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College Football Totals Picks Week 2: Over or Under Predictions for Saturday

by Joey House - 9/8/2023

College football totals picks Week 2 Doug Brumfield UNLV Rebels

Welcome, folks to a new series in which we delve into the sometimes high, sometimes low world of college football totals. Each week I will give you a list of my best total plays and utilize Doc's trusted "Unit Betting System" to maximize our wagers. The standard unit will be $100.

There was a great deal of curiosity surrounding the new rule changes regarding the clock. If you're unfamiliar with these rules, here is an article that I wrote that highlighted changes and how they might affect the gambling community. How College Football Rule Changes Could Affect Bettors (docsports.com)

Last week more overs hit the board than unders. This would indicate that either the new clock changes didn't affect scoring as much as we thought, or that Vegas has already cooked those changes into the line. This will warrant closer attention in the coming weeks, as we wage a never-ending war against the mighty sportsbook.

Doc’s Sports offers college football expert picks for every game on our college football predictions page.

Nebraska (0-1) @ #22 Colorado (1-0) -3/59 Sat. Noon

This is the "Must See TV" game of the weekend. I think you would be hard-pressed to find an individual that is more galvanizing than Deion Sanders. Whether you love or dislike him, he most certainly is getting people talking about college football. As far as the total of this game, while I have the utmost respect for the talent in Colorado's offense, TCU's defense is a shadow of its National Championship game squad. New Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule is from the Joe Paterno coaching tree, having played there and also his first coaching job. He stresses fundamentally sound and tough defense. The way you defeat a high-powered offense is to match up well against them on the field and limit the amount of chances they get. Nebraska's strong rushing attack is capable of doing just that. This is my No. 1 prediction of the week. PICK: UNDER 59 5 units

#19 Wisconsin (1-0) at Washington State (1-0) +6.5/58.5 Sat. 7:30 PM

Wisconsin brought in a brand-new coaching staff, featuring former North Carolina OC Phil Longo and his version of the vaunted "Air-Raid" philosophy largely created by the late great head coach Mike Leach. However, this is a complicated offense, with many new parts in it, highlighted by SMU-transfer QB Tanner Mordecai. There were sirens in Wisconsin's game against Buffalo, but the raid came via the ground, with both Badgers running backs going for more than 140 yards. They barely eeked out the over in that game, landing on 55 points with the final total being 54.5. Saturday, they'll be facing a tougher defense in the Washington State Cougars (how often is a Pac-12 defense a tougher test?). I expect Longo to keep trying to iron out the wrinkles of the passing attack but to also lean heavily on the ground game. I think Wisconsin's defense will be able to handle the Cougar's offense. These teams met last year in one of the big early season upsets, as Washington State went into Madison and won as a 17.5-point dog. The Badgers will be looking for revenge and what better way to gain retribution than by bludgeoning a team on the ground? PICK: UNDER 58.5 4 units

Iowa (1-0) at Iowa State (1-0) +3.5/36 Sat. 3:30 PM

I love this game because it's one of the great rivalry games that always takes place early in the season. Historical trends show that the total has gone under 7 out of 11 times these two squared off in Ames, the home of the Cyclones. However, those totals were all in the 40s. If the O/U had been set at 36 as is this one, the over would have been 8-3. Iowa finally has an offensive-minded QB in Cade McNamara. And even though they only generated 284 yards of total offense, that was good enough for a 24-14 win over Utah State. Iowa State brings back 9 starters, including QB, from their team last year and they put up 30 points, albeit against a solid FCS team. The last time in Ames, Iowa won 27-17. I see a similar score on Saturday. PICK: OVER 36 3 units

UNLV at #2 Michigan (1-0) -38.5/57 Sat. 3:30 PM

I had made up my mind a couple of weeks ago to take Michigan under the total for the duration of Harbaugh's suspension. My reasoning was that I think Jim probably told his staff to keep things a little on the more conservative side, so they don't accidentally get themselves in trouble from a poker term, Fancy Play Syndrome. The first week worked to perfection, as Michigan cruised to a 30-3 victory over East Carolina, well under the 53.5 total. In Michigan's last 6 games in September, the under has cashed 5 out of 6 times. PICK: UNDER 57 3 units

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