College Football Handicapping Articles

2016 Oklahoma Sooners Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

If we've learned anything about the Sooners the past decade it is that they have trouble handling success. The last four times that Oklahoma has entered the season in the Top 5 - and this year they opened at No. 3 in the Coaches Poll - they have finished No. 16 or worse. And twice, 2009 and 2014, they started in the Top 5 only to finish the season unranked. We will see if they can live up to the hype this time around.

2016 Baylor Bears Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

I don't know if any program in the country had a worse offseason than Baylor. Lack of institutional control and a litany of sexual assault allegations and cover-ups doomed Art Briles, who was fired this spring. Now Baylor, whose ascent from laughingstock to college power over the past 10 years has been remarkable, enters the 2016 with a major black cloud over its head.

2016 Texas Longhorns Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

It is always tough to handicap a powerhouse program that has fallen on hard times. On the one hand, you have to know that big-name programs are always going to be overvalued by the books and the public, so we should pick the bones clean while a team is down. On the other hand, it is hard not to assume that these top-tier schools with big budgets and loaded recruiting classes are just one season away from getting back on top.

2016 TCU Horned Frogs Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

Much like it took Utah awhile to acclimate itself in the Pac-12, TCU needed a few seasons to catch up with the speed and talent in the Big 12. But now that they have, the Horned Frogs are a perennial threat to win the league championship and are one of the favorites to do so in 2016.

2016 Oklahoma State Cowboys Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

I was bullish on Oklahoma State last year, and they did not disappoint. I correctly predicted that Oklahoma State would win 10 games, and they did just that, surging into the Top 5 before back-to-back tough late-season losses to Baylor and Oklahoma undercut OSU's attempt at winning the Big 12 title. With 17 starters back, including 10 from one of the nation's top offenses, I see more big things in store for Mike Gundy's crew this season.

2016 Kansas State Wildcats Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

Bill Snyder is a goddamn national treasure. Snyder is one of the best coaches in college football history, and I don't think he gets nearly the credit he deserves. Snyder has won two of every three games for 25 years in Manhattan, serving two tours and building up this Kansas State program from scratch. His teams are notoriously tough to predict because of his reliance on transfers and JUCO players. But one thing is for sure: Kansas State will be a tough out no matter whom they line up against.

2016 Texas Tech Red Raiders Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

Kliff Kingsbury has kept Texas Tech somewhat relevant in the Big 12. But to this point the young coach has been more hype than production. Kingsbury's record after three years (19-19 straight up) is actually worse than the man that he replaced, Tommy Tuberville (21-17 SU). But in his fourth season, now with all of Kingsbury's own players, we will see if the Red Raiders are capable of more.

2016 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

It seems like every fall Dana Holgorsen enters the college football season coaching for his job. He's been able to stay the execution each of the past two years. But Holgorsen hasn't been able to vault WVU into the top tier of the conference since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012. At some point you have to wonder when WVU brass and boosters will pull the plug.

2016 Iowa State Cyclones Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

Hey, every conference needs some fodder. And in the Big 12 that is Iowa State. The Cyclones do a great job of being bad enough that none of the top teams in the league ever have to worry about losing to them while also being good enough to steal some nonconference games and play The Big Boys tough every once in awhile. Not that anyone noticed or cares, but Iowa State brought in a new coach, Matt Campbell, from Toledo. Now it is Campbell's turn to steward the program through another few years of servitude.

2016 Kansas Jayhawks Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

I know this might sound crazy, but I actually think Kansas is going to be much better this season. Of course, there is really nowhere to go but up after an 0-12 season, so "better" is relative. But Kansas is a team that might actually be able to compete this year and could even match their highest single-season win total of the decade (three).

2016 UCLA Bruins Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2016

UCLA entered last season as one of the Pac-12 favorites and a legitimate playoff contender. The Bruins worked their way into the Top 10 early in the season, and the hype on this team was through the roof. But it is as if people have forgotten what I have said for years: Jim Mora Jr. is a bona fide loser.

2016 Washington State Cougars Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2016

Last year I loved me some Washington State. The Cougars responded with nine wins straight up and an outstanding 10-3 record against the spread. Wazzou closed the season with four of five wins, including a bowl victory over Miami, and as shocking as it is to believe, these guys were really just a few plays away from winning 12 games. They choked away a game to FCS foe Portland State and then took losses from Cal and Stanford in the final seconds.

College Football Betting Advice: Props Odds and Picks for Top Quarterbacks
by Trevor Whenham - 8/12/2016

It is going to be a good year for quarterback play in college football this year. Potentially a very good year. There isn't a lot of depth in the big leagues, with a lot of major programs going through changes, but every conference has at least one guy who has the potential to be truly elite.

2016 Utah Utes Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/12/2016

It took a few years but Utah has finally proven that it can hold its own with the powers of the Pac-12. Three Top 20 wins in 2014 and an all-time blasting of Oregon in Autzen last year proved emphatically that the Utes are something to be reckoned with. And now it is on Kyle Whittingham to display staying power in the top tier of the conference.

2016 USC Trojans Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/11/2016

The Trojans have to feel like they have finally regained their footing and found some stability in their program. USC is now out of the shadow of their sanctions and withdrawn from the stench of loser Lane Kiffin and the stench of liquor on Steve Sarkisian. Clay Helton had a successful audition as an interim coach last season, and the no-nonsense former coordinator is focused on returning USC to national prominence.

2016 Washington Huskies Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/11/2016

If you are looking for a big buzz team out West, look no further than the Washington Huskies. Washington enters this season with its most talented team since the 2000 Rose Bowl-winning Huskies squad. Expectations are soaring for this team as major media members from coast to coast are piling onto the bandwagon.

2016 Arizona Wildcats Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/11/2016

I think that 2016 is an important season in the Rich Rodriguez Era in Tucson. After surging to 10 wins in 2014, the Wildcats raised the bar of expectations coming into last season only to bumble their way to a 7-6 record bolstered by some wins (UTSA and New Mexico in their bowl game) that were nearly as embarrassing as some of the losses.

College Football Betting: Props Predictions for Wide Receivers and Running Backs
by Trevor Whenham - 8/11/2016

What a year in college football it's poised to be. We are at a historic place for running backs - there is more depth here than we have seen in a long, long time. There are a whole lot of really strong receivers, too - as so many of them are young enough that this won't be the last year we'll see them before they go pro. We are going to see some things on offense that we won't quickly forget. Hopefully, those things can be profitable as well as memorable. Here are seven interesting RB and WR prop bets from Bovada:

2016 Oregon Ducks Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/10/2016

I think the Oregon Ducks are at a crossroads. They spent 20 years gaining credibility and then over the past decade developed into a true college football powerhouse and one of the best programs in the nation. But they had their streak of 10-win seasons snapped at seven last year. And although they are expected to be among a group of teams competing for the Pac-12 title this fall, I think it is clear to everyone that they are no longer the juggernaut that ran roughshod over this league for most of the 2000s.

2016 Stanford Cardinal Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/10/2016

David Shaw has done more than enough in his five years at the head of the Stanford program to be considered far outside Jim Harbaugh's shadow. Shaw has gone 54-14 straight up and 42-26 against the spread with the Cardinal over the past five seasons, both among the best records in the country, and I don't see any reason to doubt his ability to reload after the graduation of Kevin Hogan.