teams played alright, but Miami did just enough to get the win, as Oklahoma couldn’t stop the run. Oklahoma fought back late, but fell just a little short.

Ohio State Buckeyes (-17) @ Indiana Hoosiers: (WINNER) The Buckeyes won by 19, just enough to cover up, but they hammered the Hoosiers, it wasn’t that close.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-4.5) @ Mississippi State Bulldogs: (WINNER) The bulldogs tried to make it close in the 4th quarter, but Tech QB, Josh Nesbit, was just too much of a beast. He missed on only 3 of his 14 attempts, putting up 266 yards and a touchdown on just 11 completions. He also didn’t get huge ground numbers, but his 23 rushes helped batter the Bulldogs defense.

USC Trojans @ California Golden Bears (+6): (LOSS) “Apparently it’s hard to win against a physical team when you’re looking forward to next week’s huge battle. Fortunately for the Bears, the battle this weekend had some pressure relieved when they got trounced by the Ducks.” Apparently I was wrong, and apparently it wasn’t a freak occurrence, the Bears getting trounced by the Ducks, because I have a feeling the Bears just aren’t nearly as good as anybody thought. I don’t get how Mr. Best can continually get shut down by ranked teams, yet another time he does nothing against USC…

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Washington State Cougars @ Oregon Ducks (-31): (WINNER) “Fade the Cougars… even after two big wins. I stayed away from WSU last week, as they stayed close to the Trojans, so good for me. But they are terrible, and Oregon has figured out what they’re doing. If they don’t put up 50 on the Cougars I will be surprised.” I would have been surprised, but since the Ducks slammed 52 points down WSU’s collective throat, I’ll just settle for being right… and satisfied… Fade the Cougs is back on folks!!!