College Football Handicapping Articles

College Football Bowl Game Betting and Handicapping: Toughest Matchups for Handicappers
by Trevor Whenham - 12/6/2016

We'll spend a lot of time looking at several of the bowl games in detail as they draw nearer. At first glance, though, there are five that stand out above the rest in terms of the handicapping challenges they present. In short, these five games, for one reason or another, make my head hurt. We'll look at one in detail, and take a quick hitting look at the other four here:

Weekly Big Ten Betting Report: Expert Predictions and Analysis
by Chris Vasile - 12/1/2016

The Big Ten Conference wrapped up its regular season this past weekend, and the drama that it provided fans and bettors was outstanding. I can't think of another Big Ten regular season that had more twists and turns and left so much riding on the last few games. Before I get to the juicy stuff, you should know that three Big Ten teams got their sixth win of the season, thus making them bowl eligible.

ACC Championship Game Picks: Clemson at Virginia Tech Odds and Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 11/30/2016

The ACC Championship game is interesting for one reason and one reason only - Clemson has a spot in the playoff waiting for them as long as they win. A loss wouldn't necessarily be fatal, but it would make it tougher for them to be part of their second straight playoff. So, to make things easy they just need to win. That should be easy for them, But then they should have beaten Pitt easily three games back as well, and they should have beaten Wake Forest much more convincingly two back.

Big Ten Championship Game Picks: Penn State vs. Wisconsin Odds and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 11/29/2016

The problem with championship games is that they don't always determine the best team in a conference. The Big Ten this year is a perfect example because this game is being played without the two best teams in the conference. Michigan beat both teams in this game - including crushing Penn State by 39 - and Ohio State beat Wisconsin and is all but a lock for the playoff. Divisional imbalance and Penn State's upset win over the Buckeyes have combined to give us this second-tier showdown, though, and our job is to make the best of it. We can't dwell on what never was and should have been, after all.

Pac-12 Championship Game Picks: Colorado vs. Washington Odds and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 11/29/2016

The Pac-12 title is on the line, and it's an odd pairing - for the first time in the six-year history of the game it does not include one of either Oregon or Stanford. Heading into the season you didn't have to be too bold in your predictions to see Washington surpassing those two to win the North. You would have had to have been freaking Nostradamus, though, to see Colorado winning the South. Yet here they are.

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks - Championship Week
by Aaron Smith - 11/29/2016

Week 14 is here, and this will be the final edition of the Fading the Top 25 Weekly free picks. All season long we've been tracking how the AP Top 25 do against the spread. If you have been just blindly fading the Top 25 this year, you've made some good money.

NCAA Football Predictions: Championship Week Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 11/28/2016

It's my final Opening Line Report story of the 2016 college football regular season, although certainly Doc's will have you covered with all of the bowls and College Football Playoff action. Overall, it's been a pretty chalk season. Alabama was the No. 1 team in the nation in both preseason polls and has never left that spot. The Tide were also preseason betting favorites to win another national title, and they still are at -150.

NCAA Football Betting Odds: Week 13 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 11/25/2016

Sadly, I'm old enough to remember the 1991 Heisman Trophy race. Michigan receiver Desmond Howard probably was going to win college football's most prestigious award no matter what he did in the regular-season finale against Ohio State that year in Ann Arbor. Remember, there were no conference championship games then. Shoot, it took 20 more years for there to be one in the Big Ten.

Weekly Big Ten Betting Report: Expert Predictions and Analysis
by Chris Vasile - 11/24/2016

Week 12 of the college football season is in the books, and the Big Ten results came in exactly as expected. There were no major upsets, just scares. No. 2 Ohio State survived Michigan State by a 17-16 score, and No.3 Michigan got by Indiana 20-10. Judging by the efforts from those two teams, they were clearly looking ahead to this week's game against one another. Both teams are firmly in the mix for a spot in the College Football Playoff, and if both do get in it will be the first time any conference will have two representatives.

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks - Week 13
by Aaron Smith - 11/23/2016

College football Week 13 is here, and it's time for another edition of the Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks article. Most of the top teams ended up winning last week, but they didn't cover at a high rate. In fact, the Top 5 teams in the AP poll all failed to cover the spread. If you were fading the very top of the Top 25, you did great. It was the third straight weekend that this was the case. There are a lot of top teams who play tough games this weekend. There are also a lot of top teams who play against each other in rivalry week. It should be a really exciting week of college football.

NCAA Football Mid-Major Free Betting Picks: Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Week 13 Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 11/22/2016

MTSU managed to get back on track with a 38-31 win at Charlotte last week. That pushed the Blue Raiders record to 7-4 on the season. The Blue Raiders host Florida Atlantic in their final regular-season game this Saturday. There will be 22 seniors recognized on Saturday afternoon.

College Football Handicapping: Conference Championship Scenarios
by Trevor Whenham - 11/22/2016

Our job here is simple - we are just one week away from conference championship games in the four Power 5 conferences that play them. The matchup for one of the games is known. This weekend we will see the other three matchups set, and we will see the winner of the Big 12 crowned. There are still several teams with hopes still alive. Here's a look at the scenarios in each conference, and what relevance they could have for bettors:

NCAA Football Predictions: Week 13 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 11/21/2016

Can't believe how fast the 2016 college football season has flown by as this is the final full weekend of the year, and that means some of the sport's best rivalries are being played. Yet the biggest story around the nation today is that of Charlie Strong.

Free College Football Picks: Michigan at Ohio State Odds and Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 11/21/2016

This is what this rivalry is supposed to be all about - one game that will determine not only the state of the Big Ten but also will play prominently into the national title picture. A truly epic matchup. It's about time, too. Thanks to the struggles of the Rodriguez and Hoke years, Michigan has not done their part to make this game much of a game at all over the last several years. Now, though, it feels like a battle of titans again for the first time in almost a decade.

Free NCAA Football Picks: Washington at Washington State Odds and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 11/21/2016

It is absolutely amazing how far the Apple Cup has come in such a short time. One of the more storied rivalries in college football - this rivalry contest has been played 108 times since 1900 - was basically unwatchable not too long ago. In 2008 Washington State was 1-10 heading into the game in which they beat a winless Washington team in double overtime.

Expert College Football Picks: Auburn at Alabama Odds and Betting Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 11/21/2016

In this year's Iron Bowl we have a fairly compelling matchup handicapped by one unavoidable fact - the game is basically meaningless. Alabama has already clinched their division and will in all likelihood crush Florida in the SEC Championship Game. Winning the SEC with the accomplishments they have this season would guarantee them a spot in the playoffs regardless of whether they win this game or not. Auburn is ranked 16th in both polls, but they already have three losses, so while a win over Alabama would impress some and improve their bowl positioning somewhat, they aren't playing in a truly major bowl regardless.

NCAA Football Betting Odds: Week 12 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 11/18/2016

The new College Football Rankings on Tuesday night -- delayed two hours by ESPN so it didn't suck away viewers from a Michigan State vs. Kentucky basketball game -- were interesting but really didn't change things all that much. Alabama remained No. 1, and that is not a shock whatsoever. I think the Tide are in the playoff even if they lose next week in the Iron Bowl to Auburn or in the SEC Championship Game to either Florida or Tennessee. Obviously not if the Tide lose both, but that's not happening.

NCAA Football Mid-Major Free Betting Picks: Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Week 12 Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 11/18/2016

I said in last week's article that the MTSU game at Marshall would be very telling because we needed to see how MTSU would respond to Brent Stockstill being out of the lineup. It wasn't pretty. MTSU was dominated by a Marshall team that hasn't been good at all this season. The Blue Raiders need to bounce back.

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks - Week 12
by Aaron Smith - 11/18/2016

The Week 12 edition of the Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks article is set. I'm not going to lie, when I realized that five of the Top 10 teams in the AP Top 25 lost outright last week and yet the selections in this article went 0-3, I was pretty ticked off. I feel slightly, and I do mean slightly, better when I see that the overall Top 25 teams did go 13-11-1 against the spread last weekend.

Weekly Big Ten Betting Report: Expert Predictions and Analysis
by Chris Vasile - 11/17/2016

Week 11 of the college football season is in the books, and it was nothing short of crazy. As you know by now, the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 teams in the country all suffered defeats, which shook up the College Football Playoff landscape. Given that this is a Big Ten Report, the most critical defeat was Michigan's stunning loss to Iowa. They remain in the CFP for the time being, but their Big Ten Title chances are now on life support.