Fourth and Inches
by Doc
Our college football picks service continued the season without a losing Saturday as we posted 5 wins and 1 loss for the day this past weekend.
Our selections were anchored mostly with underdogs as we had Illinois, Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Northwestern and Florida, all getting points.
Two of these games became real inter-state classics as Michigan State and Oklahoma State took their big brothers, Oklahoma and Michigan, to the wire. Both of these underdogs had a good chance to win straight up. And how about Northwestern beating Purdue! What has happened to the Boilers? Are they headed for the Tank?
One game on Saturday had a very interesting setup for a half time wager. The game I'm speaking of is the Iowa-Illinois match-up. For those of you that had the chance to view this game, you probably saw what I did. Although tied at half, the Hawkeyes were somewhat dominating the game. The oddsmakers made a very attractive half-time line of Iowa by 6½ . If you already took Illinois +12½ for the game, the middle was in place. As for myself, I made a big move. I put myself in a position where I couldn't lose and had a high percentage chance to win both bets. It's a gamble one shouldn't ever pass up, especially if in your opinion the posted favorite at halftime has a good chance to cover. A 6½ - 12½ game is a middler's dream. For those of you who made the move, it paid off, as Iowa covered the 6½ point half-time line, yet didn't cover the 12½ point game line. Not too many of these opportunities arrive each Saturday, however, they do occur. Keep an eye out for them and take advantage of this high percentage situation.
This past weekend Texas A&M was on the road against Baylor. The Aggies beat the Bears last year, 73-10. Apparently they felt they merely had to show up this year, and in reality, were probably looking ahead to Oklahoma this week. Somewhere along the way, someone forgot to tell Baylor, as the Bears pulled the upset.
This week Texas A&M may be in the role Baylor was last week. Beaten by the Sooners last year, 77-0, and with Oklahoma coming off a big game with Oklahoma State, one has to wonder if the Aggies as an 11-point underdog can pull the upset here. This is one game Saturday we will spend a lot of time researching.
Well the unbeaten in college is now down to six: Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Auburn, Wisconsin, Utah and Boise State. Auburn and Boise State will stay unbeaten as they both have the week off. However, the remaining four will have their work cut out for them. Southern Cal and Oklahoma are both on the road, against opponents who actually have a chance to win straight up. Wisconsin and Utah are both at home but neither one has an opponent that will lay down. Of the four unbeaten teams that play this week, one will go down! Want to know which one? Good chance it will be a highly rated game on our service.
Speaking of our football picks service, the past two weeks we have released eight sides in Big Ten action. Our record is 7-1 and yes, you guessed what the one loss was. Still bitter? You bet, and will be for a while! With three weeks left in Big Ten action, I'm confident the winners will continue to roll in. In fact next week there's a strong chance we'll be going with a 6 or 7 unit play in conference action.
A few years back Alabama had a couple of losing games where they should have punted and didn't. Those games really hurt their season. Stickers were being sold and fans put them on the bumper of their cars. "Punt Bama Punt." It really caught on big. Thinking of sending stickers to Penn State fans, "Score Lions Score." Seriously, one has to feel bad for the defense of Penn State. What a job the Nittany Lions and their defensive coordinator have done on that side of the ball.
Penn State plays Northwestern this week and I really think they will shut the Wildcats down. The Lions are favored by four. The big question is, can they get three safeties? This will be another game that we'll look into more as the week progresses.
A couple of teams around the country that are really coming on strong are California and UCLA. In my opinion, at this time of the year, California could just be the best team in the country. The Bears do have one loss to USC, on the road against a team they dominated in everything except the final score. California should win out, and of course with that loss to Southern Cal, they won't be eligible for the BCS championship game. However, if this was a playoff system and California was in it, at a nice price, they would be my choice to win it all. This team will only get better.
Purdue is an example of a team who peaked to early. The Boilers third, fourth and fifth games of the season were on the road, followed by emotional games with Wisconsin and Michigan. Losing those two at home, the team just simply ran out of gas. With QB Orton playing injured, it took its toll on the team. One has to feel sorry for Head Coach Joe Tiller, for every year he seems to find himself in this position. Losing to Northwestern was no big surprise and further losses may occur
I didn't think I would ever see it. Monday night's total is 61. Both teams will put up points, however Pros always seem to go opposite of what you think. In that case this one will probably go over!
This is the week we have been waiting for to release our Underdog Play of the Year. The team we are using is a sizeable underdog and, in my opinion, has an excellent chance to win this game straight up. The timing is perfect and I really think the oddsmakers have clearly made a bad line. Two things really boost my confidence about this game. The general public won't pick up on this game and I personally know an assistant coach on this team, who could possibly assist me with general information on this game. As always, no locks, but I think we will be taking this one to the bank.
November has arrived and in just a couple of weeks college basketball will tip off. We'll be going from the start and you may want to call our sports office to inquire about our early-bird sign up for college basketball picks. NBA picks start Nov 13 as well.
Don't forget the Underdog Play of the Year goes this Saturday.
Don't forget to read our new article about NBA Predictions
Read Max's article on Big Ten standings.
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