College Football Handicapping Articles

Free College Football Picks: Wisconsin at Michigan Odds and Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/26/2016

This battle between Top 10 teams halfway makes sense. Michigan is supposed to be here. They came into the season with tremendous talent and plenty of hype, and they haven't yet played a particularly good team - though beating Colorado looks better after the Buffs beat Oregon last week. If you had told me that Wisconsin would be in this spot before the season, though, I would have flat out called you stupid.

NCAA Football Predictions: Week 5 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/26/2016

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote in this space that BookMaker had a prop up on whether Les Miles would be LSU's head coach after New Year's Eve, the date of this year's College Football Playoff semifinals. I wrote that I was shocked that "yes" was heavily favored and would have bet "no".

Free College Football Picks: Stanford at Washington Odds and Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/26/2016

This game is crucially important for the power structure in the Pac-12. USC has been horrific. UCLA and Oregon have struggled. The winner of this Top 10 battle will be in very good position to win the Pac-12 North and will be established as the clear favorite to win the conference. Hopes weren't high for this conference heading into the season, but if a team can win here and look good doing it then the Pac-12 could be a player in the national picture. Stanford is used to these situations. For Washington this is the biggest game they have played in a very long time.

NCAA Football Betting Odds: Week 4 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 9/23/2016

The Week 4 college football schedule isn't as tantalizing as last week's, but I do think this could go down as "Trap Weekend." Top-ranked Alabama is a whopping 44-point favorite over Kent State, but I'd jump all over the points there for a few reasons. The first is that the Tide are likely still physically and emotionally spent following last week's huge comeback win in their SEC opener at Ole Miss.

Weekly Big Ten Betting Report: Expert Predictions and Analysis
by Chris Vasile - 9/22/2016

Week 3 of the college football season saw Big Ten teams go a combined 9-2 straight up and 4-6-1 against the spread. There were three very impressive wins courtesy of Ohio State's demolition of Oklahoma, Nebraska's home win against Oregon and Michigan State's wire-to-wire win versus Notre Dame. That was the good. The bad featured two embarrassing losses and one close call. Illinois lost to Western Michigan by 24 points and No. 13 Iowa lost outright to FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, knocking the Hawkeyes out of the AP Top 25.

Free College Football Picks: Wisconsin at Michigan State Odds and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/21/2016

The Big Ten has been the best conference to this point in the season, and in many ways the most surprising. We knew that Michigan and Ohio State were going to be very good and that Michigan State would not be an easy out. Right now, though, there are eight teams in the 14-team conference that are still unbeaten, and all but two teams are at .500 or better. There have been some big wins, too, including over teams like Oklahoma, LSU, Notre Dame and Oregon.

Free College Football Picks: Arkansas vs. Texas A&M Odds and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/21/2016

Jerry Jones has the biggest, shiniest building in the NFL. It would otherwise be empty on Saturday, and Jones loves two things - selling a lot of tickets to make lots of cash, and his alma mater, the Arkansas Razorbacks. It's fitting, then, that this rivalry has found a permanent home in Jerry World. This is the sixth time that the teams have met in Dallas' shrine to football glory.

NCAA Football Mid-Major Free Betting Picks: Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Week 4 Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 9/21/2016

We're back with another edition of the college football mid-major betting report. We're covering the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders this season. They are a team that some have picked to rise toward the top of Conference USA in the season ahead.

Free College Football Picks: Florida at Tennessee Odds and Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/21/2016

If you didn't pay a lot of attention to these teams, you would assume that this was a nice, intense rivalry. Both teams have been strong at times over the last decade, so you would guess that there have been some real showdowns. In fact, it's the worst kind of rivalry - a very lopsided one. The Gators have won the last 11 meetings between the squads. If you consider what the last few years have looked like for the Gators, that is very embarrassing for the guys in orange.

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks - Week 4
by Aaron Smith - 9/20/2016

Week 3 in the college football season was a great one. The marquee games told us a lot about teams we weren't sure about before that contest. Louisville is the real deal. Lamar Jackson is the clear Heisman frontrunner now. Ohio State went to Oklahoma and beat down the Sooners. The young Buckeyes are supremely talented, and they look to be ahead of the curve. The Big 12 has been the big loser so far this year as far as conferences go. Week 4 has less marquee matchups, but I feel like college football always delivers fans some terrific games.

NCAA Football Predictions: Week 4 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/19/2016

I certainly get more picks right than wrong overall in a season, but boy was last week ugly. I had Florida State winning at Louisville and Oklahoma taking out visiting Ohio State, but the Seminoles and Sooners were blown out. Not shocked both teams lost as they played excellent opponents, but how they did was pretty stunning.

NCAA Football Betting Odds: Week 3 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 9/16/2016

I touched on the huge matchup between No. 2 Florida State and No. 10 Louisville on Monday, so I won't rehash that -- although the Seminoles got bad news this week when arguably their best defensive player, safety Derwin James, was ruled out 5-7 weeks following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee -- in this space. I liked FSU -2.5 on Monday and still do at the current line of -1.5.

NCAA Football Handicapping: Clemson Slow to Start out of the Gate
by Trevor Whenham - 9/16/2016

The ACC was supposed to be so simple and straightforward this year. Clemson and Florida State were the two best teams, and it wasn't even close. They were supposed to just bide their time until they played each other, and the winner of that game would head to the playoff. That's what the ACC has been recently.

Free College Football Picks: Florida State at Louisville Odds and Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/15/2016

It's funny how things work out. Before the season started, Lamar Jackson, Louisville's QB, wasn't more than a fringe player in Heisman discussions. The big boys were all lined up, and it didn't seem like there was room for any outsiders like Jackson among the blue bloods - Watson, McCaffrey, Fournette, Cook. Two weeks into the season, though, some of those guys - most notably Deshaun Watson - have faded, and Jackson is not only in the mix but the runaway leader at this early stage of things.

Free College Football Picks: Ohio State at Oklahoma Odds and Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/15/2016

This is a whale of a game for the third week of the season. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as good as it could have been if Oklahoma hadn't already suffered a loss at the hands of Houston on the opening weekend. It's still a massive game, though.

Free College Football Picks: Alabama at Ole Miss Odds and Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/14/2016

Alabama is the No. 1 team in the country, but Nick Saban isn't a happy man. Several times in the last game you could see him screaming at Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. It's understandable to some extent - a lot of football fans have dreamed of screaming at Kiffin over the years.

NCAA Football Mid-Major Free Betting Picks: Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Week 3 Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 9/14/2016

I'll be following everyone associated with the MTSU football program on Twitter. I'll also be reading the work of beat writers and following team press conferences. Any way I can, I'll be looking to find extra little nuggets of information. Essentially, I'll be looking to make myself an expert on this MTSU Blue Raiders team. The goal of this article is to show that specialization can be a profitable sports betting strategy.

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks - Week 3
by Aaron Smith - 9/14/2016

Last week's slate of games wasn't very good. There weren't marquee matchups for fans to get excited about, but Week 3 has plenty of those! How did Top 25 teams do against the number last week? There were 11 teams who covered and 11 who failed to cover. There was one game that never had a line at all. Florida State pounded Charleston Southern, but that game had no line likely due to the suspension of so many Charleston Southern players for that game. A couple of other Top 25 teams had the week off.

College Football Betting Trends for Help with NCAA Wagering
by Victor Ryan - 9/14/2016

Other than the chaos that was Central Michigan's stunning upset of nationally-ranked Oklahoma State, it was a rather ho-hum Week 2 of college football. Notable matchups were few and far between as most big-time programs scheduled easy, largely as a chance to fine-tune things before the start of conference play. Things should get much more exciting this week.

NCAA Football Predictions: Week 3 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/12/2016

We could learn as early as next month if the Big 12 is planning on expanding. I wonder if what happens this weekend could affect the conference's decision. I say this because the Big 12 is already in some jeopardy of missing out on the College Football Playoff for the second time in three seasons.