College Football Handicapping Articles

Nebraska Cornhuskers Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by Alan Matthews - 8/14/2014

The 2013 season was an interesting one for embattled Nebraska coach Bo Pelini. The Huskers thought they had a great shot to play in the Big Ten Championship Game entering the year, but the drama started in Week 1 when Nebraska had to escape a home upset bid by Wyoming. In Week 3, the Huskers were embarrassed at home by UCLA, 41-21, with the Bruins outscoring Nebraska 31-0 in the second half.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by Alan Matthews - 8/12/2014

Might Notre Dame have returned to the BCS Championship Game last year if starting quarterback Everett Golson hadn't been expelled from school for academics? I would say no, but I do think the Irish might have reached a BCS bowl with Golson. As it was they finished 9-4 after playing for the national title in the 2012 season, Golson's first as a starter.

Arizona State Sun Devils Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by Alan Matthews - 8/8/2014

When Arizona State hired Coach Todd Graham before the 2012 season, Graham's reputation wasn't great. Oh, everyone knew he could coach. But the guy bailed on the University of Pittsburgh after just one year. It made him look like a mercenary; simply always trying to find where the grass was greener. But now ASU fans aren't complaining.

Missouri Tigers Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by Alan Matthews - 8/7/2014

We certainly will know after that Florida game whether Missouri has a shot to repeat as East Division champ. I don't see it happening. This team overachieved last year (just like Auburn) and will take a moderate step back.

2014 Oregon Ducks Odds to Win the Pac-12 with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 8/4/2014

The Oregon Ducks went 11-2 last year. In their 11 wins, only their win over Oregon State (36-35) was by a margin of less than 21 points. Oregon absolutely demolished some very good teams last year. The problem was the Ducks once again slipped up against Stanford. That probably knocked them out of the title picture, but then Oregon was destroyed 42-16 as an 18-point favorite at Arizona in the second to last week of the regular season.

2014 UCLA Bruins Odds to Win the Pac-12 with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 8/4/2014

The UCLA Bruins made a terrific hire when they picked up Jim Mora Jr. in late 2011. UCLA had losing seasons in four of their five seasons before Mora arrived, but things have changed for the positive in a big way since he took over. UCLA won nine games in 2012 and 10 games in 2013. The Bruins finished last season with huge wins over both USC and Virginia Tech. They enter the 2014 season with plenty of momentum.

2014 USC Trojans Odds to Win the Pac-12 with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 8/4/2014

After a failed experiment with Lane Kiffin at the top spot, the USC Trojans enter the 2014 season with Steve Sarkisian as their head coach. Sarkisian is a USC guy, and he did a nice job with the Washington Huskies program over the last few years. He is known as a good recruiter as well as a guy who can connect well with his players. I expect this hire to work out well for the Trojans.

2014 Stanford Cardinal Odds to Win the Pac-12 with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 8/4/2014

The Stanford Cardinal went 11-3 in a highly-successful season last year. David Shaw’s team won the Pac-12 Championship Game, which was played at Arizona State. They also upended Oregon a second straight year when they appeared to be on their way to a national title berth once again. Stanford was upset on three occasions in 2014 as well, though. They lost as seven-point favorites at Utah.

2014 Arizona State Sun Devils Odds to Win the Pac-12 with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 8/4/2014

The Arizona State Sun Devils went 8-5 in Todd Graham’s first year with the team. They went 10-4 last year in his second season. Arizona State was 10-2 heading into their last two games of the year in 2013, but they suffered disappointing losses against both Stanford and Texas Tech. The 38-14 loss at home in the Pac-12 title game was a shocker. The Sun Devils were favored by three points in that game.

2014 Washington Huskies Odds to Win the Pac-12 with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 8/4/2014

Chris Petersen has been a top coaching candidate for many big-name openings the past few years, but until Washington came around no one was able to get him away from Boise State. Petersen compiled a 92-12 record in eight years as head coach at Boise State. This is a man who is an extremely good football coach. While he was tested at Boise State, the Pac-12 is a huge step up from the Mountain West, and he knows that.

Miami Hurricanes Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by Alan Matthews - 8/1/2014

Does Coach Al Golden have the "U" on the precipice of returning to national prominence? I believe now that the NCAA cloud has totally been lifted that he does. It would take some pretty amazing breaks for UM to play in this season's College Football Playoff, but this program is not far away.

2014 Florida Gators Odds to Win the SEC with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 8/1/2014

When Will Muschamp was at Florida, most fans knew the team might have some initial struggles, but a 4-8 season in his third year at the program certainly wasn’t expected. This was Florida’s first losing season since 1979. Muschamp is a good recruiter, and most fans are giving him a little bit of slack, but 4-8 seasons aren’t tolerated here, and if things don’t turn around quickly he’ll be gone quicker than anyone expected.

College Football Betting: Top Sportsbook Posts Lines for Games of the Year
by Trevor Whenham - 8/1/2014

Sportsbook.ag has posted literally dozens of college football lines weeks before the first games are played and months before some of the games posted get here. They have called them the College Football Games of the Year, though many of the games challenge the definition of games of this or any year (I’m looking at you, San Diego State -5 at New Mexico). There likely aren’t a whole lot of good reasons to bet games more than a day or two in advance, never mind a month or four.

Texas Longhorns Odds to Win the 2015 College Football National Championship
by Alan Matthews - 7/31/2014

Here's all you need to know about how bad the talent level had gotten at powerhouse Texas under former coach Mack Brown: UT, a school that prints money and has access to some of the best high school talent in the nation, didn't have a single player taken in the 2014 NFL Draft. It's the first time a University of Texas player hasn't been picked since 1937, and the draft has only been around since 1936.

2014 South Carolina Gamecocks Odds to Win the SEC with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 7/31/2014

The South Carolina Gamecocks finished fourth in the AP Poll last year. That was the school’s highest-ever finish in that poll. Steve Spurrier is entering his 10th year at the helm at South Carolina. It might have taken a little while for them to become national title contenders, but it certainly isn’t far-fetched for them to win it all at this point.

2014 College Football Handicapping: Under-the-Radar Teams to Watch
by Trevor Whenham - 7/31/2014

Whether you are a fan of the new college football playoff or not, the one thing you absolutely can’t deny is that it, and the power maneuvers that it has caused, have further widened the gap between the haves and have-nots in college football. Teams in the Power 5 conferences get the attention, and the rest will get even less than normal — and that’s saying something.

2014 Georgia Bulldogs Odds to Win the SEC with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 7/31/2014

Mark Richt’s Georgia Bulldogs were expecting big things out of the 2013 season. An 8-5 season was definitely a major disappointment. Just about everything that could have gone wrong did, in fact, go wrong. Aaron Murray was having a tremendous senior season, but he ended up getting injured and missed some key games. The Bulldogs also played without Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall much of the season.

2014 LSU Tigers Odds to Win the SEC with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 7/30/2014

The LSU Tigers won the BCS National Championship in 2008 with a 38-24 win over Ohio State. LSU hasn’t won the title since, but Les Miles’ teams have won at least 10 games in each of the past four seasons. Miles may not be the best game-day coach (he isn’t), but he definitely knows how to recruit, and he gets his players to play hard.

2014 Auburn Tigers Odds to Win the SEC with Picks & Predictions
by Aaron Smith - 7/29/2014

The Auburn Tigers were one stop away from picking up another BCS National Championship last year. The Tigers controlled most of the title game, and they outgained Florida State by 64 yards and had a 25-19 advantage when it came to first downs. Unfortunately for them, it was Florida State who came up with a huge special teams play late, and then the Auburn defense simply couldn’t stop Jameis Winston and company late in the game.

College Football Handicapping: Toughest Teams to Judge in 2014
by Trevor Whenham - 7/29/2014

There are some programs that are easy to judge each year in college football. We know, for example, that Florida State and Alabama are going to be very good as always, and that Rutgers and Maryland are going to have disastrous first years in the Big Ten. Handicappers love certainty — or as close to certainty as you can get in sports, anyway.