College Football Handicapping Articles

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks Week 11
by Aaron Smith - 11/10/2015

The Week 11 edition of the Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks article is here. I said last week that there should be a shakeup in the polls following Week 10, and that was definitely the case. Three of the Top 6 ranked teams in the AP Top 25 from last week lost outright (LSU, Michigan State, and TCU). While many are getting upset already about the College Football Playoff Rankings, keep in mind that a lot will change between now and the end of the season.

NCAA Football Predictions: Week 11 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 11/9/2015

So much for the Heisman Trophy race being over. That was largely the thinking as LSU's Leonard Fournette was lapping the field. All Fournette needed to take the trophy home next month in New York City was to have a good game at Alabama on Saturday night. However, the Crimson Tide held Fournette to a season-low 31 yards as Alabama won 30-16. LSU came in averaging 309 rushing yards and finished with 54. The Tigers were quite simply pushed around by Bama.

NCAA Football Odds: Line Movements & Last-Minute News for Week 10
by Alan Matthews - 11/6/2015

I understand people have to talk about the first College Football Rankings, which were released for the first time on Tuesday night, but let's all settle down people. We have a long way to go. In my Opening Line Report story on Monday, I said that Clemson, LSU and Ohio State were locks to be in the Top 4, with one of the Tigers expected to be the No .1 team. And the committee chose Clemson, no doubt because it has a better win against Notre Dame (No. 5 in rankings) than LSU does over Florida (No. 10 in rankings).

NCAA Football Expert Picks Against the Spread: TCU at Oklahoma State
by Trevor Whenham - 11/5/2015

The first College Football Playoff rankings came out this week, and the Big 12 surely isn't happy about it. The conference has three unbeaten teams, including these two, yet if the playoffs were to start this week the conference would be shut out. TCU is currently 8th in the rankings, and Oklahoma State, at 14th, is the lowest-ranked unbeaten team from a major conference.

NCAA Football Mid-Major Betting Report: Temple Owls Week 10
by Aaron Smith - 11/4/2015

The10th edition of the NCAA Football Mid-Major Betting Report is ready to go! It's year No. 4 for this article at Doc's Sports. The goal of this weekly piece is to attempt to show that specialization can be a profitable betting strategy. For the Mid-Major Betting Report, we follow one team throughout the season and make selections on their games on a weekly basis. Temple was picked this year because of the intrigue surrounding the conference as well as their ability to have a breakout season. It's been the ultimate breakout season so far for Temple!

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks Week 10
by Alan Matthews - 11/3/2015

It's time for the Week 10 edition of the Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks article. The Week 9 slate had very few marquee matchups, and the polls look almost exactly like they did this same time last week. Seven Top 25 teams had a bye week last week, but we get a lot more action and a lot more games between top teams this weekend. Expect a shakeup next week.

NCAA Football Predictions: Week 10 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 11/2/2015

So which four teams will be atop the first College Football Playoff rankings when Arkansas athletic director and committee chairman Jeff Long makes that announcement on Tuesday night (7 p.m., ESPN)? I think three of the four are sure things: Clemson, LSU and Ohio State.

NCAA Football Odds: Line Movements & Last-Minute News for Week 9
by Alan Matthews - 10/30/2015

Too early to think about 2016 already? For the SEC it's not as the conference released next year's schedules on Thursday. Next season will be the first for the SEC to include a strength-of-schedule component to the schedule. All 14 SEC schools now will be required to play an ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 or Major Independent team at least once.

NCAA Football Expert Picks Against the Spread Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Temple Owls
by Trevor Whenham - 10/29/2015

If you live in the right time zone, this game is perfectly timed for Halloween festivities - you can finish off handing out the candy or taking your kids out to trick or treat then settle in on your couch just in time for kickoff. I live in the Mountain Time Zone, though, so I'll be forced to check the score on my phone every so often as I take my son the dinosaur from door to door. Selfishly, then, I hope that's it's not that exciting of a game - at least not until the last quarter or so.

NCAA Football Mid-Major Betting Report: Temple Owls Week 9
by Aaron Smith - 10/28/2015

It's time for the ninth edition of the NCAA Football Mid-Major Betting Report. This is the fourth year Doc's Sports has done this article. The goal of this weekly piece is to attempt to show that specialization is a profitable betting strategy. For the mid-major betting report, we follow one team throughout the season and make selections on their games on a weekly basis. Temple was picked this year because of the intrigue surrounding the conference as well as their ability to have a breakout season. Selecting Temple to follow has been a terrific move.

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks Week 9
by Aaron Smith - 10/27/2015

The Week 9 edition of the Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks article is ready to go. Last week's slate of games wasn't terribly exciting, and there weren't many changes in the Top 25. The biggest change was Utah dropping a game at USC. That was a game where sharp money came in on the Trojans as favorites, and USC won and covered easily.

NCAA Football Predictions: Week 9 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 10/26/2015

Full disclosure: I'm a University of Miami fan, so I might not be very objective about this, but good freaking riddance Al Golden. I can't remember a season where so many Power 5 programs have had a coaching change during it, but Miami became the latest school with an opening -- joining Southern Cal, South Carolina and Maryland -- on Sunday when it cut bait on Golden.

NCAA Football Odds: Line Movements & Last-Minute News for Week 8
by Alan Matthews - 10/23/2015

I try to be a glass half-full type of guy, but there's no dancing around this subject: Week 8 is the worst week of the college football season in terms of quality games, and it's not close. OK, Week 15 technically only has Army-Navy, but I don't count that. But at the halfway point, it's a snoozer. There's just one matchup featuring ranked teams: No. 15 Texas A&M at No. 24 Ole Miss, with the loser likely out of the SEC West race.

College Football Expert Picks Against the Spread Utah Utes at USC Trojans
by Trevor Whenham - 10/22/2015

We knew coming into the season that a team from the Pac-12 was going to be in the heart of the playoff race by this point of the year. We also knew that their name was going to start with a U. What qualifies as a major surprise for anyone being honest, though, is that that team is Utah and not USC or UCLA. Yet here we are. Utah is in the driver's seat for the conference and will make the playoff as long as they keep winning.

NCAA Football Mid-Major Betting Report: Temple Owls Week 8
by Aaron Smith - 10/21/2015

The eighth edition of the NCAA Football Mid-Major Betting Report is here. This is the fourth year Doc's Sports has done this article. The goal of this weekly piece is to attempt to show that specialization is a profitable betting strategy. For the mid-major betting report, we follow one team throughout the season and make selections on their games on a weekly basis. Temple was picked this year because of the intrigue surrounding the conference as well as their ability to have a breakout season.

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks Week 8
by Aaron Smith - 10/20/2015

It was a bad week to be a bettor that faded the Top 25. The chalky teams had a bunch of success last week. On the whole, Top 25 teams covered the spread in 14 games last weekend and failed to cover in eight games. The selections at the end of the article didn't do well either. We had one winner and three losers last week. Florida was the lone winner as they lost by only a touchdown at LSU. Texas A&M threw three pick-sixes, which spoiled any chance they had of covering. Ohio State finally put forth a great effort, and the Buckeyes blew away Penn State. Louisville led Florida State at halftime, but the Cardinals defense failed to show up in the second half.

NCAA Football Predictions: Week 8 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 10/19/2015

I don't know about you, but I'm still in disbelief about what transpired in Ann Arbor on Saturday. That game was over; I didn't even see the incredible ending live because I had switched over to another game. Of course, all Michigan had to do was successfully punt the ball in the final seconds to beat Michigan State.

NCAA Football Odds: Line Movements & Last-Minute News for Week 7
by Alan Matthews - 10/16/2015

Normally I will do an overall preview of the coming weekend in college football in this space or focus on one key game as my lead, but I want to take one last look back at Monday, which was the newsiest day of college football I can remember in years. I already touched on Florida quarterback Will Grier being suspended for a calendar year, so let's examine two Bovada specials on the next head coaches at the two USC schools: Southern Cal and South Carolina.

NCAA Football Mid-Major Betting Report: Temple Owls Week 7
by Aaron Smith - 10/14/2015

It's time for the seventh edition of the NCAA Football Mid-Major Betting Report. It's the fourth year Doc's Sports has done this article. The goal of this weekly piece is to attempt to show that specialization is a profitable betting strategy. For the mid-major betting report, we follow one team throughout the season and make selections on their games on a weekly basis. Temple was picked this year because of the intrigue surrounding the conference as well as their ability to have a breakout season. Thus far, Temple has exceeded all expectations and is breaking out in a big way. The Owls enter week seven at a perfect 5-0 on the year.

NCAA Football Betting: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks Week 7
by Aaron Smith - 10/14/2015

The Top 25 as a whole was split evenly at 11 covers and 11 non-covers last weekend. Three teams had a bye week. It was a 1-2 week for the selections at the end of this article. Washington +17 was an awesome play as they won outright at USC. Utah failed to cover by a single point despite Cal turning the ball over six times, and that was the tough one to swallow. West Virginia couldn't get out of their own way in their home loss to Oklahoma State, and that one never really had much of a chance.