College Football Handicapping Articles

2016 Vanderbilt Commodores Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/7/2016

Derek Mason enters his third year at the helm and has endured a slow, tortuous rebuilding phase at Vanderbilt. Now it's time to show some results at a school that went to a bowl game in each of his predecessor's three seasons in Nashville.

College Football Playoff Odds and Predictions: Will They or Won't They
by Trevor Whenham - 8/4/2016

We haven't quite even seen the start of camps for college football teams yet, so it is very premature to be thinking seriously about the playoff. There are plenty of different ways to bet on those playoffs, though, and that's always a reason to take a look at anything. One of the more interesting betting opportunities come courtesy of BetOnline. They pick 16 different teams and let us bet whether each one will make the four-team playoff. There are some interesting plays and a few tough calls. Let's take a look:

College Football National Championship Predictions: Odds for Each Conference
by Trevor Whenham - 8/4/2016

In two years of the College Football Playoff we have seen four different conferences represented in the finals. The Big Ten beat the Pac-12 in the inaugural season then the SEC beat the ACC last year. That is much more diverse than what we had seen before - seven of the last eight BCS champs were from the SEC. This year we again seem to have a pretty wide-open race, with top contenders in four of the Power 5 conferences. Only the Pac-12 doesn't really seem to be a top contender for a title.

2016 Michigan Wolverines Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

Jim Harbaugh was hailed as a football Messiah two years ago when it was announced that he was taking over at his alma mater. But even the most optimistic of Wolverine fan would have to admit that expecting Michigan compete for a National Championship in Year 2 would be a little rash. Yet here they are, entering the fall as one of the odds-on favorites to win it all.

2016 Ohio State Buckeyes Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

Urban Meyer has gone an amazing 50-4 in his four years in Columbus. He's won one national title and, frankly, I have a hard time thinking that they weren't one of the top four teams in college football last year. But this season will be Meyer's toughest test yet as Ohio State is set to field one of the least experienced teams in the nation just one year after boasting one of the most experienced (with 12 NFL draft picks).

2016 Wisconsin Badgers Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

Paul Chryst's second year at Wisconsin at least threatens to bring some stability to a place that's seen more coaching turnover than one would expect from a top-tier football team. Make no mistake: Wisconsin is one of the best programs in the country. They have gone 98-35 over the last 10 years and are an outstanding 50-18 so far this decade. And they've done that despite the fact that Chryst is the fourth head coach they've had in just over four years.

2016 Nebraska Cornhuskers Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

A lot of people are still shaking their heads at Nebraska's left field hiring of Mike Riley. And to say that his first season at the helm didn't go well is an understatement as Nebraska suffered just its second losing season in the last 10 years and, remarkably, just its third losing year in over 50 years!

2016 Michigan State Spartans Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

The Spartans have been ruling the roost in the Big Ten, going 24-2 straight up in conference play over the last three seasons while winning two league titles. However, Mark Dantonio enters this fall with his least experienced team in years. And it couldn't come at a worse time. Ohio State and Michigan are stacked and rising just when it looked like Michigan State had passed them as the powerhouse program in the league.

2016 Penn State Nittany Lions Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

I have a feeling that all of those Penn State fans that trashed Christian Hackenberg the past two seasons are going to feel a slight tinge of regret this fall. Penn State was lucky that Hackenberg honored his commitment and helped shepherd this program through the ugly post-sanctions years. But he skipped his senior season right at the time when Penn State has just about everything else to vault themselves back into the top tier of the Big Ten.

2016 Northwestern Wildcats Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

Every few years or so Pat Fitzgerald's squad explodes for 10 wins seemingly out of nowhere. Last season was the year. The Wildcats were able to tiptoe through a soft schedule and turn it into a solid campaign, which ended with an unceremonious thrashing at the hands of Tennessee in the Outback Bowl.

2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

Tracy Claeys enters his second season as the head coach in Minnesota on more solid footing. Claeys took over for Jerry Kill midseason after Kill's health issues finally forced him to step down. Claeys (barely) succeeded in guiding the Gophers to a bowl win last year - getting an exemption despite going 5-7 in the regular season - and he will look to get Minnesota back to the postseason for the fifth straight year.

2016 Indiana Hoosiers Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

After three straight years of November disappointments, Indiana finally broke through in 2015 and got that elusive sixth win to punch their ticket to a bowl game. That was their first postseason appearance since 2007 and just the program's second since 1993. Now Kevin Wilson will try to stave off regression in his sixth season in Bloomington.

2016 Purdue Boilermakers Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

Darrell Hazell parlayed one lucky season at Kent State into a gig in a Big Six conference. And he's proven that he's swimming way out of his depth, going 6-30 overall in three years with half of his victories coming over FCS opponents. That mark is significantly worse than the man he replaced, Dan Hope, who was 16-23 (with a bowl win) in his first three years.

2016 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

There's no way that Rutgers can compete in the Big Ten East this year. You know that. I know that. They know that. This division is one of the best in college football, and Rutgers is just a bug on a windshield. However, if you are looking for a sneaky-good team against the spread I think that the Scarlet Knights are going to be just good enough to make some numbers stick while being just bad enough not to arouse interest or suspicion.

2016 Maryland Terrapins Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/4/2016

In case you were wondering, yes, Maryland is still in the Big Ten. Now that we've established that, the big news for the Terps is that they hired D.J. Durkin to be their head coach. Durkin was Michigan's defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh last season and prior to that worked with Urban Meyer at Florida.

2016 Iowa Hawkeyes Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/3/2016

The Hawkeyes lived a charmed life in 2015, enjoying somewhat of a dream season while also serving as one of the most controversial teams in college football. Iowa was 12-2 and just a few points shy of knocking off Michigan State in the Big Ten title game, which would've vaulted the Hawkeyes into the college playoff. Instead they settled for an unceremonious thrashing in the Rose Bowl at the hands of Stanford.

2016 Clemson Tigers Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/2/2016

So close, yet so far away. Perpetual bridesmaid Clemson nearly stole the veil, bouquet and rings in the National Championship Game while upsetting Alabama. But the Tigers came up one quarter and five points short of winning the title last January. And now they will attempt to work their way back into the playoffs and take another shot at winning it all.

2016 Florida State Seminoles Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/2/2016

FSU is reloaded and ready to roll after winning the NCAA championship in 2013, making the playoffs in 2014 and then settling for the Peach Bowl last year. The talent is there. The coaching staff is stable. And everyone in this program is focused on getting back to the mountaintop.

2016 Miami Hurricanes Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/2/2016

I have bad news for Miami football fans and Axl Rose: the 80s are never coming back. I feel that every fall for the past 10 years I have been forced to listen to and read stories declaring that this is the year that Miami football is BACK! Alas, it is always sound and fury, and the Hurricanes have not had double-digit wins in a season since 2003.

2016 North Carolina Tar Heels Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/2/2016

I predicted last year that North Carolina would easily beat their season win total and that if I was wrong about this team it would be because they were even better than I thought, rather than worse. That was exactly the case as North Carolina blasted its way to an 11-1 start and a Coastal Division title.