2016 SMU Mustangs Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks

by Robert Ferringo - 7/28/2016

2015 Record: 2-10

2016 Las Vegas Season Win Total: 3.5*

2016 Season Win Total Picks NCAA Football: 'Over'

Call me crazy, but I'm bullish on this team despite the fact that SMU has gone just 3-21 straight up over the past two seasons. I bet on SMU often last year, and I can tell you that, despite a couple disappointments among some big scores, this team is a lot more competitive than it seems.

Just two years ago SMU fielded one of the worst college football teams of the decade. Their coach, June Jones, quit two games into the season, and they went 1-11. The Mustangs were outscored by an average of over 30 points per game while fielding an offense that used four different quarterbacks and scored just 11.1 (not a typo) points per outing.

Enter Chad Morris, the former Clemson offensive coordinator and one of the most sought-after coaches in football just two seasons ago. Morris was able to implement his systems pretty quickly in Dallas. And with 16 starters back this season, including improving quarterback Matt Davis, I think SMU is going to be a pretty spry underdog for most of this season.

If the Mustangs are going to make good on my optimism, their defense, which allowed nearly 46 points per game last year, will have to improve - quickly. SMU faces Baylor and TCU within the first month of the season and has dates with high-scoring Tulsa and Houston shortly thereafter.

But SMU has been on the right end of big turnarounds before. The Mustangs had gone 2-22 in 2007 and 2008 but then in 2009, June Jones' second season, they exploded for an eight-win season and their first bowl appearance in 25 years.

I don't know that I would predict eight wins for Morris in his second campaign. But I have no doubt that he knows what he is doing and that SMU is going to win at least three league games this season. In fact, I think that SMU will get to six wins and should earn itself a bowl invite. 5Dimes Sportsbook currently has SMU's season win total at 6.0 - compared to South Point's open of 3.5 - but the 'over' is paying out at a whopping +360. I would play SMU 'over' at anything between 3.5 and 5.5.

2016 SMU Mustangs Schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIME (ET) Location Result

Sat, Sep 3rd, 2016 at North Texas 07:00 PM Apogee Stadium

Sat, Sep 10th, 2016 at Baylor 03:30 PM McLane Stadium

Sat, Sep 17th, 2016 Liberty 07:00 PM Gerald J. Ford Stadium

Sat, Sep 24th, 2016 TCU 08:00 PM Gerald J. Ford Stadium

Sat, Oct 1st, 2016 at Temple 12:00 PM Lincoln Financial Field

Fri, Oct 7th, 2016 at Tulsa 08:00 PM Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman S

Sat, Oct 22nd, 2016 Houston 01:00 PM Gerald J. Ford Stadium

Sat, Oct 29th, 2016 at Tulane 01:00 PM Benson Field at Yulman Stadium

Sat, Nov 5th, 2016 Memphis 01:00 PM Gerald J. Ford Stadium

Sat, Nov 12th, 2016 at East Carolina12:00 PM Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium

Sat, Nov 19th, 2016 South Florida 01:00 PM Gerald J. Ford Stadium

Sat, Nov 26th, 2016 Navy 01:00 PM Gerald J. Ford Stadium

All Times EST

*Season Win Total Odds from South Point Sportsbook.

Robert Ferringo has been the top football handicapper in the country the past five years, earning nearly $13,000 in total football profit with four of six winning seasons. Robert tallied over $20,000 in football profit between 2011 and 2015, including his amazing 2013 NFL season in which he hit 62.1 percent (95-58). Robert has produced 14 of 22 winning football months and an amazing 37 of 57 winning football months over the past decade. Robert has eight of nine winning NFL preseasons and he is at nearly 60 percent winners over his last 750 totals picks. Also, Robert's proprietary KING College Football Betting System has posted three of four winning seasons and is 122-92 over the last three years (57.0 percent).

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Pick:	CHICAGO BEARS +3
Start:	November 24, 2024 @ 1:00 PM
Expert:	Doc's Sports

Analysis:

Free Play from Doc’s Sports. Take #256 Chicago Bears +3 over Minnesota Vikings (1p.m., Sunday, November 24 FOX) We used the Bears as a free play winner last Sunday and easily covered the spread and should have been an underdog outright winner. Now we will ride them for a second straight week against another NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are 8-2 on the season, yet are only around a field goal favorite. I still do not trust Sam Donald to win consistently over the course of a 17 game regular season. Minnesota is not as good as their 8-2 record would indicate and playing outdoors in Chicago on Sunday will cause issues for them on both sides of the ball. Chicago has been hit or miss this season, but they will be up to play another divisional rival and we expect them to take this down to the wire as well. Do not miss out on Doc’s Sports Weekend Card featuring top plays in college and NFL football. Read More Read Less

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