2019 Nebraska Cornhuskers College Football Odds and Expert Betting Picks

2018 Record: 4-8

2019 Las Vegas Season Win Total: 8.5

2019 Season Win Total Picks NCAA Football: 'Under'

It is the same thing every year in every sports: beware of Everybody's Sleeper Team.

Nebraska is definitely a 'buzz' team coming into the 2019 season. Sure, Scott Frost has injected life into a program that has been floundering for most of the past decade. But I think that predictions of Nebraska winning the Big Ten West and reestablishing itself on the national stage are a bit premature.

The Cornhuskers underwent a massive structural change last season, shifting to Frost's up-tempo spread style. Naturally, it took some time for the system to take hold. But Nebraska closed the season with four wins in its final six games and two close losses at Ohio State (by five) and at Iowa (by three). The Huskers covered the spread in seven of their final eight games, with the lone failure coming against Bethune-Cookman as a 47-point favorite (they won by 36).

As a result of that late-season success, expectations have been raised, and the Cornhuskers aren't going to be sneaking up on anyone this season.

But Nebraska isn't all that much better off heading into this season than they were heading into last season. Frost has had only two recruiting classes. He still has a lot of square pegs that he's trying to fit into the round hole of his system. Nebraska has just 13 returning starters and only six senior starters.

Sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez is an outstanding triggerman for Frost's offense. He's a dual threat and tallied 25 combined touchdowns last year. He is one of seven starters back on an attack that averaged 30 points per game last year and could see that number bounce up to around 35 per game this time around.

Defensively, there is still a lot of work to do. Nebraska graduated five of its top six tacklers from a unit that was pretty bad last year. Their 31.3 points per game allowed was an improvement from 2017 but still far away from what they'll need to do be competitive at the top of the Big Ten.

This year's schedule offers the Cornhuskers a great opportunity to build up some early season momentum. They get South Alabama and Northern Illinois in Lincoln and have winnable road games against weak Colorado and Illinois squads. Nebraska could be 4-0 when they host Ohio State at the end of September.

Nebraska also hosts Northwestern, Wisconsin and Iowa, their primary competition at the top of the West. They have all of their toughest games in their own backyard. And they should be fine in road games at Purdue and Maryland. Compared to Wisconsin, Nebraska's schedule is a cake walk.

Regardless, I'm still playing this one 'under'. The Cornhuskers are recruiting well. They have an identity. They are well coached. Martinez is a winner. They are definitely pointed in the right direction. But they are overvalued and overrated, and this number is inflated. I don't think that this team is there yet and I can see more than three losses.

Robert Ferringo has been the top football handicapper in the country the past nine years, earning nearly $40,000 in total football profit (average profit: +$4,400). He has also posted 7 of 9 winning seasons (including three straight winning years) and produced an amazing 50 of 76 winning football months over the past 12 years. Robert has eight of 10 winning NFL preseasons and he is at nearly 60 percent winners over his last 1,000 totals picks. Also, Robert's proprietary KING College Football Betting System has posted three of five winning seasons. Robert is looking for a fourth straight winning football year and wants more profit this fall. SIGN UP HERE TODAY AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR 3-FOR-1 FOOTBALL SPECIALS!

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